I recently bought an IBM ThinkPad T41 on eBay. Unfortunately, it appears that the previous owner reinstalled windows and, in the process of doing so, erased the original IBM partition. Since the computer does not come with any sort a restoring disc I have been trying to download the essential drivers from the Lenovo website. I have managed to restore most of the basic audio and video function. However, the wireless network adapter has proved itself a bit more problematic. After downloading the Cisco 802.11b wireless driver and running the setup I get an error that basically reads “insert the wireless adapter and try again”. Yet, according with the Lenovo website, the T41 2373-7JS comes with an internal Mini PCI adapter which leads me to believe that I am installing an erroneous driver. Does anybody know how to fix this?

Erich

O/S?

Are you going here;?
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...cid=MIGR-67214

Do you have the "Type" correct for the machine?

The OS is Win XP SP 2. That is exactly the website I have been getting the drivers from. I tried installing both, the ThinkPad 802.11ab, 802.11abg, and 802.11bg and the Cisco Wireless LAN Mini PCI adapter driver, but neither one worked. When I run the Cisco driver, which is the wireless receptor this machine comes with according to the Lenovo website, it tells me to insert the wireless adapter and try again. The type is a 2373-7JS.

Is the LAN enabled in the machines bios?

I checked the <network> windows in the bios and all the following options were enabled: Wake On LAN, Flash Over LAN, Internal Network Option ROM, Hard drive Direct Memory Access (DNA).

How are you entering the machines bios?

This way?;

Turn on the computer; then, while the message, “To interrupt normal
startup, press the blue Access IBM button” is displayed at the lower left of the screen, press the Access IBM button.

You didn't see any selections for "Integrated LAN" or "Onborad LAN"?

To access the BIOS I press the “Access IBM” bottom which takes me to what they call the predesktop area. There, I have the following options: Utilities, Preferences, Information, Help, and Exit. <Preferences> is just a menu to select different languages, and in <Utilities> the only relevant option I see is “start setup utility”, all the other stuff is just system recovery related. From there I have the following options: Config, Date/Time, Security, Startup, and Restart. I go into Config, then Network, and that’s all the LAN options I see.

You've verified that the Cisco Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Card is in the computer?

Is the wireless adapter listed in Device Manager? If so, is this where you attempt the driver installation?

Have you applied the Firmware Update?
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...id=TPAD-HDFIRM
(The wireless adapter driver installation updates the firmware for that device.)