S7020D owners should read this (thank goodness- Portableone to the rescue...)

On the new S7020D's, at least some of the hard drives went out without the Atheros client software being imaged on the hard drive, and Fujitsu was not aware of this problem (until today...).
Here's my awful saga: over the past month, my daughter kept on getting first occasional and then almost daily BSOD with an error referring to the ar5211.sys. Countless calls to tech support at Fujitsu, being told to to run all sorts of virus/spyware scans, followed by 3 Onsite visits (1.5 hours, 7 hours and 2.5 hours), 3 mother board replacements, a hard drive replacement, a wireless card replacement, a bluetooth card and a speaker/hinge assembly later (all suggested and authorized by Fujitsu's tech support), and it reoccurred.
Here's where Portableone's amazing service came into play:
Ivan was going to go to bat with Fujitsu to get me a replacement, but he had the feeling it was some incompatibility problem because he actually bothered to look at and think about the error message (unlike even the level 2 techs at Fujitsu). He spent hours researching and working on the problem until we finally discovered that Fujitsu has neglected to install the wireless software for the Atheros client for their new s7020D laptop line. It wasn't accidentally deleted or anything, since it was missing from 2 factory-imaged drives. Wireless connection worked I guess using the Microsoft drivers as default, but ultimately conflicted (I might have the issue more than others because I have a Super G router, able to take advantage of the super G on the Atheros but I have no idea if this is why I was the first one to have this problem, or if it is because the model is just so new).
What stands out about this company is the level of after-purchase support. Call and or e-mail and the owner, Ivan, is not only reachable but will work with you for hours if necessary to resolve an issue. The problem wasn't Ivan's, but he provides a level of service I have never seen in any store. He didn't have the attitude that he already made the sale, so why spend the time. As incredibly frustrating as this experience has been, I can't complement the management of Portableone enough for their pre-sale and post-sale support!
As for S7020D owners- check your program files to see if the Atheros client software program has been installed. If not- you can download it from here: http://support.fujitsupc.com/CS/Portal/supportsearch.do It is the WLAN - Atheros file. You'll just need to reconfigure your wireless network connection to re-establish connectivity after installing the file.
For my own curiosity- was this file missing from other's- I have the 80 gb hard drive, btw (in case the different hard drives are imaged differently)?
Update after more troubleshooting with Ivan: After downloading the file:
Uninstall the drivers through device manager, restart the computer and then install the software that you downloaded from the Fujitsu site. Also- in the Start menu- the software puts in a Fujitsu icon called "click me"- very obvious- looks like a red infinity symbol with the words click me- click on it to fully install everything. Then reboot.
A message will come up that Windows is not acting as your network connection- is this ok- select don't show this message again at start-up, and click ok. Reboot the computer again.
The start-up menu should now have the Atheros client icon, and 3 wireless connection icons- two should be red-x'd and one not x'd. ALL SET-UP TO FIND A WIRELESS CONNECTION SHOLD BE DONE THROUGH THE ATHEROS CLIENT (there is a little icon for it in the start-up menu- do NOT use the Windows network set-up). Hopefully this will work...Fujitsu is now aware of the problem and will be working on it. Ivan has been incredibly helpful- trust me, none of these suggestions are my own brilliance ... I will continue to post any updated information since it appears to be a common problem and I am sure everyone is frustrated.
One more update: Windows "Wireless Zero Config" must be disabled- I am not 100% sure, but I think this is how to do it: [Control panel-network connections: open- right click on ????Atheros wireless network connection???? and select properties- click on wireless network tab- deselect "use windows to configure my wireless network settings" and then click on ok or apply]. The Windows configuration utility will keep onthinking it is in charge unless you disable it.
ALTERNATELY- And yet another (hopefully final) update: Turns out my daughter must use the Windows wireless client to connect to the wireless at the library (grrr....). Finally got connected to a knowledgeable tech at Fujitsu, who explained that the Atheros software needs to be on the machine for the card to work properly (which is evidentally what caused my initial problem, because it was never installed) and not cause a BSOD, but that I could still use the Windows client to configure the wireless connection. I wish they had realized that in the first place, before replacing the motherboard 3 times, the hard drive, the speaker assembly, the Atheros card and the Bluetooth card, and ultimately the screen because they nicked it. So- it turns out that the only thing wrong was that little piece of software and not having clicked on "click me," and that the Windows client should work just fine. Hope my mess helps someone else!
Live and learn- one more tweaking: Here is a tid-bit you might be interested in- when I explained to the tech that we weren't getting a BSOD with the windows wireless client set-up, but that we kept on getting disconnected, he said that is resolved by a simple change in the properties window of the wireless network connection- in the "Authentication" tab - The order this is done is important, strangely enough- it seems this is finicky and won't resolve the problem if the order isn't followed- it is likely preset with the first two boxes checked and the bottom box unchecked (if not, select the top two boxes and hit ok and then do the deselecting procedure): uncheck the middle box first and then uncheck the top box (leave the bottom box unchecked), and then hit ok. It is not necessary to hit ok between uncheckings, but you must uncheck in that order (I don't know why, but it is imp.). Evidentally, he was absolutely certain that that was the fix for the disconnects.

 

Another reason why there are many satisfied P1 customers here.

 

m61376, thank you for taking the time to post this information. I've also been experiencing this intermittent BSOD with the Atheros driver. I will download the missing software as soon as I get home. I have the 60 GB drive so it is not the drive but the disk image.

Forgot to mention... I also have a Super G router.

 

When you refer to the "Atheros client software program" are you talking about drivers only, or is there also a "connection manager" part which can be used instead of the win xp software?

Thanks,
Harvey

 

What was interesting is that the Atheros drivers were installed, so when I connected to the Internet I was using an Atheros wireless connection, BUT it was being set up through Windows XP software. Evidentally, when you go to Start-Programs-there should be a program called Atheros client, which I assume is the "connection manager" you are referring to. Fujitsu never installed the Atheros client (and since they had replaced the hard drive with a new imaged one, and I had the same problem, they must have made a mistake in their imaging). When I downloaded the software from their site, I now have an Atheros client program, and setting up the wireless connection via that program automatically disables the Windows wireless connection.
It was so hard to find because device manager showed all the hardware working properly (since the drivers were there) but evidentally the wireless connection was using 2 different and conflicting softwares (the Atheros driver and Win XP software).
I had such a nightmare I wanted to alert others to the solution, since Fujitsu is clueless (although Ivan from Portable one has certainly been in contact with them). Hope this works for all of us!

 

Thanks. The reason I asked is that I have a friend who just purchased the E8020D. I was helping him set it up via the phone and it seemed that he was using the win xp connection software. I will check out whether the Atheros software is on his drive in the next day or so.

Thanks,
Harvey

 

my s7020d didnt have it also

make sure you do an uninstall and reinstall the atheros software and drivers

 

You are so right- I didn't uninstall the Atheros driver first and I got the BSOD again.
I added to my first post with what seems (hopefully) to work now. Let's hope it works!
The good news is with Ivan's prodding Fujitsu is now aware of the problem.

 

so i kept getting the BSOD with the drivers on the fujitsu site so i got the 4.1.2.71 drivers and so far after a few hours of use no BSOD. i hope this fixes it...

 

It is not only the drivers but the Atheros client software. Make sure you click on that "click me" file in the start menu to finish the installation like described above. After doing that, we have been fine since Thursday evening....

 

Sorry to hear about your problem. Glad to hear that P1 came to the rescue!

It is very likely unrelated, but I have had some difficulty getting my S6241 connected via wireless. I eventually get it working, but it is a much more difficult and time consuming chore than with my old Toughbook W2.

 

I don't know what wireless card you have or what wireless utility you are using, but if you not connecting via the Windows wireless utility, then make sure it is disabled. Actually, I updated my post because the settings were fine until my daughter signed onto a new network in her apt., and then the Windows utility interfered again, resulting in a lot of connectivity issues (hard to sign on, continuous disconnects, etc.). The final tweaking was disabling it (hopefully for good now!).
And, yes, Portableone has truly been amazing. I cannot believe the amount of time Ivan has spent troubleshooting this- I really feel guilty. He has stayed late to help work through the problem, has always been responsive to my e-mails and calls. I keep on telling everyone how I have never seen such great customer service!

 

HI, I would like to know if this problem still consist, I am ready to place an order tomorrow, and is wondering if I should be concern and reinstall those drivers and such, THanks

 

When you guys are talking about the atheros client, you are talking about the little white icon on the taskbar, which turns with green bars when you connect, right? I too have the S7020D, but when I first got my computer, I formated it, and reinstalled everything. I didn't really pay attention to what was on there to start. But on the cds given with the computer, there is a driver cd, which I guess has the atheros client, because that is what I have right now, as long as the little white icon is what you are all talking about.

SuperG

 

All-

Still having the issue. Dnloaded the new drivers (btw, there are two that are listed there.

WLAN - Atheros V4.1.2.38 4831KB Original -
WLAN Atheros V4.1.2.71 5003K Original -

shall I just assume the version number is the telling factor?

also, I didnt see the "click-me" after the install.. any suggestions.. sorry to bring up an old subject, but I assume that I am not the only one with the issue.. thx.

-mr

 

I am still having random BSOD crashes caused by Atheros ar5211.sys driver. I have tried both versions available from Fujitsu site 4.1.2.38 and 4.1.2.71 to no avail. The only difference I noticed was 4.1.2.71 driver restarts the laptop after the crash. Very disappointing

 

Just saw this post and my curiosity made me look. I can't believe after all this time they haven't figured it out. As for me...well...none of the tweaking we did ultimately worked. The fix was only temporary and after 3 months the unit itself began to fall apart from all the repair work done by the on-site techs. Personally I think Fujitsu quality is not what it used to be; my machine, at least, was niether durable or reliable. It was ultimately returned because there was not one part that wasn't loose, popping or creaking, and 2 stress cracks had developed to boot. Sorry that you are still having BSOD crashes.