ze4400 Wireless Network Card Issue (WPC54G)

[Kevin G.]

I have been dealing with an issue concerning my wireless connection on my ze4420us HP Pavilion Notebook. Please help if at all possible. I can’t figure this out on my own.

It started out as a nuisance. Sometimes the wireless card would cause the system to hang and freeze up. It was intermittent for a while. And now it is very consistent. As soon as the computer reads the card it immediately locks up no matter where I am. If I insert before boot, it freezes at the XP load-up screen. Inserted during is an immediate lock up. If I insert in Windows it recognizes, shows new hardware and then freezes. I don’t know what to do.

I am able to connect to the internet in two ways. I can use a direct Ethernet cord from my router to my computer for good quality speed. And I can use a WUSB11 adapter which works as an okay alternative. I just would like to not have to deal with carrying that around. And plus it isn’t reliable.

I have the laptop apart now with the PCMCIA slot in front of me. Looking at it I can see some damage. The gold plate that sits above the two rows of pins is slightly bent in the corner. I am going to try to flatten it out before I buy any parts. Could this cause a short and in turn lock the system?

Also, as I was dismantling the system I realized there is an available slot for an internal wireless network card. Does anyone know where I could find one? Or what exactly I would need?

Is it possible to find another PCMCIA slot compatible with HP? I’ve looked and it seems difficult. Circuit City has no way of getting me one and HP says my computer is obsolete leaving a chance that the service team may not be able to fix it.

I’ve been reading and found that maybe I could change the text documents for the PCMCIA with a chance for it to work. I’m not the only one with this problem, but no one else came up with a solution.

[Derek Whigham_1 · Accepted solution]

The ze4400 has a miniPCI slot internally

The card is available here or google it

(mPCI 802.11 ze4400)

http://www.getpartsonline.com/bcm94306mpsgc0.html

It should be pretty simple too install
noramlly pops in with 2 antenna connections that push on

DO wear an anti static wrist strap when doing this.

[Kevin G.]

The mini PCI's come in all sorts of pin arrangements and sizes, right? I was looking on other sites and found quite a selection. I don't want to end up with something that's too big or something crazy.

I might have to go with this and leave the malfunctioning PCMCIA cage alone. I only hope that this would work.

[Derek Whigham_1]

There ze4400 has a type IIIB (3B) which is pretty standard in laptops. Make sure you by a car that is supported in your OS , XP is mostly fine but vista can have limited support.

[Kevin G.]

HELP!

So I replaced the PCMCIA slot on the laptop along with the added wifi internal card. I put every screw back into the computer and get it ready to boot.

First boot attempt - computer shuts down after eight seconds.

Second attempt - same thing.

Third attempt - Start bios and switch to default setup. It boot into XP and again shuts down.

This is all I'm getting? Did I somehow fry something while taking it apart? Did I leave something unplugged? I'm going back in to start over and see what I get. Any help is great!!

[Kevin G.]

Laptop is down to bare minimum (CPU, AC, fan) and still won't stay on more than two seconds. I'm thinking the CPU may be having issues. I don't know though . . .

[Kevin G.]

Another note - CPU emits a constant very high frequency when connected to ac power with some static-like noise on occasion. And CPU was very hot when I removed the cover. I can only run the computer for seconds at a time and it seems strange for it to get so hot in such a short amount of time.

[Derek Whigham_1]

Questions

1) Is the Heatsink and Fan connected properly.
2) Is the Fan moving , If it is when you stop it does the high freq sound go away.
3)Is the Termal Transfer paste on the CPU and Heatsink (With the Power Off)
4) Is the CPU removeable. Take it out check the bottom for signs of burning.(With the Power Off)

Could be something simple or could be the CPU is bust. The shutdown points to an overheating condition.

[Kevin G.]

1) Is the Heatsink and Fan connected properly.
2) Is the Fan moving , If it is when you stop it does the high freq sound go away.
3)Is the Termal Transfer paste on the CPU and Heatsink (With the Power Off)
4) Is the CPU removeable. Take it out check the bottom for signs of burning.(With the Power Off)

1. The heat sink fan is running and fully connected. As soon as the computer turns on, it tuns on at full rmp's. It never levels out to a quiet rpm level.
2. The fan is moving air fine. You can feel very hot air out the backside when you boot.
3.There was transfer paste on the cpu before I opened it up. I ordered a few tubes last night. It will be here Monday.
4. The CPU seems to be irremovable. I couldn't find the arm used to lift it. I'll look into it.

[Kevin G.]

Oh and the high pitch noise is very faint. You can hear it as soon as the computer gets a power source and it stops when you remove it. I unplugged the fan and it is coming from the CPU area.

Is the CPU getting constant power and overheating??

[Kevin G.]

I added the cooling compound. It solved the problem of the fan. It now runs at low rpm's and kicks on and off like usual.

On the first attempt, it booted into Windows completely and started to load programs. Then the infamous blue screen came up and it started to dump memory. The next attempt it turned on and off and back on automatically and again booted into Windows. This time it shut off on its own. And now I cannot even get to the boot screen.

I'm at a loss. The laptop is ready for the trash unless someone can lend a word.

[Kevin G.]

There was motherboard failure due to short circuit.