Acer Aspire Z24-890-UA91/Qualcomm Wifi Issue

jakfish

My model comes with a Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 Wireless Network Adapter, which has a weird problem with eventually shutting down with display off/login screen is utilized (this has nothing to do when the computer is officially sleeping). The wifi resumes upon successful login, but the occasional shutdown prevents ftp/shared folder use. I disabled all things connected to power management in both Device Manager and Network Adapter properties, but no joy.

Finally, for 15USD, I bought this TP-Link usb wifi adapter ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PB1X4CN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) and the problem is solved--wifi remains on when display is off.

I remember my Dell using a mediocre wifi adapter that needed replacing with a better, third-party one and am wondering if the same applies here: Is this a Qualcomm quirk or did I not jiggle the right handle?

aphanic

Could be, have you tried getting its drivers updated just in case it was something related to that?

I found Atheros cards to be really picky over the years, some would work only with a certain release of its drivers and others would BSOD randomly, so it could be related to manufacturing as well.

I have attached to this post some drivers for that card for you to try and see if they change its behavior or everything continues being the same.

jakfish

I very much appreciate your fast response and helpful download. Even though I had gone and downloaded the newest drivers from the Acer site, yours were fresher and installed without complaint.

Alas, the problem remains. I could not get back into my shared folder, even after logging in (an issue I've had before), but when I disabled the Atheros and re-enabled the TP-Link, both ftp and shared folder were immediately accessible, without a reboot.

I had not known that Atheros were finicky, so your post helps me there, as well.

aphanic

Yes it was years ago and they were other cards for sure, but I remember having trouble getting them to work as expected; there'd be disconnections for example, or BSODs when run using different drivers. I think things have improved, but the problem you're having makes me think of some power saving feature for that port.

Is there anything like this in the Device Manager for the Qualcomm card?

jakfish

Thanks again for posting. Yes, there is, and that was the first thing I un-ticked. Also in Network Adapter Properties. Since I can actively compare the Atheros and the TP-Link by disabling/enabling each in Device Manager, it does seem to be an Atheros issue rather than my own user error, though you never know...

Commodore_1995#

I found those that are even more recent in the microsoft catalog.

qca9377: http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2020/08/4c656044-cd1a-4378-9c28-3735868375c8_a292674a2ab2bad39883aa6c4770cfb786a0bb63.cab

bluetooth: http://download.windowsupdate.com/d/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2020/08/1643b6b9-7833-4f89-b476-a56a784910a0_3a8480a0f6319eed1aa574534cd298561ec7ac44.cab

jakfish

egydiocoelho--thank you for weighing in and posting the downloads.. When I tried to install the cab, Win10 warned me that it had already installed the best driver. I couldn't find a way to override that--as a workaround, it points me to Win Update, but you've already given me those files, it's a weird loop.

Commodore_1995#

You must install the .inf file through the device manager. I didn't understand what you said here "it's a weird loop." Did you mean that windows is restarting after installing the drivers?

StevenGen

jakfish said:

My model comes with a Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 Wireless Network Adapter, which has a weird problem with eventually shutting down with display off/login screen is utilized (this has nothing to do when the computer is officially sleeping). The wifi resumes upon successful login, but the occasional shutdown prevents ftp/shared folder use. I disabled all things connected to power management in both Device Manager and Network Adapter properties, but no joy.

Finally, for 15USD, I bought this TP-Link usb wifi adapter ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PB1X4CN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) and the problem is solved--wifi remains on when display is off.

I remember my Dell using a mediocre wifi adapter that needed replacing with a better, third-party one and am wondering if the same applies here: Is this a Qualcomm quirk or did I not jiggle the right handle?

Your Qualcomm QCA9378 802.11ac dual band 1x1 card needs new Win-10 64bit drivers, these are the "LATEST WIN-10 DRIVERS" btw, its the same as what egydiocoelho has given you but check anyway, download the WiFi driver from here: https://www.ath-drivers.eu/download-driver-for-Atheros-chipset-with-id-104-and-Windows10-64bit.html which is version 12.0.0.832 named “win10-12.0.0.832-whql.zip” file and is the latest driver and install it, as your driver could be corrupted and need a new driver.

Also, download the QCA9377 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.1 Bluetooth driver for this card from here: https://www.ath-drivers.eu/download-driver-for-Atheros-chipset-with-id-144-and-Windows10-64bit.html file named “bt-10.0.0.714-win10.zip” and is the latest driver version 10.0.0.714 and install it.

With these drivers you have to update them through “Device Manager” so do this:

1. Get into “Device Manager” (right click Windowsor start icon, left part of the taskbar) 
2. Right-click on “Network adaptors” to update WiFi and expand it and right click on Qualcomm QCA9377 then from the drop-down menu that comes up on the screen, select Update Driver > Browse my computer for drivers and install the unzipped “win10-12.0.0.832-whql.zip” driver
3. After do the same to the “Bluetooth” to update BT and expand it and right click on Qualcomm QCA9377 then from the drop-down menu that comes up on the screen, select Update Driver > Browse my computer for drivers and install the unzipped “bt-10.0.0.714-win10.zip” driver
4. Reboot computer and see if both WiFi and BT derivers are active, if they are not active and/or operational press F3 key first then/or after both Fn + F3 keys together to activate both the WiFi and BT functions

If all this softer update does not fix your problem then it must be your hardware which is the WiFi/BT PCIe card that needs inspecting if firstly the antenna wires (black/white thin wires) are securely plugged into the card or the card is seated into its slot properly or the card is not faulty? As replacing the Qualcomm QCA9378 WiFi/BT PCIe card is pretty cheap. All this is a simple procedure, good luck. 

 

jakfish

What a helpful forum; thank you all, for pitching in. Upon trying to update the wifi drivers through StevenGen's posted link, Windows tells me I already have best drivers installed.

aphanic's drivers install version is 8/8/19--ver: 12.0.0.916, the same as StevenGen's and egydiocoelho's. I appear to be at the bleeding edge, but the problem remains consistent.

I guess the dilemma is either opening up the machine and updating/replacing the wifi adapter or sticking with TP-Link, which works flawlessly, but permanently takes up a usb port. On the other hand, the Aspire's ports are so inaccessible that I already have to run a small hub out of one port just to have a couple of readily available ports in front of the machine--so burying the usb adapter in the back of the machine is not a problem.

jakfish

What a helpful forum; thank you all, for pitching in. Upon trying to update the wifi drivers through StevenGen's posted link, Windows tells me I already have best drivers installed.

aphanic's drivers install version is8/8/19--ver: 12.0.0.916, the same as StevenGen's and egydiocoelho's. I seem to be at the bleeding edge, but the problem remains consistent.

I guess the dilemma is either opening up the machine and updating/replacing the wifi adapter or sticking with TP-Link, which works flawlessly, but permanently takes up a usb port. On the other hand, the Aspire's ports are so inaccessible that I already have to run a small hub out of one port just to have a couple of readily available ports in front of the machine--so burying the usb adapter in the back of the machine is not a big problem.