nc6400 nic stays lit all the time

Hello,

I have a nc6400 laptop where the nic card stays lit all the time, even when the computer has been shut off. I've had Sony and Dell notebooks that have never exhibited this behavior before.

Is there a setting I can go to turn it off?

Thanks.

 

It sounds like the card may be becoming defective. I had this problem with my notebook, too after switching out the wireless cards. I would turn off the notebook, but the power light would stay on and sometimes the WLAN light would, too. When I pulled the card out and put my other card back in, it never happened again. For sh**s & grins, I put the other card back in thinking it would only be a fluke and maybe just needed to be reseated. Needless to say, the problem came back after putting that card back in. So I have been using the other card since.

Do you have another internal wireless card to try by chance?

Try switching out wireless cards and see if that doesn't do anything.

 

It's not the Wireless card. It's the ethernet nic.

The rest of the computer would power down, but the nic will stay on unless I manually pull the ethernet cable out or turn the router off.

I heard that *disabling the onboard nic* through the BIOS might clear this up but when I hit F10 to get in there, there is no option to disable it. Not through any of the drop down menus I've seen in there.

 

OH! The ethernet. That's not unusual actually. My desktops do that, too. Even PCI ethernet cards will still have the connection lights lit if there is still power running through the board. I wouldn't worry about that too much. If they go off when you pull the cable, then the card is working perfectly normal. Sometimes it's the motherboard at fault for not releasing all of the voltages after it has been shut down, but it isn't the worst thing in the world. I know what you're talking about now, and that is common.

 

Well is there any way to turn it off? This is the only notebook I've owned where this is happening.

To me, having it lit all the time indicates activity.

 

Do you have checked the BIOS?

Maybe "wake on LAN" is activated or something in that direction?

 

yea, you need to turn off wake on lan, and 'magic packet' in the device settings. the system will also need the 'allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' ticked.

should fix the issues

 

Turned off "wake on LAN".

Don't know what 'magic packet' is

Don't see a setting for 'allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' setting. Is that in the BIOS or is it in Win7 ?

 

its in win 7

 

Yeah, it's in windows. Open the device manager and open the properties for the device. There should be an 'Advanced' or similar tab where those settings should reside.

 

I have an HP Compaq nw8440 from the same era, and it's perfectly normal for the nic to stay lit when both the ethernet cable and the power cable are plugged in, even when the machine is powered off. My machine has been doing this since it was brand-new. I even had the mobo replaced (for a totally unrelated issue), and it still does this, which indicates that this behavior is normal and not a defect (at least on the nc8430/nw8440).

Therefore, assuming your nc6400 has the same ethernet nic (Broadcomm netXtreme Gigabit Ethernet) and handles it the same way as the nc8430/nw8440, then the behavior you're witnessing is also perfectly normal for your nc6400 as well.

If your nic is NOT a Broadcomm neXtreme Gigabit and/or the nic stays lit even when the AC adapter is removed (and the machine is powered off), then there might be an issue.

 

interesting, my NW8440 never had the nic on when she was off. I've just dug her out of the cupboard to check this, and no, it doesn't.

Thats an interesting situation. my 8710P does have the nic on regardless of settings, but that machine has a rather smashed LCD lol.

 

Huh, that's odd. You made sure that the AC adapter AND the ethernet cable were plugged in when you tested it? Because the only time the nic lights up when powered off is when BOTH the AC adapter AND the ethernet cables are plugged in.

That makes me wonder if there was more than one option for the nic when purchasing the nw8440. Mine has the Broadcom netXtreme Gigabit Ethernet nic BTW.

 

yep, i know how to check a nic status thanks!

And yes, i'm running windows 7 on my NW8440 but it shouldn't be a difference. Mine however was bought in uk.

My Nic is also the same as yours, however, it was quite nostalgic to switch her on after so long lol.

 

Well I went into the BIOS and disabled "Wake Up On LAN" and that resolved the issue. Thanks.

I was told by someone else that HP tends to have it enabled (by default) on it's business class laptops and desktops. Which may explain why I don't see this behavior on other brands like Dell or Sony.

 

Glad you got it resolved! Cool!

I apologize if I sounded like "Mr. Obvious" there. I didn't mean it that way.

The OS shouldn't make a difference at all. Not sure about it being bought in the UK, though.

"Quite nostalgic"? My nw8440 is still my primary machine! What you said really makes me want to upgrade my laptop now, lol .

Actually, compared to many netBooks and sub-$400 notebooks sold today, the nw8440 can still hold its own performance-wise IMO. Then again, having a Core Duo CPU that can't run a 64-bit OS doesn't help (not a problem if yours has a Core 2 Duo).

 

lol, my NW8440 has been sitting in the cupboard for a while,

but yea. the battery still has 2 hours battery, core2duo T7400, but not doing anything, i need more performance than the old girl gives me.

i've not used her in about 14 months, hence 'the nostalgia'