Member Avatar for plut0564

My Niece has asked me to fix her E!-system 3085 laptop. I don't know how she managed to do it, but she deleted all the drivers from the machine.

I've managed to get most of them back, I ran a 'repair' from an XP bootable. The lappy is now OK I can connect to the web (via a network cable), everything looks OK.

The only thing I can't get to work is the wireless, I've had a look on the web and found various wireless drivers for it but none of them work, is there an easy way to check if the wireless card is broken or which wireless card is in the machine??

Cheers,

:(

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Dani AI

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For : a few practical ways to identify the wireless adapter and tell whether it is hardware-failed, without repeating the Device Manager / PC-Wizard route already mentioned by .

Try a non‑Windows boot to see the hardware directly. Boot a Linux live USB (Ubuntu, Mint, SystemRescue) and run:

lspci -nn | grep -i network
lsusb

Those commands show PCI/PCIe or USB wireless devices and the vendor/device IDs. If the card appears there, the hardware is present and you need the correct chipset driver in Windows. If nothing shows, the radio may be physically missing or dead.

Quick checks before opening anything: make sure any physical RF switch or Fn+function key that toggles Wi‑Fi is on, and check the BIOS wireless setting. If the live distro sees the adapter, note the vendor/device ID and search for a Windows driver for that chipset (search by VEN_xxxx DEV_xxxx). Common vendor IDs to look for are Intel (8086), Broadcom (14e4), Atheros/Qualcomm (168c), Realtek (10ec), and Ralink/Mediatek (1814).

If Linux cannot see the card, remove power and battery and, if comfortable, open the access panel to verify the mini‑PCI/mini‑PCIe card and antenna leads—loose antenna cables will prevent operation. As a quick workaround to confirm OS-side Wi‑Fi support, try a cheap USB Wi‑Fi dongle; if it works, the problem is the internal card or its driver.

Cautions: disconnect mains and battery before opening the case, avoid static, and be mindful of warranty seals. Once you have the vendor/device ID, download drivers from the chipset vendor or the laptop maker for the best match.

Member Avatar for bytepowered

The best way I have found to discover hardware details without cracking the case is to use PC Wizard 2010. Free download from http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

It should work with the proper driver if it was working before. It might need to be removed and then reinstalled from the Device Manager. After being removed from the Device Manager, Windows should detect and reinstall the wireless device on the next reboot.

Good Luck

Member Avatar for plut0564

Thanks Bytepowered, I'll have a look at it.
Jim

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