2410 - Wireless button on front gives "No Device"

The headline's the short and to-the-point version. Here's the details:

I recently rebuilt my laptop (software-wise) from scratch using a fresh XP SP2 CD and valid license key. I've downloaded and installed all the drivers available from the Acer website for the laptop and everything works hunky-dory... except the "wireless" button on the front.

When I press it, I'm simply told "No Device" - the same as if I press the Bluetooth button which has always been the case as the Bluetooth doesn't exist. The wireless itself works fine, but currently the only way I have to switch it on and off it via Windows and the Network settings.

Am I missing a driver file somewhere? I've checked Device Manager and there's nothing there with a "!" or an "X" over it.

Thanks!

 

Do you have Acer's Launch Manager installed?

 

Yes I do, and it works a treat.

As a "temporary" solution I've put a shortcut to the wireless connection on the desktop. It works, but I'd prefer the button on the front to do it's job!

 

Gah! For some reason, I thought the Launch Manager controlled those buttons. Sorry! -_-''

Now that I think about it, I actually don't know what controls those buttons. I'll see if I can find out.

Edit: So the buttons are ACPI devices and controlled natively by Windows. Just to make sure Windows detected everything, go to Device Manager and expand the System Devices branch and post what the ACPI devices are installed. In any case, I'd suggest trying the wireless drivers directly from the wireless card manufacturer, which is probably either Intel or Broadcom.

 

ACPI-wise, I have the following:

ACPI Fixed Feature Button
ACPI Lid
ACPI Sleep Button (strange - I don't have a sleep button...)
ACPI Thermal Zone (2 of these)

also:

Microsoft ACPI-compliant Embedded Controller
Microsoft ACPI-compliant System
Microsoft Windows Management Interface for ACPI

I'll look into the wireless driver thing - it's a Broadcom for sure. The label stuck on the card inside the machine says so! The drivers installed are Broadcom ones, though I did download them from the Acer site.

UPDATE - checked at the Broadcom site and they don't supply drivers for OEM chipsets. Just advice to check with the manufacturer (i.e. Acer, therefore the drivers I already have installed).

 

Which Acer site did you get them off of, US or EU?

 

EU - laptop was purchased in the UK about 2 years ago.

 

Hmm...I'm not really sure then. Perhaps you can try the wireless drivers on the US site for the TM2400. The TM2410 in the US uses Intel wireless, but the 2400 still used Broadcom.

Also, I'm not sure this actually affects your current problem, but do you HID Input service running?

 

*checks*

Nope, it's not. It's listed as "Disabled". I changed it to "Manual" and tried to start it, only got the message "Error 126: The specified module could not be found".

Hmmm...

 

After a fiddle (the relevant DLL wasn't in the DEVICES.CAB file on my install CD for some reason), I got the HID service going. And it's made no difference... As far as I can figure, the button itself works. In a way.

It lights up orange when I have a connected wireless signal. It flashes when it's trying to connect or can't find a signal. It goes out when I disable the wireless from within Windows. When I press it, *something* registers as it says "No device".

So essentially, it works as a light. It works as a button... but something needs to tell it what it's supposed to be switching on and off...

As an aside, and I don't know if this is connected, before I rebuilt, all the big green messages ("Firefox", "Launch Manager" etc) used to appear in the centre of the bottom of the screen. Now they appear in the bottom right. The Volume bar is still central, though. Bizarre. But purely cosmetic!

 

I'm at a loss here. I honestly can't figure out what it is that controls those buttons, but I'd like to find out myself. I've been planning a reformat of my computer when SP3 came out so I can have a fresh start and I like being able to use those buttons. If I turn up something, I'll post back.

EDIT: I still have some of the Acer software installed and it occurred to me that maybe some piece of the software is what is responsible for setting the button to turning off the wireless. I suppose you can try installing the Acer Empowering software piece by piece, starting with the framework, and seeing if it effects the button? Of course, you might need to restart after every piece to be sure....

EDIT 2: Ok, so I enabled and disabled my wireless using the button while running Procmon and it seems that its function is tied in with Launch Manager (QtZgAcer.exe). I'm not sure why it is giving you a "No Device Found" message. You should probably try an updated version or something. Try the latest one listed for the TM8204 on the US support website

 

I'll try that later - buried in Ubuntu on an old box, and sorting backups and network data storage all morning and I left the laptop at home! I should have thought of Procmon (is that the one that MS snaffled from SysInternals?) as a way of spotting what was going on.

Hmm... maybe there's some part of the bespoke setup that configures a registry key for Launch Manager which ties the button to the device? It's obviously hard-wired so the light comes on when the wireless is functional but needs software "guidance" to activate it.

What would be neat would be if this could be figured out - because it would likely mean that the other button (the pointless Bluetooth one) works in a similar fashion and could be re-routed to do something useful.

*EDIT*

Looking through the registry and the Launch Manager folders, I note that there's a program called "wbutton.exe" which is run at system startup. This seems to control the button, but obviously is only part of the solution!

*EDIT-2*

Grr. And Acer's US support website isn't letting me into the drivers section. I think it's having an off-day...

 

Partial sideways solution... I created a batch script that checks for the status of the wireless and then enables/disables it. Created a shortcut ".lnk" file, told it to run minimized and attached it to the "e" button of the hotkeys across the top.

I'd like to run it completely hidden, but that involves running the batch file via an executable (which the hotkeys won't support - no parameters can be passed to an exe), or creating an executable from the batch file which is beyond me in programming terms. I did wangle it using IExpress, but this adds and removes "cleanup" info to the registry, is slower than using the batchfile and makes my spam protection software complain!

Still... one button push, one big green message saying "Wireless Toggle" and the orange light on the front works!

 

Props to you for creative work-arounds

Post back when you try the updated version of Launch Manager and we'll see where we can go from there. I'm just as lost as you are at this point.

From what I've gathered so far from browsing Linux related forums is that the buttons are indeed ACPI devices and that most Linux distros require the user created acer_acpi module to interface with the extra BIOS commands that the buttons generate to be able to turn on wireless to use. The fact that it is displaying that "No Device" found message means Windows is interfacing with it correctly. It's just puzzling that it's not functioning correctly.