My Thinkpad T42p (2668-Q1) doesn’t love me any more. More detailed: the ThinkVantage Access Connections tool just won’t talk to the built in Intel 2200BG Wireless card any more. Unfortunately I can’t pinpoint the exact cause of this problem any more. I can remember, that I updated Access Connections (AC) from 4.11 to 4.12, and did not reboot. After that, I connected a new cell phone via bluetooth (more drivers installed) and a while after that I rebooted and wham - no WLAN any more.

Let me clarify the problem a little bit more. I can connect though the built in ethernet NIC and I can also manage that through AC. I can use WLAN, if I active Microsofts zero configuration service and I can also activate/deactivate the WLAN-NIC though the Intel drivers in the System Configuration.

In order to remedy the problem I went to extrems. I reinstalled XP Service Pack 2. I removed all network protocols (there is a way to „reinstall” TCP/IP on XP SP2 and you can actually remove TCP/IP on XP) and removed all NICS. Rebooted, installed ethernet NIC, reinstalled protocols, reinstalled Wireless NIC - nothing.

I tried the Lenovo install-tools, I installed manually, I installed the newest Intel drivers, I installed several older versions of Access Connections and the 2200BG drivers – nothing. I even used a VBA-script to remove any files the Intel-drivers may have left behind after removing them. Of course I rebooted after each step, etc. I even removed all traces of the wireless-card in the system so System Configuration said „unknown network card” before installing.

Of course I could just use the ThinkVantage Backup & Recovery tools to get back to a working configuration, but this undue behaviour by my ThinkPad is a professional challenge to me. AND I WILL FIX IT !!!

And I am still convinced, that ThinkPads are the best Intel/Windows Laptops in the market. I suspect some Windows glitch to be responsible for this problem.

So, if you have any idea on how I can fix this „bug”, please drop me a line – I would really appreciate it.

P.S. 2006-05-25: Problem solved. See „m³ and his Thinkpad - reconciled again”.

Tagged as: Ein_Tag_im_Leben, lenovo, problems, thinkpad, windowsxp | Author: Martin Leyrer
[Sonntag, 20060528, 10:06 | permanent link | 0 Kommentar(e)