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    Please help! I'm new at this!

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by sadgatewaysgone, Jul 29, 2009.

  1. sadgatewaysgone

    sadgatewaysgone Newbie

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    Please help me! Ok so I have a Gateway E475 laptop that came without a wireless card. I bought the recommeded 3945ABG wireless card and installed the driver. I opened up the back and there were 3 wires in the pc and only 2 connectors on the card. I was informed I could still get by using only 2 connections so I connected 2 wires and put a rubber cap on the third loose wire. When I tried to turn it on the screen was black. Never heard windows chime or anything. I opened it back up...took out the wireless card...rebooted and it was fine. Am I doing something wrong? Is it something silly? Is the wireless card toast? What steps in what order should I have to do to install this (or another if the card is the problem) card? Any help any of you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

    THANK YOUU!!!!

    Meg
     
    sadgatewaysgone, Jul 29, 2009
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  2. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    hmm, BIOS whitelisting of your miniPCIe device (wireless card)?
     
    moral hazard, Jul 29, 2009
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  3. sadgatewaysgone

    sadgatewaysgone Newbie

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    a-ha! That very well might be the case. Is there a way of finding out which wireless card would work?
     
    sadgatewaysgone, Jul 29, 2009
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  4. Saisei

    Saisei Notebook Deity

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    You have to connect everything except the last one which says something 3.
    Or try reinserting the card.
     
    Saisei, Jul 29, 2009
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  5. User Retired 2

    User Retired 2 Notebook Nobel Laureate NBR Reviewer

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    Sounds like the card is faulty OR you could have bios whitelisting applied. Try:

    -mask pin 20 (wireless enable/disable) to attempt to bypass bios whitelisting
    -OR hotplug the wireless card in and do a "Scan for new hardware" to see if it's detected
     
    User Retired 2, Jul 29, 2009
    #5