And they say computers don't have brains of their own!

[ChristopherCoy]

So I dont know if I was a part of TPF when this originally happened, but back in April when I started shooting I downloaded GIMP. The first time I opened the program and started working, I got the blue screen of death. From that point on my internal wireless card has never worked again. I thought it had burned up. I uninstalled the driver, reinstalled the driver, unplugged the battery and held down the power button, I mean everything.

Well for a month now, I've been connected wirelessly with a Belkin USB wireless adapter, and its been working fine. It hasn't come out of the usb port since I plugged it in.

Well I just sat down on the computer after letting some exports finish from lightroom, and I have a message that says "Broadcom adapter (or something) installed..." Um... ok?!? and now...

MY INTERNAL CARD IS WORKING AGAIN!!! Woooo whoooo!

I dont know what caused it, or how it fixed itself but it did!

[ldelacruz]

It is a very common issue. PEBCAK error for sure!

[ChristopherCoy]

Whats PEBCAK?

[Westx]

"Problem Exists between Chair and Keyboard"

[ChristopherCoy]

No seriously! After the blue screen of death, I uninstalled the driver, reinstalled the updated driver from the HP website, took the battery out and pushed the power button to reset the memory on the MB, uninstalled the wireless assistant, reinstalled the wireless assistant, deleted the network, set the network back up. I even took it to work for my IT guy to look at! After everything we did, we assumed that the card had just burnt up, which seems to be a common problem with these HP laptops.

But voila! Here I am on the net without my wireless usb adapter.

[PhotoByLeal]

No seriously, it sounds more like.... ID-10-T errors, try to do a partial recovery!

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by PhotoByLeal

No seriously, it sounds more like.... ID-10-T errors, try to do a partial recovery!

Y'all got one mo' time.....

[cooltouch]

It's a laptop, right? Not a Gateway by any chance, is it?

I have a Gateway laptop whose internal wireless card started getting really tempermental about a year ago. Bought a USB wireless adapter at MicroCenter for $10, and used it successfully for several months. Then one day, it was removed to use the USB port for something else, and just didn't think about plugging it back in.

But the internal adapter was working again. I didn't even realize it until several days later, that I didn't have the external adapter plugged in anymore. Strange. Didn't really change anything, except uninstall a bunch of IM crap my daughter had loaded on the machine (it used to be hers).

Michael

[ChristopherCoy]

Yes its a laptop, but no it isn't a Gateway. Its a HP dv6449. Apparently this is a common problem with HP laptops. Or so I've heard....

[studiocygnet]

This happened because you "sat down on the computer". A connection was loose, and sitting on the computer tightened it up again.

[ldelacruz]

Originally Posted by Westx

"Problem Exists between Chair and Keyboard"

That was quick! I thought for sure it was gonna take a little longer to figure it out?

[LWimages]

This is more along the line of a H2IK sequence issue.

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by ldelacruz

That was quick! I thought for sure it was gonna take a little longer to figure it out?

I've always heard it as a SBKAC error.

...SHORT Between Keyboard And Chair...

[ggeen]

I've always use LNOK, "Loose Nut on Keyboard".

But, a more likely answer is that your laptop checked for updates, either from Microsoft or whomever your preferred operating system is and downloaded a new driver that contained then known problem with the Broadcom chip and the GIMP software. Since GIMP makes direct writes to memory, it is likely that it was interfering with the memory space of your wireless card. The problem may not have been immediately fixed at the time you experienced the problem but has since been repaired and for long enough that MS incorporated the new driver set in its patch load.

Less likely, GIMP fixed the problem on their end and a scheduled update fixed it from their end. Open Source is notorious for adding new functionality. Repairing problem is not "sexy" and therefore does not garner as much attention.

There is something to be said for a closed, or at least tightly controlled system. It is not all milk and honey, though. Glad your card is working again.

[ChristopherCoy]

I deleted GIMP the same night I got the blue screen of death. Haven't had it now for months!