600X mini PCI wi-fi card problems

[andy2000]

I've been attempting to replace the mini PCI modem in a 600X with a wi-fi card, but it has been causing nothing but trouble. When running on AC, I get random system pauses for 1-5 seconds, and then returns to normal (mouse, sound, all programs freeze) . It happens anywhere from once an hour to several times in a few minutes. To make matters worse, when running on battery, the system eventually freezes completely and has to be powered off.

I'm running a fresh install of XP pro SP3 with 576MB RAM. All the drivers are either windows default, or what's available from Lenovo's web site. I've tried Intel, Atheros, Broadcom, and Marvell cards with the same results. I also tried connecting an external antenna in case RF from the antenna I added was interfering. I even tried a second motherboard.

I haven't seen anyone else mention this kind of problem when adding a miniPCI wifi card to a 600X, but I can't see where I could be going wrong. Everything is rock solid with a cardbus wifi, or LAN card.

[rkawakami]

I'm probably one of the few people here on the forum that has undertaken this type of project:

http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_600x/mini_pci_wireless/

(I am typing on the 600X detailed above. Had to drag out the system from the closest and upgrade Firefox to 3.6.10 from 1.5 .) The OS is an OEM copy of Windows 2000 SP4 and I am using the same Broadcom BCM94306 card and drivers as described on the web site. I have not had any freezing issues with this system but it's been some time since I last used it. (I've forgotten how well this keyboard feels!). I have another 600X around here that is running XP. I'll try cloning the system, put it in the wireless 600X, install the Broadcom drivers and see what happens.

[rkawakami]

Okay, the wireless 600X is now running on Windows XP Home SP2. It is an OEM version as I received the usual Windows activation request after I cloned the drive. I have three days to play with this and see if I can get it to hang.

I'll also install SP3 later on tonight. So far it seems to be running okay. I'm also going to loop several .MP3 files in Winamp during this test so if there's any stuttering, I'll be able to hear it. Be back later on tonight....

[andy2000]

Okay, the wireless 600X is now running on Windows XP Home SP2. It is an OEM version as I received the usual Windows activation request after I cloned the drive. I have three days to play with this and see if I can get it to hang.

I'll also install SP3 later on tonight. So far it seems to be running okay. I'm also going to loop several .MP3 files in Winamp during this test so if there's any stuttering, I'll be able to hear it. Be back later on tonight....

Thanks for checking so quickly. It seems to be worse when doing web browsing rather than just letting it sit playing MP3s. I'll have to give 2000 a try to see if the problem goes away. What kind of wifi card do you have in it?

[rkawakami]

It still should have the Broadcom BCM94306 card in it; the system is currently undergoing an SP3 update. Device Manager reports it as WLAN 802.11g mini-PCI Module. The driver is Broadcom 3.30.15.0. I am using the driver and wireless utility configuration program referenced in the web site that I provided earlier. The driver is actually from Gateway and the utility program is from Belkin (and I'm real surprised that they are still available for downloading):

http://www.support.gateway.com/support/ ... .exe&st=kw
http://web.belkin.com/support/download/ ... 999&lang=1

I've purchased other Broadcom-based wireless cards that use the same chipset and used the same driver/configuration program setup in T23s without any problems. The card was used quite often in Dell and Gateway systems so there's usually a bunch of them available on eBay at any given time for $5-$10.

After the SP3 update is complete I'll start browsing while running Winamp. The 600X I'm using is a 2645-4EU (500Mhz) with 576MB of memory. Still using the same antenna from a Linksys WET11 wireless bridge. My first attempt at making a built-in wireless 600X had the antenna lead buried in the lid. From what I remember it did not affect the system in any negative way but the reception was less than stellar. That's why I went with the external antenna.

[andy2000]

Well, I've been using the system more with the cardbus card, I finally had a freeze, so something else must be going on. It's definitely worse when on battery, and seems to be worse with the miniPCI card than with the cardbus card. I've noticed that the cardbus controller, sound chip, and miniPCI card are all sharing the same IRQ even though there are free IRQs.
I wonder if something is happening when the miniPCI slot is handling a lot of data (compared to a 56k modem)? My 600X has speedstep, so maybe it's related to that.

[rkawakami]

I do have a 650Mhz 600X but it's not set up for the wireless card. The SP3 update is still running . It's been at the "performing cleanup" step for over an hour. The disk usage has been varying by a couple of hundred MB and the hard drive LED is blinking so it's doing something . If it's not done by the time I go to bed, I guess I'll just leave it running all night.

What type of antenna are you using in your system and where is it mounted?

[andy2000]

I added one antenna above the audio ports, just behind the IR port plate. The other one is above the hard drive between the left speaker and latch (I removed a patch of RF shielding paint on the inside and confirmed that the outside isn't shielded). Reception is usable around the house, but not perfect. If I ever get the bugs worked out, I'll try again to mount them in the screen. There was room for the antennas, but running the wires was a problem. The one by the IR port is a simple monopole from an old router, and the one by the speaker is a typical notebook antenna.

[rkawakami]

Okay, thanks for that information about the antennas. While it's not beyond the possibility that stray RF can affect the system, I've not heard (so far) that installing internal antennas can lead to what you are experiencing.

The SP3 update is finally over. Apparently I'm now good for 30 days until I need to "activate" Windows. The 600X is still very responsive, ignoring the occasional missed keypress. I don't know if it's because I haven't used the system in some time or if the OS is getting hung up for a split second (I'm voting for the first reason). I've got several .MP3 files queued up in Winamp (5.08c, a really old version) while I'm typing this up and so far it's been working fine.

I think I'll take this 600X to work today and let it run all day.

(I really missed the feeling of this keyboard)

edit: 1pm PDT The 600X has been running on my desk here at work for a couple of hours. Firefox has at least three tabs open at all times; My Yahoo, the forum and AOL Mail. This way I'm constantly using the wireless to download Flash ads . I've checked the IRQ usage and most of the peripherals are also using IRQ11. I think this is pretty much the standard setup. If you are still getting freezes while using a PCMCIA wireless card, then I'd have to say that it's probably not a wireless problem. If you think that it may be related to SpeedStep, then check your Windows Power Manager settings and see if you can set the system to "maximum performance". I think that should keep the system from dropping to the lower speed. You can also try disconnecting the battery and run the laptop on just the AC. That essentially will duplicate what I'm running at the moment and it will probably also force the CPU at the lower speed.

Well that was interesting.... as I was typing those last few sentences, I got a sense of what you might be seeing. The system appeared to ignore my typing but Winamp was still playing. I looked at the wireless icon and it was transferring data. The Trackpoint was not moving smoothly. I was able to launch Task Manager and saw that the CPU usage was near 100%. It looks like a Windows system update is running (update.exe), as well as AVG (Free 8.5) eating up CPU cycles.

This lasted about 5 minutes. 26 Windows updates are now waiting to be installed. The system is back to being responsive as before.

[andy2000]

I think it's related to speedstep. I've had it running for a couple of hours with it forced into low speed mode, and it hasn't missed a beat. I disabled speedstep by booting it without a battery, so Windows sees it as a fixed speed CPU because even in max battery it occasionally jumps to high speed.

When it freezes, Winamp just repeats the same fraction of a second over and over, so it's hard to miss. It doesn't seem to correspond to high CPU load, but it's hard to tell since even the task manager freezes. Since speedstep has to put the CPU to sleep during the speed change, it makes sense that the system would totally freeze if the transition doesn't go smoothly.

I'm not quite going to call it solved yet, but it looks promising. Thanks for checking your 600X. It was a big help to verify that at least one other person has a 600X with miniPCI wifi working. The fact that the only major difference between our two systems is speedstep pointed me in the right direction (hopefully).

[andy2000]

Well, it's definitely speedstep, or at least disabling speedstep prevents it from pausing/freezing. I tried forcing into high power mode with the "always on" power scheme, and it's fine. As soon as I switch back to any of the dynamic speed modes it acts up again. I'm not sure if the pauses correspond to speed changes or not because I can't tell what the system is doing when it's paused. I can say that it normally switches speed with no noticeable problem, and that the pauses don't seem to be related to high CPU load. Running Winamp seems to make things a lot worse. It may be caused by constant sound card activity with network activity and a speedstep change at just the wrong time.

I'll post back if I figure anything out. I'll probably try a different OS or two (maybe 2000, and XP SP2, or even 7). I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else with a speedstep 600X on what you have that works.