Elitebook 1040 - Issues with LAN/WLAN Switching

[Patrick1616]

Hello all - reaching out regarding an issue that is really giving us fits. Hoping someone here can make some suggestions that we haven't come up with.

A little background - we operate in a law firm setting and we have a few hundred HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 models in production. We use a custom image. This image has been tested and works fine on a number of other models, including the HP Elitebook Folio 820. The issue only occurs after we have imaged the machine with our firm's image - it does not occur with the model straight out-of-the-box. We are using Windows 7 Enterprise. The out-of-the-box model uses Windows 7 Professional.

Part of our image sets the BIOS to enable LAN/WLAN switching. This is necessary as we have seen a number of users in the past experience slowness due to their machine prioritizing our building's wireless network over the LAN connection when docked in their office. The following issue only affects the 1040 model - all models use the same image, although BIOS settings and drivers are applied in the task sequence based on the model being imaged.

So here's the issue scenario. The 1040 model has no Ethernet port, so wireless connection is achieved via an external adapter or docking station. Our user shuts down the machine while it is connected to the LAN. They undock and then leave the office. They get home and try to get onto the wireless, but it indicates that no wireless networks are found. HP Connection Manager indicates that WLAN is disabled by LAN/WLAN switching, but the machine is obviously not connected to the LAN. In fact, it's completely undocked - it can't possibly be wired. But it is still only looking for the wireless. The only solution is to shut the machine down and disable LAN/WLAN switching in the BIOs - obviously not a long term solution for us.

Strange little fact - if you dock and undock the machine while this issue is occurring, it will regain its ability to see wireless networks. The dock doesn't even need to be powered up or even plugged in - it's as if simply putting something in that UltraSlim docking port makes the LAN/WLAN switch functionality work correctly.

We can't figure out what it is about our image that is causing the issue to occur. It is obviously not hardware related, as it doesn't happen until we apply the image and it is consistent across dozens of units.

Here's some troubleshooting that's been done thus far:
Updated the BIOS - no success
Updated wireless and ethernet drivers - no success
Updated software assocated with Ultraslim docking station - no success
Replicated steps in safe mode to determine if a program was causing this issue - no success.

Does anyone have any suggestions? We're really struggling here and after about a half dozen hours of time with HP technical support, I still don't feel like we're getting anywhere. Would love to see if someone has come up with anything that we haven't.

If this is in the wrong section please let me know - first time posting here. Any questions or further clarification I can provide, please let me know. Thank you!

 

[Patrick1616]

Update -looks like the issue is a symptom of the NIC running in ULP mode. When our image was created we had an INF install of the NIC driver, which means that ULP mode was enabled by default. I manually installed the softpaq on one of the units - when installed that way, it was disabled by default and resolved the issue. Just posting this in case somehow someone stumbles on this issue in the future.

 

[bdnyc]

Hi Patrick,

I am having the same issue. Not sure what you mean by ULP mode. Really been scratching our heads. We also see the folio 1040 cable to see all the networks but not connect.

Could you explain what you did?

Thanks

 

[rhillman]

Hello all - reaching out regarding an issue that is really giving us fits. Hoping someone here can make some suggestions that we haven't come up with.

A little background - we operate in a law firm setting and we have a few hundred HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 models in production. We use a custom image. This image has been tested and works fine on a number of other models, including the HP Elitebook Folio 820. The issue only occurs after we have imaged the machine with our firm's image - it does not occur with the model straight out-of-the-box. We are using Windows 7 Enterprise. The out-of-the-box model uses Windows 7 Professional.

Part of our image sets the BIOS to enable LAN/WLAN switching. This is necessary as we have seen a number of users in the past experience slowness due to their machine prioritizing our building's wireless network over the LAN connection when docked in their office. The following issue only affects the 1040 model - all models use the same image, although BIOS settings and drivers are applied in the task sequence based on the model being imaged.

So here's the issue scenario. The 1040 model has no Ethernet port, so wireless connection is achieved via an external adapter or docking station. Our user shuts down the machine while it is connected to the LAN. They undock and then leave the office. They get home and try to get onto the wireless, but it indicates that no wireless networks are found. HP Connection Manager indicates that WLAN is disabled by LAN/WLAN switching, but the machine is obviously not connected to the LAN. In fact, it's completely undocked - it can't possibly be wired. But it is still only looking for the wireless. The only solution is to shut the machine down and disable LAN/WLAN switching in the BIOs - obviously not a long term solution for us.

Strange little fact - if you dock and undock the machine while this issue is occurring, it will regain its ability to see wireless networks. The dock doesn't even need to be powered up or even plugged in - it's as if simply putting something in that UltraSlim docking port makes the LAN/WLAN switch functionality work correctly.

We can't figure out what it is about our image that is causing the issue to occur. It is obviously not hardware related, as it doesn't happen until we apply the image and it is consistent across dozens of units.

Here's some troubleshooting that's been done thus far:
Updated the BIOS - no success
Updated wireless and ethernet drivers - no success
Updated software assocated with Ultraslim docking station - no success
Replicated steps in safe mode to determine if a program was causing this issue - no success.

Does anyone have any suggestions? We're really struggling here and after about a half dozen hours of time with HP technical support, I still don't feel like we're getting anywhere. Would love to see if someone has come up with anything that we haven't.

If this is in the wrong section please let me know - first time posting here. Any questions or further clarification I can provide, please let me know. Thank you!

Hello,
This is a shot in the dark but I will throw this out there. We too use 1040 G1's in our company with a custom image using Win7 Enterprise. The issue we have been having is switching from LAN to WLAN and then back to LAN via the docking station. When the user is at a meeting on the WLAN and then comes back to the office to dock the laptop, they do not get an address via DHCP off the LAN. They would always get a 169 address.
What I discovered was that the Power Management feature within the NIC properties was checked. In other words: Network and Sharing-Change adapter settings-Properties (Local Area Connection or Wireless)-Configure-Power Management-Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power
I unchecked that feature and it allowed the switching to take place from LAN to WLAN and back again. It appears that this feature puts the NIC to sleep and does not wake back up without manual intervention.
Let me know if this helps you or perhaps puts you on a path that could lead to some clues.
Bob

 

[rhillman]

Hello,
This is a shot in the dark but I will throw this out there. We too use 1040 G1's in our company with a custom image using Win7 Enterprise. The issue we have been having is switching from LAN to WLAN and then back to LAN via the docking station. When the user is at a meeting on the WLAN and then comes back to the office to dock the laptop, they do not get an address via DHCP off the LAN. They would always get a 169 address.
What I discovered was that the Power Management feature within the NIC properties was checked. In other words: Network and Sharing-Change adapter settings-Properties (Local Area Connection or Wireless)-Configure-Power Management-Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power
I unchecked that feature and it allowed the switching to take place from LAN to WLAN and back again. It appears that this feature puts the NIC to sleep and does not wake back up without manual intervention.
Let me know if this helps you or perhaps puts you on a path that could lead to some clues.
Bob