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Level 1

5 points

WiFi Disable = Hard Lockup!!

Hello,
Could anyone else please confirm that disabling WiFi under XP/Boot Camp on a Santa Rosa Macbook Pro causes a hard system lockup?!
I then have to re-boot using "Previously known good configuration" to get back to the desktop.
Its driving me nuts as the Wireless card seems to conflict with the Firewire bus (disrupting Firewire audio), plus also I'd like to be able to extend battery life, be able to run XP/Boot Camp on flights etc.

Thanks for your time guys.

Macbook Pro 15" 2.4GHz, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Dec 2, 2007 9:32 PM

170 replies

Gr8h8m Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 30, 2007 6:27 PM in response to Gr8h8m

another hopeful bump..

Jan 2, 2008 4:44 AM in response to Gr8h8m

I've had almost exactly the same problem with xp in bootcamp.

After installing the bootcamp drivers, I found that xp would freeze. The crashes occured quite randomly at first. It was driving me nuts.

I updated the drivers by installing the following:

amd dd_enu_apple_8.353br45201c.exe
ati ccc_enubr45201.exe
from
http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/mac/bootcamp-xp.html

InputRemapper 1_0_04Release.exe
from
http://www.olofsson.info/index.html?inputremapper.html

That seemed to fix most of the random freezes,

THEN I noticed a predictable freeze occuring when I disabled the wireless network in xp.

I coincidentally had to download a patch from microsoft to update the wireless to work with WPA2
from:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893357

That 'seems' to have fixed the freeze / lock up problem so far.

It's early days yet... I'm hoping I've fixed it.

Are there any links to a comprehensive list of drivers for bootcamp on the macbook pro? ... the bootcamp drivers seem to have a few issues still & the links I've found haven't been too helpful so far.

Jan 2, 2008 5:03 AM in response to alpha4321

The topic here is about Santa Rosa Macbook Pro.
We have NVIDIA video cards, not ATI....

Therefore, it is hard to compare...

:/

Jan 2, 2008 6:58 AM in response to Nikoolinux

that's true, but I was just pointing out that it seems to be the 'hotfix' from microsoft that solved the issue with the wifi lock up on mine... that's all... this may or may not help others...

rjaudio

Level 1

0 points

Jan 2, 2008 7:57 AM in response to alpha4321

alpha4321

I'm interested in trying this Microsoft fix, but I'd like you to clarify something first. Did your computer lockup immediately after disabling wifi (which seems to be Gr8h8m's issue), or did it lockup only after restarting with the wifi disabled, which is the problem I'm having? Thanks for your input.

Jan 2, 2008 8:37 AM in response to rjaudio

it took me a while to identify that it was the wifi causing the problem.

it didn't make any difference as to whether the machine booted with wifi enabled or disabled as far as I can tell.

it happened when the wifi was disabled (but not always)

I'm still testing it after the WPA2 fix... We'll see.

these lockups tend to happen when least expected it seems - (although as I say, I seem to have isolated the recent ones to switching off the wifi.)

with any luck things will run smooth from now on!

Gr8h8m Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 2, 2008 8:56 AM in response to alpha4321

Thanks for the info - I'm going to try that WPA hotfix and see if that helps. Not holding out much hope tho because:
1) The machine won't fully boot if WiFi is disabled (locks up midway through), which it sounds like you're able to do. You then have to reboot using "last known good configuration", (which of course turns WiFi back on).
2) It locks up *100%* of the time, within 15 seconds, if you disable WiFi from within Windows XP. Just to be clear, this isn't an issue of sometimes it locks up. As of right now it is impossible to turn WiFi off.

Jan 2, 2008 9:14 AM in response to Gr8h8m

mmmm,

good Luck with that Gr8h8m,

sounds nasty!

one thing that might be worth trying, if possible - is to use a bunch of registry fixers of one kind or another.

that seemed to clear up quite a bit. XP seems to be a bit messy without that sort of thing.

I've used Registry Mechanic, Tune up Utiliies & a few others.

they helped, but I'm not sure if they'll fix your problem, but, you never know.

I sympathise, because these freezes are VERY frustrating!

Jan 2, 2008 9:35 AM in response to alpha4321

Well, at least, as long as the wifi is turned on (connected to a wireless network or not), I don't have a freeze at boot or just after arriving on the desktop anymore.
But this just shows that you can't have as much battery saving under WindowsXP than under MacOSX.

One thing to check, if possible : do it also occur under Vista ?

Anyone to check this ? Santa Rosa Macbook Pro, Windows Vista.

Gr8h8m Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 2, 2008 10:59 AM in response to Nikoolinux

Haven't had time to test that Hotfix yet but will report back.
One thing I discovered, which helps with the battery-saving issue and makes you flight legal, is that you can disable just the radio on the card. Please forgive me if you already know this!
Go to Control Panel > System > Device Manager.
Right Click "Atheros AR5008" > Properties > Advanced.
Change Radio to "Off".
This doesn't totally disable the card, which is what I really need to do as even with the Radio turned off, the card still creates glitches in Audio streams (and I want to use this computer mainly for audio use.)

Jan 2, 2008 11:05 AM in response to Gr8h8m

And does it also prevent the freeze ?

Jan 2, 2008 1:26 PM in response to Nikoolinux

grrrrr...

frozen again after disabling/enabling wifi!

%@&!

Gr8h8m Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 2, 2008 8:14 PM in response to Nikoolinux

Hi Nikoolinux,
Yes - turning just the radio off using the steps I outlined doesn't cause a freeze, so it may be of help to you.
It isn't any help to me however - I want to disable it totally to free up system resources / IRQs etc.

Gr8h8m Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 2, 2008 8:21 PM in response to alpha4321

Hi Alpha4321,
Yes as expected the WPA hotfix is not the answer - this seems to go much deeper than that.
I have a lot of experience on Windows machines and I've never come across (or even heard about) disabling a piece of hardware in the device manager causing a system freeze like this. I haven't tested with Vista (spit,spit) yet, so I don't know if the same symptoms occur there.
My gut feeling at the moment is that this may only be resolved through a firmware update of the Santa Rosa MBPs.

Jan 9, 2008 3:54 AM in response to Gr8h8m

Dear Gr8h8m,

as to your question in my post ( http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1331733&tstart=0 ) I would like to answer, that WHENEVER my windowsXp runs "lockup-free", i can
disable or enable my wifi without any problem. By now I always booted up with disabled
wifi, I will let you know if those lockups stop to appear when I turn the wifi on. Both my
friend and I have wifi permanently disabled, so it COULD be the same problems you do have!!

Greetings,

Thomas

WiFi Disable = Hard Lockup!!