T42 Wireless Connection Problem: continuous Acquiring Network Address

If this should be under 'software' please make it so.

A problem with my 'internet connection' on my newly acquired IBM Thinkpad T42 has developed.

I am using a wireless connection, because I think that is the only practical one available.

There is no question of the router/modem not functioning: I have my HP laptop working from it.

The T42 used to connect ok, after I had given it the router/modem password, but it would have some difficulty reconnecting when it entered sleep mode or whatever it's called, and logged me out, I began to have to reboot it to get it to connect, but now it simply will not connect to the internet and although it displays the correct network name, and gives an unattainable data rate of "11Mb/s" and signal strength excellent (I moved it so that it was practically right on top of the router), it's "acquiring network address " forever (see figure 'WirelessNWconnStatus.jpg). This may be due to the fact that it cannot see any networks [there are usually 4 or 5 others in range as well] (figure 'WirelessNWseen.JPG')

The T42 has two wireless adapters in it (so I believe - I don't know how to switch to the other one), and the one being used is the Cisco one (defaults to). Device Manager > Hardware for this device is shown in figure 'CiscoWLlanAdapterProperties.JPG'.

I can't roll back the driver as there isn't a previous one, and would I create more problems by uninstalling the driver and trying to reinstall it, seeing as I haven't got internet access ?

When I tried to 'ipconfig /flushdns, ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew' the following happened at the first stage:
"
>ipconfig /flushdns

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\>ipconfig /flushdns

Windows IP Configuration

An internal error occurred: A device attached to the system is not functioning.

Please contact Microsoft Product Support Services for further help.

Additional information: Unknown media status code. "

This seems to show a hardware error.

What is the best way to go about solving this problem ?

Dumb_Question
3.October.2014

IBM Thinkpad T42 - 1.7GHz P4 - 1GB RAM - Windows (Professional ?) XP SP3 32-bit

 

Hi,

While I now work in MIS at a company that uses Dell computers, I used to work in the same role for a few before that were exclusively "IBM shops", and so I've some knowledge of the ThinkPads from the T30 days up until the T60's, and still have many ThinkPads here at home. My main laptop at home is a T500, and I've a T30 still running (Damn thing is as solid as a tank, has 1.5GB RAM, runs like a champ and refuses to die. I keep it around because it has a built-in serial port).

I've got a pile of T41, T42 laptops, in various states of disrepair: My former employers let me take them once they no longer worked, and for a few years back then I'd gather them up once they'd been removed from inventory, take them home, and spend time diagnosing them again, and then build working laptops from the parts, testing them and then giving them away, once done and tested, to family and friends, reloading the OS from IBM's official system restore CDs, of which I have legitimate copies. All legal: Every resulting working laptop had an official Microsoft OEM Windows license issued to it which was entitled to such.

Anyway, here's how I'd proceed, from past experience: IBM issued a machine type for every ThinkPad. It's on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop, and is also in the laptop's BIOS. I'd check the BIOS, and note its version too: It's possible that your laptop doesn't have the last release, and that would be something to address as well at some point.

Once you know the machine type, you can go here:

http://support.lenovo.com/us/en

You can search for your laptop's machine type, and should find a support page dedicated to it, with links to drivers, etc., specific to your laptop, and the various OS' that IBM supported for it.

Based on the symptoms you describe, however, there's another possibility, I'm afraid.

The fact that you state: "The T42 used to connect ok", indicates the possibility that the WiFi NIC is failing/has failed. This would be a hardware problem with the WiFi NIC itself, and the only real solution would be to replace it.

However, since it appears that it has a Cisco WiFi NIC, it could just be software: The Cisco WiFi chipsets, and their drivers, have always pretty much sucked IMHO: It's one of the reasons Cisco no longer makes WiFi chipsets for end-user systems, I think.

And was why my former employers switched to Intel WiFi NICs for their ThinkPads back then: While Intel's drivers also tend to suck from time-to-time, Intel at least makes an effort to fix the problems.

Of course, some of Intel's WiFi chipsets have their own issues... which they attempt to later fix in software, more or less successfully. The stories I could tell about THAT...

In any event, I can't really help you any more at this point without the laptop's machine type.

Start there yourself, go look on Lenovo's site to see if there's a driver update, first, for your laptop's WiFi NIC, for your OS. If so, download and install it, and if it fixes the problem then you're set.

If not, post the results here, and I'll do whatever I can.

Regards,

dj

 

Hi dj, thanks for your helpful answer.

Machine is a T42 Type 2373-KEG
After much searching I came across a select from list with type 2373 on it, along with 3 other variants of type 2373 none of which were KEG, but I think the page I got directed to was the same for all T42 variants.

On the Lenovo website, I found two drivers for Cisco wireless adapters, one was for NT so it couldn't be that one, the other included for XP, but it was described as for a "Cisco Systems Mini PCI Wireless LAN driver" ver 3.8.26.01, but the device in my machine is a "Cisco Systems PCI Wireless LAN Adapter" driver ver 3.9.16.0. Because of difference in the word 'mini' and the version number I have being higher than that which Lenovo has, I do not think that this is the correct driver. I can search around for the correct driver.

As I think I remarked, I seem to have two wireless network adapter cards, both are enabled in Device manager, but it seems to using the Cisco one rather than the intel one, see figures in previous post). Could I try using the Intel one ? How would I switch to that - there seems no option in the BIOS (ver 3.13) ?

Dumb_Question
5.October.2014

IBM Thinkpad T42-2373-KEG - 1.7GHz P4 - 1GB RAM - Windows XP Professional SP3 32-bit

 

new info: see https://www.driveridentifier.com/scan/cisco-systems-pci-wireless-lan-adapter/download/94116522/7418824B04704B5EB17F126B6FD0E73F/PCI%5CVEN_14B9%26DEV_A504%26SUBSYS_500014B9 https://www.driveridentifier.com/sc...FD0E73F/PCI\VEN_14B9&DEV_A504&SUBSYS_500014B9 - others has ver 3.9.16, Lenovo one looks like the one from their website ver 3.8.26

the one given under details in HW Manager is 'PCI\VEN_14B9%DEV_A504&SUBSYS_500014B9%REV_00\4&39A85202&0&10F0' (phew !)

Dumb_Question
5.October.2014

 

Hi,

I'm not familiar with that model, nor any T42 that has a P4 mobile CPU: All of the ones I worked on had Pentium M/Centrino chips.

They all had one mini-PCI slot, and I'm assuming that your T42 is basically the same.

I logged into my Cisco account and did some searching, and found this on their site:

The driver version is substantially newer, and its release date is in accordance, but I'm not quite sure that it's correct for the WiFi NIC in your laptop.

However, I'm happy to download it and send it to you, if only to test.

It's small enough that I can probably send it to you via email, if you wish.

If there's another way you prefer, let me know, please?

But, here's how I'd proceed using what you have available now:

Given that it's not working, uninstalling the current driver then reinstalling it won't make matters any worse. Worst case scenario, as best I can determine at this point is that it will either not work, which would point to hardware failure, or it works, then stops again eventually... pointing to either a sporadic hardware failure or an issue with Windows' networking. Or it might correct the problem entirely forever. Only one way to find out.

But, here's what I'd do in any event, just to gather more information about the state of the laptop and its networking functionality in general: The T42 has an Ethernet interface, most likely the Intel network device you see: IBM used Intel Ethernet chipsets for that connectivity on the T42 series ThinkPads I serviced back then.

Get an Ethernet cable, take the laptop to your router, which probably has a few open switch ports.

That being the case, connect the laptop to one, boot it. It should get an Internet connection through the Ethernet port, which will make troubleshooting, etc., much more convenient for you.

It's not a permanent solution, of course, but it's sure nice to have a working network connection while troubleshooting WiFi issues!

If you can't get an Internet connection via Ethernet, then I'd suspect the Windows XP networking subsystem itself, assuming no issues with the Ethernet hardware/drivers.

Reset it via NETSH (http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/netsh.mspx?mfr=true):

While logged in with Administrator rights, open a CMD prompt.

Run this command:

netsh int ip reset c:\netsh.log

You can substitute any valid filename/path for the "c:\netsh.log", and I encourage you to do so. I use the date as part of the name, to create unique files each time:

netsh int ip reset c:\netsh-141008-01.log as an example: I put temporary logs such as these in the root of C: because that makes them quick to reach via Windows Explorer... pick whatever valid directory you wish. I use the date as depicted so that they sort correctly by date when sorted by file name, and add the "01", incrementing as needed, to indicate how many times I've done this that day... and then remind myself, once I get past "02", that "one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" *grin*

Assuming that you can get an Internet connection with the Ethernet interface, however, uninstall the WiFi drivers, then reinstall and reboot. Verify that you still have an Internet connection via Ethernet. Set up the WiFi profile for the WiFi NIC, because it will be gone. Once done, disconnect the Ethernet cable and the laptop should switch to the WiFi NIC.

Report the results, one way or another, and we'll proceed from there.

Regards,

dj

P.S.

Another thing occurs to me:

It's possible that the root cause of this is an issue with the T42's hard drive: If it has developed problems, and those just happened to manifest on the drive's surface where the WiFi NIC drivers reside, then it's possible, albeit fairly unlikely, that this has resulted in file corruption in one or more of the files related to the WiFi NIC and that, in turn, is why the WiFi NIC isn't working properly.

Not likely, but I've seen stranger things. Here's how to eliminate it as a possibility.

Standard warning: If there's anything important on the drive, PLEASE back it up first!

Once done, while logged-in with Administrator rights, open a CMD prompt and run CHKDSK (https://support2.microsoft.com/kb/315265):

CHKDSK /R

You'll get a warning that Windows can't dismount the volume, and will be asked if you want to run it at next boot - answer Y.

NOTE: This will require a reboot, and will start before Windows, and may take a very long time to run, especially if it encounters read errors on the drive.

Please make sure that the laptop is connected to AC power!

Be patient, let it run. Once it completes, you'll get the standard Windows logon screen.

It's not likely that it will correct the problem, but it's something to consider.

At the very least, it'll correct file system errors if such exist, and if it found and corrected (or not) read errors, then that indicates a problem with the hard drive.

Results are available via Event Viewer:

"In XP, open the Control Panel, double click on "Adminstrative Tools", double click on the "Event Viewer" icon, then click on "Application". In the "Source" column, look for the "Winlogon" item. Double click it and you should see the results of your Chkdsk."

From a Google search.

You can do it via PowerShell, too (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_PowerShell), at least under Windows 7 and later (don't know if it works in the version of PowerShell available for XP):

Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Source wininit | Select-Object -Last 1 -ExpandProperty message

But, it's something to try, too, and it will at least give you more information about the current state of the laptop's hard drive, correct any file system errors, and perhaps remedy, for a short time, any issues with the drive's media, if such exist.

Regards,

dj

 

Thanks, dj, for doing all that work.

What I really (immediately) wanted to know is which of two drivers I found, the older version that looked the same as the one on the Lenovo website but didn't match the part description (ver 3.8.26), or the newer one described as 'other' but the same ver as the one as already installed (ver 3.9.16.0), should I go with ? (well, seeing as I have access to both I have answered my question, either will do !)

Last time I tried, after my last post but before your most recent post, the T42 was still had the Acquiring an Address problem, but it 'saw' 3 other networks in range (neighbours').

Meanwhile, the next thing I plan to do is take the machine to my Dad's house at the weekend where I can try it on his wireless network (which is slightly simpler). If that doesn't work ...

I'll try a wired connection, both my wired Ethernet ports on my router are in use, but I can temporarily fix something up.

I shall download the driver version 3.9.16.0 afresh and install that, and if that doesn't work I'll try ver 3.8.26 (from the Lenovo website)... I'll report back next week.. might try the driver ver you found then, though I'm not hopeful that it's for the same device.

If I reinstall a new driver, that should get round disk problems if the driver is bad because a bad sector on the HD ?

I am a little concerned that the security settings have somehow changed, because twice I have had a message about the T42 being set up for corporate security and using 802.1x ; the security settings for the T42 don't match up with those (in detail) on my newer HP (both are WPA 2 though)

Dumb_Question
9.October.2014

 

OK, last time I looked, it seemed to working.

For several days previously, the T42 had actually been 'seeing' three networks, but was unable to connect to the internet (Acquiring Network Address) by my preferred ne (the only one I had the password to)

The wired Ethernet worked ok (I had to disable internet from my desktop which was using the connection). On the T42 I had disabled the wireless card and enabled the wired card to prevent confusion. I downloaded a file for the Cisco wireless network card from Lenovo website, version 3.8.26.01 it said, I eventually realized that this, being an .exe file was not the actual driver file. I ran the .exe file, and it seemed to set up the network card from scratch via a wizard. It told me that my device was installed and ready to use. When I checked the driver version number it said 3.9.16.0 as before, however. I think I uninstalled the driver at this point and reinstalled it: still ver 3.9.16.0, but I disable the wired Ethernet and enabled the wireless card and lo ! it connected to the internet. (sorry that seems a bit confused, I can't exactly remember what I did when)

I'm not exactly sure how this was made to work, whether it was simply uninstalling the driver and reinstalling it, or whether the exe file was v.3.8.26.01 and contained driver v.3.9.16.0 and it was the new driver & set-up that made it work, or what. When working, I could now 'see' 5 networks, the same as I can on my HP.

Thank you again for your help dj

Dumb_Question
18.October.2014

IBM ThinkPad T42 2373-KEG
1.7GHz P4 - 1024MB RAM - Windows XP Pro

 

Hi,

I apologize for not responding sooner. A family member has been ill, and I've been trying to balance his care, work, etc., and so haven't had a lot of spare time.

It's tough to say, but I'm glad it's working now.

Most likely uninstalling and reinstalling fixed it, as it does with many Windows issues: During an install, the installer script, if written correctly, should check for and correct any issues related to the package it is trying to install, if possible, rectifying any errors it encounters that are strictly related to itself.

I'm glad that it's working!

Regards,

dj