Wireless adapter upgrade freezing my system?

[fizikz]

Can a wireless adapter cause my system to completely lock up? How can I verify if it is the wireless adapter at fault?

I just upgraded the wireless adapter on my old but stable Asus G1 from an Intel 3945ABG to an Intel 5100AGN to be able to upgrade my network from G to N. The wireless functions fine, in Ubuntu 12.04 and Windows XP (dual boot).

However, now I'm getting random freezes which totally lock up the mouse, keyboard (absolutely no keys work, not even the capslock light toggle) and the only solution is a hard reset by holding down the power button for 5 seconds.

The freezes seem to happen at random. Sometimes while scrolling a web page, sometimes while watching youtube, sometimes when it was totally idle (come back to the computer to see it frozen).

I bought 2 of the 5100 adapters (used, from ebay), one for my laptop and one for a netbook. The netbook has not frozen so far, but I do not use it as frequently. The freezes sometimes happen within an hour, and other times it can go for a day without a freeze.

Could this be due to the wireless adapter? I switched the adapters (same 5100) in the netbook and laptop, and the laptop still froze. These freezes only started within an hour of upgrading the wireless adapter. Both OSes were stable before.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
First do you have latest Intel driver for the card? If so, reinstall 3945 card to prove what
is going on. Does it happen both on XP and Ubuntu?

 

[stevech]

Can a wireless adapter cause my system to completely lock up? How can I verify if it is the wireless adapter at fault?
.

In the Windows Control panel, disable the adapter, reboot, see if problem cured. If not, power off, unplug adapter, bootup and see.

Process of elimination.

 

[tipstir]

Changing out he propriety WiFi PCI or PCI-E or mini-PCI or mini-PCI-E internal cards like I did on this project

http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL1099/4465559/21344768/354191029.jpg

This above caused the laptop to lock-up.

Use the above into DIR-655 and it worked!

Shown below:

http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL1099/4465559/21344768/354191025.jpg

So installing the card into the HP laptop didn't work because the laptop BIOS or hardware wasn't support. You have to use their recommended hardware for the MOBO (motherboard)

 

[fizikz]

Hi,
First do you have latest Intel driver for the card? If so, reinstall 3945 card to prove what
is going on. Does it happen both on XP and Ubuntu?

I updated the drivers when I installed the upgrade. Version 14.3.2.1 dated 22/01/2012. And yes, it happened on both XP and Ubuntu (driver iwlwifi, in the linux kernel). It seems to happen less in XP (once) compared to Ubuntu (3-4 times so far) but maybe that's because I spend more time in Ubuntu. Neither OS had this type of problem before.

I may have to put the 3945 back in and see what happens. It's the only thing I can think of at this point.

In the Windows Control panel, disable the adapter, reboot, see if problem cured. If not, power off, unplug adapter, bootup and see.

Process of elimination.

It's not only Windows, so I don't know if this would help. Also, the freezes happen at random, sometimes withing an hour, other times after a day, so it's hard to establish whether changing something fixed it. Also, I can't really go that long without a wireless adapter.

Changing out he propriety WiFi PCI or PCI-E or mini-PCI or mini-PCI-E internal cards like I did on this project

http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL1099/4465559/21344768/354191029.jpg

This above caused the laptop to lock-up.

Use the above into DIR-655 and it worked!

Shown below:

http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL1099/4465559/21344768/354191025.jpg

So installing the card into the HP laptop didn't work because the laptop BIOS or hardware wasn't support. You have to use their recommended hardware for the MOBO (motherboard)

Asus does not have those BIOS hardware restrictions. Plus, if that were the issue, it simply wouldn't boot with the upgraded adapter.

I'm not sure what you did with your adapter to get it working, but I think with HP, Lenovo, etc you have to buy adapters which are officially supported by the manufacturers and not blacklisted in the BIOS.

 

[sfx2000]

Can a wireless adapter cause my system to completely lock up? How can I verify if it is the wireless adapter at fault?

I just upgraded the wireless adapter on my old but stable Asus G1 from an Intel 3945ABG to an Intel 5100AGN to be able to upgrade my network from G to N. The wireless functions fine, in Ubuntu 12.04 and Windows XP (dual boot).

However, now I'm getting random freezes which totally lock up the mouse, keyboard (absolutely no keys work, not even the capslock light toggle) and the only solution is a hard reset by holding down the power button for 5 seconds.

The freezes seem to happen at random. Sometimes while scrolling a web page, sometimes while watching youtube, sometimes when it was totally idle (come back to the computer to see it frozen).

I bought 2 of the 5100 adapters (used, from ebay), one for my laptop and one for a netbook. The netbook has not frozen so far, but I do not use it as frequently. The freezes sometimes happen within an hour, and other times it can go for a day without a freeze.

Could this be due to the wireless adapter? I switched the adapters (same 5100) in the netbook and laptop, and the laptop still froze. These freezes only started within an hour of upgrading the wireless adapter. Both OSes were stable before.

Similar experience - ended up being a bad card...

 

[fizikz]

I swapped the Intel 5100 in the affected laptop with the one in a netbook (I bought 2 cards for this upgrade) and the netbook still doesn't freeze while the laptop does. Plus, I've borrowed an Intel 6200 from another laptop, and I still got the freeze on my laptop. I doubt it's a problem with the various cards.

All I can think of is to try with the old 3945 again, and/or to do a fresh install of Ubuntu.

 

[fizikz]

After a lot of trial and error, I have found a card that works well with the Asus G1: the Intel 4965AGN.

I have been using it for about a week in Ubuntu with the iwl4965 driver and I have had no system freezes or wireless drops. The performance is quite good, and I finally have wireless N on this laptop.

I also booted into XP and Windows used the Intel 13.4.0.139 drivers for the adapter and it is working well with XP too.