Wireless LAN / Bluetooth Missing?

[R3SKT]

I will update you when I have had a chance to power down this PC and open it up to see what's inside. That may take me a day or so before I can deal with this, but I will return to let you know where I get to, following all of your very helpful advice.

[R3SKT]

Rightly or wrongly, I have jumped the gun and ordered the following https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0936XCKWX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't expect to find any wires in the PC, so if this and the wifi card both come in tomorrow, I stand a good chance of getting something cobbled together over the weekend to make it work. Fingers crossed.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hopefully, the parts list I posted for you is correct and the antenna wires are inside.

The problem with the antenna kit you ordered is that if the kit does not come with the SFF PCI mounting bracket to screw the wire terminals to, you will have two 'rabbit ears' dangling from the back of the PC.

The one in the picture is for a tower sized PC.

If it does, then problem solved because that is exactly what you needed.

[R3SKT]

Worse case I will be needing to modify the existing bracket that's in the PC at the moment. A quick trip down the garden into the workshop and a couple of holes to be drilled should see me right ...... I hope!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Yes, that would work too, I suppose, as long as you can drill the perfect sized holes you need.

Reminds me of the good old days working on my cars as a kid. 

Jury rigging so many things to make something work.  😊

[R3SKT]

Heh heh, I'm a past master at needing to jury rig something to make it come together. I think I'll be fine getting the right diameter holes inserted, it won't be the first time I've resorted to making holes in something to achieve my aims! 😂

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Then you on the road to success!

All you need to do is to install the Wi-Fi card, connect the antenna bracket to the PC, route the wires to the card, and then carefully attach the wires to the card's antenna terminals, screw the external antennas to the bracket, and done.

I just hope the tiny screw needed to secure the Wi-Fi card to the standoff is there.

[R3SKT]

Well, that didn't quite go to plan, sadly. Everything turned up in good time, and the PC strip-out went fine. However, the position of the spare m.2 slot meant that the antennae wires were facing 90° east to the rear of the PC and there was literally no easy way to run the wires cleanly to the mounting bracket for the external bunny-ears. Every time I tried to bring the re-fit back together the wires popped off of the chip (those fixings are just ridiculously small!!!).

Eventually, one of the connectors refused to sit cleanly on the chip, and despite trying everything I knew, it looks like the connector on the chip itself is now squashed and unable to receive the fitting. Whether I inadvertently caught it whilst trying to get the wire to pop onto it, I don't know, but it is now (under a magnifying loupe) looking rather sorry for itself.

I re-assembled the PC and it's all back up and running A-OK, and the new chip is registered and alive, but just not functional due to it having no antennae wires to feed it.

I tried searching for a better than 30cm wire to at least give me a chance to use the chip with just one wire connected, but it appears that everything on the market is 30cm maximum.

So, at this stage, I either have to re-purchase a new chip to give me another chance of trying to connect the two fiddly little connectors again (assuming I can find a longer pair of wires!) or admit defeat and take it somewhere to get a "specialist technician" to install it for me, preferably someone with tiny fingers and the dexterity of an angel 😆

PS: The mounting bracket was fine as supplied, it snapped straight in and no drilling required, thankfully, and, the mounting screw was resident on the motherboard ......

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Sorry to read that you had problems with installing the Wi-Fi card.

The antenna wires being too short was one of the last things I thought would have been a problem.

Yes, those wires are very thin and delicate.

I broke the terminal off the Wi-Fi card trying to upgrade it and the terminal got stuck inside the antenna wire connector.

What a pain I had using a strong needle, small needle nose pliers and a jeweler's loupe to pick and gouge that broken piece out of the wire.

I will never, ever try and upgrade a M.2 Wi-Fi card again.

The older HMC form factor cards, which I thought had small wires, are gigantic compared to the M.2 card antenna wires and connectors.

Hopefully, you can locate a longer pair of antenna wires.

I would have suggested a PCIe x1 Wi-Fi card but looking at your PC's service manual, I don't see an internal USB connector on the motherboard to attach the wire needed for the Bluetooth to work.

Chapter 4, pages 53 & 54.

Maintenance and Service Guide (hp.com)

All of my ancient desktop PC's have the internal 9-pin USB connectors, so I have PCIe x1 Wi-Fi cards in them.

None of my PC's came with M.2 Wi-Fi card slots.

I hope that your next attempt to do this goes well!

Please let us know when you get the Wi-Fi installed and running once and for all.

[R3SKT]

I have ordered a pair of 40cm wires, going to be a couple of weeks before they arrive. I know I can get one connected without issue, the second connector may be too far gone, but the chances are that the one wire will pick up the access point signal as it is literally only 1.3mtr away, and I could position it closer if needs be. I will have a look at improving the damaged connector on the wifi card/chip, I've nothing to lose for trying.