Wi-Fi issues on my IBM R40

IBM R40. It's an old machine, but I hold it incredibly dear. After a fresh system reinstall, the Fn-Fnešto shortcut to enable the Wi-Fi isn't working anymore, even though everything else seems to be functioning perfectly. Can anyone help me out?!!

quiettiger9 said:IBM R40. It's an old machine, but I hold it incredibly dear. After a fresh system reinstall, the Fn-Fnešto shortcut to enable the Wi-Fi isn't working anymore, even though everything else seems to be functioning perfectly. Can anyone help me out?!!

Have you actually installed the drivers for the wifi card yet?

The drivers are all set up; we're looking at the Atheros ar5001x here.

Maybe give this program a shot—it's pretty good at hunting down drivers automatically.

https://sdi-tool.org/download/

Just grab SDI Lite and make sure you install that first "indexes" item within the app so it can actually scan your hardware...

Hey, take a look at this one for your OS http://atheros-ar5001x-wireless-netw....informer.com/

It downloaded and dumped about 8GB worth of driver packages on me, claiming they were missing.

I have the latest drivers installed, but would a complete reinstall of the OS help at all?

quiettiger9 said:It downloaded and dumped about 8GB worth of driver packages on me, claiming they were missing.

Just try to hunt down the WiFi drivers specifically.

I installed the drivers and still nothing. I can't get the Wi-Fi to turn on, and the Fn-Fnešto keys aren't responding either.

Just get that Power Management driver and app installed first—then you can go in there and flip the switch.

I've completed the installation, but I don't see an option to enable the Wi-Fi; instead, I'm just seeing a long list of battery settings.

It’s possible those Fn keys are just sitting there dead because you're missing the specific keyboard driver... here's a link, give it a shot
http://www.notebook-driver.com/ibm-t...vers-software/

It doesn't matter; nothing is happening.

Take a closer look—you might actually have a physical Wi-Fi switch somewhere on the side or underneath the laptop, and it’s possible you just accidentally toggled it off..

No, that was actually the very first thing I considered.

Are you positive you actually installed both the Power Management driver and the app?

quiettiger9 said:I've completed the installation, but I don't see an option to enable the Wi-Fi; instead, I'm just seeing a long list of battery settings.

Do you have that ThinkVantaga app or whatever it's called? You know, the one used to get those Fn keys and all those extra options working properly.

I went through with the installation and all the options are showing up, but for some reason, I can't actually toggle the Wi-Fi on. How is that even possible?

If you want the Wi-Fi to actually work on Windows XP, you’re gonna need service pack 3 installed to handle WPA... plus, you didn't even mention if the wireless card is showing up in the Device Manager or if it's got that annoying yellow exclamation mark next to it.

Which operating system did you end up installing? Was it Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, or maybe Windows 10? You really have to make sure you download the drivers specifically for the OS you're running. If you're working with a legacy laptop, finding Windows 7 drivers might already be a struggle—let alone trying to hunt down anything compatible for Windows 8 or 10.