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Yes they do have drivers... any other statements to make?
Oh man, doesn't look like my question was included. Very sorry about that. Luckily I copied it before clicking submit earlier. :)
Hi,
I just formatted and installed Windows XP Media Center Edition onto an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC (laptop). The install went fine, however when I try to go onto the net, I have no connection. I don't have the 'search wireless networks' option, and even plugged direct to the router, I have no connection.
I went to Device Manager and expanded Network Adapter and the only item listed is 1394 Network Adapter. Properties for this say it is installed and working properly.
I've searched through many forums and tried several things but still no luck to get this working.
The motherboard is a Quanta 30B7 ver 65.2C. The laptop itself is a refurb. If anyone can suggest a driver or site to find drivers, and possibly which one I may need, that would be fantastic. Please advise.
Sounds like you are lacking the lan drivers for both the wireless and the ethernet adapter itself too.
Have you tried going to the HP website at this link... you will need the specific model number... and download and install the drivers. There is more than one HP Pavilion Entertainment PC laptop model.
If you don't see Windows MCE specific ones... the Windows XP drivers should be the same.
Click this link
Laptops/Tablets/Netbooks
1394 is NOT a network device, but Firewire.
TBH, unless you have a digital device that uses it, I wouldn't worry about installing it.
Thanks for the replies. I went to the HP site and downloaded/installed the different drivers provided for Windows MCE. I rebooted between installs and still no internet access. I went into command prompt and ran ipconfig /all and I don't even see a MAC address for my NIC. The only response I see is "Windows IP Configuration"... just that line, nothing else. Could I be missing a chipset for them motherboard perhaps?
While you are at the HP site get ALL of the current drivers for your machine.
Do as Curleyben suggests get all of the drivers.
Also go into Bios... make sure your NIC is actually enabled there, same with your WiFi card.
What I was hoping to do was to get the internet capability working for the unit so that I could update all remaining drivers direct to the unit instead of via a USB memory stick. But I'll start that process. I also did notice while in Dev Mgr, that if I select Show Hidden Objects, there are several devices listed under Network Adapter. They all appear to be installed properly and in working order. They are:
1394 Net Adapter
Direct Parallel
WAN Miniport (IP)
WAN Miniport (IP) - Packet Scheduler Miniport
WAN Miniport (L2TP)
WAN Miniport (PPPOE)
WAN Miniport (PPTP)
If you see any yellow tags to the left of anyhing... uninstall those via a right click menu. It should pick up the valid stuff at reboot.
Once you get the NIC working you will have to go in and redirect the network connection via that. It would try to go with whatever connection it finds if it sees no NIC. And that's usually the Firewire port like you see.
Ok, so I downloaded and installed all the drivers from the HP site, rebooting after any that requested it. Good news, bad news situation. I do have access to the internet now from this laptop, however it is only while connected with cat-5 cable. I do not seem to have the ability to search for wireless networks, or enable wireless NIC, etc. any suggestions for that part of the issue?
The driver that seemed to fix it was SP33411 and was Nvidia drivers, which included ethernet drivers.
Did you verify the wireless adapter is enabled in Bios yet? If its disabled the O/S will never see it. And its an easy one to miss.
I had gone into the BIOS but I hadn't actually seen an option for NIC card, wireless or otherwise. I'll try again to make sure I just didn't miss it.
On a Dell Laptop it actually has its own category for wireless, which is the very last category which includes Cellular and Bluetooth as well as WiFi. The actual Modem is elsewhere in the Bios. I know yours is an HP... but I don't have one of those to give a more direct answer.Quote:
Originally Posted by sucosam
FYI, I have the BIOS up now and there are only 5 menu options along the top. It's a PhoenixBIOS Setup Utility. The menu options are: Main, Security, System Configuration, Diagnostics, Exit
None of these have a section or line that refer to network or ethernet or anything that resembles networking config.
It will be under system Configuration That's where EVERYTHING (hardware related anyway) will be configured. Might be under main if its not in the other.
You will have to go through all the options there... wish I could be more specific but without a copy of it in front of me I can't.
I've looked through every menu and submenu option in the BIOS but I just don't see it. Under system config I see the following:
Language
Button Sound
VRAM size
Virtualization Technology
Boot Option -> which has a submenu.
Under boot options there is:
F10 and F12 Delay (sec)
CD-ROM Boot
Floppy Boot
Internal Network Adapter Boot (This was Disabled, but I enabled and saved changes. The description reads "Enable/Disable internal network adapter boot during boot time.") This has something to do with booting the device from another network device I believe and did not provide me with Wireless network options.
Under Main there is :
System Time
System Date
Notebook Model
System Board ID
Processor Type
Processor Speed
Total Memory
BIOS Version
Serial Number
UUID Number
Factory installed OS (which was Vista, but I reinstalled XP of course)
Hmmmmm. You are right about what network boot means... as a home user you won't need or want that.
I wish someone running that bios will see this thread... because I know it has to be there someplace. Every PC computer I have ever worked on you have had the means to change Serial ports... disable nealy any subsystem on it, like modems, lan, onboard video, onboard sound... etc. And that's every single one. We have to be overlooking something someplace, somehow.
I haven't had or worked on a PC with Phoenix bios in a lot of years.
It could be simple. HP's have either a touch surface to enable wireless or a button. If you have a light indicating wireless and it is orange it means that your wireless is off... it should be blue. To turn it on you can either touch the orange light or find a wireless button on the laptop somewhere.
Also something else to consider with HP's. They have a BIOS setting to enable wireless only when wired is unplugged. If your RJ45 cable is plugged and that feature is enabled in the BIOS then it will disable wireless. You can either disable that feature in the BIOS (I don't recommend it) or just unplug your wired side to be able to use wireless.
Good luck.
I had tried the wireless enable switch on the front of the laptop. The light is currently orange, but whether it's in the right or left position, it remains orange. Also, the wired cable has not been plugged in for any of these tests, but rather it was just plugged in initially to see if internet access was possible.
I've gone through every menu and submenu in the BIOS and there does not appear to be any option to enable wireless adapter or ports. I should advise that when I go into Network Connections that I see LAN, but have no option for Wireless.
Do you have the exact Model Number for the laptop? There are several dozen "HP Pavilion Entertainment" laptops that HP makes and depending on when the laptop was release they can be quite different from each other.
The model number is typically on the bottom of the laptop.
You also said that this laptop is a refurb. Do you know if some parts were not original?
I don't know the exact model number as it was a refurb. This is actually my father-in-laws system, so it's quite possible that some components are not original. I do believe though that this is a DV6000 unit. Original factory OS installed was Vista. I think in the BIOS I can get serial number if that would help in any way.
The orange light means that wireless is turned off or it could mean that you don't have a wireless card installed. Since you can't see any "Unknown" devices in Device Manager and no clue to any wireless in the BIOS, and installing device drivers didn't work you may not have a wireless card. You can confirm this by removing the memory cover on the bottom of the laptop (remove all power AND battery) and visually check. Look at this picture in the manual on page http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01035677.pdf on page 5-20. Follow section 5.3 and 5.6 first.
There should be some antenna leads (per picture) and a mini adapter. Check to make sure the mini adapter is there and that the leads to the antenna are connected. If you can take a picture and post here that would be helpful also.
I guess I hadn't stated this up to this point, but this laptop was functional prior to me reloading it with Windows XP MCE. It was running Windows Vista, and had AVG anti virus and was very slow to respond. It did however have wireless capabilities prior to reloading the OS, so the wireless capability exists, it just seems to be missing the drivers, or a config of some kind to allow it to work. I reloaded XP MCE to stream content to Xbox 360.
All of your responses and suggestions are greatly appreciated. I am hoping that this gets resolved and possibly helps someone else down the road.
No worries... after we eliminate all possibilities whatever is left must be the truth :)
So can you double check that you loaded this patch:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp36501-37000/sp36684.exe
I have not. I will try that one in the morning. Thanks for the suggestion. I will let you know.
sucosam... I gave you the wrong link... I've updated the post with the correct link which should be this: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp36501-37000/sp36684.exe (I was thinking Vista but you did say XP).
Also when you go into Device Drivers, do you see any Yellow Question marks NOT under Network Adapter?
Cajalat, I tried to run that update, but it wouldn't allow it as it was for Vista and I'm running XP. Any idea if there's a similar file but for XP? I got the feeling that this is what I'm missing. Thanks.
Sorry, saw your new link after I posted my message. I'm trying that one now. I do not see any exceptions in device manager. Stay tuned, I should know shortly.
I think I had downloaded this update, but perhaps didn't run it. I went through it again, but still no luck. My indicator light is still orange. I did a reboot after installing, and then a second reboot and went into BIOS but still no option referring to Network card. If I go into dev mgr (or network connections) I still do not see a wireless connection anywhere. The update seemed to go through the install process without issue though.
I read your post and cajalat is doing a wonderful job of guiding you through the process but I have to add my knowledge about this matter.Quote:
Originally Posted by sucosam
You don't need Media Center to stream media to Xbox360 ;) a little knowledge for the toolbox for you!
ITStudent. I had tried searching online for how to stream to the Xbox. You say MCE is not required? Is there a simple how to guide you know of that you can point me to? I have a different laptop also running XP, but I surf using Firefox. I wanted to go to a website on the xbox to watch a TV show I had missed. Ultimately I want to get this network adapter working, but in the meantime, if you know how I can use my own laptop to allow the Xbox to surf, that'd be helpful also. Thanks
What version of MCE? There are multiple...
What previous version of Vista?
The version of XP MCE on the laptop that does not have the working Wireless is Windows XP Media Center Edition Ver 5.1 SP2. The version on my other laptop is Windows XP Professional Ver 5.1 SP2 and that one has wifi capability. I am not certain what the version of Vista that was installed on this laptop previously. I am still trying to track down any install disks for it.
1. Didn't know MC could stream online video to XboxQuote:
Originally Posted by sucosam
2. I was referring to music, videos & pictures already on your laptop.
To the cloud... (it means time for research)
Perhaps I mislabeled what it was I was trying to do prior to the reload. I wanted to surf on the internet using the Xbox 360. I researched online and found some links stating that I needed (or could use) a wireless computer running on Media center edition. This is why I did the reload with this version of Windows OS. Of course after the reload I ran into the issue with the wireless networking issue. It worked before the reload, it didn't afterwards, and it doesn't even appear to be installed. I still need to figure out my xbox issue, but I'll do more research on that, or make a separate post.
This is getting stranger and stranger. So I started googling and turns out you're part of a huge crowd with the Same problem. One day it works and the next day it doesn't. Downgraded to XP and now orange light on and no drivers... re-installed OS and now it doesn't work... and on and on.
It appears that the Motherboard is the culprit with weak/faulty solder joints. There are a few hit/miss remedies that you might want to try but most people seemed to opt for a $10 USB wireless card instead. ZDnet had a big expose on the HP Pavilion as well.
Here are the links to the various threads on HP's site with the identical problem:
HP Pavilion dv6000 Wireless adapter missing, *** help! - HP Support Forum
HP Pavilion Dv6000 Wireless Lan Adapter Missing after update... - HP Support Forum
Wireless switch orange NOT blue on dv6000 - HP Support Forum
Pavillion dv6000 - Downgraded to XP Pro, now drivers dont wo... - HP Support Forum
There are a lot more posts about the same problem that you can find on the HP site.
Here's the ZDnet Arcticle:
Tech Shakedown: HP Pavilion notebook owners flood HP's site with WiFi problem complaints | ZDNet
So the bottom line from what I've been able to tell these solutions worked for some but not others:
1. Re-install the BIOS even if it is the same version
2. unplug, remove battery, remove the internal battery, wait 5 minutes and replug
3. Unplug the mini card and reseat
4. Run FurMark (apparently heats the CPU/GPU enough to let it resolder itself)
5. Take out the motherboard and bake it at 400 degrees
Yes.. baking the motherboard seems to be a common scenario as that seems to remelt the solder around the chips. I found a few videos on YouTube that show you how to resolder/bake the MB:
YouTube - hp pavilion solder
So after you reach step 4 my advise is to you is to save yourself the headache and buy a $10 Wireless USB adapter.
I have to tell you, I've watched several videos that bake the motherboard... I'm laughing while admiring whoever thought of it and figured it out. Many positive responses to the baking videos but I'm not sure I would take that chance unless I have nothing to lose.
Speaking as a degreed electronic Engineer... like you hinted at... temps that will reflow solder are also high enough to damage components.Quote:
Originally Posted by cajalat
When they are built they are not subjected to those temps. THere would be a very high failure rate after trying to cook a component laden board at those temps.
I will comment more when you create the post about your Xbox but I have never heard of an xbox being able to browse the web.
MC is for sharing photos, music &videos. Xbox has espn video and Netflix among others but not straight up web browser capability (to my knowledge)
Thx for the tips guys. Cajalat, I will go through your suggestions and I agree with you and smoothy that I'm not really comfortable baking anything in the oven that I can't put into my mouth afterwards :) I also found that in the USA (I'm in Canada) there was a class action lawsuit over this issue, and it seems that my particular laptop is in fact in the long list of HP units affected by or are part of this lawsuit. Unfortunately, I don't qualify as I'm not a US citizen, but additionally the deadline has passed. I wonder if I were to reinstall Vista if the problem would still exist. I'm guessing it would, but only one way to find out.
Thanks for the time you all have spent trying to assist me with this. I recommend askmehelpdesk.com to a lot of people because of people like you folks. Thanks so much once again.
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