The Case of the Missing WiFi Adapter (with Port Reset Failed)

Guys, I've been working on this for two days now and am wits end. Basically, Wi-Fi has disappeared. It was working a week ago. No WiFi Tile in Action Center, Device Manager reports error - Unknown USB Device (Port Reset Failed). This is for an Alienware R4 on Win 10 Home - selected specs at the end of this post.

I configured DM to show Hidden Devices and show by Connection. The image is below.


I ran Perf Mon Diags two days ago, three times. The first time, it reported the first image below. The next two times, the report looked wonky in the second image below.



I've been through System Restore to the day that it was working, no joy. I've gone through Windows Update and optional driver updates... no joy. I don't know what to do next. What in the SAM HELL happened to WiFi???

Any thoughts on this issue? How to troubleshoot it?
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System Specs
Alienware Aurora R4
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (x64) Build 18363.657 (1909/November 2019 Update)
UEFI Boot: Present
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3820 CPU @ 3.60GHz
MB/Chipset: Alienware 07JNH0 / Intel C600/X79 (Patsburg)
USB Port Count: 14 ports
Network Card: RealTek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Vendor Description: Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Network Card: 802.11bgn 1T1R Wireless Adapter
Vendor Description: Microsoft

@Silky

That reminds me of the names of Perry Mason episodes.


If the wireless adapter shows OK in Device Manager, then I would check...
Control Panel > Network and Sharing > Change adapter settings.

If that's all good, check router, etc.

Maybe check with an Ethernet cable... see if that works.
And as always... check w/e the last thing you were doing before you lost the wireless.



I'm not very good at wireless. Never use it.

Ghot said:

@Silky

That reminds me of the names of Perry Mason episodes.

You age is showing! Lol

Might be time to just do an In-Place upgrade. You're on a really old version there.
I'm pretty sure they stopped support for 1909 already.

That will at least eliminate Windows as the problem. And it will get you current updates, which may themselves have a solution.
After an In-Place upgrade, at least you'll know that the problem has to be driver or hardware related, and not Windows related.






Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade



Here is the short version of the In-place upgrade tutorial...

DISABLE non-Microsoft:
a) antivirus software
b) firewall software
c) drive encryption software

Make a full OS backup with a program like Macrium Reflect (free)
Macrium Software | Macrium Reflect Free

Go here and get the Media Creation Tool and save it to your desktop.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10

RUN the Media Creation Tool and use it to: Create an ISO image... save IT to your desktop.
This will be the latest version of the ISO image.

For older ISO image versions, go here instead...
Download Windows 10 ISO File


Right click the ISO image and choose: MOUNT
Open File Explorer and you will see a new drive letter. It will look like a DVD optical drive.
Double click the new drive letter to open it.
Find setup.exe and double click it to start the in-place upgrade.

Choose the Keep personal files and apps option.

After it's all done... to UNmount the ISO image, right click the new drive letter and choose: EJECT.


The ONLY thing you will lose is some of your personalizations. Your programs and data will be intact.

steve108 said:

What does Device Manager show for the Network adapter / WiFi card?

I used the troubleshooter and...

joeandmarg0 said:

Try re-installing the driver for the Wireless adapter.

Yeah... well... I've spent two days trying to re-install drivers. Is the issue the wireless adapter that shows up in DM as grayed out, or the USB port not reset business? I've used Windows Update, "let me pick a device on my computer", yah-dah, yah-dah... I've reviewed the Events tab for the devices - it seems that "device not started" didn't show up until two days ago. On 8/2020 it was migrated, configured, and started.

In looking at those event tabs, I've gone to the system32 driver folder and have been able to locate each of the problem devices and installed from the INF file... At this point, I realize I'm out of my depth and am using "guess and check".

So unless I've missed something, I've tried reinstalling drivers.

Ghot said:

@Silky

That reminds me of the names of Perry Mason episodes.


If the wireless adapter shows OK in Device Manager, then I would check...
Control Panel > Network and Sharing > Change adapter settings.

MAAAD Props for the Perry Mason reference! The wireless adapter is not showing OK - it's "grayed" out as in the image I posted above.

Might be time to just do an In-Place upgrade. You're on a really old version there.
I'm pretty sure they stopped support for 1909 already.

Well, my thoughts are... if I'm going to use the nuclear option, I'll restore an image (Macrium) I made Jan/2020 first. But yeah... I didn't want to solve the problem with a nuke if I could avoid it.

Silky said:

Well, my thoughts are... if I'm going to use the nuclear option, I'll restore an image (Macrium) I made Jan/2020 first. But yeah... I didn't want to solve the problem with a nuke if I could avoid it.

You can see my comp in my specs. It takes me 30 mins to do an In-Place upgrade.
Sometimes... nuclear is the way to go. Plus it has the advantage of getting you up-to-date.

Ghot said:

You can see my comp in my specs. It takes me 30 mins to do an In-Place upgrade.
Sometimes... nuclear is the way to go. Plus it has the advantage of getting you up-to-date.

No doubt... no doubt. Thing is, it's a project and it's the GF's machine. I did a clean install on my WinPro machine so I'm only a little ascared of an IPU. Moreover though, it's a dedication of time and focus for a nuclear option kind of thing. I was hoping to find a "light bulb moment" style solution, but if the folks with experience are advising a refresh of sorts... then I'm inclined to take the advice. (Mom, do I HAVE to go to school today?)

Thanks to everyone for taking an interest and trying to help. I intend to post updates here but won't tackle the project for a few days yet.