hello I ve bought a Mini PCI 802.11g - Intel Pro wireless 2200BG for an nc 6000, tinking that it will work (designed for pentium M, near of the intel 2100, etc) But, problem : after installing the card, when the computer is starting i have this error message: "104 unsuported wirless network device detected, system alted, remove device and restart" I puted the latest bios: still nothing. Please dont tell me this advice cant work with the nc 6000 ...:( What can i try ? Thank you
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You can't do anything. All nc series notebooks have a BIOS check to make sure that only legal (as defined by the notebook's FCC certification) are allowed. The 2200BG has not been certified with the nc6000, thus the BIOS lock out.
To the moderator - will the nc6000/nc8000 ever be certified for the 2200BG (i.e. bios upgrade made available)? The hardware specs on your website lists the 2200BG as a compatible device, so I too bought one expecting it to work in this machine.
quote is:The HP nc8000 notebook supports a broad range of secure, integrated wireless LAN options featuring support for the latest industry standards. Integrated Bluetooth is also an option and can be combined with any one of the supported wireless LAN options.
The 2200BG is listed as one of the supported devices.
The newer Dothan version of the nc8000 now supports the 2200. When that version of the BIOS is placed on the HP website and downloaded to an Banias nc8000, HP versions of the Intel 2200 will work. The PnP IDs for 2200s in HP notebooks are unique due to platform integration (antenna and power controls) design points. Said another way, 2200s from Dell and IBM machines will continue not work in a HP notebook, only HP versions of the 2200.
I do also face same problem with the 2200BG. Anyone who has a solution even a temporary one? When will HP release a BIOS that enables the support of this device?
Are we any closer to a solution? The HP website clearly says it supports the 2200BG Intel Wireless Card as indicated in a previous message. I have done the BIOS upgrade and....well you know. Can someone from HP please explain when this will become a supported technology??
I have an original Intel (from Intel) 2200BG Mini PCI card. I would like to have this working on my nc 6000. When or what can I do to get this to work???
I just got off the phone with Intel and their take is that HP has to create a BIOS to accept this "OEM" board. I do not think it is fair that we all have to be boxed into purchasing HP "Approved" Intel products. I would like to know when a BIOS that will allow all of us to use this "OEM" based 2200BG Mini-PCI card will be released. This should be the consumers choice!!
There will not be any BIOS that will allow that to happen. Intel made specific changes to their firmware so that it would work in HP notebook computers, that particular firmware is only included in Intel WLAN parts with the HP subsystem vendor ID and the only ones that the HP notebook BIOS will allow.
Made same mistake. Unfortunately, returning card is not an option now that I broke the seal. Good news is that the card does work in my Dell & Toshiba laptops. Guess that is what we get for not purchasing another Dell.
This card works in the HP NX7000 Series Notebook. So it is possible for it to work in HP products they just do not want to allow it in some models??? I don't get it???
Because the nx7000 is an older machine which was developed before the FCC and other countries' regualatory agencies told HP to block the use of WLAN MiniPCI that have not been approved for use with the antennae in the notebook.
I have the Intel 2200 mini PCI card and I can't find a driver that will work with my Dell Inspiron 5150. Brian, you posted that you got the card to work with your Dell. Can you tell me where I can find the driver. I down loaded the Dell driver for thier mini PCI card but I guess it's for a different mini card as the Intel doesn't recognize that driver. Thanks everyone.
I never fail to be amazed at how companies constant try to rip us off. So, even if the card is centrino certified and is the same make and model, hp is going to force us to only buy the hp branded card? I have been a long time compaq business laptop customer, but if this trend keeps going, i'll be looking for the exit sign.
Please send our request to the product manager for this product about the bios or forward his contact information to me so I can have a "chat" with this genius.
This is riduculous !!! I bought a NC 6000 and was just thinking of buying a 2200BG and now u have to buy a HP certified 2200BG for regular price + $ 200 HP markup......I thing this HP strategy will spell DOOM for them. Also, where on PLANET EARTH can u find this crazy HP certified 2200BG ??? I think i made the BIGGEST MISTAKE of my life by buying a HP-COMPAQ ( Hyper-Confusing) brand ....... NEVER will i suggest anybody to buy this piece of JUNK !!!!!! The moderator needs to find a solution for this problem... or BE FIRED ASAP.....as he failed miserablly !!!
Well I bought now 4 cards here. One (a 2100 3B) workes for me. But this is not OK. Isn't it possible to patch the BIOS? It should be possible to use a hex-editor to change the PnP ID?! Where can I find information about the PnP ID's? I do not accept, that FCC or HP forces me to pay 200$ instead of 25$ for the same product!!!
I too have the same problem. I, though, tried booting up the system first then plug the wlan card back in. Amazingly, it works. But soon after you turn off the pc and turn it back on with the card remains inside, u will get the same stupid 104 message again. I think this is something HP does to rip us off ( so that everyone has to buy their cards). If anyone can find the way to get rid off that bios that generates that message please let me know. I'm sure there's a way.
I am having the same problem, and honestly it is rediculous!
Spend $3,000 on a laptop... Heaven forbid you change your mind a few months after you buy it, and decide to get a miniPCI wireless card. Even if you make a herculean effort to ensure compatibility, you may just miss the SINGLE OBSCURE SUPPORT FORUM POST stating that you MUST BUY THE DAMN THING DIRECT FROM HP!
What does this wonderful vendor have to say for itself? Vague references to "FCC certification". This makes no sense, considering anyone can go out and purchase a PCMCIA card that has more capabilities (and more export restrictions) than the miniPCI card.
What really takes the cake is the fact that the card WORKS PERFECTLY in an older laptop (n800c)... GOOD JOB HP! You have rewarded customers who upgrade with decreased functionality.
The difference between a PC Card and a MiniPCI card is that the antennas are integrated with the radio in the PC card, and thus it is able to obtain modular approval from the regulatory agencies. Modular approval allows it to be connected to any host PC system. With the miniPCI cards, the antennas are installed on the host PC platform, seperate from the radio on the card, since the radio/antenna are certified together, a rule was made by the regualatory agencies that the host PC make sure that the certified combination actually exists. If you don't believe, look at the FCC website for HP notebook certifications in question.
Ok, I agree with what you say about FCC regulations but that does not explain why one Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG card will work and why another will not. Obviously you make the overpriced HP ones work and the generic ones not, but in fact, in terms of hardware they are identical so should be within FCC regulations, regardless of the antenna type used if that machine is allowed to use 2200BG cards. I got so bored of the fiasco that I'm ditching my HP notebook for a Toshiba Tecra now anyway.
While the hardware is the same, the firmware is different, thus the different PCI IDs. The difference is mainly in the LED and radio power control areas. HP notebooks have a single wireless LED that both the WLAN and Bluetooth devices provide input for. Also HP notebooks have a platform wide wireless disable via a hardware button. The generic 2200BGs do not have this support and will not work correctly in a HP notebook, especially one with a integrated Bluetooth device. Other notebook vendors are not attempting to have a combined WLAN and WPAN experience like HP.
In that case someone should make the firmware available so you can update the cards to make them compatible (if the hardware is the same) - but they wouldn't, because they are quite happy to charge £80 for a £20 part. My nc6000 does not have a single LED as far as I can tell. Also there are multiple reports of people booting the machine, putting it into suspend mode and then inserting the card and it working fine, so I don't really buy that excuse of the card being 'special'. It boils down to greediness, and as a result, HP will be losing a huge number of customers to
I wouldn't get a 2200BG because there are so many about. If you must get anything might as well get the HP W500.
I ditched my nc6000 now in favour of an IBM T41p which has all the wireless stuff built-in and a non-crippled GPU (rumours are about that the nc6000 is fitted with a Mobility Radeon 9600SE - 64-bit memory bus). I did like my nc6000, but I like my ThinkPad more...
The cards are physically identical and only differ by firmware IDs. The first excuse was blamed on FCC rules re: interactions between card and different antenna (since these are passive, this sounds bogus). SO.. why do non-American HP customers have to suffer these US-only "FCC restrictions?" Why not supply a BIOS option to turn the lock off for non-Americans - not every country agrees with the FCC - or even cares. The whole point of a laptop is to travel and not be restricted to one country - why this US-centric restriction?
The later second excuse (since we we're unconvinced of the first one) was the stupid HP LED/button - so what if it's flakey, give us the option, we're grown-ups!!! It states on your website that the i2200 & nc6000 are compatible - of course they are, they are Intel-approved Centrino components!
The REAL excuse: because HP prefer to charge a huge markup on generic cards. Now, look what's happened to Microsoft in the courts over anti-competitive practices.. wise-up before it's too late HP. Either supply an unlocked BIOS or we demand you compensate us with a 1-for-1 trade-in for our official Intel 2200's for your corporate-hacked ones.
Well said. There is the same problem with IBM laptops as well but there is a prevailance of compatible cards on eBay which you can get for around £20 nowadays (still a bit more than normal but not so bad). A Lucent card for IBM I purchased didn't work properly with the wireless LED but who really cares? As HP hasn't bothered to upgrade its laptop fleet in recent times they are falling behind so the next machine after the IBM T41p I have now probably won't be an H
There is no firmware difference between the HP cards and any other Intel ones. The Pro/Wireless series has the firmware downloaded to it by the drivers - it has none on board. It's easy enough to veryify this - the Linux drivers include a firmware file, and the same firmware file works with any model of card.
The vendor ID that differs between the HP cards and other versions is read from a small EEPROM on power on, which is the standard way of dealing with production of near-identical hardware. It's possible that the EEPROM contains some other paramaters that control things like signal strength.
Of course, it would be nice to see a pointer to the FCC regulation that requires this. I've been unable to find one, and the FCC don't seem to be rushing to prosecute vendors like Dell (who don't implement any form of locking)
I have a Pavilion ZD7040ea Laptop and also feel ripped off by HP's stance on this issue. The moderator is also misleading people on this thread! He states "Also HP notebooks have a platform wide wireless disable via a hardware button. The generic 2200BGs do not have this support and will not work correctly in a HP notebook......"
Well, if you insert the Intel 2200BG in Standby mode and the re-activate windows the card is detected and works fine. What is also "pleasing" is the the Hardware Button also works without a hitch!! The software even tells you to turn the card on via the hardware button!! Of course, a full reboot causes the error message which is just an attempt make users buy repackaged cards at prices up to three times more than the others. For these there seem to be only approved suppliers and there is no deviation on price. Isn't this practice of market control and price fixing illegal?
I have actually bought a genuine HP W500 Wlan card and it doesn't work either ... 104 error.
It worked the first time I installed it and now I reboot and I get the 104 every time, I have spoken to HP and they say it's a known issue between this card and the NC6000 .... even though you can buy a NC6000 with the W500 card in from HP ?? wtf is going on !!
They will not have it back either because I have broken the seal. Come on HP sort yourself out.
If I was in HP's boots I would release a BIOS fix to allow generic wlan cards ASAP before loyal customers such as myself jump ship.
IBM started this, HP/Compag is just following along. The good news is that there are bios hex editors that can modify the "check for unsupported device bit" on IBM's and instructions you can Google to turn off the pesky little thing. So far no HP hack is available, but it's only a matter of time. The thing is is this, I appreciate that the FCC might not have approved the whole antenna/card thing but as long as what hp ships doesn't break fcc regs, then what the consumer does afterwards is not HP's problem. this is all just a nice excuse to FLAY the consumer's wallet.
OH and the FCC.gov's tech docs on antenna and power outputs provide an acceptable range to comply with certification. any MARKETABLE wifi MiniPCI card will mate with any MARKETABLE antenna setup and still comply with the FCC Certification. Hence the reason DELL hasn't gone bios bonkers.
Mark, I want to thank you for the link to the NC8000 solution about this.
Just one quick question, tho. You said you got this to work on your nc8000. I also have an nc8000 with the i855 chipset. My BIOS rev. was F.14 (68BAR) family.
I tool the BIOS back to F.0C, and even pulled the internal batt for about 10 minutes.
However my new 2200 still wouldn't recognize.
Can you pls tell me specifically what you did to get around that stupid 104 error? What BIOS rev. did you have to downgrade to? Is there a hex editor for the nc8000 bios?
I don't even know who wrote the bios. Is it a Phoenix? And finally is there a procedure or workaround - or any way (besides Linux) to hack this machine's bios, even if it is just to disable the check bit? Many many thanks!
I have a solution thanks to whiteheat and druid cz from x1000 forums that allows you to use any Intel Pro Wireless 2200BG card inside your HP laptop.
Before, I received the error 104: unsupported wireless card, now my NC8000 laptop will boot perfectly. Now you can buy your card for < £25.00 instead of HP's £60 + vat + p&p.
First off if you don't have linux installed you will need to go to www.knoppix.org and download KNOPPIX_V3.8.2-2005-05-05-EN.iso, then burn the cd
You need to have the card install during the boot sequence so, have your laptop open and bootup, when you see the boot:_ line insert the card then press enter. Knoppix will autodetect the card & the bios wont complain.
Once knoppix has booted:
Click on the penguin on the taskbar and select "Root Shell", then the following command (from now on any line that begins with a # is a command to be typed at the Root prompt: #iwconfig You will get a list of ethernet adapters, eth0, eth1 etc. The wireless one should be quite obvious from the text displayed after it with all the wireless parameters! #ethtool -e ethX Obviously replace the 'X' with the index of your wireless card you found above. You will get a hex dump of the 256 bytes of EEPROM data. Note: There is nothing dangerous in the above steps at all.
If you want to writing to your EEPROM (You can seriously screw your card up so be careful ):
I want also to now if someone try this on HP pavilion zt3000? I have the same messages: 104 unsuported wirless network device detected, system alted, remove device and restart"
My OEM 2200BG arrived this morning and exhibited the same issues: "104 unsupported wireless network device"...
I've just followed the advice above about using Knoppix and altering the EEPROM I now have the card working in my nc6000.
Points to bear in mind. 1. You have to insert the card while the laptop is switched on which is a bit fiddly 2. Make sure you don't accidently touch the aerial connectors onto the laptop's circuit boards while it is turned on. I taped mine up.
Other than that what can I say? It worked exactly as described! Thanks Mark
Hello All, I'm new to this forum, I too bought the Intel Pro 2200bg mini card for my nc6000. And like all of you got the 104 error. I am wondering is there any other cards other then the HP branded card that will work in this laptop? Maybe the Intel 2100b I know it is only 11 MB but I dont have a huge speed requirement. Any help would be great thanks
The method I have shown above should work with any 2200bg card for most HP laptop models.
(hypothesis): You may have the problem of getting just 0's in the eeprom dump by inserting the card too late so insert the card when knoppix shows the "boot:" line, just before you press enter to boot. If you are unhappy with this unorthodox approach to inserting a mini pci card then it is possible to use the same method with a pci to mini pci converter for your pc.
Alternatively you may receive just 0's if you are probing the wrong device. Make sure you are entering the correct eth0 / eth1 / eth2 for your 2200bg device.
I can't stress enough that the capital -E in the ethtool command is necessary. a lower case "e" will effectively do a dummy write and therefore will throughly confuse you (something that took me many hours to solve!)
Hope this is of help. Mark
N.B this method will work for many types of notebook however a different subsystem ID must be written.
for HP Europe 12F6103C is the code.
Many of these codes can be found in one of the ipw-2200 config files. I cannot remember the exact file however solong as you have followed the instructions to extract the ipw2200.tar.gz file then the required information is in the directory /usr/tmp/ipw2200-1.0.3/
using the code you have found, replace 12F6103C in the ethtool writing commands and voila you can now use this card with notebooks such as IBM, FUJITSU, SONY. The entire list is in the driver file in that directory. You can open the file in somethign like KWrite.
I also have a nc6000 en just bought a mini PCI Intel Pro Wireless 2915ABG card. And i also get the 104 message. I saw the eeprom solution from Mark Wrightson for the 2200 series. My question is, can i use the same procedure or should i use different codes?
Mark (if you're still monitoring the thread) and others, I'm having problems with the procedure - the "sh unload" step doesn't work - I get the following output:
ERROR: Removing 'ipw2200': Device or resource busy ERROR: Module ieee80211 is in use by ipw2200 ERROR: Module ieee80211_crypt is in use by ipw2200,ieee80211 Unloaded: ipw2200 ieee80211 ieee80211_crypt
(the final "Unloaded" line is bogus)
I even tried running "modprobe -frv ipw2200", but this results in:
My "iwconfig" output prior to this was: eth1 unassociated ESSID:off/any Mode:Managed Channel=0 Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00 Bit Rate=0 kb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off Encryption key:off Power Management:off Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0 Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0 Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
After attempting an unload, there's not even an entry for eth1.
Unfortunately, I can't reboot after I build the new ipw2200 drivers, because this is just a Knoppix session - a reboot will start over with the original drivers.
Any Linux gurus with suggestions on how to unload this driver?
HP Pavilion zt3017ea last Working bios with ipw2200bg version f.34 New bios version f.53 now works
But i used KNOPPIX_V3.9-2005-05-27 and skiped the ipw2200.tar.gz part. The only problem i had was i have a enable/disable button to turn the wireless on/off which caused a bit of trouble becuase i was not able to enable it after reinserting the card so I went back to bios version f.34, followed the instructions updated to lastest bios version f.53 and presto! it works :)
i remember now that i did have a similar / same problem with sh unload. The solution to this problem is as follows:
use qtparted ( found in the main menu under system maybe?)to repartition your hdd (a 2/3 gig partition will suffice) then open up a command line and run: (# denotes a command)
#knx2hd
then follow onscreen instructions u may need 2 log in as root before running this command:
#su #passwd assign a password #sudo su then password
now run #knx2hd
This should get around the unload problem. N.B. I used Knoppix 3.8.2 _______________________________
As for the wireless switch prob:
I always have the switch on so: turn on power immediately press wireless ( if it isnt already on) insert card (as described previously)
_______________________________
Now for the card variety prob:
re read my previous post there is a variety of codes in the config files in the ipw-2200 directory for various manufacturers and (i didnt mention this) different intel card models. I am almost certain codes for the 2100, 2200 & 2915 are in those files.
The HP codes may be identical for all 3 but I dont have the time to check so have described howto instead.
_______________________________
Regards Mark Wrightson P.S. I will remain to monitor this post, however HP's notification system doesn't seem to be too quick - as in i received their email today!
I tried the solution on http://stachon.webpark.cz/ipw-eeprom.html and used these settings.. # 0x1352 is HP code for 2915ABG, European version ethtool -E eth1 magic 0x2200 offset 0x8 value 0x52 ethtool -E eth1 magic 0x2200 offset 0x9 value 0x13 # 0x103c is HP ethtool -E eth1 magic 0x2200 offset 0xa value 0x3c ethtool -E eth1 magic 0x2200 offset 0xb value 0x10
When i check after boot i still get the message that the card is unsupported. So i again checked the eeprom output with ethtool -e eth0 and it looks like the programming worked. Because i see the altered settings.
My sincere apologies folks. All of the approprate sub system ids can be found in the windows inf drivers! (D:\Drivers\w29n51.inf) NOT the Linux folders. A small recommendation is to view this file in linux where it is colour coded (i think KWrite does this) as it gets quite tedious looking at plain black text!. I will try and list all HP codes for the 2100, 2220 & 2915 cards (full size window may be useful here!):
%NIC_MPCI3B% = Install_HPQMPCI3B_MOW_AE_W2k, PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4223&SUBSYS_1351103C ; HP 2915ABG mPCI 3B Americas/Europe ZZA %NIC_MPCI3B% = Install_HPQMPCI3B_MOW_AE_W2k, PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4223&SUBSYS_1352103C ; HP 2915ABG mPCI 3B Europe ZZE %NIC_MPCI3B% = Install_HPQMPCI3B_MOW_JP_W2k, PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4223&SUBSYS_1353103C ; HP 2915ABG mPCI 3B Japan ZZJ %NIC_MPCI3B% = Install_HPQMPCI3B_MOW_HB_W2k, PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4223&SUBSYS_1354103C ; HP 2915ABG mPCI 3B High-Band ZZH
What model laptop are you using? Are you running the process through Knoppix?
If you change 1352 to 4223 the card may try and behave like a 2200 card & therefore mostlikely fail to operate. your subsystem id seems sound. One question though, is it definitely eth0?
Is the 2915 card a listed device for your laptop in the machine spec because if it is not then it is likely that even a subsystem id will not work.
I'm using a nc 6000. And i used your suggested method with knoppix 3.8. I'm sure it's eth0 because it's the only device which has wireless capabilities if i give the iwconfig command. Where can i check if the 2915 is a listed device for my nc6000 ?
I would be interested to find out whether the 2915 would work with a 2200 sub system id (if anyone would be willing to try??!!??)
Regards Mark
P.S. I am glad I can provide superior tech support compared to HP customer care! FYI: when I rang them about this case - they were using this thread as their source (this was before i posted the solution!) Hopefully this will filter into their system & they will then be able to pass this info on!
first off thank you mark for everything you have done here. I (and I am sure other people) greatly appreciate the time and effort.
I have read with great interest on these workarounds. I have an nc8000 and like many other people purchased an intel pro 2200 b/g mini pci card and of cousre i got the "104" unsupported wireless device error.
I have followed the ionstructions you mentioned to the letter and still i get nothing but 0's. Ihave tried to downgrade the BIOS to the ealiest on HPs website and tried again; still no luck. I tried to go find more info using the link that mark posted but it seems to be closed.
Mark do you have any ideas? Does the rev of the knoppix make a difference? I used 3.9... I probed both (eth0, eth2)
Please help or if there is perhaps another workaround i will try it all.
I also had the 104 error on my nx6110 (PT601ET) (Bios F.6) notebook after I replaced the HP Broadcom 54g with an Intel Pro wireless 2200BG mini-pci card (for better Ubuntu Linux compatibility) . Using Marks solution on my desktop PC wit a mini-pci pci-adapter card and Knoppix live CD 3.8 I have got ride of the unnecessary 104 error and the Intel card is working 100%.
Thank you Mark and all who have helped.
The price for the HP INTEL WLAN mini PCI (PF952AA) in Germany is 95,- to 150,- €, I bought the original Intel card for 23,- € on E-Bay!
I have an nc8000 myself & i detect the card as eth2. Knoppix v3.9 has the kernel version 2.6.11 ( if i remember correctly). To successfully write to the card you need to use kernel v2.4 or greater (so you should be fine). Can you confirm that the card actually works?
A test method is as follows:
boot into windows go into standby insert wireless card power back up run add new hardware wizard DONT RESTART!!
You now have bypassed the bios restriction & it should successfully work in windows. If you can't get the card to work atall using this method, then you card may well be dead. Alternatively, you could test it in a unrestricted laptop!
have you tried writing anything to the eeprom & then seeing whether the output changes? if it does then you may need 2 reprogram the whole eeprom of the card? if necessary then i could post my eeprom dump.
i finally got it to work. oddly enough i had to interrupt the knoppix install install the card then and then resume the knoppix install. after that everything worked like a charm. Thanks a bunch. Its amazing what a google search will bring you :-). One more question:
If I update the BIOS will I have to redo this procedure or should i be set/
Thanks again for the assistance and your knowledge. I learned alot!
Hassan, Im glad you got it to work. I assume you had the install problem because you were running the live knoppix cd whereas i ran knoppix from my hdd so therefore i had installed my card & restarted?
If you update the bios, you wont have to repeat this process because the bios wont change the w/lan firmware. (dont hold me to it though!!)
Pricegrabber.com shows various 2200BG cards available for $30 ish USA or less. But even spending much time @ Intel gives me no info as to their differences . Any ideas ?
Re: the above babble. You can not buy or download a generic Phoenix Bios. Even if you could ..it would not work on the NC6000. Laptop Bioses are VERY specific. IBM thinkpads also check for "compatible " cards while booting. I assume that Apple would also. Note that Dell does not, and most Dell laptops work with most wireless cards. Odd...eh ?
the fix that mark posted works...i can attest to that! so why all of the talk about BIOS rewriting (and potentially hosing) your machine From start to finish maybe 45 minutes tops and that includes downloading knoppix. its that simple and except for a couple of hiccups (read above posts for details; with mine I had to interrupt the knoppix install because I ran the session off of the CD not the HD.) Oh...and to answer the above question about why didnt he buy a Mac... A comparable mac would have probably cost 40 to 80% more....You would be limited to all of 2 rows of software selections...and really there is nothing more propietary than a Mac
I'm having the same problem you were (all zeros) with Knoppix 3.9. Could you explain what you mean about interrupting the Knoppix install? Where did you interrupt it and how? How did you restart it? Do you mean the process of installing Knoppix to the hard disk or the process of booting Knoppix from the CD?
Never mind. I repartitioned my hard drive and installed Knoppix 3.9 on it. This cleared up the all-zeros problem (why? anyone?).
Other than that, I followed the steps above and everything worked exactly as it ought to. My nc4000 is now booting with a Dell 2200bg card ($37 CAD after shipping & currency conversion from the US versus $113.85 CDN after tax for a HP W500 here in Toronto).
Incidentally, for anyone interested, I'm using the North American subsystem ID with a European nc4000.
Also, while the x1000 forums seem to be down, there's a related discussion still accessible at AnandTech:
Ok, I'm running an HP ze4560us and I am not sure if this problem will apply to me, but I thought I would ask about it just in case. I have ordered the PrismGT card and internal antenna for installing in my laptop, but the LT uses a Broadcom chipset originally, so I am wondering if that is going to cause problems with a BIOS whitelist. Anyone had experience with this at all?
Do these EEPROM edits need to be done in the notebook or can they be done in a MiniPci/PCI card running in a Linux machine?
I have a OEM Broadcom or an Seneo card I'd like to put into my R3000. So long as the id's are valid the card should bypass the 104 error. Am I understanding this workaround correctly.
This will work as well. As a matter of fact I was going to do it that way but I could not find a mini pci adapter any where around locally. If you have one go for it.
Does any one know why HP allows this forum thread? It seems that its not in there best interest to allow people to find out how to circumvent their crappy blatant attempt to take our money.
I have problem with my Intel Pro wireless 2200bg and HP ze4913. Ethtool write those numbers like it should but when I restart my notebook I still get that 104 error. When I check it after restart with ethtool it hasnt changed anything.
I own a Compaq NC4000. And a Intel 2200BG card was installed in the machine and it worked fine. But after I upgraded the bios to newest version the computer wouldn't let me boot anymore. Why is it that a card that came with the machine from the shop is suddenly not accepted?
I have a HP NC6000 and I just buy a Intel Pro wireless 2915ABG minipci card. Can you please told me what exactly have you done to work with NC6000. I try all the combination detailed on the forum, but it still not working.
I just wanted to say that I had to start my nx6110 with orginal wireless card inserted till "boot:" and then replace that card to new one, coz if it detect no card inserted while starting up then it disable embedded wlan radio in BIOS and dont allow to manipulate with card (Thats why I got only 0 in "ethtool -e eth0")
if you (or somebody else who knows) is still watching this forum, I can't get past the "sh unload" command - I get the same problems that other people have. I have even loaded Knoppix onto my Hard drive and it still gives me the stupid error that the "device or resource is busy". What do I need to do?
I have an NC6220 laptop purchased with HP's WNIC. Seemed fine at first, but then I loaded RHEL 4 WS as dual boot and couldn't get wireless to work. I tried the IPW2200 firmware and drivers I could find but still no success.
Now the wireless doesn't work in either Linux or XP. XP recognizes it, but won't let me turn it on. LED button has no effect, status bar option is grayed out, and the Intel Pro Set software says it is turned off and I need to click the "Wireless On" button below - but there is no button.
If you've loaded knoppix to your HD, then after you patch the ipw driver, just reboot. it will load the new driver when you reboot and you will then be able to write the eeprom on the card.
Greg, I can't patch the driver. I'll go in depth a little more and perhaps you can tell me what I am doing wrong. When I get to the part where I type in "sh unload", the computer does nothing. It just sits there. It doesn't display anything extra and the CPU light shows that it isn't thinking about anything. One time I let it sit for about an hour and it still did nothing. So I hit Ctrl+Z to stop the command. If I type the command again after hitting Ctrl+Z, I get this message:
ERROR: Removing 'ipw2200': Device or resource busy ERROR: Module ieee80211 is in use by ipw2200 ERROR: Module ieee80211_crypt is in use by ipw2200,ieee80211 Unloaded: ipw2200 ieee80211 ieee80211_crypt
It ALWAYS hangs the first time I run the 'sh unload' command. So that's where I'm being stopped.
One thing that might be the problem is my install of Linux. I was running it off of the CD and was having the same problem. So I tried installing it on the HDD, but I wasn't sure what I was doing. I shrunk my windows partition, created a 4GB partition and it formatted it as ext3. When I boot into it, one of the things I noticed when it is loading is it says "Filesystem is NOT clean. Filesystem seems mounted read-only. Skipping journal replay."
If I need to redo the format, what do I format it as? I was completely lost when I saw all the options in the partition program (qtrepart or whatever it is).
------------------------------------------
Justin,
If you've loaded knoppix to your HD, then after you patch the ipw driver, just reboot. it will load the new driver when you reboot and you will then be able to write the eeprom on the card.
Thanks Mark. It worked for me perfectly !! I have done it through knopxx CD and did'nt have it installed in HD. Initially it was showing all zero for the hex dump for the adapter. I tried restarting and installing card 3 times during boot sequence .. but then I saw that I forgot to "power up" the adapter and there it goes .. it came up with the hex dump of Eprom data ( with card already in and Linux already up and root shell ). This makes me believe that the card can be installed prior to booting from the linux CD. Make sure the cards fits properly in the slot. After booting up and going to root shell just try to power your adapter. Finally follow the instructions from Mark.
I have a HP Compaq NC6000 and bought a Intel BG2200 Mini PCI adapter. I used the method from Mark Wrightson and it worked. Now I can use the WLAN adapter in my NC6000. Mark and all others, thank you very much!
The only problem I have is that my Wireless Button and Bluetooth isn't working any more. Is there a way I can get these to work. The wireless button is not that important, but it would be great if Bluetooth worked. Are there other NC 6000 owners that used M.W.'s solution and have Bluetooth working?
Check that you entered the correct sub system id code for your laptop, card & location. I know ibm cards have a different pinout for their hardware switch so it could be the same across continents. I have an NC8000 with a 2200bg & bluetooth and the hardware switch works flawlessly.
I am also having the same problem after the command sh unload. it does nothing but sits there. What do I need to do to get around my problem with sh unload? Please Someone Help...
>Check that you entered the correct sub >system id code for your laptop, card & >location. I know ibm cards have a >different pinout for their hardware switch >so it could be the same across continents. >I have an NC8000 with a 2200bg & bluetooth >and the hardware switch works flawlessly.
I don't understand what you say, I just used these in KNOPPIX.
ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x2200 offset 0x8 value 0xf5 ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x2200 offset 0x9 value 0x12 ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x2200 offset 0xa value 0x3c ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x2200 offset 0xb value 0x10
I'm not sure my Card is from USA, it can be from Europe too. I bought it on a Ebay auction. Can that be the problem?
I couldn't let this work on my v2000z. Probably HP modified the BIOS checking in Auguest after noticing this thread. The laptop was shipped in the end of the last month with BIOS F.0A. I have no idea about the BIOS version because the bios listed in the support page is totally different with that one.
Can someone may a EEPROM dump for a HP certified card? I may do some research on that. Thanks
I have an nx5000 and also purchased an aftermarket BG2200 only to find the problem. At first I tried to do the write using the Koppix cd without using the new driver, it let me write but when I restarted the computer it had not made any permanent changes. I finally downloaded the ipw2200-1.0.3.gz file and did the sh unload and the sh load but it still would not let me write to the card. I ended the session and when the new session started it let me write with no errors. I don't have blue tooth but the hardware switch and the led both work.
Is there nobody with the same problem? Or somebody that has the same configuration but has bluetooth working? Should I give up my hope or is there a solution? I photographed my card, maybe it can help finding a solution.
Hi all, i just discovered this thread & problem and read all this discussion carefully.
I was willing to buy a new minipci wifi card for my NC6000 like many of you. But i'd like to buy a b/g or a/b/g Atheros powered card.
Thus, something different than a IPW one. I'd like to know if anyone has ever experienced that, if i should more focus on trying to change the ID of the card itself or finding a more general solution by hacking the BIOS itself.
At first I have a NX7010 and 2915ABGEUX. It works fine and quick without errors with a Bios F.34. Every other Bios up to F.55 results in a 104 Error. I changed with Knoppix the offset and made a control with ethtool -e eth0 if all was written. Everthing was changed in the EEPROM but it still produces the error with Bioses above F.34. Next I wanted to control the offset of the original 2100 but ethtool did'nt allow me to read the EEPROM or there is no one.I am sure that HP changed something with 2915 cards, so please help me if you can and have working 2915ABG with F.55
P.S. I think it's my last HP and I will tell the story to my company which policies HP persues. Lidl and Aldi(Hofer) Notebooks accept the mPCI-cards and have no whitelist policy and are extreme cheaper.
ADD Now I see a little bit clearer, because HP double exclude the 2915abg. First the notebook must be in the "Supportlist" e.g nx7010 is not and there are only 8 notebooks supported. Second thing is where we have a solution changing the offset. The Bios check two things first the model of your notebook and then the mPCI-card. If anybody can help please help! At this time you can only work with F.34 or patched 2200BG with all Bioses.
Im almost certain that by installing a card into your laptop will not void the warranty. Similarly your warranty would not be void if you installed extra RAM. IMHO, by using the process I have described it will only void your w/lan card warranty.
I tried to change eeprom of 2200BG and I have killed eeprom of Broadcom 44x on my nx6110 ethernet adapter :( I got zeros when tryed to read eeprom by ethtool -e eth1 (eth0 was broadcom) and then I write there but after reloading modules I still get zeros from eth0. And now Broadcom does make view of working and not more :( Linux logs something about BUG in b44. Help me please to recover Broadcom eeprom!
Hi! I got a ipw2100 (Toshiba) mpci Card from ebay for my nc6000 Notebook. After installing it, i got the known 104 message.. Will the Methode, explained above also work with the ipw2100 Card? Any Experiences? Greetz from Aachen! Max
I have the same above problem using the knoppix 4.0 CD, does it matter if i use the 3.8 CD? I wonder what causes the invalid module format error. I am trying to fit the 2200bg card on a nc4010. Any help or hint is appreciated.
I've also thried the Knoppix 3.8.2 CD and if I use that I get all zeros when I issue the ethtool -e et0 command. This is inserting the card before hitting enter at the boot: prompt. Ubuntu livecd did the same though. With the OS installed I can access the eeprom but cannot do sh load...
I have figured out at least my "all 0" problem. It is because my hp's wireless is not turned on. After linux boot up, ethtool -e eth0 shows all 0, then I pressed the wireless hardware button, do ethtool again, the dump is fine, and i proceeded with mark's instruction and viola my intel 2200bg is now working, Thanks for all the great info here.
mops, Did you check your bios to set the hardware wireless button to be "enabled" instead of disabled? I think you should make sure you are turning on the minipci card, before investigating other areas (such as a bad card, etc) to solve the "all 0" problem.
I checked the bios and there was an option set to disable wireless, I unchecked it.
I'm installing an older version of ubuntu on my laptop and I get the folloing msg during installation:
"eth0 appears to have been disabled by means of a physical "kill switch". If you intend to use this interface, please switch it on before continuing."
Pressing the wireless button, does nothing, the LED does not light up either. So it does not look like the card is turning on, maybe I should try an older laptop bios with the card and see what happens.
The nx9010 laptop boots fine with a 2200BG card installed. There are no BIOS issues with the nx9010.
Before you buy the card though open the flap/door for the wireless card and first check if you can see the integrated antenna cables, I saw none in a friends nx9010. Alternative get the service manul from the HP site and see what gives. Where do you connect the antenna cables to ???
Dec 7, 2004 09:34:33 GMT Unassigned Does anyone knows if the same problems have nx9010?
Nothing I tried on my nx6110 would work with the knoppix solution above.
I eventually borrowed a friends nx9010, loaded the knoppix cd, followed the procedure without any problems. Reinstalled the 2200BG into my nx6110 and no more error 104 !!!
So I'm up and running. Only thing is how do I get the LED to work, switch works but not the LED....
Thanks for this solution, I now have very cheap wireless LAN that works
Don't bother buying an intel 2200BG. Get an HP W400 instead. It is based on the Atheros AR5002G chipset, capable of extended range opertation and throughput enhancement. It is avaliable here:
I have been using this without a hitch since I bought it a week ago for my nc4010. Works perfectly with a netgear WGT624 router (108mbps turbo mode fully supported) and Apple's AirPort extreme base station. Both using WPA2, 802.1x and AES encryption.
MIPS, how did you solve the problem of the modules not loading? I have the same thing happening, using knoppix 4.0, solved my problem of all zeros only to have this happen.
I could never get it to work with my notebook. I ended up borrowing a friends nx9010 for 30mins and reprogrammed my card with his notebook & my knoppix cd.
Try and borrow a laptop (different make/model) from someone for a few minutes.
I Just browsed through the whole thread, my oh my, what a story... It's striking that the moderator went silent just after Mark came up with that brilliant solution ;-) I think HP should realy consider a change of policy, this is truly ludicrous.
I just got me a secondhand NC8000, very happy til I discovered that there isnt a wireless card onboard, my mistake offcourse. So I began browsing the net, on the search for a wireless solution. What first seemed more or less straighforward turned into a maze ;)
What kind/brand of Wireless adapter (for internal use in the NC8000) would you recommend at this time? The intel BG2200, or the W400/500 or ... ?
depends on what you value more - your time or your money! an intel 2200 can be had for <$20 on ebay, but requires the workaround posted in this thread; whereas the w400 or w500 costs significantly more, but should (theoretically) be a straightforward install.
i can tell you i got the 2200 working in my nc8000, but only after a lot of frustration, which is probably the sentiment of most of the people on this thread.
Quite right, and that's exactly what HP aims at I reckon, discourage by obstruction. If one throws up enough barriers, ppl give in to avoid the hassle.
But I just wanted to know what the best card is, fysically, performance- & options-wise.
If the BG2200 is as good as the W400-500 then I'd definately go for the 2200 budget one that needs the 'tweaking'. It should also be straightforward now thanks to Marks efforts that paved the way. And it'd be an oportunity to get to know Knoppix a little bit better ;-)
Is it possible to buy another keyboard somewhere? I got the UK version and I'd love to swap it for a regular qwerty.
I've purchased an intel BG2200 card for 25 euro a few days ago, and as to be expected, the 104 error appeared.
Mark's prescription worked like a charm ;-) I've tried Knoppix 4.0.2 and 3.7 (had them laying around) but 3.7 didn't recognize the card, and 4.0.2 didn't digest the sh load/unload very well, so eventually I downloaded 3.8.2 which did the job just fine.
Thanks for the solution Mark Wrightson! I have been reading this thread since yesterday. I was challenged to make it work on my hp the same way you guys did. : )
Thanks to Mike Temples for being the only NX5000 user who posted his solution. I also have the same model and encountered the same problem as you did. After restarting the session, I was able to write to the eeprom.
M.Janssen, I can use my wireless button for my bluetooth and intel mpci 2200 bg. No problems here : ) Before rebooting from Winxp for Knoppix, I had my wireless button on with bluetooth and wlan enabled (software).
A lot of thanks Mark Wrightson! I do it for my Pavilion ZT3010us and intel 2200bg card. About "all 0" problem. After I insert 2200bg card and start Knoppix, w.button and led doesn't work, dump was "all 0". I solve it this way: 1. Start laptop with original card. 2. Press wireless button, led on. 3. When Knoppix "boot" appear, remove old card and insert new one (led still on). 4. Press Enter and next steps acording procedure. Now all works right (include button and led). P.S. Sorry for my bad English.
With my bluetooth and intel 2200 bg mpci being controlled by my wireless button, led behavior has somewhat changed. Previously it will just be on or off with either wlan or bluetooth enabled or disabled. It also didnt matter if I was connected or not.
Now, LED blinks if I have wlan enabled but am not connected. As soon as I get connected, it stops blinking and is on. With bluetooth, its just the same as before. The blinking led now provides me with a visual alarm if Im not connected to the router. Thats a cool feature! : )
The ultimate solution is to patch the damn BIOS check. Who can bring it out? I am buying a nc4200 which is also have this restrictions with my Atheros card.
We (actually x1000 forums) have already found the best (& safest)solution. Messing with the bios in that way could render your machine useless. Messing with a mpci card wont break the bank if it all goes pear shaped - £20 or £600+?
There is this saying: if it aint broke, dont fix it. - its been fixed once, why bother try & fix it again?
All these advances have been great, but something is still "broke" as there is still work to do - we need to find a good way to get generic Atheros cards (the only chipset worth a damn IMO) to work with HP laptops in both windows and linux. Dagarlas did a great job getting an atheros adapter to work in Linux, but myself (and others I'm sure) use both OSes and need the card to work in both. The problem is, not too many people have experience with Windows drivers, as they usually work "out of the box" and nobody is interested in fooling with them.
Schneider is right. I am finding a way to debug the damn BIOS check. seems it is possible and debug with a simulator is very safe. You can goto the following address to find a way: http://www.eltan.com/biosdebug.htm
First off, many thanks to Mark. I purchased a 2200bg card w/o knowing about this bios lock. I received a Dell marked card and no matter what I did, I couldn't get the card to work in my laptop. I tried different Live CDs with differing results (unload, load probs). Finally I tried what mips did and borrowed a dell w/ knoppix 3.8 and viola! it worked. However, now my led (dv1000 laptop) only flashes when connected and is off otherwise. My question is, "Is the 12F5103C subsystem the same as if I used a HP branded US card? is this some sort of firmware issue that can be fixed via eeprom?"
Sorry, two questions, but if anyone has figured this out I would greatly appreciate it.
I have a nx7010 which I bought the Inte PRO 2200BG card for. Everything worked fine until I was stupid enough to upgrade bios firmware. I found a downgrade but not old enough.
I have tried the ethtool tweak but without the unload and load procedure. The numbers I enter are wiped away as soon as I reload the modules. It doesn't seem to write it very permanently.
If I can find an even older bios version maybe this wont be a problem anymore? Any other suggestions?
Turn on PC without 2200bg card to avoid bios message. Insert 2200bg card as soon as Windows begins to boot. Install 2200bg drivers when asked.
Now blue leds are on.
Insert Knoppix CD and reboot PC (do not turn off, just reboot) Remove 2200bg card when windows ends the shutting down and just before PC reboot (fast!!!)
Blue leds are off (don't worry...)
Insert 2200bg card at knoppix boot prompt Press enter to boot
Start Root Shell from the taskbar penguin menu #iwconfig Look for your wireless card (ethX) #ethtool -e ethX You will get a not zero-filled eeprom dump
Follow previous instructions. After #shunload and #shload you will get a zero-filled eeprom dump with #iwconfig command Don't worry! Just press wireless button, blue leds still off but #iwconfig will return a good dump. Write the eeprom with #ethtool commands and you're done!
And yes, you will have 2200bg drivers already installed ;)
I Have a NC 6000 and I bought 2 wireless PCI cards. I first tried the Intel Pro 2915ABG, but every variation I tried with the KNOPPIX hack I couldn't get it to work. I did get the laptop to boot but I couldn't get the wireless card to work even with forced loading of the correct drivers. I eventually gave up on this card and then I tried with the Intel PRO 2200BG. After modding the eeprom with the KNOPPIX hack, BINGO. Worked first time perfectly. 2200BG drivers loaded fine and wireless networking has never been better. The help that this site has provided me has been invaluable. I am really blown away by the ingeniousness of some of the people here. Keep up the fantastic work.
did you get the correct code for the 2915 card? the 12f6103c & 12f5103c are only for the 2200bg cards. Codes for other cards can be found in my post dated Jul 4, 2005 20:24:49.
iam wondering if anyone tried to use this hack with any SuperG (108Mb) card?
can anyone tell me what exacly does this firmware ID change do in windows? I mean, if i flash "Atheros or Gigabyte (with atheros chip) Wlan Mini Pci 802.11abg 108 Mbit Super A G, or just b/g/superG" whit HP's W500 ID will i get W500 card in windows or will windows recognise it normaly as atheros card? In theory could this work?
I personally have a v2000 with a generic atheros 5004 card, and I have been looking over the windows drivers and such, and it SEEMS that if you set the IDs correctly in the INF files that it will install the right drivers. I haven't done a whole lot of experimentation yet, but what I plan to do is clone the IDs from the intel card and flash them to the atheros card, then change the IDs in the atheros INF file to the ones from the intel card.
I really can't understand why all this work is being done to get 2200BGs to work with all the known problems they have, but to each his own, I guess.
Another happy customer - my NC4000 is now working nicely with a 2200BG. I use Suse 10 on the machine and was able to get the card working fine (provided inserted at the right time) using the drivers as packaged by Suse, but they won't write the eeprom. The patched 1.0.3 driver modules won't load under Suse 10 (wrong GCC) so in the end I had to go the Knoppix (3.8.2) route using PXE over a network.
Just in case this is of help to anyone: I had both the all 0 problem and then iwconfig not finding a wireless card at all. Turned out the firmware wasn't loading under Knoppix and the problem was the absence of a mounted sysfs. Adding an entry to /etc/fstab as described in the driver INSTALL document solved that, after which everything worked fine as in Mark's original instructions.
The wireless button seems to work OK but the LED is not consistent.
Many thanks to all for their help in solving this annoying problem.
Andrew Schneider, I have the same laptop and a Atheros 5006XS wireless card, what exactly did you do to get it to work? Please help me out here I'm stuck since no one else really has an Atheros based card.
I'd like to buy a Compaq V2000Z, will this notebook work with the W500 wireless minipci card without hacking the BIOS? Does the W500 come with the Atheros chipset? Thanks
Rich [/quote] This method does not work on the nc and nx serials notebook. these notebook use the selfmade BIOS file from old COMPAQ. And till then, there are no tools for this type of BIOS avaliable.
PS: Try to use the Phoinex BIOS Editor Pro 2.0 to open the HP-Pavilion BIOS and use HEX edit tool to replace the file BIOSCOD1.ROM from the tools TEMP directory. Then rebuild it. This works fine. Read from http://www.richud.com/HP-Pavilion-104-Bios-Fix/ is too much long. :)
I too have a question. I bought a hp ze2000z and did not realize that hp had this silly policy. I bought an antenna from another hP notebook when I realized that it wasn't built in and took the entire things apart to install it. Then I stick my card in and find out it won't work. Dissapointment especially considering previous work.
I find this and read up on it. I get the same problem of all zeros mentioned above. So I read up and find that the wireless button needs to be pressed or something. Is this true in Linux? Will it even work? As it happens HP in their wisdom did not include the button either so I have a circuit board with 6 pads of solder and that is it.
Before I try much else I would very much appreciate it if someone can verify that the wireless button is responsible for receiving all zeros when I type #ethtool -e eth0
I didn't care when i did ethtool -e eth0 (i recieved zeros only). Then i executed the following commands: #ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x2200 offset 0x8 value 0xf6 #ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x2200 offset 0x9 value 0x12 #ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x2200 offset 0xa value 0x3c #ethtool -E eth0 magic 0x2200 offset 0xb value 0x10
Now i suppose that the values should be from the dump (am' i right ?)
But now my 2200bg seems to be dummy...also the mac address seems to be 00:00:00:00:00:00 (card inserted during windows standby)
Also i don't understand how can i use the w29n51.inf file.
Well guys, just a quick note from my end... I'll tell you what I did and how I did it, even though it didn't work for me in the end (that is, it didn't bypass the 104 error).
I'll skip the stuff that didn't work. That's irrelevant.
This is on a Compaq nx9600. I had to use Knoppix 3.8.2 to sh unload.
In order to get this to the point where I can successfully reprogram the EEPROM, I had to move the card into a Dell D600, and CONNECT THE ANTENNA!!! This is a very important step, because it seems that the laptops want to disable the card if you haven't done this.
Boot to Knoppix. Once Knoppix boots up correctly, do Mark's suggestions, running iwconfig and ethtool. You SHOULD now get the correct hex dump. If you have gotten it, there should be no reason (assuming you're using Knoppix 3.8.2) that you can't complete the procedure detailed above.
Again, bullet points are that the antenna leads must be connected for this to work, and only with a 3.8.2 disc.
Hello, I have bought a Gigabyte technology GN-WIKG with the RaLink chipset and got this problem with unsuported wireless network device. I have tried to boot the computer and then turned it to standby and installed the wifi card. I installed the drivers and the card works ok... accually I'm using it right now! Can I flash this card so it will passes the boot just as with the 2200BG card? I have no other old wifi card to copy any eerom data from. What I understand I can maybe change four values that should be found at 0xc4010000 at offset 0,1,7 and 8 as described at http://www.dagarlas.org/stuff/computing/article0001.php ? Will this work also for my wifi card?
Thanks for the detailed solution. I must say that it works! I ran the minipci-card on another notebook (where the card worked by default) and followed the instructions. I must underline that also on another notebook i had to press/activate the wireless button after the knoppix boot(if not there were only zeroes). I also had no problem for making work the wireless blue leds and button (they just began to work). The only strange thing is that in device manager, when i change some setting for intel 2200 it result as an error (unknown instance ID), but never mind, it still working! Ah, yes.. i forgot.. my NB model is HPC nx6110.
Just for all your information, it does not appear that the nx9600 is compatible with this modification. Its earliest BIOS is well after the initial post of this solution/fix/workaround, and it appears HP is up to its usual evil. I caught them dancing around a cauldron yesterday...
It appears this is no longer just a BIOS problem. HP has modified the Intel ProSet Wireless software to identify unsupported cards now. It looks like both version 9.01 and version 10 do it.
I had to revert to using the Microsoft Wireless Zero Configuration tool to configure my 2915 NIC. Fornow, I plan to keep the laptop from rebooting by using standby mode only and keeping Hibernation disabled.
By the way this is a brand new Compaq v4310nr laptop. I have thought about going to the Intel web site and pulling down an older version of ProSet because I really like being able to block unwanted wireless networks.
Follow-up on my previous comment about HP voiding your warranty for trying to replace you WLAN card, turns out it was just my particular phone tech. I called several days later to check and the warranty for my computer was still in tact.
Ok, more information. Pulled Intel ProSet version 10 from the Intel web site and it works fine.
By the way, I used the IBM CMOS fix on my StinkPad and it worked like a charm (G40). Not only that, since it is my work laptop, I can easily return it to it prior state with the same CMOS download before i turn it back in to my employer. Why don't we have a simple fix like that for our HP/Compaqs?
Ok, I read the hex code from my HP 2915abg card and it already says its a 4223 subsystem id, offset 0x8 = 51, offset 0x9 = 13 offset 0xa = 3c and offset 0xb = 10.
I still get the error 104 message so now I'm thinking I should change to indicate it is a 2200 and see what happens. If it doesn't work, I can always change it back. If it only works in g mode I'm back to square one and if it works in abg mode I'm in hog heaven.
ccrane, I wouldn't bother changing the subset id. I tried and it made no difference. I think HP went one step further on newer laptops and started to block mini pci cards differently. When I run ethtool -e the first line looks like this: 02 a5 00 80 23 42 86 80 51 13 3c 10 18 00 01 03 I you number this across and start with 0, I think numbers 4-7, which signifiy what kind of card it is and who the is the manufacturer, is how HP is now blocking devices. Eventually i will get around to try changing these numbers to see if it works but the problem with changing these numbers is the system will misidentify the card and it will probably not work in Windows. Enough blabbing on.
This method does not work on the nc and nx serials notebook.
I won't agree, just do this with atheros (gigabyte) card and compaq nx9030. Works fine. Of course, I don't have wireless button and light at all, and also antenna preinstalled :) But that's easy part of problem. Thnx, Rich
Well, I changed the subsystem information in my 2915 to the 2200 codes and when I installed it in my laptop the laptop saw it as a 2200 but the NIC never saw any wireless networks. I tried reinstalling the HP drivers and it still wouldn't work. I was afraid I may have fried the card.
So I changed it back to the 2915 codes and now it works like before (boot up with 2200, put laptop into standby, etc.).
Also, once I changed the 2915 hex code to the 2200 code Knoppix took forever to boot up and reported a 2200 device error over and over. After about 15 minutes it finally finished booting but still was very sluggish. Once I got the EEPROM back to 2915 code it performed normally.
Now you know what happens if you try to make a 2915 look like a 2200.
OK, I got a zd7010us going here but need to get the bios to recognize a Intel Pro 2915a/b/g so noting the remarks above about editing... does anybody have a set by step.. I followed the links but there is nothing concrete on the subject... I need a direct "How To"
Please read the thread carefully. I you follow the instructions above, which are very straightforward, and the appropriate edits are available there as well.
Matthew, when I tried to create a backup copy of my bios per the instructions above, I got an error messge from Winphlash that it couldn't read the wph file.
Did you run into this and if so, how did you resolve it?
Well, if it's one of the BIOS mentioned above (nc and nx series, I believe) it might not be able to read it, since those are said to be proprietary BIOS from HP. That's my best guess, anyway. You could also check WinPhlash's website and see if they have any add-ons or switches you might be able to use to back up.
The BIOS is in a Compaq v4135nr. I know Compaq has long used proprietary bios as well as other things in there systems.
Since I have already seen that HP/Compaq modifies the Intel Proset software to check for supported NICs I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't done found some way to make the BIOS similarly proprietary.
I'll check Winphlash's web site for any Compaq specific options.
Thanks vortex to make windows patch possible. And here is my solution for NC and NX BIOS serials. Attention Please: The following is just a theory not a dedicated practice. Try it with your own risk! The NC and NX serials BIOS come from old Compaq and the Wireless card white list is stored in plain text. We can easily find it by searching some ID such as : E4142043 And change the ID to anything you want. But you must know there were some checksums in the BIOS. And there were no reference to help us to locate that checksum. Hint: you can search the key word: checksum to find some place. But the value is unknown. So we have to try to place some unused byte to fix our modification. Refer to the IBM x42 serials BIOS modification methods. http://www.paul.sladen.org/thinkpad-r31/wifi-card-pci-ids.html
It would be better to patch the bios so it doesn't check the whitelist anymore. Somewhere in the bios is a jne instruction that needs to be altered into an nop instruction.
But patching the bios is very dangerous, your laptop could be killed in the proces.
repack the BIOS file. Then flash the BIOS. Then your ZE2202 will works fine with any type of Wireless cards. This method should work in the later ZE2202 BIOS version. but the address will be different.
The NC and NX serials maybe use the same way to detect cards. Not "JNZ".
I just read Vortex52 page regarding fix on windows drivers on id's changed atheros card. There is one question that i have. Line - Change the pci id's of your atheros card into 80864223 1352103C - seems odd to me. Theese numbers are part Intel's and part broadcom's. Are You sure this are corect values ??? If This are wrong card would be useless.
What we really need to do is put pressure on HP to get them to quit blacklisting external hardware. Frankly it's disgusting that they do this, and worse, get away with it. I am of the contention that we should take the collected evidence here and file a class action lawsuit against them, in order to drive their prices down to be in line with either the generics of the cards, or at least MSRP. They are engaging in price gouging tactics, right along with IBM. I don't know if this is still the practice at Lenovo.
I believe that in part, they may be right, that they are doing it for FCC compliance. But they are also lying through their teeth when they say that's the only reason. Thus why Dell does not. Dell complies with FCC regulations and you don't have these issues.
I have taken these ID's from the file SWSETUP\WLAN\INTEL-2200-2915\W29N51.inf
On the "Application and Driver Recovery DVD"
When you have programmed ID's into the Atheros Card and put the new ID's in Madwifi. Your card with the new ID's is recognized as an Atheros and you can always change the ID's back to the originals.
I tried to be as accurate as possible when I wrote the howto. But it would be nice if someone could confirm a succesfull working Atheros card with my patch.
Actually I can not make Atheros card work fine after follow vertex driver patch guide. The driver can be loaded successfully after the patch, but it does not work fine. The Wireless connection shows its status with disconnected and if I choose connect, it report connecting failed.
802.11 Authentication Type Auto 802.11b Preamble Long and Short MAP Registers 256 Netwotk Address none Peek Country Japan Peek Ignore Error EAPOL-Key Ignore EAPOL key Peek Max GTK 4 Peek Max PTK 256 Power Save Mode Maximum Radio On/Off On Transmit Power 100%
My original card was a broadcom one.
I patched the driver with Intel ID's to avoid a potential driver conflict between my patched driver and the original broadcom driver. I haven't tested a machine that had a factory installed intel card.
Ajax, yes, there is, and it's in this very thread. Please read it. People have not answered everyone coming in who says "Hey, can anyone just give me the answer I'm looking for without doing any work of my own?" There have been numerous clarifications in this thread already, and since it is not easy to just say "Hey, here's the one single answer," we haven't.
Hi again, I am sorry. I read the thread, but I am such a newbie that I was not able to discover weather HP changed it's BIOS, should I change the BIOS or the card...? I read this all, but for me it's very much expert style and "too much unsorted information".
Well, in answer to that question, HP has apparently updated its BIOS not to accept this 'hack', but there are new ways around it. That said, I think the only way around this is to actually mod the computer's BIOS, not the card, which is an entirely different story on Compaq based systems (proprietary BIOS). Depends on how old your BIOS is. Find out, get back to us.
Thanx for you answer. Hmm, I understand it's getting difficult, because I have a new Notebook. The BIOS is from 11/21/2005 which corresponds to the latest drivers on HP.COM.
That makes you SOL. You can always try the mod if you like. If you have an HP with a Phoenix (?) BIOS, you can try heavy duty BIOS editing if you really like, but that's up to you.
I've been trying to get my Compaq M2031AP working with a Dell branded 2200bg mini-pci wifi card, but would not work. i kept having troubles with the 'sh unload' command - it just hung there doing nothing. I tried installing knoppix, 3 different versions - 3.8.2, 3.9 and 4.0. none of them worked. just when i was getting frustrated...
i pulled out my sisters NEC laptop, put the wifi card in that, booting up knoppix 3.8.2, and hey-presto, 'sh unload' worked, and my card is working in my Compaq.
This is freakin' cool, guys, thank you very much. I successfully changed id's on OEM Intel 2915 card to match HP NX6110, latest bios F.0C, the button works. I used the install and backup procedures from some post above, and id numbers from http://stachon.webpark.cz/ipw-eeprom.html. Just make sure you have internet connection before proceeding.
I also had one difference: my first 'donor' for flashing was Acer Aspire 3000. The operation went fine, except that the numbers didn't change. I tried to boot knoppix and insert card in working NX6110 (no, it didn't burn), however, I was getting zeros when doing backup, maybe because of the wireless button, which didn't work. Then I took Dell D510, and it worked :) So in case of failure try different notebooks.
Thanks for Linus Torvalds too for inventing something more usable than a few windows :)
The nx8220 bios is HP own BIOS format. There is still no method to modify and repack it. But the following tips should works fine: 1. Use Hex Edit tool open rom.bin. Find hex value: E41420 2. This is the white list. 3. Change it to adapt your card VEND_ID and DEV_ID, and DO NOT FORGET to change some reserved place to fix the checksum. 4. the new BIOS file should work.
WARNING: This method without any garantee. Try it with your own risk! Do not complain to me if you make you notebook silent!
As I am a complete noob on editing bios rom's...so I am stuck with my Intel card for now.
Does anyone have positive feedback/experience with the NX8220? If there is a good change of a working mod for the NX8220...I am willing to be the first to test this. However I would need some/allot help modding the bios file.
to chud: Sorry for late response. I will make a summary of how to change ze serials BIOS and send it to you soon.
to nx8220: There has already a method to change the card's EEPROM data to walk around the BIOS check. it works on any type of HP' Notebook definitely. Please check the above info carefully for details. And if you wandering how to change the BIOS file and wish to have a try yourself. I am glad to help you to confirm the change process. contact lepus516#hotmail.com .
@swlepus Thx for your help so far. I have already read about the method to change the cards id en ven strings. I am however switching allot between windows and different linux distro's and in need of a good atheros card there. And I would like the card to work without the hassle of using modified drivers and within live cd's.
As I understand it...this is a bit tricky?
I am posting it on here as I think this information could be usefull for other people.
----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- <lepus2008@hotmail.com> (reason: 550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable)
----- Transcript of session follows ----- ... while talking to mx2.hotmail.com.: >>> DATA <<< 550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable 550 5.1.1 <lepus2008@hotmail.com>... User unknown <<< 503 Need Rcpt command.
So i bought the NC4010 notebook with my computer and ended up buying A Dell labeled Wireless B Card for my laptop. I get the same 104-Unsupported error for my laptop. Would these methods posted about for solving the problem apply to my model of laptop as well? I have owned this laptop for a year and never usered it because it didnt have wireless! I am so mad at HP!
I have a HP ze2000 that I purchased without the wireless card. HP sales told me I could buy a card later and the antenna would be in the laptop. All I would have to do is install the card. Well, we already know how far to trust HP. I bought a used HP card "f5 12 3c 10 " to install, and I get the 104 error. Does anyone know how to fix this. I would rather not have to hack the BIOS like a previous poster did, but I am willing to insatll a new BIOS if necessary. My bios setting for the card is already enabled, and stays that way through reboots. Is a new bios likely to fix it?
Can you please post new threads as opposed to replying to old ones? You have a better chance of getting help. The author of this thread has not signed in for over 2 years
I tried te hole thing, Power on, insert card, boot Knoppix. ect.
But when I do Ethtool -e eth0, I get only zeros :-(
When I boot with Suse 10, and do Ethtool -e eth0, I get get a hex dump of the 256 bytes of EEPROM data. That good!.
Then I can do #wget http://www.geocities.com/sonyirclib/ipw2200.tar.gz #tar xvzf ipw2200.tar.gz #cd ipw2200-1.0.3 #sh unload without any problem. But I can't do #sh load The version of ipw2200 isn't working with suse :-(
I can't be sure, but your computer SHOULD work with a 2200BG. Remember, this specific hack is ONLY for the 2200BG, no other card is guaranteed! I can't make a promise about what your specific computer will make of it though. If nothing else, I suggest that you check your BIOS revision before doing this, and you might make it the oldest available one.
Von H,
While I can't say with specifics about your model, you are only going to be able to get around this mess in one of two ways: hack the card's EEPROM, or hack Compaq/HP's BIOS. I think if you read back, someone else here mentioned the ze2000 and how they got around it. Try looking back a bit.
Gary,
In case you haven't noticed, this thread is a major resource for users with similar issues, and is still quite active, particularly for its age. I know that HP doesn't like to have information about all its legal follies online, but frankly, I don't care. This stuff needs to be out there so others can see the truth. Buy a Dell.
Hi Matt, As I posted, My card already has the right EEPROM. It is an HP spare. Apparently, since my laptop came w/o the card, They locked the BIOS against ALL cards. I upgraded the BIOS, but that didn't help. I'll harass tech support some more, but if that doesn't work, I'll dump the piece of HP and by something else. Enjoy
It appears that they would not have locked the BIOS from using cards... Instead, what looks like has happened is that your card is not supported in that laptop period. In other words, the card needs to be modified to look like another card, which I'm not certain if you can or not...
Has anyone had any luck with either the BIOS hack or editing the EEPROM for the HP dv1000 series laptops? I was told that the W500 card would work, well it doesn't. Damned whitelist! I've tried the bios hack, but I must be doing something wrong, as I had to buy a USB floppy and had to use a crisis recovery floppy in order to make my laptop functional after flashing with the edited version of the bios. I imagine that the problem is a checksum, but I can't find the checksum and don't know enough about HEX editing and checksums to make sure it's correct before buidling/flashing. If anyone has any solutions, I would appreciate it. For the time being, I am probably going to try the BIOS method again, as I don't feel like going to the trouble of installing Linux on my laptop when I strictly use Windows, due to some proprietary software that I use which will only work in a Winblows environment. But if worse comes to worse, maybe a live version of Linux will be able to solve my problem.
Thanks for your work on patching the Atheros Windows driver. Just one question, are the values at address 000128 and 000129 a cheksum? Why are they changed? The only reason I ask is that I will have different values for 061446 and 061447, as the subsys for the OEM card is 4220, as opposed to 4223. I've decided to go this route, first testing on an older 5001 802.11b card, before modifying the new W500 card I have.
BTW, for all interested, the W500 card works great at 108 Mb/s on my wife's laptop with generit Atheros drivers. It can be had for about $45 from getpartsonline.com. If you have this card, get the Wild Packets driver and ditch the crappy Compaq driver which cripples the SuperG capabilities.
Thanks for the reply. I'll look into that, since I would really like to get this card working. If you have any additional pointers for getting this working, I would greatly appreciate it. I'll also look into using PE Editor for hacking the BIOS. I haven't had any luck yet, but hopefully if PE Editor will allow me to check the checksum, I might get it working.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this topic. I'm hoping that with your collective experience/know-how, I'll get this working. Makes me wish I had kept up on my knowledge of C++, which I haven't used since I took a college course on it when I was in high-school. If I am successful, I'll post the info here.
This question is for vortex or anyone else who knows more about checksums than I do. The original checksum is 03E07027. My checksum, without changing the original values of offset 128 & 129 is CA0312F4. Any clues as to what those two offset values should now be?
Sorry about all the questions. I'm a bit of a moron when it comes to the finer points of programming. I can build a system blindfolded, and I can stumble through Linux or Mac OS like a drunken sailor, but ask me anything about editing code, and I'm lost. I finally figured it out. I wondered what that little calculate button meant in PE Explorer. I wonder if this would work for editing my BIOS? I'll have to check on that one. I haven't had a chance to edit the EEPROM on the card yet, but if and when I'm successful, I'll let you know. Thanks again for all your help and advice.
Thanks! Driver patch worked, though I won't know if it will work until I change the EEPROM. I was able to use your info to patch the latest driver from Wild Packets, ver4.2.1.9. The driver installs fine, though the wireless card wouldn't work, as I expected. The offsets, if anyone is interested, are as follows:
351F5 = 86 351F6 = 80
35259 = 86 3525A = 80
35269 = 20 (or 23 if you should have the 2195) 3526A = 42
You would have to use PE Explorer to fix the checksum (For those who don't have it, you can get a trial ver from heaventools.com), but it is an option for people like myself that like to keep the most recent drivers (unless, of course, a new driver prooves faulty.)
I was successful in using the Dargalas Computing guide (http://www.dagarlas.org/stuff/computing/article0001.php), but was unable to get the patched Windows drivers to properly work. After installing drivers, I received the error message, "Device cannot start. Error Code 10." Not that anyone who has ever tinkered with Windows has had that error, but now, unless I find a solution, I have a card that works great with Linux, but not in Windows.
-----What worked, what didn't----- Everyone who has ever used Linux has their preferred distribution. I tried several live distributions, and the only one that really did the trick was Knoppix. Hoever, with a live build, any work to install new drivers that require a restart would be pointless. As for my preference, I have always been a fan of Suse. with the latest build of openSUSE (10.1), I downloaded the DVD, installed, builded the MadWiFi drivers, and went to town. When I first re-wrote the EEPROM, I did so through Knoppix. Worked fine, then I realized I wrote the wrong values using idchanger. Crap. If you happen to make this mistake, like I did, don't panic, just double check that the values are all correct before you reboot. You can read and write with different values as often as you like, unless you reboot without having written the proper values, which is what happened to me the second time. Who would have thought I'd write the EEPROM with the wrong values twice in a row! (BTW, each time was a different mistake on my part) If this happens, you will have to modify the MadWiFi drivers per the guide's instructions to match the values of your incorrect EEPROM, install them, reboot, and you should be able to get the card working to rewrite the EEPROM. If a Linux newbie like me can figure it out, I'm sure the rest of you can.
If you don't make any mistakes, like I did, the whole process is very simple.
1. Download the latest build of Knoppix, swap your cards quickly at the boot prompt (I recommend having the antenna leads already connected, the OEM card removed, so you can make the switch before Knoppix boots on its own, about a 10s time)
2. Run iwconfig to make sure your card is recognized by Linux. (idchanger won't work if the card isn't recognized, even though you can get the values with lspci -nv. I recommend booting with the OEM card first, running lspci -nv, copying and pasting the values for the OEM card first)
3. Read the EEPROM to make sure you place the write values in the write places, then write.
4. Check and double check to make sure you have the correct values, as you won't be able to rewrite the EEPROM after rebooting, unless you want to go to the trouble of installing a distribution of Linux on your hd. (which I'm sure many of you already have)
5. Reboot your laptop. If you did everything correct, you should get past the BIOS post without any errors. It worked for me, now if I could just get the damned Windows drivers working!
If anyone has any tips on getting the patched drivers working, I would be absolutely thrilled. As for now, I've spent enough time on this project, it's Saturday, and I still have to finish writting my sermon.
Thanks to all who have helped. If anyone is having issues getting the EEPROM modified, I'll try to answer your questions the best I can, based on my personal frustrating experiences.
concerning your patch of Widpackets Atheros Driver 4.2.1.9 I found the following:
The first two addresses are correct, but not the third one, so in your case the complete patch is:
ADDR ORG NEW 351F5 = 8C16 8680
35259 = 8C16 8680
822FE = 1300 2042
"Error Code 10" typically appears if Vendor/Subsys-ID is wrong. "Error 0xc0000221" appears if checksum is wrong.
BTW - if you plan to use a configuration utility instead of "Windows Zero Configuration" I wouldn't recommend using Wildpackets Driver 4.2.1.9. It's necessary to work with programs like Airopeek or airodump but I haven't found a configuration utility which works properly with it. There are other working driver/utility combinations - if you (or other users) are interested I could give details.
I finally got it working! Thanks to you all for your help, especially vortex52 and bit7. I started this little project back in October, and gave up after a week or two of effort. Now, after checking this forum for the first time since my last post, I have a functioning Atheros card with Intel ID's. If anyone is interested in knowing how I got this working (I really can't take any credit for it, as I wouldn't have known where to start without the knowledge and experience of others), I would be glad to post it here. Also, if anyone knows how to get the wireless light on the laptop working, it would be great. It worked fine with the OEM card, but with the modified Atheros card and driver, the card works but the light doesn't. I know, just a minor detail, but it would be nice. Maybe a different driver might work, but then I would have to go through the modification process all over again. Anyways, thanks again to all who helped.
I will try to remember my best what I did, as I had actually written the Intel values to the EEPROM on the Atheros card at least 4 months ago.
First and foremost, to anyone attempting to do this, if you don't have any working knowledge of Linux, just be satisfied with the OEM card or an PCMCIA adapter, as it isn't a procedure that is identical for each case.
I would recommend not following instructions that are posted on several websites about modifying your BIOS. This appears to work on only select models, and even on the ones that it has been successfully implemented, it is still very, very difficult to do. I had attempted this several times, each resulting in the same way: I had to drive to Best Buy (60 miles round trip) to buy a USB floppy drive so I could use the BIOS emergency restore floppy I had created.
Now, for what it's worth, the procedure that worked for me:
Rewriting the EEPROM
Necessary software: 1. Your preferred Linux distro. After trying several different ones, I found Knoppix to be best suited for my experience/knowledge level of Linux (which isn't very much) to edit the EEPROM, and you don't have to install Knoppix to successfully rewrite the EEPROM.
2. madwifi driver. http://madwifi.org/ This is only necessary if you are going to be using Linux. I only used Linux (Knoppix Live) for the rewrite of the EEPROM, as I'm bound to Winblows due to proprietary software that cost me an arm and a leg.
As I posted a while back, here was my experience with this method, which worked just fine for me (aside from stupid blunders).
1. Download the latest build of Knoppix, swap your cards quickly at the boot prompt (I recommend having the antenna leads already connected, the OEM card removed, so you can make the switch before Knoppix boots on its own, about a 10s time)
2. Run iwconfig to make sure your card is recognized by Linux. (idchanger won't work if the card isn't recognized, even though you can get the values with lspci -nv. I recommend booting with the OEM card first, running lspci -nv, copying and pasting the values for the OEM card first)
3. Read the EEPROM to make sure you place the write values in the write places, then write.
4. Check and double check to make sure you have the correct values, as you won't be able to rewrite the EEPROM after rebooting, unless you want to go to the trouble of installing a distribution of Linux on your hd. (which I'm sure many of you already have)
5. Reboot your laptop. If you did everything correct, you should get past the BIOS post without any errors.
Note: If you write the incorrect values, don't panic. You can rewrite the values as many times as you like in the same session. To make sure you've written the proper values, run lspci -nv and compare with the values from the OEM card. If the values aren't identical, you did something wrong. Run the process again, and make sure you don't reboot until these values match.
3. Hex Editor of your choice. I used Flex Hex from heaventools.
Process: This was the simplest of the two processes. Thanks to vortex52 and bit7 for their help. I suggest working through this with the OEM card, as you might like to have an active connection for reference purposes while working on this.
I used the guide at http://www.geocities.com/asy99997/ as a rough guideline. I didn't follow it exactly, as the driver version isn't the same, nor were the values I was writing.
1. Make sure you are using WildPackets driver version 4.2.1.9, as these hex addresses apply to that specific version.
2. With your hex editor, open ar5211.sys from the unzipped downloaded driver.
3. At address 351F5 and 35259 insert the 4 digits of the VEN, inverted, in place of 8C 16. For example, if your VEN is 8086, replace 8C 16 with 86 80. If you don't know what the VEN values are, click on the details tab of the wireless card in the device manager.
4. At address 822FE insert the 4 digits of the DEV, inverted, in place of 13 00. For example, if your DEV is 4220, replace 13 00 with 20 42. If you don't know what the DEV values are, see 3. (I shouldn't have to tell you twice)
5. Do not save over the original, in case you goof up. Save to a new folder.
6. With PE Explorer, open the edited copy of ar5211.sys from the new folder you saved it to. Don't worry about the warning that it's a trial version of PE Explorer. It will do what you need it to without paying $130 to make it fully functional. Click on Continue at the warning.
7. In the toolbar, above the file info, is an icon of a calculator with a checksum next to it. Simply click on the calculator, and the checksum will be corrected.
8. Save. For some reason, PE Explorer wanted to save under a different file name for me, so I saved as ar5211a.sys, exited, deleted ar5211.sys and renamed ar5211a.sys to ar5211.sys.
9. Copy net5211.inf from the unzipped driver to the new folder you saved your edited ar5211.sys in. Open with Notepad, and look at the first set of Generic Device Descriptions, somewheres around line 50. Add (or edit an existing) the line %ATHER.DeviceDesc.0013% = ATHER_DEV_0013.ndi, PCI\VEN_xxxx&DEV_xxxx. Again, the values of xxxx are the VEN & DEV it's from the details tab of the device properties.
10. Save net5211.inf.
11. Uninstall the drivers and any client utilities from the OEM card.
12. Place your laptop in Standby.
13. Remove OEM card and replace with edited card.
14. Scan for hardware changes from the device manager. When Device Manager recognizes the card, right click on the device, select "Update Driver", "No, not this time", "Install from a list or specific location", "Don't Search. I will choose the driver to install", "Have Disk", and browse to the folder where you saved your modified ar5211.sys and net5211.inf files. Don't bother having Device Manager try and do anything automatically, as Windows will still think that you have the OEM card.
15. Once Device Manager has updated the driver, you will more than likely need to reboot. If before you reboot you get error 10-device cannot start, don't worry. This happened to me after I finally learned how to properly edit the ar5211.sys file, and after rebooting, it worked fine.
16. After rebooting, go into Device Manager and check to see if the card is working properly. If you see any errors, you did something wrong and will need to start over on modifying the Windows driver. If everything looks ok, congratulations, you've stuck it to the man. Go through the standard process of setting up a wireless connection, and you should be up and running just fine.
Note: For some reason, the blue LED on my dv1331se no longer functions with the modified card, though it did when the card was still unmodified after inserting it while Windows was in standby. If for some reason your light doesn't come on, but you have the icon for the wireless connection in your system tray, you may have to experiment with pushing the wireless button and waiting a while until windows detects your network. Though the LED doesn't work, the button still does. Also, you may have to first manually turn the radio on the card from the Advanced tab of the device properties, as I had to in order to get the card working.
For this project I used a Compaq W500 card, which uses the Atheros 5212 chipset. This card is available for about $40. Just search at shopping.yahoo.com for W500. With the Wild Packets driver, this card operates in Super-G mode, much better than the crappy 54mbps of the OEM Intel. After this experience, I will not be looking for an HP when this laptop has run it's course. I will probably be going with a Toshiba, as my wife's laptop had no issues with installing an aftermarket wifi card.
Again, I can't take any credit, aside from the mistakes I may have learned from. All credit goes to Dargalas Computing, vortex52, and bit7. I simply used their collective knowledge to make it work for me.
Hi, I have nx9105 and Intel 2915. This computer support only broadcom wireless cards. I change "ven", "dev" & "sybsys" to broadcom (14E4, 4320, 12F8103C) and now laptop run normaly. But can't install card in Windows. Is possible to edit intel driver? How? P.S. I edit INF but it's not enough.
I'm not sure you can patch the Intel driver. If you download the driver from Intel's website and extract it through the installation process, you will find the necessary files in the subfolder "Drivers". You would then need to find out how to modify the file w29n51.sys. You might be able to do this using the methods for the Atheros card, but since the driver file size is far larger than the Atheros driver file, you will probably waste much precious time trying to figure it out. The Intel file size is 2.1mb, while the Atheros file size is only 565k. Even though you already have an Intel card with a modified EEPROM, you might be better off writing the original values of the card back to the Broadcom ID's, selling the card on eBay, and getting an Atheros card to work for you. Sounds crazy to go through that all over, but this method of editing the Windows driver is proven to work on Atheros cards, not on Intel cards. I'm assuming the reason for this is the overwhelming generic versions of the Atheros driver (Atheros themselves actually dont' make any device drivers, the OEM's do) and its widespread use, which results in individuals figuring out such solutions as rewriting EEPROM's and editing Windows drivers. You're more than welcome to try editing the Intel driver, but you will probably succeed in only frustrating yourself.
Note to all using Intel cards: My whole reasoning for getting an Atheros card to work with my laptop, which was initially configured for the Intel 2200BG, was that the Intel card was unreliable. (The Atheros' ability to connect at 108mb/s was also a plus) It would drop the wireless connection on a regular basis, and sometimes the only way to get it working again was to remove the card, boot up into Windows, go into standby, insert the card, and reinstall the drivers. This isn't just a peculiar problem with my laptop, the last laptop I had also was configured with an Intel card, and had the same problems. I've spoken with several local repair techs, and they all agree, Intel wireless cards are notorious for unreliability. Though not every card is, it seems that they all typically work flawless all the time, or piss you off all the time. Since installing my Atheros card, I haven't had this problem, which manifested itself at least once a day with the Intel card.
My next problem is so I can't make linux driver (ipw2200). LINUX USERS HELP! I change in ipw2200.c: {PCI_VENDOR_ID_INTEL, 0x4224, PCI_ANY_ID, PCI_ANY_ID, 0, 0, 0}, with {0x14E4, 0x4320, PCI_ANY_ID, PCI_ANY_ID, 0, 0, 0},
in ipw2200.mod.c: MODULE_ALIAS("pci:v00008086d00004224sv*sd*bc*sc*i*"); with MODULE_ALIAS("pci:v000014E4d00004320sv*sd*bc*sc*i*");
and in pci: DEVICE_2200_21="0x8086 0x4224 PCI_ANY_ID PCI_ANY_ID 2915ABG" with DEVICE_2200_22="0x14E4 0x4320 PCI_ANY_ID PCI_ANY_ID 2915ABG"
when I try to make it return some errors
I use KNOPIX 3.8.2 live cd
Can We compile Intel driver with this ID's 14E4, 4320, 12F8103C
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.11/build SUBDIRS=/ramdisk/ipw2200-1.0.3-mod MODVERDIR=/ramdisk/ipw2200-1.0.3-mod modules /bin/sh: /UNIONFS/usr/src/linux-2.6.11/scripts/gcc-version.sh: No such file or directory make[1]: Entering directory '/UNIONFS/usr/src/linux-2.6.11' make[2]: scripts/Makefile.build: No such file or directory make[2]: *** No rule to make target 'scripts/Makefile.build'. Stop. make[1]: *** [_module_/ramdisk/ipw2200-1.0.3-mod] Error 2 make[1]: Leaving directory '/UNIONFS/usr/src/linux-2.6.11' make: *** [modules] Error 2
I have a card that I tried to modify in this manner, but I didn't copy down the original configuration. I can force Windows to see the card, but can't get it to work properly (connect to networks).
Anyone know the original hex for it? It's an Intel 2915 ABG card. That is to say, I need the original numbers that were replaced by using the above hex replacement keys.
as far as I understand you need to know the original PCI-ID (that is Vendor-ID, Device-ID, etc.) of your Intel 2915ABG. If you have formerly (that means when the card had it's original PCI-ID) ran that card under Windows you can simply search the registry for the string "pci\ven_8086". Windows stores the PCI-ID's of all devices ever detected - your's should start with "pci\ven_8086&dev_4223". Another way is to download Intel drivers for that card, look in the .inf file (should be w29n51.inf) and grab a suitable PCI-ID.
WHITELIST DEFEATED FOR NX6110, NX6120, NC6110, NC6120
yes, it's true, during last weeks I was able to take apart the BIOS of my nx6110. It was a long hard job but finally I succeeded in finding a reliable patch. Actually there were only 2 bits making the difference beetween heaven and hell.
Here is how to do it:
Grab the latest BIOS F.14 (27 Jul 06) for the above models from hp's web site. I used the "FreeDOS Bootable Diskette version" which comes in sp33794.exe.
Using a hex editor apply the following changes:
Offset in 68DTD.BIN_original Byte_overwrite with 120EE_______________5A________5B 1898E_______________F9________F8
Before proceeding double - no - triple check that you did it 100% correctly. You have only ONE chance. If something is wrong your notebook may not even boot anymore.
Now flash the changed BIOS. I recommend to do it under DOS by means of Rompaq.exe which is included in sp33794.exe.
After switching off and on you will have a fully functional notebook which will accept any miniPCI WLAN card regardless whether it's PCI-ID is part of the whitelist or not. You will never get the "104-Unsupported wireless network device detected." - message again.
Today I applied the patch to my own nx6110 which I previously ran with a changed PCI-ID according to the method of Dagarlas (thanks go to him). Now I could change the PCI-ID of my Atheros miniPCI WLAN card back to it's original value.
Best wishes go to all who have contributed to this solution.
how on earth did you come up with that solution ???? unluckly my laptop is nx8220 so my bios is bit different. is there a way to use that hack on my machine ??? any help will by much priciated
(1) Luckily I was able to disassemble all relevant parts of the BIOS and find the proper locations in the code which needed the slight change. I'm not sure if it would be clever to give too much details to the public, because hp will read this too. The patch as given above is for the mentioned BIOS F.14 (27 Jul 06) only - you cannot directly apply it to a different one. I downloaded sp33659.exe with BIOS F.14 (18 Aug 2006) for nx8220. At a first glance it seems to have a similar structure as BIOS F.14 (27 Jul 06) for nx6110 - I think it should be possible to find an appropriate patch.
(2) The BIOS F.14 (27 Jul 06) is in file 68DTD.BIN, which has a length of 100000h (1.048.576) Bytes, so offsets go from 0 to FFFFFh (1.048.575). An offset describes the position in a data structure relatively to a fixed base address, if no such a fixed base address is given, 0 is assumed. In this case offset 120EEh addresses the 120EEh. (73966.) byte in file 68DTD.BIN.
Thanks for all your help earlier. I'm still using my hacked Atheros card at 108Mbps, and it's worked flawlessly, even in Windows Vista. I completely understand if you don't want to publish a solution to every HP BIOS out there, as I'm sure you have better things to do. If you would be willing at least to describe the process you used to eliminate the whilelist (I'm assuming you found out what addresses to change in order to disable the id check) so an average guy could figure out how to do it on their own, that would be great. If not, I completely understand. Thanks again for all your help.
the change at 1898E doesn't disable the PCI-ID checking subroutine but makes it always deliver a positive result to the caller, whereas the other change at 120EE readjusts the checksum which would otherwise become incorrect due to the change at 1898E. Omitting the readjustment of the checksum would make the notebook unbootable.
I think about publishing the whole work but besides other reasons I'm not keen on having trouble with hp. It's a difference between giving a little 'HOWTO' like I did and publishing the complete story perhaps forcing hp to take countermeasures.
Furthermore I doubt there is a way to describe the process in order to let average users figure it out on their own whithout revealing most of the applied methods.
Although you would have deserved it I can't do anything for you for the BIOS of your dv1331se is Phoenix-based which I haven't examined so far, because my own notebook doesn't use one. But as far as I understood you can go well with your PCI-ID changed card.
bit7 I was about to just editing bios file (replacing broadcom id's with my atheros)but then the checksum ... don't want to kill my laptop. What would it take to get you help with my bios - begging, money ...??? ske4@vp.pl
I have a nc6120, i downloaded the HPQFlash for HP Notebook System BIOS (68DTD) - Windows-Based. I extract the rom.bin present in the rom.cab. I found and modified the addresses that you have described. Finally i have reinserted the modified file in the rom.cab. In the cab file there's also rom.sig file, and i think that this's a sort of hashing of the rom.bin. Do you think that If i change the rom.bin i must also change the rom.sig? Do you know if exist a bios recovery procedure for this type of notebook? Thank you very much for your help
(1) that's exactly why I recommended using the DOS-based version - this way you don't have to bother with that stuff.
I agree that this could be a hash value which will be used by HPQFlash.exe to verify rom.bin and I suppose it will refuse flashing the modified one if you try it anyway.
Since I never flashed my BIOS with HPQFlash.exe and won't do it as long as there is a DOS-based version, you're on your own.
So my advice is: Don't insist using Windows-based version, otherwise we probably would have to modify not only the BIOS itself but also HPQFlash.exe.
(2) As far as I know there is no recovery procedure (like "crisis recovery disk" for Phoenix-based BIOSes) but honestly have to say that I didn't even search for a corresponding part in the 68DTD-BIOS.
Thank you very much for your help, but my notebook haven't floppy disk :-((, and, i don't known if a bootable cdrom should be the same. Thank you again.
get yourself external usb floppy.. DOS-based version makes bootable floppy with 68DTD.bin file on it. You won't be able to use cdrom. Once you get your floppy it is pretty simple for you, just edit the file and of you go - thanks to bit7 for me its waiting.... and hoping that bit7 would come up with same simple solution for nx8220 owners
there's a way you can create a bootable CD from sp33794.exe:
1. Extract the files from downloaded sp33794.exe ....now you should have the file rom.exe, 1,43 MB (1.502.208 Bytes) 2. Open rom.exe with a hexeditor 3. Grab the part from offset 6C00h to end of file and save it as rom.ima ....rom.ima is the needed floppyimage, it should have a length of 1,40 MB ....(1.474.560 Bytes) and start with bytes EB 3C 90 46 4. Open rom.ima with WinImage and extract 68DTD.BIN 5. Apply the patch to 68DTD.BIN as described in my post from Feb 25, 2007 ....00:52:18 GMT 6. With WinImage reinject the patched 68DTD.BIN into rom.ima replacing the ....existing one 7. Save rom.ima 8. Create a bootable CD with a burning program by selecting rom.ima as ....bootimage ....some burning programs require at least one file added to compilation, in ....this case add any file 9. Burn the bootable CD
If you don't trust in CD burning like me do the following to verify your work:
1. Open IsoBuster and select the drive with the CD just burned 2. Extract the bootimage and save it as rom-1.ima 3. Open a cmd-window 4. Compare rom.ima and rom-1.ima with command "fc /b rom.ima rom-1.ima" ....fc should say that it has no differences encountered, if not something went ....wrong and you can repeat above steps
Now insert the CD in your notebook and boot from it, the blue screen of rompaq.exe should appear and you can flash the patched BIOS.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. IT'S WORK!!!!!
there's only one think... when bios start the Centrino logo it's disappered, and i see the Pentium M logo. Also the system properties let me see the pentium M processor. Do you think that this will impact with the CPU performance? THANK YOU Again bit7.
nice to hear that you succeeded and thanks for so many THANK YOUs. 'Centrino' just means a notebook which has the following components built-in: - Intel Pentium M CPU - Intel Chipset - Intel WLAN-Card If any of these components is missing respectively replaced by a different component (e.g. Atheros WLAN-Card instead of an Intel one) the notebook isn't a 'Centrino' and must not have a 'Centrino'-sticker or bootscreen-logo. I suppose somewhere in BIOS is a check whether all 'Centrino'-components are present and if not, no logo appears: that's all. No impact on CPU or other components - just no 'Centrino'-notebook anymore.
P.S. COMING UP SOON: BIOS-patches for other models to defeat WLAN miniPCI whitelist.
3. Grab the part from offset 6C00h to end of file and save it as rom.ima ....rom.ima is the needed floppyimage, it should have a length of 1,40 MB ....(1.474.560 Bytes) and start with bytes EB 3C 90 46 4. Open rom.ima with WinImage and extract 68DTD.BIN 5. Apply the patch to 68DTD.BIN as described
so i changed in 122EE 5A to 5B and 1898E from F9 to F8
6. With WinImage reinject the patched 68DTD.BIN into rom.ima replacing the ....existing one 7. Save rom.ima 8. Create a bootable CD with a burning program by selecting rom.ima as ....bootimage
9. Burn the bootable CD
10. reboot computer with this CD - open rompaq.exe - update my bios
then restart my computer with wlan card Gigabyte GN-WI01GS
if you have nx6110 and this solution works in your computer, maybe you can send me via mail your image of bootable CD i will only burn it and upgrade my bios - then we will know did I make some mistakes in your howto when i was reading it or not ;)
bit7: first of all I would like to tell you, that you are a genious!!!
I followed your instructions (using an USB floppy drive to flash BIOS) and it works!!
Laptop boots (didn't destroy it), 104 error is gone!!
I am using Broadcom card (not 100€ HP but 20€ ordinary miniPCI) that didn't work before (104 error). I tried everything before (even cut pin 48 on micipci) to "hide" the adapter from BIOS during boot.
Now everything works O.K.
Anyway I have decided NEVER to buy ANYTHING from HP again, because BIOS lock for only their expensive hardware in MEAN!! And I am buying a lot of PC equipment in my job!
Procedure: 1. Unzip SP30397.exe (containt 08A0F35.exe) 2. Unzip 08A0F35.exe (containt 08A0F35.wph, FLASH.BAT, MFC42.DLL, MSVCP60.DLL, MSVCRT.DLL, PHLASH.INI, PHLASH.LOG, PHLASH9X.VXD, PHLASHLC.DLL, PHLASHNT.SYS, winphlash.EXE, WINPHLASH.HLP) 3. Open 08A0F35.wph with HEX editor 4. At addres 0x71B30 is start of WHITELIST (E4 14 20 43 3C 10 F4 12 ....) 5. Correct it with your card id's (for my Intel 2915, I correct to 86 80 23 42 86 80 01 10), save and close editor. 6. Start "Phoenix BIOS Editor" and open .whp file. Editor display errors (like "An unsupported module class ...", "16-bit/32-bit PCI Routing Table Mismatch! This Module Might Not Be Usable!", "DBCS (...) string are not editable!"), click OK. 7. In "BIOS Configuration Parameters" -> "MultiBoot III" make a correction (double-click on some "*") and return correction (again double-click on same field) 8. Select File -> Build BIOS..., Save new file and close "Phoenix BIOS Editor". 9. Open "PHLASH.INI" and change "Hideall=1" to "Hideall=0". 10. Run "winphlash.EXE" Select new BIOS file (08A0F35.wph). In "Advanced Settings" I select "Verify BIOS image size" and "Verify BIOS checksum". 11. Flash BIOS
you wrote "..so i changed in 122EE 5A to 5B..". Hopefully this is a typo, otherwise I'd recommend to reflash your BIOS with a correct version (offset has to be 120EE) as soon as possible.
Concerning your question about sending the CD-image to you I have to say: Please, don't misunderstand, but I will not distribute any patched BIOS.
To solve the problem I suggest to proceed as follows: (1) Make sure, that the correctly modified file 68DTD.BIN is stored in the floppy-bootimage on the CD. You can achieve this by extracting the bootimage from the CD with IsoBuster, opening it in WinImage and finally extract 68DTD.BIN and review the patched Bytes in a hex editor respectively compare the file with an original 68DTD.BIN. If you detect an error, you can retry BIOS-flashing after creating a new bootable-CD. If there were no errors, continue with (2). (2) Make sure, that the correctly patched BIOS was flashed to the BIOS-chip. You can do this by reading the contents of the BIOS-chip with rompaq.exe (menu "Backup") or uniflash and storing it in a file. Since both tools are operating under DOS, you need a DOS-bootable medium, furthermore you must have access to a writable medium. The easiest way is to use a USB-floppy or (like I normally do) a FAT-16 formatted USB-stick. After you got the file with the current BIOS-contents you can examine it as described in (1).
Please, come back after you have verified that the properly patched BIOS lives on your BIOS-chip and the "104"-error persists - it could be possible that it is necessary to extend the patch, but we'll talk about later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Netman4,
good news.
I can partly share your feelings about hp. In "patchless" times I seriously thought about buying a notebook from a manufacturer, who wouldn't bother me with a BIOS-lock - but now I'm a content customer ;) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
vortex52,
your feedback is highly appreciated - I'm waiting... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
George,
seems that hp's whitelist wall is getting smaller and smaller.
With bios in *.bin format it's not that easy. But there are skilled people out there, like bit7. Now the first mods have been confirmed it will be snowballing - we all hope.
Ok, question - My Compaq laptop (Compaq Presario 2801EA) was destroyed and I decided to move what I could to an HP ze4901us laptop that I had in the closet. I was especially excited to move the wireless card into it, since currently it has a Linksys PCMCIA card sticking out of the slot, which I would like to use for a card reader.
My question is, will this process work to allow the ze4901us to recognize the card from the compaq? The card is an actual HP approved mini pci card (Compaq / HP Mini-pci Internal Wireless G Card 802.11b/g)
I just don't get why the ze is giving me a 104 error when the card is an HP approved item. (I tried another card from a friends laptop to see if the card was bad, and it gave me the same error, so I can only assume it's a bios issue)
Any assistance or information you can provide would be appreciated.
First, thanks to bit7, vortex52, and anyone else whose knowledge and skill helped me to get my Atheros card working with my hp dv1331se in Super-G mode. Works like a charm, though the WLAN led doesn't light up. No biggie, that's what tray icons are for.
Second, it sounds like some of you are quite desperate for bit7 to tell you how to fix your BIOS for various different laptops. I'm sure bit7 has nothing better to do with his time than to go through everyone's stinking BIOS to disable the whitelist.
Third, there's a solution that takes far less time and frustration, but a little more finances. 1. Get yourself an ebay account. 2. Sell your damn HP/Compaq laptop. 3. Email HP sales/tech support/and customer service with the link to your auction, informing them you're selling your HP and never buying another one of their damned products until they can their whitelist. 4. By a laptop without a whitelist. As far as I know, for certain both Toshiba and Dell don't use whitelists, and I'm fairly certain that neither does Sony, Gateway, or Fujitsu.
The only sure-fire way to get HP to put an end their anti-consumer BIOS whitelist crap is to hit them in their pocketbooks. If their profits go down, their stock holders get unhappy, and HP is forced to fix the problem.
As for me, I'm too dang cheap to sell this laptop and get another at a loss now that I have it working the way I want it to, and besides, my wife would kill me if I did so as I bought this laptop only a year ago. As for the rest of you, good luck, and be sure to voice your displeasure to HP.
I use an nc6000 and I purchased the same unsupported Intel 2200BG that was listed as supported on the website. After using Marks method my wireless card works flawlessly. Not only does windows work flawlessly, but I dual-boot Ubuntu and XP. Before I couldn't get Ubuntu to recognize my Dynex PCMCIA Wireless G card, and now I don't need it because my Intel 2200 works flawlessly in Ubuntu. Thanks Mark
I just want to say thank you to Mark, if you still check up on this post!
I managed to get my Intel 2200 BG card I bought off Ebay for £13 working after a few problems which may be worth noting if your going to do this job yourself, I personally have an nc8000 although it shouldn't matter.
1) Although it may work for you, its unlikely that another version of linux will carry out this process without problems, search a little and you'll find you can still download the exact package required (Knoppix 3.8.2)
2) Download the ipw2200.tar.gz and save it to your local drive (probably C:) - You will be able to access it later in Linux Knoppix.
4) Change the line "#tar xvzf ipw22000.tar...." to "#tar xvzf (file location)(normally /mnt/hda1/ipw2200.tar.gz if you saved directly to your C: drive) So the actual thing you type in should be "#tar xvzf /mnt/hda1/ipw2200.tar.gz"
5) Remember to connect the white and black antenna leads which are loosely clipped to a plastic mount inside, black nearest the screen in "aux" and white goes nearest the speaker end in "main".
6) You don't need to install Knoppix, running from the CD works fine. Hope this helps you if your having problems!
hello... i have the same problem on a nx6110 and i tryied to do what u said -i downloaded sp33794.exe but i didn't find 120EE nor 1898E -i did find 120E0 and 18980, is it the same thing? can u help?:)
Maybe I'm posting my problem to the wrong thread, but I think I should try.
Does anybody know a solution to use a generic 3945 mini PCIe card in nx6310? I prefer the card's EEPROM modification, but the ipw3945 linux driver is so different than the ipw2200, and it can not write the EEPROM with ethtool.
Follow the guide at http://www.dagarlas.org/stuff/computing/article0001.php for re-writing the eeprom. He's written a tool that solves the problems with ethtool. Worked for me without bothering with an modified intel driver.
Yes i do still read the thread. & your most welcome. It is really good to see that work is continuing for newer laptops & other wireless cards.
Keep up the good work guys. (Im due a new laptop soon & i'll only get another HP if the good people on this thread have already found a workaround for it!!)
I've already found the page, you mentioned. The idchanger tool that the author used, only works with Atheros chipset based wireless adapters. Mine is based on Intel 3945. I tried to use the idchanger, but it gave me a "Segmentation fault" error. I have to say, it was not a big surprise.
Ligend, Sorry, I didn't realize that the guide on Dargalas Computing only works for Atheros cards. I'm a novice at best when it comes to Linux, and was able to work my way through the ID changing process for myself. I really have no clue on changing the Intel chipset. Good luck with it.
I wanted to add to this thread that I have successfully modified a 2915ABG to work in a Dell that didn't have the proper device id listed in the bios.
My 2915 was originally from an IBM and had an id of 80864224. The Dell D800 and M60 bios only support cards with id 80864220 and 80864223.
Using a combination of information from this thread and other pages I changed my card from 80864224 sub 10108086 to the retail intel adapter id of 80864223 10208086.
One thing missing from the tutorial using the patched intel drivers and ethtool is the recalculation of the checksum command modprobe ipw2200 repair_eeprom=1
Here is specifically what I did. I booted the Knoppix live cd version 3.8.2 . At the terminal I ran "sudo -s" to give root access. I used the browser to save the patched drivers to /tmp and extracted them. I then ran "sh unload" and "sh load" from the directory of the etracted drivers. I used "lspci -nv" to verify the current ID. I then ran "ethtool -e ethX" substituting 1-4 for X until I saw the correct vendor ID at 0x4 through 0x7 and the right sub id at 0x8 0x11. I only needed to change one byte of the vendor id and one byte of the sub id so I ran "ethtool -E eth1 magic 0x2200 offset 0x4 value 0x23" then "ethtool -E eth1 magic 0x2200 offset 0x8 value 0x20" . I ran "ethtool -e ethX" again and made sure there were no typos then ran "rmmod ipw2200" followed by "sh load" and finally "modprobe ipw2200 repair_eeprom=1"
I then exited the console and instructed Knoppix to shut the machine off. After power on I finally saw the magical Centrino logo! I booted into windows and my card was detected properly and immediately started working ;)
I'M DONE WITH MICROSHAFT/WINBLOWS!!!! I'm sick and tired of Microsoft publishing crap OS's that they charge too much for that are unstable as hell. I'm not interested in going the Linux route, as there are some very specific programs that I use on a daily basis that are available for only Mac or Windows. I'm making the switch to a MacBook. After seeing my brother-in-law's MacBook this last weekend, I'm enthralled to the point of getting rid of my HP laptop. If anyone is interested, I'm selling the Atheros 5112 card I modified, if there is anyone in need of one and not wanting to go through all the hassle. The Hardware ID's copied/pasted direct from Device Manager are as follows: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4220&SUBSYS_12F5103C
Someone tried to send me a private message, and I received the error: "Private messaging has been disabled on this board."
Whoever sent the message, just email me instead, or post your message here. Again, as I stated in my last post, my email address is:
lutheranpriest@hotmail.com
Again, I am offering my Atheros 5112 modified WLAN card. This card connects at 108 Mbs with the proper drivers. I will include the modified Wild Packets Windows driver that works with the modified ID's, which happens to connect at 108.
Now that HP has lost another customer, so has Microshaft, as my new Mac arrives today. Goodbye, Blue Screen of Death, hello stability!
I downloaded the bios software for the NC6000 from HP website which installed a *.bin file on my floppy disk. I opened the file using WINHEX and located one of the Broadcom Vendor, Product and Subsystem IDs inside the file, which I got them from the card details in Device Manager. So the job was easy, I replaced these values with the values of the card I wanted to use which was rejected by the NC6000, after I made all the changes I saved the file. I loaded the modified BIOS software by booting on the floppy and when finished rebooted the machine, the machine works, no lockup, it's still functioning. I turned it off, installed the new non-HP WIFI, rebooted, no errors, no 104 ...., nothing. Windows loaded, found the new card, installed the driver, it WORKED. It worked for days and days until for some reason I removed the main battery to upgrade something in the system, turn it back on, DEAD. I didn't believe what happened and couldn't believe that what happened is related to the BIOS change that I did. So I tried another NC6000 using the same method everything worked as the first time until I removed the main battery, then the machine turned into another door stop. What do you make of that? a checksum error that's triggered only when you remove the main battery? (I'm not talking the BIOS battery, I'm talking the laptop battery. Please let me know if there is anything that can be done to overcome this situation and make the NC6000 accept a non-HP mpci.
Disregard my last message. The email I had received was from DV1000 forum, not from any of you. Again, my offer to sell my WLAN still stands.
This is more than likely my final post. Thanks to all who helped me get my Atheros card working, and good luck to you all at sticking it to HP, as they so graciously stuck it to all of us.
I can't believe I'm giving up my PC for a Mac, but since my love/hate relationship with Microsoft has evolved to a hate/hate relationship, I don't feel the slightest bit disappointed that I'm leaving my frustrations with crap OS's behind me. I also thought I'd mention, I have an extra copy of Windows Vista Home Premium Upgrade that I won't be needing anymore either. It hasn't been installed, activated, or registered. I opened the box and had intended to install it on my desktop, but since my wife has applications for her embroidery machine that won't work with Vista, I won't be installing it.
(go to bottom of this page), although he didn't mention, whether he has removed the battery or not.
Regarding this and your experience we should take into consideration, that the boot process could differ depending on the presence of a battery
Generally all HP-BIOSes that I met so far have a built-in checksum test. If it fails, boot process is interrupted. Up to now I assumed, that this checksum test is executed at every boot - and I think each one who plans to modify his BIOS should assume this too.
What you did was extremely risky: You changed the whitelist without readjusting the checksum and afterwards were lucky enough being able to reboot the notebook at all.
Perhaps I will try to patch the nc6000-BIOS like I did for my nx6110, perhaps not. Unfortunately there's a second life outside the machine which sometimes requires a certain amount of resources - so I don't know whether I will find enough time.
In the meantime you can go with the various methods to change the PCI-ID of your WLAN-card as described in this forum (dagarlas, Mark Wrightson and others).
What I'm really interested in is how do you want to reanimate your two nc6000s. As far as I know there is no recovery option for this type of BIOSes (like "crisis-recovery-disk" for Phoenix-based BIOSes). The only way I could thing of is to solder out BIOS-chips, reprogram them externally and reinserting them (by the way it's a good idea to use a socket to make replacement easier in the future).
I regret, that you will leave this forum. You were one of the active members and I think your posts helped a lot of users, especially those who weren't born with a built-in WLAN-card.
I wish you will become happy with your new MAC and hope to meet you elsewhere in the net.
Thanks Bit7 for the reply. The reason I risked 2 machines is that I have many others mostly without WIFI that I cannot sell (I'm a computer reseller), who would buy a PM laptop without WIFI? and I would lose money if I had to buy the HP wireless. As for fixing the 2 laptops, I'll do what you suggested. If you came up with any solution that you would like to try, let me know, I'm willing to help as this is a priority to me. The problem with modifying the card itself is ,from what I read in the previous posting, restricted so far to the 2 brands, Intel 2200 and Atheros, but as I'm looking into fitting several hundred of NC6000 it's hard to find all these cards from these 2 brands, when I say hard I mean for less than $10 each, because usually I buy the Wireless in mixed brands for about $6 each, in my line it makes a big difference as the margin per unit is $30-$40 only. Thanks anyway for your help.
Anyone with Compaq V3000 series laptop? Modify the whitelist in the bios is easy task, but the bios compiled by phoenix bios editor gives me checksum error in WinFlash.
I'm having issues with Dargalas/Lutheranpriest's rewriting of the EEPROM method. I'll start by saying I'm a complete noob when it comes to Linux (as in I've installed it and tinkered around for about a grand total of 3 hours before I reverted back to M$). I currently have a DV9000Z and a Atheros AR5005 GS card that I'm trying to install and I'm having some issues with the first couple of steps (yes I'm off to a bad start).
I'll begin with the #lspci -nv command: Using #lspci I can plainly see my Atheros card listed. But with #lspci -nv there's quite a list and I'm not sure as to which one is the Atheros card.
Secondly, when I attempt the #iwconfig I get: "no wireless extentions"
Update -- idchanger never writes anything in the eeprom. When it gets done it states that EEPROM write failed and the IDs never get saved (apparently, as I'll run lspci and reboot the system and the values stay the same). I've gotten the Sub IDs to write to the correct spots, but the VEN and DEV IDs just won't write to the necessary spots no matter what I do!?!?! Any ideas? Thanks again for the help!!!
Do you think it is possible to apply your patch to a different BIOS Revision??? for example... I want (desperately) to patch BIOS Version: F.0C (21 Nov 2005).
as far as I know Atheros chipsets higher than AR5004 have write protected EEPROMS, thus you cannot change PCI-ID by means of idchanger. You can google for "AR5005 write protection" and you will find a lot of resources. Some people tried to disable write protection by cutting pin 7 of the Atmel EEPROM - but results weren't very reliable. I'd suggest to work around this by using a different miniPCI WLAN card with an older chipset up to AR5004. As a start point you can look at http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility to find a suitable one. Alternatively you can patch your BIOS, so you won't have such problems at all;)
as you may have noticed original values at 120EE and 1898E are different to those in F.14-BIOS. That means patching of F.0C-BIOS would require extra examination. Is there a any good reason which could be of interest for other users too to use F.0C instead of F.14? Generally I think it should be enough to have the current BIOS working according to our needs.
"bit7" There is no real point of interest for everyone, it is more like a personal matter. Somehow the new option "Switch LAN/WLAN.." or the latest BIOS itself renders my Broadcom LAN useless, and I can't loose it.
Got it!!! Thanks for the advice bit7. There is write protection on this card so my only option was changing the values in the BIOS. Actually turned out to be a much easier process than the EEPROM method. Used the instructions on http://www.richud.com/HP-Pavilion-104-Bios-Fix/ to find my VEN/DEV/SUBSYS IDs, re-wrote them and now I have F.28 BIOS on my DV9000Z, a fully functional Atheros AR5005GS with drivers in Vista, and no more damn 104 Error message (unless I plug the Intel card back in lol!). A special thanks to Rich for paving the way and Lutheranpriest for your patience and help!!!
thanks to all for all this work. i've read all of this, but i'm still not able to solve this problem.
I have a nc6000 so i can't go for the bios solution of replacing pci id's in bios files
(or am i wrong? Actually i tried this way for first, but i couldn't find in the ROM.BIN file the EXTD...CKSM place where to add bytes to adjust the checksum... would it be stupid to add bytes towards the end of the file, where there are hundreds of offsetss with just 00 00 00 00 00 00etc. ?? )
my wireless card is atheros 5005gs and well i just discovered it's eeprom is write protected - idchanger won't read nor write on the eeprom
you are right, EEPROM of Atheros chipsets higher than AR5004 is write protected, as you have already noticed idchanger won't work. EXTD...CKSM section does not exist in Compaq-BIOS of your nc6000. Furthermore this type of BIOS is compressed - so be VERY careful in any attempt of modification (see also posts of fkeilo and follow ups in this thread). I'd recommend to use an older Atheros card which could be handled by idchanger or wait until a BIOS modification is available for your notebook.
I have read this forum and it seems you can help me to solve my problem, I just bought new mini-pci Senao NMP-8602 Plus (FCC) and when i put it on my presario X1217AP, my bios show unrecognize wireless card..... and so on, the latest bios for my laptop is sp30915.exe, it seems my bios have whitelist only for Intel PRO WLAN 2100 3B, please help me to solve this problem, i dont want to return this product because i have to sell my other card to buy this, thank you very much. (Sorry for bad english..)
took a look at BIOS F.55 of X1217AP. It's a Compaq one, which probably could be modified in a way I did it with nx6110 BIOS. Besides this it would be necessary to overcome the check of Rom.sig, which includes a sort of hash. As far as I found out there is no DOS based BIOS updater for X1217AP and I doubt that a third party tool like uniflash could do the job properly.
BIOS modification is the only option you have to get the Senao NMP-8602 Plus running in your notebook for this card comes with AR5006X chipset and write protected EEPROM - so no way to use idchanger from dagarlas.
Unfortunately at the moment I have no time to drill into BIOS. I'd recommend to buy an Atheros card with an older chipset (up to AR5004) and change PCI-ID with idchanger.
Intel Pro 2100 3B : PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1043&SUBSYS_25228086&REV_04\4&39A85202&0&10F0 Change to : Senao NMP-8602 Plus (Atheros): PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001B&SUBSYS_2063168C
I have been trying all day to find and replace vendor, device and sub system id from sp30915.exe (Rom.bin), is that all? How about checksum file (Rom.sig) <-- i really dunno how to change this, and how to write it to my bios? Thank You very very much..
I have an nc6220 with latest BIOS, I also happen to have an intel 2200BG card. I tried all of the current fixes, including the ethtool -E options. It seems that HP has either fixed our fix, or it is just not possible to do under Ubuntu Linux. Is there any other information regarding the nc6220 product line, or am I out of luck.
I too would like to say that this will be the last HP notebook I will ever buy, and the same goes for the one I bought my wife in 2006.
I had to borrow another laptop (Dell D610) and had the ethtool -E hack done in about 1minute. This just goes to show that companies who know what their customers want will get all of the business. Come on HP this is so not competitive. It kills me to think there are people who believe that your branded wireless cards are worth the extra $150. Get a clue, this isn't Nike..
Hello. I stumbled across this thread while trying to search for a solution to my issue. I installed an Intel 2915ABG wireless card on my ThinkPad T40 and get the "This device cannot start. (Code 10)" error in the device status of device manager, WIN2K.
Do you have any advice? Is it that the card's drivers don't recognize it? Do I have to modify the drivers to get this too work?
Thanks!
PS: I couldn't comprehend all the code talk in the prior thread postings. I am pretty good with computers, but no real coding experience.
Is it possible insert Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG ( PCI Express Mini ) in nx7400 and use ethtool hack to fool hp bios ? Now I have stupid broadcom wifi card in it. Did someone try it ?
I'd love to see a bit of documentation how you managed to remove the whitelist for your system.
I've got a nx5000 here with the same problem, 2200 is included and works fine, but I'd like to add a 2915. The subvendor id has already been changed, but the whitelist in the bios contains the 2200 and the intel atheros w500 or so but no 2915.
Hi, I have a NC4000 and I received for gift a w450 HP card (Replace part 394462-002) but this don't work in my nc4000. The exact code on the minipci is bcm94318mpg.
This totally insane! After reading about the hp-oem-card-only problem when trying to buy a cheap card, I decided to go for a original hp mini pci wlan-card only to get the dreaded 104 error after plugging it in my nc8000.
The card was intended for the nc9000 - but I would never ever have expected it to not work in the nc8000 as it is oem hp.
It took me several hours to read trough all potential fixes, but I find it too risky as a new card is much cheaper than a new notebook if I mess something up.
Conclusion: This was the last time I bought anything from HP.
Hi. I living in Chile. I would like to say ..... THANKS VERY MUCH!! I read the complete post and thanks to the many people contributions, finally I make that the Intel 2200bg works in my NX6110.
I'm so beginner and amateur in PC stuff, But I dare to make a mini guide based on the contributions of all and my personal experience.
Mark Wrightson says:
"First off if you don't have linux installed you will need to go to www.knoppix.org and download KNOPPIX_V3.8.2-2005-05-05-EN.iso, then burn the cd"
Now, you have 2 options: 1.- Have a mini PCI card that actually work in a HP laptop (aprroved by HP) 2.- Have another brand laptop with mini pci port and make the procedure in it.
If you have the mini PCI card HP approved:
You need to install it and turn on the laptop and go to BIOS. You must to enable the WLAN function in the devices setup menu. Save the changes and exit.
With the Knoppix bot on you cd device and the HP appoved mini PCI inserted, turn on the laptop.
When you see the boot:_ line , change HP approved card by that the you want change the eeprom then press enter. Knoppix will autodetect the card & the bios wont complain.
Once knoppix has booted:
Click on the penguin on the taskbar and select "Root Shell", then the following command (from now on any line that begins with a # is a command to be typed at the Root prompt: #iwconfig You will get a list of ethernet adapters, eth0, eth1 etc. The wireless one should be quite obvious from the text displayed after it with all the wireless parameters! #ethtool -e ethX Obviously replace the 'X' with the index of your wireless card you found above. You will get a hex dump of the 256 bytes of EEPROM data. This data must NO be only zeros. If you have only zeros, maybe you omited some step. Note: There is nothing dangerous in the above steps at all.
If you want to writing to your EEPROM (You can seriously screw your card up so be careful ):
Hello every one I am very intersting with this forum, but i could not get information that is same for me How can I get the information with the "nc4010" and "intel 2200bg". I want a soultion with 104 Error. pls, anyone give to me help? Thank you
I have been working on this same issue. I found another link pointing me to a dos file. jmp1802.com I booted into dos mode ran this file and its fixed no more boot error. This was on an IBM t41 with the same issues with a locked bios. Use at your own risk. Here is where I found the help. http://www.wifi-forum.com/wf/showthread.php?t=60620
Good luck. Use the attached file at your own risk. Adam
This thread is to big.. But it was very helpfully for me to read it. And i wish to write something to help others too.
I have now succesfully edited WinXP x32 intel driver for pathed 2200bg card, and it works!!! DriverVer = 07/25/2007,9.0.4.37
As i have understand EVO don't accept any Intel WLAN miniPCI card. Also i've changed, as was described (thanks to all entusiasts here), ven/dev/subsys ids of 2200bg to one "HP W400". Later maybe i will play with ids to change it again if it goes. And changing whitelisted ids in BIOS is more interesting anyway..
my problem was that 1) I have a nc6000 with wich the bios hack seemed to be impossible.... the hp bios utility wouldn't flash the bios with changed ids
2) my minipci is an Atheros AR5005GS wich has EEPROM write-protected... so even the second solution of changing the card's id wasn't possible for me
The only solution for me seemed to be the physical hack i saw somewhere, where some physical pins on the card were removed to bypass the bios check... this was absolutely out of question for me, i don't have the skills.
a brilliant idea. Use another floppy-based hp utility to flash the bios, wich doesn't perform a checksum! Booting from the floppy with the modified bios and reflashing it will do the trick :)
On the link it's perfectly explained how to do it. All you need is a floppy driver - i have a usb external one - and of course the ids of your cards!!
I've to a NC4010 and I bought an Atheros card (AR5006x) and got annoyed with the 104-error.
What I gathered reading forums is that I need to patch my BIOS since my wificard has protected eeprom. So has anyone done this with the NC4100 bios, v.F30?
I have the W450 Broadcom minipc card that goes into the slot on the back of the NC6000 and this card and 2 other Broadcom cards are giving me the same error as the Intel cards stated in this thread. Are the Broadcom cards also on the 86'd list?
with interest i read some posts in this thread, but after some time reading i lost the overview.
i use a hp nx8220 (the same as a nc8320 and some other models) and want to change the wlan card. at this moment the current bios version is installed (f.16).
as i understand there was a patch made by bit7 but i did not find if it is applyable for the nx8220 (nc8230).
it is okay when i have to downgrade to f.14 but i think it will be much better if there is any possibility to patch the current f.16
is there any possibility to get in contact with bit7 (via pm or email) or another user of a nx8220 who patched the bios with success? (i did not find any pm function on this page)
on monday i'll get an usb fdd for some time and some testing ;) ...
now after more than two days of reading threads and some pages on the net it will be the greatest to get a little assistance.
Yesterday I experienced the whitelist lock "104 unsupported wireless network adapter" error on my nx7000 when I replaced the OEM 2100B with a 2200BG from a Dell laptop.
After some research and poking around (kudos to http://www.richud.com/HP-Pavilion-104-Bios-Fix/ for info on device-IDs in the bios and the sleep/standby hotswap) I managed to modify the latest bios for my nx7000 (at time of writing: 68BAL/F.55/sp30915) rom to accept the new card. This procedure could also work for other laptops.
I take no responsibility for *anyone* making *any* changes to their bios, my *only* assertion is that this procedure worked for me (also, please note that my first attempt was a success, so I have no experience or advice should anyone try this and it fails).
==============================
- I have the latest bios on my nx7000, flashed in windows with HPQFlash, 68BAL/F.55/sp30915 - using windows device-manager I got my existing OEM Intel 2100B card device-ID: ven_8086&dev_1043&subsys_25228086 - using the boot-to-windows; sleep/standby; hot-swap-mini-pci-card method I was able to confirm the new card was working and get the replacement 2200BG device-ID: ven_8086&dev_4220&subsys_27228086
Unable to find any info on how to generate a ROM.SIG checksum file for a modified ROM.BIN from sp30915, and having read that the rompaq-boot-floppy method doesn't verify any checksums, I decided to see if I could extract the 68BAL-F.55 from my bios and modify that instead (on top of that I wanted a boot-disk method with a backup of original bios in the event I couldn't get back into windows at any stage).
So here are my steps: - Download most recent bios update that used rompaq-boot-floppy method, for nx7000 this was sp25239 - note: I assumed (luckily, correctly) that the rompaq executable distributed with a bios update for my nx7000 would be able to extract and replace whatever bios/rom was present in my nx7000. It is probably not wise to use the rompaq from a bios-update for an nx7000 on another machine. However I would assume that a rompaq from a bios-update for another machine will work similarly on the machine for which it is designed. - Extracted sp25239.exe using 7-zip - Couldn't find anything to extract the floppy-image-file, so in the absence of a floppy drive I used ImDisk Virtual Disk (http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html) to create a virtual floppy (size:1440KB;device-type:floppy), then formatted the new v-floppy - edited copydisk.bat in extracted sp25239 to ensure it was using the v-floppy-drive - executed copydisk.bat - took a copy of rompaq.exe from the virtual-floppy - Now to make a boot disk: - downloaded freedos 1.0 "BASE" iso (http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/1.0/fdbasecd.iso) - mounted freedos iso with daemon tools (in this instance I mounted to H:) - made a usb-flash-disk bootable with the "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool", using "Dos system files located at" H:\FREEDOS\SETUP\ODIN\ - copied rompaq.exe to the bootable usb flash drive. - reboot, F10 to enter BIOS - set Advanced>>Boot-Options>>MultiBoot:ENABLED - set Advanced>>Boot-Options>>Express-Boot-Popup-Delay:10 (secs) - set Advanced>>Device-Options>>USB-Legacy-Support:ENABLED (docs say this is to enable USB keyboards, but I found my USB-stick was not listed as a boot device with this DISABLED, go figure) - save bios-settings and reboot - choose USB in boot-device screen - boot into freedos - at freedos prompt, execute rompaq.exe - choose backup (this created a 68BAL.bak file on the boot disk) - when backup was complete, boot back into windows - on the freedos boot disk, make copy of 68BAL.bak to 68BAL.bin, keeping the original 68BAL.bak just in case - using Notepad++ with HexEditor-plugin I opened 68bal.bin and searched for 2-char sequences from my existing 2100B vendor, product & subsys data (Notepad++ was very handy here as it has a "Count" in it's "Find"), so I tried a few different sequences until I got Count=1, which turned out to be "22 25" (first 2-chars of 2100B subsys reversed). Lo and behold the hex before that sequence was: "43 10 86 80". - In order to not get confused (probably only one chance to get this right!) when generating the corresponding sequence for the 2200BG device-ID I annotated both device-IDs with non-Hex chars like this (copy & paste to view in fixed-pitch font, eg: notepad, etc): ======================= 2100B : ven_8086&dev_1043&subsys_25228086 ven_jjkk&dev_mmnn&subsys_ppqqrrss 2200BG: ven_8086&dev_4220&subsys_27228086 ======================= - so the sequence in 68bal.bin for 2100B "43 10 86 80 22 25" equates to "nn mm ss rr qq pp" - so when transposing for the 2200BG, I inserted "20 42 86 80 22 27" - note: as it turns out the vendor-id portion seems to be there too, as "jj" and "kk" is present if you include the previous 3 chars: 86 7f 80 43 10 86 80 22 25 or annotated kk 7f jj nn mm ss rr qq pp the 7f is possibly some fixed separator/identifier (please do note however: as 8086 is present in subsys *AND* vendor that, although unlikely, it's possible that "86 7f 80" could be *either* "kk 7f jj" or "ss 7f rr", in my case this was not an important factor as the 2200BG and 2100B had identical jjkk and rrss, but beware!) - modified and saved the 68bal.bin (being a bit paranoid about using a text editor, even with the Hex-plugin, to save the binary, in the end I used http://sourceforge.net/projects/hexbox to do the editing and saving) - reboot back into freedos - run rompaq - update (I assume the "update" option automatically chooses the 68bal.bin file, so make sure your edited file is called 68bal.bin, likewise in the event of needing to use "recover", I assume any file called 68bal.bak will be used) - reboot, as I still had the 2100B card installed I was pleased to get the "104-Unsupported..." boot message - powerdown, replaced 2100B card with the new 2200BG - reboot and wahey, all done!
I would assume if you have a USB floppy drive that you could skip all the virtual-floppy/freedos/bootable-usb stuff and just use copydisk.bat from sp25239 directly with the usb-floppy, but would also assume that before booting with the floppy (when trying to extract a copy of current bios) the config.sys should be edited to remove the line "shell = a:\rompaq.exe /!" as otherwise you'll probably end up with the older bios installed at boot (possibly best to remove the original 68BAL.bin from the floppy too, just-in-case). That said, being paranoid about bricking the laptop I decided I wanted to have the original "68bal-f.55", my hacked "68bal-f.55" *and* the original "68bal-f.09" (ie: the bios that came with the original sp25239-rompaq boot-disk) on my boot disk, and all this wouldn't fit on one floppy.
======================== Again: I take no responsibility for *anyone* making *any* changes to their bios, my *only* assertion is that this procedure worked for me (also, please note that my first attempt was a success, so I have no experience or advice should anyone try this and it fails). ========================
Please help me how to start. I really need help for my HP NC4000 laptop. I have no idea where to begin this process even though I have read this from http://www.richud.com/HP-Pavilion-104-Bios-Fix/. I still do not get it. Rich point here and what I understood is just go to those HEX and EEPROM and changed the DEV/VEND ID and the SUBSYS ID and flash the BIOS that is it. But how to start, I don not know.
I have experienced in flashing and updating BIOS chips while (computer is on) hot swapping other BIOS chips just to update it. Trouble-shoots device cards in computer which one is working and not. I am new in this process but willing to learn and fix that 104-Unsupported Wireless Network Device halted messages.
Please guys and gals, first correct me if I missed or not missed some step-by-step procedure here. I needed help from anyone of you so I do not screw up the whole process give me a headaches, lol. First, I needed materials before starting the process:
A. Materials needed: 1) A USB floppy drive 2) a NEW 1.44mb floppy diskette or I/you can use an old one (if that is a risk you are willing to take) but as long as there is no bad clusters.. Make sure scandisk surface first if the floppy disk is usable. 3) CD-ROM/DVD for Knoppix_V3.8.2-2005-05-05-EN.iso or Knoppix_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN.iso or any what is it? Do I have to extract this ISO with what software extraction? I do not have that and where to download it. 4) Editpad Pro or your favorite hex editor for floppy disk 5) Another non-HP/IBM laptop to install your new wireless mini PCI card into... or some other way of finding out what the DEV/VEND ID and SubSys ID of the specific card. 6) basic knowledge on how to use a hex editor and how to follow directions. 7) flashing software BIOS and what is the software name and where to download it? This will be done flashing the BIOS after the old DEV/VEND ID & SUBSYS ID has been changed to new to your new wanting wireless mini PCI card even though it is not in the lists of HPs BIOS wireless mini pci card. 8) Boot-up disk. What software is that and where to download it? Is it ok any windows command.com on Windows 95/98? Just curious only... Do I need this Boot-up disk? 9) My Wireless mini PCI card info is Atheros Mini PCI 802.11 A/B/G+ 108 Mbps EXTENDED RANGE XR, ATHEROS AR5004X (AR5213A). I have already got the driver installed and compatible to my Atheros W500 (low range distance and 54Mbps only ). PCI\VEN_168&DEV_0013&SUBSYS_210214CD&REV-01\4&139E449D&0&18F0
B. How to begin step-by-step procedure on those full details tricky direction strategies? This is I do not know how to begin with. Please I need help, anyone? Deep in my heart, I appreciate your help so much and will do the same thing to help others too, like what you do helping each other when you have time. Please I needed help anyone? Please, simplify it in procedure. So I can not screw up my laptop and it's a lot of headache when it got messed up. I will be waiting for your reply helping procedure. please anyone?
because of the many questions i'll try to explain how i got my nx8220 working with the atheros card.
first of all get the dev and vendor id from the card. if you don't know how: startup windows, standby, change the card (be careful, because of there will be already power in the machine) wake up the notebook, windows will find the card and look in the devicemanager. since windows xp sp2 there will be the dev and vendor id in plaintext in the "details" tab.
get a usb floppy drive and at least 2 floppies.
download the current bios update "bootable diskette" and write it t one of the floppies.
remove and reinsert the usb plug and copy the .bin file to the harddisk. remove the 1st floppy and don't touch it anymore (needed to re-flash if any error occured)
make a backup of the .bin file to another place of your harddisk.
change one of the values to your new dev and vendor ids
but now it is NOT done. now, when you flash the file you'll run into an error "corrupted bin file"
it is very tricky and i searched many hours for this solution:
with your hexeditor verify the genuine bin and the modified bin file. with winhex you can see the different bytes in hex. the genuine value and the modified value. there should be some differences (i had 7 or 8 different bytes).
the DIFFERENCE between the genuine and the modified byte must be corrected at any other place in THE SAME COLUMN of the bin file (winhex has 16 columns 0-9,a,b,c,d,e,f)
if you DEcreased the value (for example the genuine value byte is 80 and the modified byte is 16 - as it's atheros's ven id) you have to calculate the difference (open the windows calc, switch to hex and type gen.byte-mod.byte 80-16) you'll get the value 6A. goto any other place of the bin, where you find many, many 00 bytes and change one in the SAME COLUMN to 6A. now you have corrected the difference of THIS ONE byte.
if you INcreased the byte (for example the genuine value byte is 54 and the modified byte is A0) then you have to calculate the difference (open the windows calc, switch to hex and type mod.byte-gen.byte = A0-54) you'll get the value 4C. now it is a little bit more tricky. find an offset with bios plain-text like "non system disk, press any key to reboot" take the value of a LETTER of this text IN THE CORRECT COLUMN and calculate again. if the letterbyte has the higer value than the difference byte calc letterbyte - differencebyte. this difference you put instead of the letterbyte - done. but if the letterbyte has a lower value than the difference byte (for example calc shows a result like "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFCC" you have to change the letterbyte to 00 and calc differencebyte - letterbyte. this result you have to change again at any other text place in this column.
i know - it is very complicated to understand but it is complicated to explain, too. but after do so, i could flash the bin correctly to the bios and boot up with an unmodified atheros card.
i'll give no warranty, this is only the way i did to get my atheros working!!!
if - for any reason - your notebook will not boot up (black screen, high fan rotation and blinking shiftlock led) you can insert the floppy with the genuine bios and your laptop will flash this automatically to the bios, wait a few minutes and it will bootup again - correctly.
ChaoSWK or anyone please I need help a different but evolve to this situation?
So that I can get my DEV/VEND ID and SubSys ID in my wireless card's info over Device Manager TAB Details in Service Pack 1 or 2 when I plug it carefully that wireless mini card, I need to have an updatable windows operating system. It doesn't show Details TAB for info for my wireless card because I'm using a corporate that it cannot be updatable to Service Pack 1 & 2. About my laptop NC4000, before then the hard drives dies and I can no longer used it and all whatever installed in it, but it has the COA (Certificate of Authenticity Product key underneath my laptop) and still reusable that product key. But I have a corporate Windows Operating System that has product key and installed in NC4000. My CD disc is corporate Windows Operating System and can reuse it over and over with one product key.
I can go to the registry on HKey_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\WPAEvents on oobetimer file and change the digit but how can I make it exact and match that digit when I wanted to reuse and enter the original's product keys number of my NC4000 laptop? So that I can update that windows operating system to Service pack 1 & 2, so I can see that DEV/Vend ID and SubSys ID of my wireless mini card when I plug it in and the windows will detect the card's info. I really have to double check that info. Anyone knows, please help?
I bought this Atheros 108Mbps Atheros Mini PCI 802.11 A/B/G+ 108 Mbps EXTENDED RANGE XR, ATHEROS AR5004X (AR5213A) to the seller. I decided I asked him about it and he gave me this DEV\Vend ID & SubSys ID - PCI\VEN_168&DEV_0013&SUBSYS_210214CD&REV-01\4&139E449D&0&18F0 .
But on the VEN id is only 168 (three digits only) isn't that is supposed to be four digits? Please help me anyone?
ChaoSWK,
I open the .BIN and I'm looking at this HEX numbers and letters. I have no idea which one to pick it and change the old and replace with a new DEV\VEND\SubSys ID. I'd like you to give me at least a DEV\Vend\SubSys ID that is like behind technology that is 11Mbps or 54Mbps. Mention it also where is the location on the row and column that I should change it.
download the current nc4000 bootable dos diskette, extract the bin and search for the hex value 8680 (it is the intel vendor id in reverse order (8086)).
it seems to be at offset 60AC (86) 60AD (80) 60AE (20) and 60AF (42)
atheros is vendor 168c.
for this case you have to change the 60AC (86) to 8C and the 60AD (80) to 16 AND SO ON!
but i will give NO WARRANTY!!!
but you also have to find out the device and subsys id from your genuine intel card, because you have to know which byte to change. in the bin file they are not written down in a line, the bytes may be at different places (or swapped like 8086 to 8680), as you can see on the first hex graph on http://www.richud.com/HP-Pavilion-104-Bios-Fix/compaq-nc4200/
sorry, this is all i know - so i can not give more help
hope you will do it well and post the effort here :)
I only found one in my laptops .bin in the Whitelist of Rich, which is VEN-14E4, DEV_4320, & SUBSYS_12F4103C. Only one of those listed in the Whitelist of Rich. All of them did not show in my laptop's .bin except this one I just listed. It's located in offset row 60A0. My laptop is NC4000.
Ok, I changed that old with this new VEN_168C, DEV_0013, & SUBSYS_210214CD. I saved it in hard drive, then copy it on floppy disk where the bootdisk, 68BAS.bin, flash it with rompaq.exe, update the BIOS and press F10 and says restart my laptop. EEEK my laptop is dead, is trying to run and LEDs trying to respond but it couldn't. Anyone knows what is the next step? Is it the BIOS crisis recovery diskette? On NC4000 what is the name of the BIOS is it Phoenix, Award, AMD, or something else? Anyone knows how to recover it? I really need help, my laptop is trying to start but it couldn't. I really need help. Anyone please?
You have to teach me that calculation. I think I know what you are teaching me and I'm getting it but if you know how to explain it well, I think I will get it. You see it's like the chart of multiplication like this:
But in the Offset Hex for the columns and for the rows has almost the same counting from 0-9 & a-f except the "rows" has 16 maximum while the "column" has designed to add more whatever device can be added and so on. Also the offset Hex for the Column and for the rows is design to locate for every additional Device & Vendor and the SubSys ID. Now the question is, how can you explain when calculating each, so that it will go automatically to the place of the location chart between offset rows and offset column? Let me know and I'm very interested to learn. So that instead of changing and replace the old DEV/VEND ID & SubSys ID, why not just add them those devices & vendors with Subsystem IDs. Kind a very interesting.
But I need help my laptop is trying to start but it couldn't start after I flash the BIOS and says restart the computer.
ooppss the multiplication table chart demo, it shrank when it transmitted there. It's not align up in rows and column. Just disregard it. but I think you got my point.
look closer to my thread from Oct 3, 2008 12:48:21 GMT. there will be all explained. perhaps the nc4000 has another algorithm to calculate a checksum.
now you need a not manipulated dos bootable bios diskette (download from www.hp.com) and an usb floppy drive. connect the drive, insert the floppy (you have to create it on another pc) and switch on the laptop.
now it should start reading slowly from floppy and flash. it should take a few minutes and the nc4000 should boot up normally.
I did, I downloaded the Bootable diskette in my computer desktop and extract it and automatically programmed to format a floppy disk and extracted the program files with the updated 68BAS.BIN to the floppy diskette. Then, the updated 68BAS.bin, that is the one I tried to look if there is my a new DEV/Vend ID, but it has VEN_168C and DEV_0013 except the SUBSYS ID that is not in the hex. But I changed the VEN_14E4&DEV_4320&SUBSYS_12F4103C and replace with this new VEN_168C&DEV_0013&SUBSYS_210214CD then I save it but before I saved this I made an extra copy first just in case an error occurred before I update the BIOS of my laptop.
Reinsert the USB floppy drive and I insert the DOS command Win98 floppy disk to USB floppy drive. Turn on the laptop. when about to boot up the floppy, I pressed the F5 to bypass any configuration command in DOS. Then insert the updated BIOS Bootable diskette that has 68BAS.BIN that I modified with my new wireless info DEV/Vend ID with SubSYS ID. type ROMPAQ.exe and pressed enter and went to the Menu and I choose the update menu and press enter and asked me for confirmation to update and pressed enter and started the process until successfully done and says restart. So I did. But then after the reboot and started to read the BIOS and is kind started but couldn't start.
Still couldn't read on the floppy and couldn't go to the BIOS. But the laptop is trying to run but it couldn't go to read on the floppy drive. it's like trying to run like an engine brooomm, stop, then brooomm, stop, then brooommm. That is how it shows. Is there any BIOS crisis recovery diskette. Oh, but it doesn't go to the floppy drive diskette to read the floppy disk. I think we have to tweak something like has to go to the reset/Clear CMOS\BIOS reset jumper switch setting. So it can restart again. But I have no idea in laptop NC4000 if there is something like that. Is there any remedy? Any idea?
But most desktop motherboard the BIOS chips is removable and can change it with a new one unless I have a spare BIOS chips to go back and pretend to update the new spare bios chips but means to swap the failed BIOS chips just to update that failed BIOS chips to make it work again.
How about you, any idea in that NC4000? Let me know. Come on, I really need help here.
Where should I get a real genuine BIOS? I have no idea where to get a bootable free genuine BIOS. :( That's what I needed help now. I do really need help now. Let me know.
your laptop is not dead. it seems that there is an crc error. first of all, after switching the laptop on it calculates a kind of crc of the bin in the flash and if it is not correct, the screen stays blak / blank and the numlock led blinks. thats a kind of recovery mode. in this mode the laptop searches for a CORRECT bin file and flashes it without any questions. - thats the nx8220. i DO NOT KNOW if the NC4000 works as the NX8220. on some bios you can get into the recovery mode by pressing "windowskey" + "F1" and on hp notebooks by pressing "windowskey" + "B" while switching on. i tested it a few times with my nx8220. but everytime i flashed an crc error i could restore it in this mode.
i downloaded the hp bios bootable diskette, created the 1,44mb floppy on my desktop pc, DID NOT MODIFIED the files, inserted it into the usb floppy drive, switched the laptop on. the screen was black / blank, the numlock was flashing, the fan was on high speed and the floppy drive began to read - but very very slowly. 5 minutes or 10 minutes later it suddenly switched off and on again and booted up normally.
i don't know if the nc4000 crisis runs equal to the nx8220 because there are 2 generations between the 4000 and the 8200.
it may be that you have to rename the bin file on the floppy to a special name or really need a special floppy. i don't know because i have no nc4000 and so i can not verify this.
i think you have to take a look at google for nc4000 crisis or phoenix crisis.
normally the flash on hp notebooks is soldered, so it is not easy to change the ic.
i'll go to take a look for the "crisis", too.
please let me know, if you get your notebook working again.
-------------- Thanks to lff and the members of this forum - i've managed to recover my nx9010 from the dead using this method A couple of things to note 1) I had to use a boot block jumper on the parallel port as per service manual 2) the ROM to replace BIOS.WPH must be the one from the corresponding WINFLASH download not DOS boot download for the machine i.e. not BIOS.ROM @ 512 in size, but BIOS.WPH which is 515 in size.
I dont know why HP wont supply the crisis disks - most of the other manufacturers seem provide them from looking at their websites. --------------
so, please try the following steps: take THIS USB Floppy drive, connect it to your pc. verify if the floppy is complete readable. take ANOTHER floppy and recreate it with the hp tool
try it again. try another usb port from the laptop, try another usb floppy drive.
the "brom, brom brom" sound may be, because of the usb drive can not read the floppy or is not correctly recorgnized by the bootloader.
rename the bin to BIOS.BIN and in another step into BIOS.WPH
try to burn the files from the floppy drive to an cd(rw) and put it into the drive.
has the nc4000 an internal floppy?
what about the LEDs? please tell me the state of ALL leds you have.
Before I will do yours and lff, my first observation was when I tried to bootup with rompaq.exe and it doesn't give any signal sign to the floppy drive to boot up while the laptop goes brooommm, stop, then goes brooomm, stop, then goes brooomm and so on. While it goes brooomm the lED lights for the lock symbol & hard drive LED, and the LED lights for battery & power button and wireless LED, they go alternately blinks the LED when it goes brooommm, then stop and LEDs turn off continuously alternate when it goes brooomm.
My NC4000 has Replicator docking station built-in with floppy drives and CD/DVD drive. I can also plug a USB external floppy drive but only one floppy drive shows in the BIOS when my laptop was working before, so either way. But I prefer the USB external floppy drive when updating the wireless card.
The NC4000 does not have parallel port only the docking station. NC4000 is a superlite weight without any drives. Its got only video port, 2-USB ports, S-Video port, RJ45, R11, 1-PCMCIA, and SD-card. The docking station is got every type of ports.
Oh I notice something, before you told me about lff's he fix his NX9105 and this/your last messages, when I tried to boot it up my NC4000, first I press the button fn + b or the windowkey + b then power button something it reads in the floppy but since I don't have the BIOS bootable disk crisis recovery. It didn't work. But since my NC4000 does not have parallel port. What is the next step. I'd like to know what is the next remedy procedure before I'll start doing any to my NC4000? Let me know.
It didn't work the fn + b or the windowskey + b followed by power button when I plug the AC/DC power supply chord. Is just kept doing the broomm and the LED blinks alternately, then stop with LEDs off, then go brooomm again with LED blinks alternately and so on. I even tried it on the docking station the floppy drive didn't respond to boot up.
I think is just my thoughts played me with those LEDs that I thought the floppy drive lighted on when I saw those LEDs blinks alternately. But nothing happened in the floppy drive and no respond nor boot up. Is just kept continuing go broomm with LEDs alternately blink and stop, kept repeatedly and so on.
Isn't it that all the NCxxxx and NXxxxx series have the same function "fn" keys when trouble shooting any problem? Let me know those alternative trouble shooting for NC4000 series.
Since my NC4000 doesn't have a Parallel port and the boot block. Also, I don't get it which one it says rename the BIOS of your model laptop to BIOS.WPH. I don't know which one.
Can you check it out which one of those three that I have to use to boot and mention it please in details so I don't missed any details of procedure.
Try to check it out to go to the website www.hp.com and go to the BIOS. There are three of them: 1. is Rompaq - Bootable DOS Disk. 2. HPQflash ROM - for MS Windows Based 3. is ROM Image (Remote ROM Flash) - SSM Compliant.
Which one of those. Let me know and give me the procedure details so I don't missed any details. I appreciated this so much brother. I have a strong feeling that it's possible to fix/repair this NC4000, because it's running. It seems dead but it's running. Let me know.
I know the USB Floppy Drive is brand new and I just install a new hard drive and partitioned it with the USB floppy drive and new fresh installation of Windows XP Pro. So everything works except what we are trying to survive my NC4000. Let me know how was it.
I'm confused now, which one the ROM.CAB or the 68BAS.BIN or the 68BAS.CAB?
The ROM.CAB is in part of SP35699 - HPQFlash.exe. The 68BAS.BIN is in part of the SP35700 - Bootable DOS Disk with rompaq.exe. The 68BAS.CAB is part of SP35698 - Remote ROM Flash-SSM Compliant which adds support for a new wireless LAN (WLAN) card.
When I click those 3, each has details and green tabs menu, after click it turned color red. Each tab menu shows up the description or instructions and features explanation. Since then, it confused me.
It's my first time to do this but it's kind a interesting experienced but this time, I need your help when it turns my laptop dead, so give me detailed procedure so I don't make missing steps procedure. I know we can do this. Just let me know.
lff has already have the disk image BIOS.WPH (Phoenix Bios crisis recovery) that he attached on his first thread message. Thanks for him too that he already has ready that, which I downloaded from his thread which is ready. I tried it didn't work. Why it didn't work? because I missed that to boot block the parallel port. Why did I miss to boot block it? because my NC4000 do not have parallel port. Only my Replicator Docking Station has all the ports and 1 floppy drive (which works only in DOS not in Windows and have no idea why) and CD/DVD drive.
Where do I have to get a boot block for the parallel port? I have never seen a boot block. Would it work in Replicator's parallel port? Gee, it seems like I'm going to fill up this thread room, lol. Anyway, let me know what is the next step.
I ve bought a Mini PCI Intel Pro wireless 2915abg for my nx6120, Celeron M model. The card itself is Lenovo's OEM one.
By searching on net and in this forum, I modified EEPROM by using Knoppix and so on, then "104 unsuported..." error does not appear. So I assume EEPROM is successfully passing BIOS check.
However, I do not have any option to enable/disable installed WLAN device in BIOS device optioin, while "Intel Execution Disable: enable/disable" option appears. Therefore WLAN button does not work at all and connection could not be established.(off course...)
In device manager, property of Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Network connection, detail tab, Device instance is showing like;
in future you are not able to enable or disable the wireless interface... i have the same problem, you have to cover pin7 with tape to activate the module and find a WLAN...
in windows you have to modify the atheros driver inf to your ven dev subsys.
nicks gat: sorry, but i think you have to unsolder the flash and program it externally. as you said the notebook seems to start, hang up, start, hang up and so on. it does not look like the normal recovery mode, because ALL LEDs are flashing. i think that is the only solution.
I don't have a machine to unsolder it. I only have a manual instrument desoldering gun. But the question is, any idea where to get a schematic diagram service manual to find out the location which one is flash BIOS chips in my NC4000 motherboard? Also, let's say the flash BIOS chip is out. I don't have any machine to flash the BIOS chips. To flash the BIOS chip is free to the company, is that right?
Any idea where to buy that BIOS chip so I can reprogram this one that it just went dead? Any idea how much the BIOS Chip?
Once the BIOS chip is out I'm going to put a socket base for the BIOS chip to plug in for easy job. So the next time I upgrade to flash the BIOS chip and turned out failed, it would be easy for me to reprogram and flash the failed BIOS chip.
I saw there are two that looks the same flash BIOS chip and both do not have label on top of it. The location is in between the PCMCIA card slot and the socket interface connector of the LCD screen. If we are facing the laptop in front, it's on the rear left side location.
The other one is closest/nearest to headphone plug. It's on the front left side. I couldn't tell which one. Help me and let me know which one.
Ok, I opened up my laptop to see the whole parts inside. I'm seeing those two CHIPS. It looks like the one you have just showed me. The first Integrated Circuit Chip the one that is located betwwen PCMCIA card slot and the socket connector for the LCD screen is brand name or made by and looks how it written like this:
PULSE H5004 0319-J CHINA.
The next Integrated Circuit, the one that is located closest/nearest to the headphone plug is brand name or made by and looks how it is written like this:
SST 49LF040 33-4C-NH 0346062-BA
I checked it out on EBAY website. This seller is selling cheap BIOS chip. It is really very, very worth to buy this in this amount. Just to fix, salvage, and ressurect my NC4000.
That is good!!! Glad to hear that you're really familiar and knowledge to this. That way, it kept me and gives me confident my brother.
But funny thing is why the hek that laptop got into the California since the BIOS Chip is in German location. I was thinking it is manufactured in German that IC, SST brand.
Yes, I will do that, solder a socket base first to make my life easier to plug in that new BIOS chip. To start again, I will plug first that new IC BIOS chip, plug in the USB floppy drive with a Boot disk updated BIOS and boot up the laptop and goes to the Updating Menu, saved the new .bin BIOS file to floppy disk, while still in Menu of updating the BIOS and when it's about to update, but before I press the "Enter" key, I have to unplug the new BIOS chip, and swap in the failed BIOS Chip (I'll use the PLCC-extractor instrument tool). When the failed BIOS chip is plug-in, then I will press the Enter to resurrect that failed BIOS.
When it's done, help me out a bit on this Wireless card to add that SUBSYS ID, because I saw there was already a DEV ID and VEND ID that is in the HEX already. All we need is enter the SUBSYS ID. Let me know how to do it when it's time to do it.
Tell me first is the HEX editor is better or the KNOPPIX? I heard and saw it here that knoppix is better. Let me know first how the knoppix is use for. Is it different from Hex Editor?
One thing, since the BIOS chip on NC4000 is 4Mbit (512Kb), is it possible that I can use and upgrade to 8Mbit (1024kb), Is it? As long as it is PLCC-32 (32 is 32-pin) and match to exact a 32-pins and fit in, right? Is like upgrading a memory chip from 512kb to 1024kb (1Meg), right? That is true, right? But Is it worth it to upgrade to 1024kb? You know, to add more hardware device. It could be the reason why the BIOS not enough room that causes to reject or go blank files the BIOS went dead. Any idea and clues? Let me know this too. Just a guess.
I just wanna double check inquiring you. Is the Bios info of that SST Chip BIOS is it Phoenix or Award or AMI Bios? Let me know fast, brother. The seller is asking me what name of BIOS. I don't even know the Revision number, does it make a difference, even just the version F.30? If anyone who knows about this NC4000's BIOS information and just landed reading this please reply at once, appreciated today this weekend.
Thanks, I'll do what you said, it might get a problem. That's why I think that the manufacturer designed that 512Kb for that NC4000 Pentium M motherboard BIOS Chip.
But don't leave me yet. Until my wireless mini card is installed correctly the SUBSYS ID to the BIOS. Tell me which one is better, the knoppix or the Winhex editor? Anyway, what causes to fail the BIOS chip when I updated the BIOS after I mentioned to you on my thread message dated Oct. 7, 2008, 22:24:55:
"the updated 68BAS.bin, that is the one I tried to look if there is my a new DEV/Vend ID, but it has VEN_168C and DEV_0013 except the SUBSYS ID that is not in the hex. But I changed the VEN_14E4&DEV_4320&SUBSYS_12F4103C and replace with this new VEN_168C&DEV_0013&SUBSYS_210214CD then I save it but before I saved this, I made an extra copy first just in case an error occurred before I update the BIOS of my laptop." Then, after I updated it, BIOS is dead.
Then, that is what happened, it failed.
You know what? it was strange when I used my descktop computer to make changes in the BIOS 68BAS.bin of the Hex Editor, after that, the 68BAS.BIN I couldn't even open or re-edit if it is in the hard drive. If I edit it on the floppy disk drive, I can make editing, changes, and save. That is weird when it's in the hard drive to edit the Hex. I couldn't even delete or remove it in my hard disk drive. Any idea?
I have an NC4000 and i bought a Intel 2200BG off ebay.
As expected I got the dreaded 104 error.
However i got mine to work by:
1. removing the card from the laptop 2. booting the laptop into winxp as normal 3. Shutting down to standby 4. CAREFULLY reinserting the card 5. waking up the laptop from standby 6. detecting the card in device manager 7. installing the card driver
I have no idea why this worked, but even following several reboots including disconnecting the battery it has never given the 104 error since.
No BIOS hacks needed.
Just for reference my BIOS version is 68BAS F.2F 12/10/2004.
I forgot my username here and password but thing I have it had in my email recorded. Still feel so lucky and glad.
Anyway, I fixed my laptop. I soldered a socket 32-pin and plug the brand new BIOS chip and survived the old BIOS chip. Now, my laptop is alive again, lol he,he,he.
Ok, I tried the method of Graham P, but still didn't work. I think my mini PCI wireless is not designed for my laptop, because the BLUE LED stayed light up and does not even responded. I put back my old mini PCI wireless card. It's really working but it's not a RANGE MAX distance. On Graham P. It does work, I know. But the light stayed on and never responded. Graham P, you are a big help and thanks too.
ChaosWK, thanks for the big help on the past which I enjoyed and learned something. I will try to buy the AR5008 model wireless N 300Mb/s mini PCI card. Do you think this might work? Let me know. Tell it to me, I'll wait....
I bought a Ubiquiti SR71-E mini PCI-E card. Atheros ar9280 based. Any one have some insight on how to proceed with this card. I have a DV6275us laptop running Vista 32bit. I get the 104 message too, so I put it to sleep and then install the ubiquiti card and the computer finds it. Still this is a hassle with always removing the card so I would like to either edit the correct line in the bios or edit the eeprom on the wireless card itself. Should I proceed with the atheros procedure post earlier or does it require something different. My laptop is newer then the nc's and nx's so thats why I ask. Thanks in advance for your help.
That's good that you where able to get that working. There is another method that I cam across that does not involve any taping of pins. Well all you have to do is google dv6000 whitelist and by doing a little research you can find what is needed without messing with the card. Also then you can sell it or use it in another laptop knowing it is original and in tact. I have done this and it works beautiful and you can use any card you want.
greetings, i got a nx7400 and like to replace the original intel 54mbit mini-pci(e) card by an intel 300 mbit card. the new card is only get to work when i replace it in suspend mode, but after reboot > 104...
My question is, if there is also an great solution like @nx6110 >'WHITELIST DEFEATED FOR NX6110, NX6120, NC6110, NC6120' for nx7400 available, which bios is different.
If u can send me an how to, i will disassamble and modify the bios by myself. i spent many hours in reproduce your solution (find an appr. offset at nx7100 bios for fix the chksum and replace stx > clx), but after flashing the screen is black.
so i guess, a little how to find the right procedures in bios will give me success. (i use IDA-Disassembler freeware and the latest bios for nx7400 - 68YGU.BIN).
I was not able to find any thing. All I can do is direct you to a site that has some good info. I found some info here that I needed. Maybe you can find something. http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/
There are solutions on this page about programing the eeprom on your card but I'm not up to date on how that is done. From what I picked up from it when I skimmed over it is that you need to use Knoppix and edit the eeprom that way but I didn't want to go that way and felt that editing the bios was more feasible for me. Turns out that there was a way of turning off the whitelist completely which is what I did and it works wonderful now.
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