Hi everyone, new user with a problem,

I purchased a Aurora m9700 laptop and the end of August for University and being a ganer and a download addict it quickly got clogged up with ridiculous amounts of crap. I decided to format my hard drive as this seemed the most efficient way to get rid of all this stuff I never used.

As I was studying Computer Science, Linux seemed to be something I should look into and as I had some previuos experience with linux I decided to sololy install Ubuntu Linux. Soon after I realised this was a bit of a mistake so I installed Linux on my Desktop (not really important) and used the respawn disks to reinstall Windows Vista ultimate and drivers.

My problem is that many of the cdrivers supplied on the disk didnt work, The Nvidia drivers would not detect my graphics card ( Go7900) however this was solved with an unnoficial fix. however I have never been able to get my wireless adaptor working again. This has only recently become a problem as my old accomodation supplied a docking point and an ethernet cable however my new room only supports wireless and my old Netgear WPN111 wireless key is battered beyond belief and rarely works.


I tried downloading the drivers from the sticky above however it keeps asking me for a username and password and I am not sure what it is after. I have also tried downloading both the XP and vista drivers off the UK support centre however after these installed they simpl didnt work.

Any Help Greatly Appreciated

P.S. Sorry for the wall of text but in my experience there is no such thing as too much info
P.P.S. please treat me like an idiot as I have no doubt I have forgotten to do something REALLY stupid

All AW's drivers can be downloaded here:

http://support.alienware.com/Support...downloads.aspx

The respawn disc should return your system to the way it was delivered. If it was working right when new, you shouldn't have to load any additional drivers.

AW offered more than one wireless card for the m9700, is it possible you're loading the wrong driver after the respawn?

when you say using the respawn does this mean using the alienrespawn 2.0 program that appears during boot-up or do you mean simply inserting disks and re-installing windows and all the drivers.

Whenever I installed Linux (silly move I know) the alienrespawn program itself was wiped and so this may be affecting something. Also I have tried the support disks and after checking my invoice I have the Airgo MINIPCI 802.11 ABG with MIMO wireless card, and I have tried the drivers from the support section of the alienware webiste and neither of these seem to work as the network adapter doesnt even appear in the device manager.

God, this makes me feel like such a noob compared to you guys
EDIT: after checking the supports cds again there are no WLAN drivers provided

Hmmm...

I've got an m9700 with XP, and that came with a respawn cd... Vista is completely different, so I'm not familiar with the newer version. I did mean respawn though, that way the drivers that were on the system when delivered will be reinstalled. If you do a clean install, the only drivers will be those you loaded yourself, so they may not be the right ones... The drivers on the website should be correct though...

If the new respawn is from a partition on the drive, and that's been wiped, it might not be possible to use it again unless you were provided with a disc with respawn included. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the new Vista setup...

there is a 5gb partition on the hard-drive that I have not been able to access as well as 4 CDs (one for vista, 2 for drivers and 1 for Nero, I think). Gonna see if I can access this partition and if that doesnt work then i'll try the CDs again

I'm having the same problem after a format, download the drivers from the support section of AW, I was meant to be supplied with the Airgo min PCI with MIMO, but when I install the drivers nothing happens, The last device with a "!" in my device manger is a Ethernet Controller but the RJ45's working fine and i have no wireless. Is There somthing were missing here? Have they supplied us with different cards then stated on the invoice? If so I can't find any other wireless drivers on there site for Vista.

I managed to find the official alienRespawn DVD and am trying that now, turns out my dad found it and put it in a folder with the rest of all our important software without telling me, If I get anything to work I'll post here

i didn't receive a alienRespawn DVD, i have a driver cd but the driver on it dosen't work. good luck.

Running Alienrespawn v2.0 works

After running AlienRespawnv2.0 and doing a complete system recovery (DVD comes in a slim DVD case with Alienrespawn on it) everything is now working as intended. It still refuses to connect to my home network half of the time but I've had that problem since I bought the laptop.

to MTeC: try emailing or phoning alienware about getting a respawn disk as you should have it plus 4 more support cds with vista, drivers and nero.

I received the Vista Ultimate DVD and a diver CD that's it, did the Respawn DVD cost extra? I've sent a message to tech support Australia asking some questions. I'll see how I go. Should I have had the card turn throughout the OS install?

Can you change the channels on your wireless modem? That sometimes helps reception when there are conflicts with other devices in the area.

I've just started formatting it one more time to see if I can get the wireless to show on the system. I can turn it on and off with the Fn key that about it. Once I've Reinstalled I'll give it ago

I think it may have something more to do with the internet connection itself.

We got upgraded to a 3.5mbps line about 3 months ago but since I've been home this week its been running at about the speed of a 256kbps Dial up line.

Its wierd though cos if I close the lid on my laptop it reconnects without any issues but after a while it simply disconnects and cannot reconnect for "unknown reasons".


btw, changing channels didnt help at all

reformatted once again, everything is fine except i have no wireless.
When plugged into the Ethernet connection (RJ-45) i have no worries,
the only device in error in the device manager is a "Ethernet controller" and the wireless adapter doesn't even appear. That's what makes me think that the device in error is the WLAN. Used the lastest driver off the website. Expecting some info AW this arvo.

All worked fine before the first formatting, I'll see what they say.

well lucky i wasn't holding my breath,
But I keep trying to install the Airgo drivers, Would have done it more than 10x, and on the last go a message appeared and stated that this software was not compatible, windows will change settings. Then prompted to install again and it was working. Very Strange!
The error in the device manager ( Ethernet Controller ) was now the Airgo Wireless adapter.
But with the restart and all problems fixed, of course now only one graphics card loaded up on restart, back to full circle.
At least the SLi enables now though.