Can't get MPE-AX3000H WiFi 6 Wireless card to work

[GeorgeLeto]

Trying to upgrade WiFi from Ralink RT5390R to MPE-AX3000H WiFi 6 Wireless and Bluetooth. When I install it loads all the correct and latest drivers as verified by the Intel Driver & Support Assistant but it also loads 4 "other or unknown devices" and it does not allow me to even turn on the WiFi and says no networks are available. See Device Manager output before and after image below. I tried deleting and doing a clean install but always end up with Device Manager showing the same as below. Is it possible to upgrade to the MPE-AX3000H WiFi 6 Wireless and Bluetooth card?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

I don't believe that you can get any model Wi-Fi card other than those listed in the service manual to work in that model series.

They all do the same thing that the one you installed does.

Drivers install, the card doesn't work.

Just one level better than the BIOS rejecting the card altogether, but just as effective in preventing it from working.

Even an old Intel 7260 AC card won't work.

[GeorgeLeto]

Thank you for the help. You kept me from wasting more time.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes, it is very frustrating to be so close, yet so far.

Your notebook was made around the time HP began phasing out the BIOS whitelist Wi-Fi card restrictions, and it was hit or miss (mostly miss) back then if a different Wi-Fi card would work or not that was better than what was listed in the service manual.

For example, the card you bought would have worked fine in my HP 350 G1 notebook which was just about a year newer than yours, and came with an Intel 4th gen core processor.

The usual whitelist rejection was reported as a 702 unsupported Wi-Fi card error during startup.

You couldn't even get into Windows without removing the card.

Now the errors are more like what you observed.  Everything looks pretty much fine but doesn't work.

For example, the card you bought would have worked fine in my HP 350 G1 notebook which was just about a year newer than yours and came with an Intel 4th gen core processor.

I had removed the Broadcom dual band N card it came with for the Intel 7260AC which was faster and allowed me to wirelessly project my PC's screen to a smart TV.

Even today there are still some HP notebooks that won't support any other Wi-Fi card than the ones listed in the service manual.  But fortunately, those are few and far between.

[GeorgeLeto]

Is it possible to get this card to work with a BIOS update and if so where can I get?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Probably not.

HP has retired all support for your notebook since it is more than 10 years old.

This reputable 3rd party website has drivers and the last BIOS update HP released for your notebook.

HP ENVY m4-1115dx BIOS (driverscollection.com)

It appears that version F.18 was the last update HP released for the model series.

It doesn't say what the update does and since all documentation has been removed, I can't check the previous version update list's release notes to see what any of the BIOS updates did.

Complicating the matter further, since you are running W10 on your notebook, I have no idea what will happen if you try to update the BIOS in W10, when it was written to be run on older operating systems.

[GeorgeLeto]

I updated the BIOS to F.18 and reinstalled WiFi6 card. It booted up and connected to WIFI quickly. Got the Microsoft pop up welcoming me to WiFi6, Device Manager showed those 4 other drivers were installed and working properly. Did a speedtest and showing 540 Mbps over WiFi. Everything looked and was working great, until I shut down and rebooted. Then it went back to showing that no connections were available and couldn't turn on WiFi.

I tried removing all drivers and rebooting, didn't work. Then tried reinstalling old card and booting, old card worked ok. Then shut down and put new card in and getting same problem.

Do you have any idea why it worked once after updating the BIOS and then stopped? I'm wondering if there's just a setting that needs to be changed that the BIOS changed back or whether I should just give up. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Probably what happened is after you restarted the PC, the BIOS re-detected the wifi adapter was not a supported card, and disabled it. 

Too bad it didn't work out. 

[GeorgeLeto]

Yes, I believe you're right. I read about another person having the exact same result.

Looks like the only way to get to work would be to modify the BIOS. I found a general method that someone posted for Insyde BIOSes that may work at https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-General-method-to-remove-whitelist-from-Insyde-BIOS

I've used Hex editors in the past to modify programs and may give it a try it when I have some free time. Thanks for all your help.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

If you decide to modify the BIOS, please let us know if you were able to get the Wi-Fi 6 card to work.