Linksys WPC54G - heat related failure?

[Jerry Falletta]

I have been noticing occasional lockups on the ol' Sony VAIO laptop during the past several months, and finally got a chance to attempt to troubleshoot it. The computer locks up totally until I remove the PC Card wireless network adapter and reinsert it. The problem usually surfaces after some heat has built up in the computer; the card itself is quite warm when this happens.

I do not have another laptop to try the card in, but have reformatted and restored the unit to original and had no problems until installing and using the network card. Is it worth buying another similar card (my current adapter is at least a couple of years old), or maybe a USB adapter that would not be affected by the inherent heat generated by the computer? This computer has always generated a lot of heat; the fan runs quite often. That, and the short battery life (largely due to the P4-2.8 gHz CPU), is one factor that makes me wonder if it is time to retire this 3.5-year-old beast.

Any other ideas/suggestions are very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Lespaul20]

Was the internet working when you removed the card? I had a card that would unsuccessfully try to connect and get hot doing so. Your card might be adding heat like you said. I don't know how well the USB adapters work but I'm sure other here have used them and will comment on them.

[Jerry Falletta]

The Internet connection was working until the lockup, then it all just locked up. Once I pulled and reinserted the card, the Internet connection and everything else came back OK. This occasionally happened when I was not even using the Internet (although it was technically connected).

[kilgoretrout]

I would not recommend a usb wireless adapter. From personal experience and from what I've seen posted here, you are likely to have many more problems if you go usb. I'd shop around for another pcmcia card. However, if you suspect something is wrong with the pcmcia slot itself, you may have no choice.

[Jerry Falletta]

Originally Posted by kilgoretrout I would not recommend a usb wireless adapter. From personal experience and from what I've seen posted here, you are likely to have many more problems if you go usb. I'd shop around for another pcmcia card. However, if you suspect something is wrong with the pcmcia slot itself, you may have no choice.

I may not (yet) have to go that route, as I tried the other (upper) card slot and everything is working OK after several hours. While I do not have accurate temperature readings to compare, the card feels quite warm in the second slot as well. After a couple of days, I will have better data from which to make a conclusion.

As old as the Sony laptop is, I will keep using only the second slot if necessary..... not worth even trying to replace any hardware inside the computer.