Intel miniPCI-e WiFi cards not working

[opencompany]

Hi there.
We are trying to get an Intel 5GHz MiniPCI-e WiFi card working on fit-PC3 Low-Power. We have tried both the half-size Mini-PCI-e socket (replaced the RTL8188 card), the full size socket and even the FACE-module with 2 x Mini-PCI-e.

Using the half-size socket causes the PC to not being able to even boot, when a SATA or USB disk is installed. The PC freezes. Without disk we get the grey "App " menu, like if no bootable disk is installed. Because of this behavior, we thought that it might be related to power limitation or something similar on the half-size port.

When we use the full-size mini-PCI-e socket or the FACE-module, we can boot on our SSD. However no WiFi card is registered.

We have updated BIOS to the latest version and also tried to set the Power on the PCI-E socket to Performance instead of Auto and loaded optimized defaults.

Tested Intel cards:
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205

Any help on this would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

Kind Regards,
Kevin Peter Gade

[manmonth]

I'm experiencing this same issue with a Fit-PC3 Pro and the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235.

[mbirger]

Hi guys,
Unfortunately it is very hard to answer your questions if you're using 3rd party HW that hasn't been tested or qualified with fit-PC3 system in Compulab.

As you say, it might be a HW issue like power over load on one of the rails (3.3V and 1.5V), or most likely some SW/BIOS/driver issue.

fit-PC3 updated specs in the link below:
http://fit-pc.com/web/products/fit-pc3/ ... fications/

fit-PC3 has been qualified to operate with specific mini-PCIe modules.
Please try to contact the HW module manufacturer for a solution.

Thanks.

[opencompany]

This issue was fixed with a BIOS upgrade.
The BIOS version CompuLab provided hasn't been released at the Wiki page yet, but we can confirm that we have N 6235 working on fit-PC3.

[mbirger]

Great!
Good to hear that.

[manmonth]

That's great news! How can I get a hold of this new BIOS?

[melja]

I know it has been a while, but has there been any progress on this point? I would like to be able to use 802.11ac, and I have several Intel 7260AC cards, none of which boot properly in an Intense-PC Pro. I do not see a new BIOS posted on the download pages. Is it possible to get a copy of the pre-release BIOS mentioned above?

[opencompany]

I know it has been a while, but has there been any progress on this point? I would like to be able to use 802.11ac, and I have several Intel 7260AC cards, none of which boot properly in an Intense-PC Pro. I do not see a new BIOS posted on the download pages. Is it possible to get a copy of the pre-release BIOS mentioned above?

Hi there.
For your information the mentioned pre-release BIOS is not for Intense PC, but fit-PC3. We used this to get Intel N 6235 working. N 6235 is working out-of-the-box on Intense PC. So your issue might be something else, we haven't tested the mentioned WiFi cards here.

[nbpf]

This issue was fixed with a BIOS upgrade.
The BIOS version CompuLab provided hasn't been released at the Wiki page yet, but we can confirm that we have N 6235 working on fit-PC3.

That's conforting ! Unfortunately the original Realtek network interface is in many respects disappointing, nice to know we can improve. Thanks to fit-PC for the excellent modular, upgradable design !

[Solved] Could you please provide a link to the BIOS version that needs to be installed for fit-PC3 devices to be able to boot with a Centrino N 6235 card ?

I have bought a fit-PC3 last November, after BIOS upgrade (to solve the CPU noise problem, see http://www.fit-pc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=5212) my BIOS is Version SBC_2.1.0.333_13 X64.

After having experienced a number of troubles with the original Realtek interface, I have bought an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 card (after having come across http://www.opencompany.dk/en/2013/12/fi ... as-addons/ via google search).

Yesterday (11.01.2014) I installed the card and ran into the booting problem you originally reported. I have opened an issue on this forum, see http://www.fit-pc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=87&t=5228, before realizing that you had already reported and solved the problem.

[opencompany]

The new BIOS with WiFi fix has been released for fit-PC3 (v. SBCFP3_2.1.0.333_14)
http://www.fit-pc.com/wiki/index.php/Fi ... IOS_Update