HP 8560W cannot turn on Wifi after Windows 8.1 Pro Install

[VVet69]

Relaced Hard drive with SSD and installed Windows 8.1 Pro.  Old HD was Windows 7 Pro.

Installed HP Support Assistant and it updated all the needed drivers.

Installed the AMD video driver manually as Suipport Assistant did not.

Wired ethernet connection is working correctly, through HP dock.

Now I cannot turn WiFi adpater on. In the Windows Network Connections, it is grayed out.

The Switch on the keyboard is lit orange and pressing it does not change anything.

Removed from docking bay tried as well -- still no WiFi.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Regards, Steve

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Steve:

Is the wifi adapter listed under the Network Adapters device manager category?

If not, is there a device listed in the device manager under an Other Devices category labeled as a Network Controller?

The Network Controller device is the wifi adapter in need of a driver.

One of those devices should be present.

If neither is present, then the wifi adapter must have been turned off in the W7 connection manager software.

To get the wifi adapter to show up if it is not appearing in the device manager, make a bootable Ubuntu installer from the link below.

https://ubuntu.com/download

Boot from the installer, and select the option to Try Ubuntu without installing.

Turn on the wifi in Ubuntu.

Shut down the PC, remove the Ubuntu installer, boot it back up and when you get into Windows, the wifi should be working, or the Network Controller device should be present, and you can install the applicable wifi driver for it.

[VVet69]

HI,

WiFi adapter shows up as a Network Adapter in device manager, using the Microsoft driver for the Intel device.

I have already installed Linux Mint on another partition so tried that use the Wireless. I can toggle the software switch for the wireless in Mint, but Wifi won’t connect to the SSID I set up..-The hardware switch still does not turn Wifi on in Mint.

I went into BIOS settings and saw that the wireless button and the internal wireless adapter were un-checked so I checked them and booted. The switch now toggles on an off but the Wifi adapter is still showing Off and dimmed out in Networks. I am really stumped now…

Regards. Steve

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Steve:

Yes, that is very odd to me.  W8.1 is a supported operating system.

So, you enabled the wireless button and the adapter in the BIOS...

There is no wireless button for W8.1 on the support page, but if there is an unknown device showing up in the device manager with a hardware ID of ACPI\HPQ6001, then you need the wireless button driver, which I have provided below.

This package provides the driver for the HP Wireless Button on supported models running a supported operating system. HP Wireless Button allows the physical (hardware) wireless radio button on the system to enable and disable the wireless connection on the system.

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp64001-64500/sp64043.exe

The wireless button works without any drivers on W7, but in W8 - W10 many notebooks need the wireless button driver installed in order for the wifi to work.

Just taking a shot in the dark here, because I have no idea what else it could possibly be.

[VVet69]

Hi,

The unknown device in my system is ACPI\HPQ0004\3&21436425&0, similar to but not identical to the device you indicated was the WiFi Button.  I tried installing the driver anyway but failed with an error (see below picture). Is there another driver for this particular device?

Thanks, Steve

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Steve.

Your notebook is one of those where the wireless button does not need additional software to work in W8 or newer.

Here is the driver for the unknown device...that is the 3D driveguard device.

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp64001-64500/sp64144.exe

What model Intel wifi adapter does your notebook have, and what is the driver version and date installed?

[VVet69]

HI Paul,

My Wifi Device is an Intel Centrino(R) Ultimate -N 6300 AGN

The Device Driver details are shown below:

Asking for a Driver Update from the Device properties returns a message that the device driver is up to date.

Regards, Steve

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Steve:

See if this driver works...I think it might be a newer one.

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp74501-75000/sp74945.exe

[VVet69]

Paul,

I had to install the driver using Windows 7 Compatibility mode but it installed properly. However, the Wifi adapter is still off and the switch to turn it on is dimmed  out in Networks. I did reboot just to make sure.   But we are making progress...:)

Thanks, Steve

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I just don't get it, Steve.

By all respects that card should be working.