Jeff Malterre

There are two different methods I found, which work for different version of Ubuntu.

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Ok the subject is a little misleading, I didn’t actually fix anything, because nothing was broke to begin with.  I have verified that the problem is not hardware related.  I have a strong belief the culprit was the AccessConnections software.  When I last used the ThinkVantage software updater, it upgraded my AccessConnections software.  After this update, the integrated network adapter just completely stopped working.

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I’m seeing more and more people getting this problem.  I think we all need to make at least stick to the same board, I see too many topics on too many different boards.

Please, if you’re having an issue using your integrated Intel wireless adapter on a ThinkPad x61, I urge you to support this thread and make a post:
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=X_Series_Tablet_ThinkPads&thread.id=754

Symptoms

1. I noticed an inconsistency with the device before it started waiving the white flag.  I used my x61 on a docking station at work, and when I brought it home to connect to my wireless network, I noticed that sometimes I would not be able to see any available wireless networks to connect to.  Sometimes I would have to use Vista to repair the network connection.  It would tell me that I had to “click this button to turn on my wireless device,” even though the light was on, even though my switch was on, and even though the device was working properly.  It seems like switching back and forth from a wired to wireless network connection may have played a part.
2. One day, it decides to just completely stop working.  The light for the device won’t come on, even though the light for the Bluetooth device still comes on (the switch to turn on/off wireless controls both the wireless adapter and Bluetooth adapter.)
3. Vista sees the device, says it’s working properly, but I can’t access it in the Network Connections dialog.

What I’ve tried so far

1. Updating software via Vista updater.
2. Updating software via ThinkVantage updater.
3. Uninstalling/Reinstalling drivers for the Intel wireless adapter.
4. Disabling/Enabling the Wireless LAN setting in BIOS.
5. Reset all default settings in BIOS (don’t do this unless you know what you’re doing.)
6. Installing another operating system (Debian, stable.)

Dealing with the problem in Linux

I’m no Linux guru, but I needed to confirm that this wasn’t another one of those “Vista is screwing with my hardware,” problems.  I’ve installed Linux on the x61 before, wireless worked out of the box, this time it didn’t.  I brought my machine over to the LUG/IP HW-SIG meeting to see if I could get any expert help with this issue. Vinko helped me me out as much as he could with the time left in the meeting.  I noticed that the operating system at least saw the device, and knew information about the device, but it wasn’t working.  I asked Vinko if that meant if this would rule out a hardware failure, it doesn’t.  Vinko manually installed the module/drivers for the device, and that’s where we left it off at.  This will be continued when more information is gathered.

My hypothesis

I read many of times about how people are complaining about the heat generated from this card.  That spot where your right palm/wrist sits, is basically where the wireless network adapter is located.  It either generates an abnormal amount of heat, or we are just feeling a all the heat that we shouldn’t be feeling because of a poor case design… Who knows.  I couldn’t tell you how much heat this device is supposed to generate, nor could I tell you how much heat my device is actually generating.  I barely noticed it, because I use external peripherals (wireless mouse/keyboard.)  Could this device malfunctioned due to overheating?  I don’t really know for sure, I’m not a hardware expert anymore, but I don’t think it’s something to completely rule out.  Could my operating system still see a working device, even though the device might have a hardware failure?  I believe so, it depends on what happened really.

After doing some updates to my computer, the integrated wireless adapter stopped working.  The light won’t even come on.  I thought it may have been one of the Vista updates, but I think I was wrong.  I did several updates that day and I think I also did updates via the ThinkVantage Software Updater.

I have a feeling the update disabled the card in BIOS, for some reason or another.  I have to confirm this when I get home from work.

Well, I picked up a new Thinkpad X61 and it quickly became my favorite notebook. It’s extremely small and light-weight (weighing only 2.7lbs). One of the reasons I went with IBM is mainly because everything works out of the box with Linux. This first thing I did was create a complete partition backup image. I was pretty happy with the notebook’s performance with Vista, however I don’t like Vista…

I installed Ubuntu 7.10 via a net-install disc (able to do this with UltraBase docking station.) Generally speaking, everything important worked without any additional configuration on my part. Some features didn’t work, so I did some research to get them working (wasn’t hard.)

Overall, I’m very happy. The only thing I’m worried about is the temperature. I guess you can’t expect perfect air ventilation with such a small notebook. One thing I did read (and also confirm) is that the wireless card generates a lot of heat. It’s located roughly around the area you’re right hand would rest while typing. It becomes so hot, that I’d rather disable the built in Intel wireless card, and use one of my wireless PC Cards.

I read a few people saying that sound did not work out of the box, but I believe they were using older kernel versions. Make sure you use the latest possible kernel available to you. On Ubuntu 7.10, the only thing I had to do was change the GNOME volume from MIC to PCM.

Here are some references I used to help get things working:

Ubuntu Gusty Gibbon 7.10 on X61s - forum.thinkpads.org
On demand frequency governor, CPU frequency scaling, tap-to-click, middle mouse wheel for scrolling, and enabling Compiz Fusion with Intel X3100 graphics.

X61 – thinkwiki.org
A lot of great information here.

I will update this post when new updates are available.