Wi-Fi cannot reconnect after coming back from sleep

[Yousuf Khan]

My laptop has just started experiencing a strange problem that never
existed before. When I put it to sleep, and come back, the Wi-Fi
connection cannot reobtain the IP address from the router. The problem
doesn't exist if I restart the laptop, or if the laptop comes back from
hibernate rather than sleep.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Bob I]

Updating drivers can do things like that if you use the wrong one.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Updating drivers can do things like that if you use the wrong one.

There were no driver updates recently that I can think of. But I'll
check that out.

Yousuf Khan

 

[G. Morgan]

My laptop has just started experiencing a strange problem that never
existed before. When I put it to sleep, and come back, the Wi-Fi
connection cannot reobtain the IP address from the router. The problem
doesn't exist if I restart the laptop, or if the laptop comes back from
hibernate rather than sleep.

Check settings in the device manager for the 'advanced' adaptor
settings, see if power saving is enabled - if so uncheck it. Do you
have a power scheme you just changed?

 

[Evan Platt]

My laptop has just started experiencing a strange problem that never
existed before. When I put it to sleep, and come back, the Wi-Fi
connection cannot reobtain the IP address from the router. The problem
doesn't exist if I restart the laptop, or if the laptop comes back from
hibernate rather than sleep.

Is this a Lenovo?

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Check settings in the device manager for the 'advanced' adaptor
settings, see if power saving is enabled - if so uncheck it. Do you
have a power scheme you just changed?

I tried that, and it had no different effect.

I didn't change any power settings recently. At least not since this
problem started.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Is this a Lenovo?

No, it's a Toshiba. The only unusual thing that happened to this laptop
which I didn't mention before was that I sent it back to Toshiba a few
weeks ago, to get its screen repaired. Since a screen repair shouldn't
affect networking, I avoided mentioning it. But the problems did start
occurring after I got the laptop back from the repair depot. It didn't
look like they did anything to my laptop at the OS level, since all they
had to do is replace the LCD screen.

Yousuf Khan

 

[G. Morgan]

No, it's a Toshiba. The only unusual thing that happened to this laptop
which I didn't mention before was that I sent it back to Toshiba a few
weeks ago, to get its screen repaired. Since a screen repair shouldn't
affect networking, I avoided mentioning it. But the problems did start
occurring after I got the laptop back from the repair depot. It didn't
look like they did anything to my laptop at the OS level, since all they
had to do is replace the LCD screen.

Was the HDD left alone with your docs? Did you actually send them a PC
with private info?

Anyway, they usually re-image the machine and upgrade the BIOS.

I would check the BIOS now, since you left that part out. It has
power-schemes of it's own.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Do you have an icon in the tray that is trying to obtain an IP? IOW, is
DHCP service on for the WIFI adaptor? Do you have a manual switch to
toggle that gains an IP? What happens when you right click the WIFI
icon and select "repair"? Or do you not have that icon in the tray
anymore?

Yes, the WiFi adapter is constantly showing the spinning wheel saying
that it is trying to obtain an IP address, until it times out.

When I tried the "repair", it seems to work sometimes, and sometimes
not. Recently all attempts at repair have come back without working.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Was the HDD left alone with your docs? Did you actually send them a PC
with private info?

Yeah, I did, I was concerned about that too, but I had no real choice, I
needed the computer screen repaired pronto. So I just trusted that they
didn't violate my privacy.

Anyway, they usually re-image the machine and upgrade the BIOS.

Yes, they usually do that, but in this case they didn't do that, all of
the software seemed to be left in its original state, since it was just
such an obvious a hardware problem, and nothing else.

I would check the BIOS now, since you left that part out. It has
power-schemes of it's own.

I've never seen power schemes in the BIOS. What are you referring to?

Yousuf Khan

 

[charlie]

Yeah, I did, I was concerned about that too, but I had no real choice, I
needed the computer screen repaired pronto. So I just trusted that they
didn't violate my privacy.


Yes, they usually do that, but in this case they didn't do that, all of
the software seemed to be left in its original state, since it was just
such an obvious a hardware problem, and nothing else.


I've never seen power schemes in the BIOS. What are you referring to?

Yousuf Khan

Some laptops, likely now in the minority, had BIOS code that made power
saving functions somewhat independent of the ops system. The last one I
had was originally sold with a version of windows that preceded XP by a
version or two.

 

[Shemp]

I have a Gateway laptop. To replace the display, the antenna wiring harness
must be disconnected from the adapter as part of the process (antenna
located in top). If Toshiba is similar, perhaps tech did not fully reconnect
the wiring.

 

[Joe Morris]

I have a Gateway laptop. To replace the display, the antenna wiring harness
must be disconnected from the adapter as part of the process (antenna
located in top). If Toshiba is similar, perhaps tech did not fully
reconnect
the wiring.

....or perhaps the tech damaged the connector. All of the laptops I've dug
into that have wireless capability use tiny, very fragile connectors (The
design specs for these connectors call for perhaps 8-10 connect/disconnect
actions in their entire lifetime).

Another possibility is that the antenna cables were connected to the wrong
socket on the system board or wireless card.

If you (the OP) are comfortable with opening the laptop case (or you know
someone you trust to do that) the antenna connectors are typically found
under the keyboard where you can do a quick inspection. (Note: I've never
gone into a Toshiba unit so don't assume that's where you'll find them on
your machine, nor can I comment on how easy it would be to remove the
keyboard. Is the maintenance manual available online?)

Joe

 

[Char Jackson]

...or perhaps the tech damaged the connector. All of the laptops I've dug
into that have wireless capability use tiny, very fragile connectors (The
design specs for these connectors call for perhaps 8-10 connect/disconnect
actions in their entire lifetime).

Another possibility is that the antenna cables were connected to the wrong
socket on the system board or wireless card.

If you (the OP) are comfortable with opening the laptop case (or you know
someone you trust to do that) the antenna connectors are typically found
under the keyboard where you can do a quick inspection. (Note: I've never
gone into a Toshiba unit so don't assume that's where you'll find them on
your machine, nor can I comment on how easy it would be to remove the
keyboard. Is the maintenance manual available online?)

The OP says "The problem doesn't exist if I restart the laptop, or if
the laptop comes back from hibernate rather than sleep."

With that, I really doubt that there's physical damage or a loose
connection. It sounds completely config-related, to me.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Some laptops, likely now in the minority, had BIOS code that made power
saving functions somewhat independent of the ops system. The last one I
had was originally sold with a version of windows that preceded XP by a
version or two.

Oh, well, this is a recent laptop, bought it earlier this year. It
likely won't have these kinds of features, if they belong to older laptops.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

...or perhaps the tech damaged the connector. All of the laptops I've dug
into that have wireless capability use tiny, very fragile connectors (The
design specs for these connectors call for perhaps 8-10 connect/disconnect
actions in their entire lifetime).

It's not a constant problem, it's a problem that occurs in specific
situations. The wifi works otherwise.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

I have a Gateway laptop. To replace the display, the antenna wiring harness
must be disconnected from the adapter as part of the process (antenna
located in top). If Toshiba is similar, perhaps tech did not fully reconnect
the wiring.

That's an interesting idea, it may have some effect if that is the case,
perhaps the antenna wasn't retightened properly? But the WiFi works most
of the time, it just doesn't work after a specific circumstance, which
is after it comes back from sleep.

Yousuf Khan

 

[charlie]

That's an interesting idea, it may have some effect if that is the case,
perhaps the antenna wasn't retightened properly? But the WiFi works most
of the time, it just doesn't work after a specific circumstance, which
is after it comes back from sleep.

Yousuf Khan

I have a desktop that had a similar issue, as well as a laptop. Turned
out that the desktop's drivers and BIOS settings were involved. A BIOS
rev and newer drivers solved that problem.

The laptop's power saving settings had to be changed, and then things
just sorta worked. Again, drivers and BIOS had to be updated to cure the
problem. Originally, "high performance" worked, as did "mfr's
recommended", other settings did not.

A friend of ours also fairly recently bought a Toshiba laptop, and has
what looks like a no connect with WiFi on occasion. I suspect that the
sleep settings are involved, although he claims that the laptop is
"turned off", and not in a sleep mode.

The last time I bothered to really get into the no WiFi no Ethernet
problem after sleep, it turned out that the problems were both driver
version and chip dependent, with possible BIOS setting involvement.
Evidently, the networking chip was not getting fully reset until a real
power cycle occurred (Turn Off, not the other possibilities.) Hibernate
seemed to be the most common power state that was involved. Overall,
this is sort of an old problem, going back more than ten years. Part of
the issue had to do with corporate use and what they wanted to occur
when a networked P/C was walked away from while still on.
Some of the laptops may use a USB type interface to "talk to" the WiFi
stuff, and as a result, USB power related behavior settings may also be
involved.

 

[John Williamson]

...or perhaps the tech damaged the connector. All of the laptops I've dug
into that have wireless capability use tiny, very fragile connectors (The
design specs for these connectors call for perhaps 8-10 connect/disconnect
actions in their entire lifetime).

Another possibility is that the antenna cables were connected to the wrong
socket on the system board or wireless card.

If you (the OP) are comfortable with opening the laptop case (or you know
someone you trust to do that) the antenna connectors are typically found
under the keyboard where you can do a quick inspection. (Note: I've never
gone into a Toshiba unit so don't assume that's where you'll find them on
your machine, nor can I comment on how easy it would be to remove the
keyboard. Is the maintenance manual available online?)

If it's a Tosh, all the information you need to do the job will be
available online, but not necessarily from Toshiba Europe. I've found
some third party sites are good, and Toshiba Canada is excellent for
archives of Toshiba drivers and the like.

 

[G. Morgan]

Oh, well, this is a recent laptop, bought it earlier this year. It
likely won't have these kinds of features, if they belong to older laptops.

It won't hurt to check. Mine is 3 years old and has BIOS- level power
modes.

I sent it in once (blew a USB port), and they flashed a BIOS that was
not even available on the Lenovo website yet.