Dell Inspiron 1525 - 'Turn Off Airport' killed 1390 Adapter?

[Wolfer]

Hey all,

 

I know, I know. . . the question sounds like it's coming from a rookie, but I know what I'm doing.

 

I installed Kalyway 10.5.2 and the ComboUpdate 10.5.3, Vanilla 9.3 kernel, on a Dell Inspiron 1525:

 

Core Duo 1.6GHz

350GB SATA II 3.0Gb HDD

3GB RAM

Intel X3100 GFX

Dell 1390 Wireless

Marvell Yukon 88E8040 Internal NIC

etc.

 

Using multiple kexts for video and audio, I got the machine to where it was completely stable; all hardware was operating with the exception of the internal NIC (Marvell Yukon). The thing was running perfectly yesterday. At work however, I decided to use a Linksys USB200M external NIC in lieu of the Dell wireless connection, which was operating perfectly earlier in the morning. Once connected to the USB Ethernet, I decided to 'Turn Off Airport' since I didn't need the wireless connection. I did so and the Wi-Fi light on the front of the machine went off. Fine. I worked on it all day. No problems. At the end of the day, I pulled the USB NIC, left Airport off, and shut down.

 

When getting home, the OS was reporting that there was no wireless adapter installed -- when trying to 'Turn On Airport' again. Hmmm. Went to the BIOS and under the device list, there was no wireless NIC detected. Hmmm. Took another Intel NIC I had in another Dell and put it in and BIOS recognized it. I didn't boot into the OS however.

 

Now the question. . . Is it even humanly possible that turning off Airport could have killed the Dell 1390 PIC-E NIC?!

 

Again, I know, I know. . . Doesn't seem so for anyone in their right mind, but the conincidence is just killing me. The laptop is only 10 days in my hands! I can't imagine that the wireless would have just died! And, at the same time, I don't see how disabling hardware in the OS would disable it permenantly, all the way down to the BIOS (i.e. KILL THE CARD)! But, again, the coincidence just FORCES me to post this. . .

 

If anyone has seen anything like this, please let me know. Otherwise, call me idiot. I can take it.

 

On a side note, I have a new 1390 adapter coming tomorrow. I'm hesitant to throw it in and boot into the OS, being that the OS is going to disable the Airport as soon as it boots. Is there anyway to enable the Airport connection outside of the OS so that when I boot, the Airport connection will be active/on?

 

Appreciate any info/comments that you could throw my way. . .

 

Thanks!