CF-19 Mk2 WLAN no longer works after installing wireless switch utility

The 4965AG WLAN card on my newly-installed CF-19 was working great until I installed the wireless switch utility (file wswitch_19_2_d071267.exe). Now wireless seems to be permanently disabled. The antenna LED, which used to be on, is now off, and I can no longer see or connect to any wireless network. There's a wireless toggle switch under the PC Card slot, but wireless will not come back on in either position. The Ethernet port is however working fine.

It's running Win7 Pro SP1, installed from a Digital River disk (not a Panasonic reinstall disk). The machine's model is CF-19FHGAXAM. It does indeed have an internal wireless card.

I did notice the following thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/544288-cf-19-mk3-wireless-switch-issue-win7.html

Here are the steps I've taken so far, per that thread, to no avail:
* Install Wireless Disable Utility (wdisable_1930_22_d071157.exe)
* Reinstall Panasonic Misc driver, reboot, reinstall hotkey driver, reboot.

I've also tried the following:
* Toggle the switch off and on again - this only disables/enables Bluetooth, much like in the Mk3 thread above.
* The switch utility lets you set the switch so that a status window comes up when you set the switch to "On". I see the status window (clearly the system knows I've toggled the switch), but enabling the WLAN has no effect.
* Reinstall the 4965AG driver and reboot
* Check the BIOS WLAN setting (it was enabled); disable it, reboot, re-enable it, reboot
* Attempt to uninstall the Wireless Switch utility... The uninstaller closes without finishing, with a message saying I should set the switch (perhaps wisely) to Enable before trying to uninstall. However, I cannot seem to put the wireless in the enabled state no matter what I do with the switch.
* Uninstall the Wireless Disable Utility.

An even stranger side effect of this has been that the USB ports seem to have stopped working - any device plugged in will be temporarily recognized, but the drivers (say, for a USB Mass Storage class device) will never load. This happens on both ports, and even happens if I use a USB PC Card. It's almost like installing the switch utility has put my CF-19 into "Federal mode". ):

Any thoughts on further troubleshooting? I'm considering a Win7 reinstall, but I'm concerned that, since the antenna LED no longer comes on at boot, a reinstalled OS may still have the same problem. Sadness.

 

First I'd try: physical wireless switch off, unplug power lead, remove battery, hold power switch on (trying to discharge capacitors). Note relevant bios settings on reboot, check wireless & usb operation.
Restart, set bios defaults & compare to previous settings, check wireless & usb operation again, try again to uninstall wswitch if still necessary.
Got restore points earlier than your wswitch install?
I've used the dummybutton once or twice. Just to save time you understand. It's not like it's cheating or anything

 

Unfortunately, I disabled System Restore for SSD performance reasons... You can bet I'll turn it back on if I can get this fixed!

I will try your suggestion as soon as I can, and post my results!

 

No luck, but it *was* fixed by a Windows reinstall. Whew. Now, about those restore points...

FYI - The antenna LED is still off (and I'm 95% sure it was on before this whole ordeal started), but that's no big deal as long as the WLAN is working. I also ordered a Dell AGN version of my 4965AG card, to upgrade to 5GHz. Let's hope that doesn't spawn a new chapter of sadness.

 

I have had this happen to me previously on the CF-19 MK2 and more recently on the MK3's. Usually on the MK3's when I installed Win 7 32 bit SP1 (not the factory restore disc). However I recently discovered if I follow the procedure set forth in Panasonic's PDF regarding the order of driver installation, the wireless utility works perfectly (WLAN not greyed out). But I must emphasize I did not deviate from the PDF process only skipping those drivers when I did not have a particular piece of hardware installed (camera for example).

Let us know how the 4965 card works out and best of luck.

 

Turn off your System Restore! If you have messed up your PC bad enough to do that you might as well reload the OS. System restore is the pansy way out!

 

All is well since the OS reinstall. That 4965AGN from Dell (dp/n MK933) is also working great, and I verified that it connects to 5GHz networks at N speeds. Awesome!

I'm working with only the drivers that came with the Win7 SP1 disk (or Windows Update thereafter). I will definitely image my disk before loading any Panasonic drivers or utilities.