Switch On, Radio Off

hello everyone.
i have this problem, see.

a few days ago, my Sony VAIO SR stopped recognizing wireless connections. i would attempt to connect to something wireless, and all windows could tell me is "Windows cannot find any additional networks". i attempted to diagnose & repair, and again Windows would tell me "Your wireless compatability appears to be off" and recommended that i made sure my wireless switch was on.

well that was funny, because when i checked the front of my laptop to see if the wireless switch was on, it indeed was. the green light was glowing.

i ran Intel PROSet/Wireless Tools to diagnose the problem.
i was told my radio test "Failed".
i switched the manual wireless switch on/off. i ran the test again, and this time, my radio test "Passed". i let the test continue, and this time, my scan test "Failed". i was told that there were no wireless connections available. i was in my college dorm, so i turned to my roommates, and their wireless connection was working fine.

i've tried resetting my laptop, playing with the switch, and rebooting.

the manual wireless switch is on: however, windows is convinced that the radio is off every time i reboot regardless of the switch.
no wireless connections are even recognized.

my op is windows vista home premium.
my wireless card is Intel® WiFi Link 5100.

when i look at my device manager, windows recognizes the wireless card when the on switch is on.


right now i'm connected to the internet via ethernet cord.




what is going on?

 

Most likely thing is that the wireless NIC has failed (i.e., physically gone kaput). I believe that the 5100 series has a lot of problems in general.

 

what joy.

my laptop is barely 3 months old.

 

But therein lies the silver lining - you should still be under warranty.

 

It could be a physical failure, but more likely a driver issue. I know that when I downgraded my SR to XP, I had the exact same problems (on my Atheros card), and after uninstalling Sony's "Wireless Switch Settings Utility", the problems went away. I recommend downloading the install file for the WSSU off Sony's support site here, then clicking on it should uninstall the WSSU.

Then do a complete shutdown of your laptop, wait a couple of seconds, then start it up again (make sure you don't do a restart through the menu, but an actual shutdown).

That solved the problem for me, so maybe it will help you too. Other utilities that may cause problems could be the SmartWi, so it couldn't hurt to uninstall that one as well.

 

this is true, my friend. this is true.

before i start lugging this to the nearest sony store, is there any other plausible causes you think might have spurred this? even by tiny chance?

 

lattice, thank you for that site.

i'm curious: what if uninstalling what you mentioned causes further problems?

 

Unfortunately, no. You might try to see if you can get it to temporarily "fix" itself by using the manual on/off switch. If it reliably responds to the manual on/off switch, that almost certainly indicates a physical (as oposed to a software) problem with the NIC.

 

Well, the way I see it, you already can't access your wireless, so it can't really cause more problems. I currently have full WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity without having the utility installed, so it's not essential for computer operation. Besides which, you can always re-install if it doesn't fix the problem.

Other fixes to try: uninstalling & re-installing the drivers for your wireless card. But try the uninstalling WSSU solution first.

EDIT: Make sure when you do the uninstalling that you keep the Wireless switch in the ON position, though. I have no idea what would happen if you uninstall the WSSU and switch the LAN off.

 

alright: lattice, i'm about to activate your plan of action hardcore on my laptop.

shyster, i'll probably be dragging this laptop to the sony store with you in mind.

i'll come back if further problems ensue. flames, for example.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that Lattice's solution works - I'd rather be wrong than have you have to go to all that extra trouble.

 

good news!

in case anyone else comes across this problem:

i followed lattice's advice and re-installed my drivers from my manufacturer's website (in this case, sony). from there, i downloaded the drivers concerning my wireless and wireless LAN. however, unlike lattice advised, i couldn't find the WSSU driver. but what i did find, i installed, and shut down my computer completely. when i rebooted, my wireless connection was recognized.

let's hope this is not temporary, as shyster alluded it may be.

thanks everyone

 

Hey, that's great news! Sounds like this was a missing driver problem than anything to do with the utilities. Glad to hear everything worked out!

 

Good news indeed! I for one will be sorely disappointed if I end up being right, so here's to hoping that I was just unduly pessimistic!