Upgrade from AX201 to AX210

[KT-Tucson]

I have an HP Envy laptop model 17-CG1075 running Windows 11 with an Intel AX201 wifi card that I am trying to upgrade to AX210 (for wifi 6e).  After replacing the wifi card in the laptop and powering up I wind up with BSOD with one of several errors:  INTERNAL POWER ERROR, BAD SYSTEM CONFIG INFO, SYSTEM SERVICE EXECPTION.

Has anyone attempted this upgrade with success, and if so how did you get it to work?

[BeemerBiker]

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@KT-Tucson wrote:

 upgrade to AX210 (for wifi 6e).  After replacing the wifi card in the laptop and powering up I wind up with BSOD with one of several errors:  INTERNAL POWER ERROR, BAD SYSTEM CONFIG INFO, SYSTEM SERVICE EXECPTION.

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That is not expected at all. Please remove the board and see if the problem goes away.

I've done the same upgrade but on a desktop system and had no problem other than attaching the antennas. 

If the problem goes away then try the 210 again but boot into safe mode:

First read this article about safe mode. Skip down to 'Enter safe mode from outside windows. If F11 does not get you into system recovery then try turning the power on and off three or more times in a row.

Troubleshoot>Advanced options > See more recovery options > Startup Settings.

Enable safe mode #4

Bring up the device manager and delete (uninstall) the network driver for Wi-Fi and reboot.

Let me know what happens

[KT-Tucson]

Yes, I was successful booting into safe mode, both with and without networking.  With networking, device manager does see the card, but it says it has problems, which I was not able to figure out how to repair.

I did this same upgrade last week on my wife's MinisForum, from a no-name wifi card to the AX210 -- it took all of five minutes to be up and running with wifi 6e.  Is there something with my HP laptop (maybe the BIOS) that is preventing this same upgrade from working?

[BeemerBiker]

I used the Intel support assistant to get the latest driver for the 210 (wi-fi and bluetooth)

but your system cannot go online so try this download

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19351/intel-wireless-wi-fi-drivers-for-windows-10-a...

[KT-Tucson]

I downloaded the latest drivers from the Intel website before performing the update, version 23.100.0.4 dated 11/11/2024, which is a later version than the one found on the HP website, and this download includes drivers for both the 201 and 210.  Even running the driver install in safe mode didn't help.

This really should be a plug-and-play procedure, but something else HP-related must be preventing me from success.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

@KT-Tucson 

Unfortunately, even in this day and age, there are some HP notebook model series that have BIOS whitelists which block the installation of some model Wi-Fi adapters from working

No one know what models may be affected until someone like you tries to upgrade the card.

Most of the time, the upgrades are just a plug and play swap.

If you installed the Intel non-vPro card with the Intel SPS # of M27269-005, then the card should have worked.

So, if that is what you installed the BIOS is rejecting it.

You may want to try an alternative Wi-Fi 6E card such as the Realtek 8852CE Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.3 WLAN adapter -- HP part # N22541-001.

If that doesn't work either, then I would give up on trying to upgrade the Wi-Fi adapter in your notebook.

[BeemerBiker]

Reportedly, the AX210 does not work in any AMD laptop but you have an Intel CPU.

I do not know why your laptop rejects the driver.  Is there any specific error message?

Maybe a TPM problem?

Possibly our senior expert @Paul_Tikkanen might have some advice.

[edit]  Paull beat me to it!

[KT-Tucson]

I am familiar with the whitelist, and even ran into it myself when I tried to upgrade the network card on my previous HP laptop (circa 2016).  The whitelist won't even let the machine escape BIOS, which is not the problem with my current laptop (circa 2022) upgrade problem.

[KT-Tucson]

I am trying to upgrade to an Intel card SPS # of M27269-005.  If I dead-end with this card, I can always try the Realtek card.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

The BIOS unsupported Wi-Fi adapter message that we used to get is not always the only way the BIOS rejects the card.

Nowadays it is more subtle...the card not showing up at all in the device manager, the card showing up and is disabled, and things like that.

Before you installed the AX210, did you first uninstall both the Intel AX201 wifi adapter and driver in the device manager as well as the Intel Bluetooth adapter and driver, as well as the Intel Bluetooth software in the Windows control panel?

Sometimes removing the card without doing that first causes major driver conflicts with the new card-even though it is from the same manufacturer and uses the same driver file.