Approved WiFi cards

[jca1073]

Hi,  I have been using HP for years (computers & printers)  recently my mother purchased a new HP as her old one (this one) broke.  I originally acquired the broken HP for the battery and processor (still pretty nice!).  Instead of parting it out, I did my own research, found the problem (Heat sink) and replaced it.   Computer is back up and running.

I noticed upon receiving it, however, that it did not have a WiFi minicard.   Long story short, I downloaded the HP Pavilion dv6 Maintenance and service guide (document # 635489-002).  On page 67, WLAN module at the top under "all models" it lists:   

Atheros 9485GN 802.11b/g/n 1x1 WiFi and 3012 Bluetooth 4.0 Combo adapter   part # 655795-001

I purchased wifi card SPS# 655795-001   (HP P/N: 654825-001) and upon installing I can not get past "wlan module id (702) wireless module not supported"

I need the steps to follow to get the card working.

Thank you

[REO51ST]

@jca1073

Did yours have an HP sticker on it like this one???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-G6-wifi-card-655795-001-/150824102527?hash=item231dd12a7f:m:maC7D378TyXWk...

REO

[jca1073]

No It did not.  I did however purchase it from a parted out dv6-6000.  Here is the exact card

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/391500431356?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Your notebook has a BIOS whitelist, which rejects any card without the unique hardware ID, for each wireless card the whitelist allows--much like a fingerprint.

There are a few different versions of the same model wireless card, and they have different hardware ID's.

I only buy the cards on EBay where I see the actual photograph of the item with the HP part number clearly visible.

You want to see the white sticker on the wlan card which shows 'Replace with HP Spare.'

I don't rely on an auction listing where they show some stock photo.

Let me show you what I am referring to by the hardware ID...

Here is a Broadcom wireless card driver for example...this is the same model card (BCM 4313) with 3 different hardware ID's.

The BIOS whitelist in your notebook is only going to allow one of those ID's to work.

%BCM4313NG_DeviceDesc% = BCM43XNG2022_NT62, PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4727&SUBSYS_145C103C
 %BCM4313NG_DeviceDesc% = BCM43XNG2022_NT62, PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4727&SUBSYS_1483103C
 %BCM4313NG_DeviceDesc% = BCM43XNG2022_NT62, PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4727&SUBSYS_1795103C

There is another issue...some of the service manuals cover multiple model notebooks in the series, and there is not a 100% guarantee even the card with the HP part number on it will work--especially if you are trying to upgrade the wlan card.

It normally works, but in rare instances, I have read posts from other forum members where the card listed in the service manual with the HP part number on it didn't work.

[jca1073]

Is there a possibility to see this "whitelist" in the bios so I can truly see what is acceptable for this machine?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, there isn't...at least not any easy way.

Maybe some software genius knows how to hack into the BIOS and extract the text file information out of it to find the whitelist.

However, I was doing some thinking...Here's the problem...the service manual is not 100% correct as you found out.

Not only that, but it lists wireless cards that aren't really supported, or it lists the wrong part number for certain wlan cards.

So, here is my idea...on the sticker where your notebook's serial number is, there is a product number.

Enter the product number for your notebook in the box at the link below, and it should provide the list of parts used for that product number.

http://partsurfer.hp.com/search.aspx

Now, if the model you have, is a CTO (Configured to Order) model, there may be a few wireless cards listed.

I would assume under those circumstances, that any of those part numbers would work.

Then query by the part number, look for the 'Replace with HP Spare' sticker on the wlan card you want to buy, and hopefully, that will work the next time around.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

One other question...

Do you know why the wlan card was removed from the notebook?

I ask that because I have read a few posts from forum members who turned on their notebooks one day, to be welcomed with that wlan module id (702) wireless module not supported message, and they never replaced the wlan card or did anything that would cause that message to occur.

I would have to assume under those circumstances, that somehow the BIOS got corrupted.

The only way to get the notebook to go beyond that message is to remove the wlan card.

I guess if that were to happen, one could try flashing the BIOS to the latest version, or rolling back the BIOS to an earlier version, if it was already at the newest one.

[jca1073]

Not knowing for certain, but given that the HDD connector, HDD and bracket were also missing I am assuming the person who worked on didn't put it completely back together and they became separated from the computer and misplaced.

Either way, flashing the BIOS is not something I have a problem with, I do have a problem with no way of being certain it worked because there is no way to tell what is and is not a matched WiFi card. Especially since the part number on the card purchased is straight out of the I&O manual for the computer.

[jca1073]

Paul,

   Thank you for the "parts surfer" website.  I now have it bookmarked in my browser for future purposes.  Long story short, I got a list of wifi cards for my build and took a chance on one with wifi+BT.  I made sure it had the "USE HP REPLACEMENT -PART #" on the sticker.   Plugged the card in and the computer booted right up.

Thank you again.  This is solved!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Glad you found a card that worked.