Technology woes sigh

minirhyder

A few days ago my laptop's ability to find wireless networks disappeared.

I opened the laptop and it just couldn't find networks. On the network sign was a red x.
For days I tried to resolve the issue to no avail.

Things I have tried:
System restore
Updating/reinstalling drivers
Deleting drivers completely (so the computer doesn't see the wireless network card) and installing them anew
Restarting services/processes dealing with networking
Turning on WLAN Autoconfig (it was already on, but I reset it)

At this point I would assume that the wireless card is shot, however right after the network issues began I plugged in an external wireless card for the time being, which worked just fine...until the laptop's lid was closed. Once it was reopened the network status was exactly the same - no networks, and a red x on the network sign.
So I plugged in the external card into another USB port and it worked...but again until the computer was put to sleep via lid close.
So I went like this through all three USB ports on the laptop. Now plugging the external card into any port doesn't work and produces the same issue.

The external card works on another laptop though, so I know that's not the problem.


So what is the problem and how can I fix it?


The laptop is an ASUS K50ID-X1

I'm still within warranty, as it was purchased six months ago, but honestly I'd rather not deal with ASUS tech support. It is repulsive.

SydRocks

My laptop has a small switch on the outside, near the volume dial, that completely disables the wireless abilities of the machine. Is it possible yours has something similar? Perhaps you've accidentally hit it?

minirhyder

Nope. There's no switch, but there is a keyboard shortcut. The adapter says it's enabled though...it's just acting as if it isn't for some reason.

Ruckus

Did you try the Fn+F2 shortcut? That usually doesn't enable/disable the Windows Device adapter, it usually actually sends a signal to the motherboard to disable the wireless. What is the state of the wireless status indicator LED?

wmelon

I had this happen once on my Asus U50A and I fixed it by *cringe* running the windows automated troubleshooter on the interface.

minirhyder

The Fn+F2 does absolutely nothing...I'm not sure if it's just not working as a shortcut because it seems several of Fn shortcuts don't work..but some do. Go figure.

You mean where you tell the computer to troubleshoot the problem? I tried that and it does its thing and comes up with "troubleshooting couldn't identify the problem"

Oh and the wireless status LED is not doing anything.

Ruckus

I'd go here:
support.asus.com/download/download_item_dna.aspx?product=3&model=K50ID&SLanguage=en-us&os=30

and under the Utilities directory there's a package for ASUS Wireless Switch (Wireless Console3) Utility.

Getting the latest Wireless driver package off there probably wouldn't hurt either.

StrifeRaZoR

Ruckus wrote: »

I'd go here:
support.asus.com/download/download_item_dna.aspx?product=3&model=K50ID&SLanguage=en-us&os=30

and under the Utilities directory there's a package for ASUS Wireless Switch (Wireless Console3) Utility.

Getting the latest Wireless driver package off there probably wouldn't hurt either.

Ruckus is right. Also, while you are there, search the driver packages for a keyboard or touchpad update. That will fix your Function keys!

minirhyder

Woo! We have internet!

Yeah, Ruckus, you were spot on...it seemed that for some reason the laptop was turning off the adapter when put to sleep, and since the keyboard shortcut didn't work there was no way to turn it back on.

I'll play around with it to make sure it doesn't do it again, but just in case it does happen, how would I go about getting to the bottom of why it turns it off and how to make it stop?

Edit: yep, every time I close my laptop, on resume the adapter is off. I use the wireless utility to turn it back on but that's such a bitch.

Played around with the power settings and I've disabled turning the adapter off to save power, but couldn't find anything else that pertains to this issue.

Ruckus

minirhyder wrote: »

Woo! We have internet!

Yeah, Ruckus, you were spot on...it seemed that for some reason the laptop was turning off the adapter when put to sleep, and since the keyboard shortcut didn't work there was no way to turn it back on.

I'll play around with it to make sure it doesn't do it again, but just in case it does happen, how would I go about getting to the bottom of why it turns it off and how to make it stop?

Edit: yep, every time I close my laptop, on resume the adapter is off. I use the wireless utility to turn it back on but that's such a bitch.

Look under your power options, there's probably an option that mentions powering the wireless card down. Also under Device Manager Properties for the WLAN device, there's usually another "turn this off to conserve power" type of checkbox option.

minirhyder

Yeah I actually turned both of those off when I first started troubleshooting this issue.
So I guess it's not that.

StrifeRaZoR

minirhyder wrote: »

Yeah I actually turned both of those off when I first started troubleshooting this issue.
So I guess it's not that.

If the option to stop the WIFI adapter from powering down isn't in power options or device manager, check the settings that come with the ASUS Wireless Manager. It should've been installed with that new driver package you downloaded. Scour those settings to see if there are any performance options. Worst case scenario is to actually uninstall the Wireless Manager from Asus and go into your services and make sure Wireless Zero Configuration is enabled and set to Automatic. That will ensure Windows handles the wireless configuration, and not the Asus utility. If you do not see a Wireless Zero Configuration (XP), then it will be called WLAN (Vista/Win7). They're both the same thing, just different names. With the Windows Utility enabled and the Asus utility uninstalled, it will default to letting Windows handle all your wireless issues (Which in the case of some manufacturers, is the best option).

minirhyder

The ASUS Wireless Manager is just a little square that you click on to enable or disable the WLAN. There aren't any options or settings.

I've also set WLAN automatic and enabled during my troubleshooting (I hope this is what you're referring to http://www.home-network-help.com/wlan-autoconfig.html) and it's still disabling the adapter for some reason.

StrifeRaZoR

Wow, really? No settings in the wireless manager? That's kinda BS. Even Dell and HP have wireless managers that let you tweak settings within it. Granted, they're not the most fluid of menus to navigate, but at least they're there. What happens when you uninstall the Asus Wireless Manager? Just the manager, not the drivers. Just throwing that out there, because some program somewhere is playing tricks on you. I highly doubt it's Windows, but hey, I've been wrong before.

minirhyder

Nope, yeah it's pretty despicable.
Same thing happens when I uninstall and reinstall the issue remains.

Some more playing around and Googling revealed that it's a common issue with Win 7 and Vista where putting a computer to sleep messes up the WLAN connectivity. The internet is fine if the computer is restarted or coming out of hibernation, but it messes up if it's coming out of sleep.

Don't know how to resolve that though

StrifeRaZoR

Y'know what, now that you mention the sleep thing, I believe that may be it. I did some research on it just now, due to being curious about which adapters are having issues. What's your adapter name and driver version?

Command Prompt - netsh wlan show driver

That'll give ya all the info. I hate wireless, but some people are even complaining about it being an issue with ethernet as well.

minirhyder

Atheros AR9285 is the adapter.

Yeah I'm not a fan of wireless myself, it has a tendency to mess up way too much, but it being a laptop, it'd be kind of silly to make it immobile with an ethernet cable.