Share via

WiFi driver corrupt(?) on Windows 8.1 Surface Pro

Anonymous
2014-11-10T20:10:59+00:00

I recently came into issues with my wireless internet connection dropping out on my Surface Pro. The issues were sudden and unexpected, it started with connections being unable to identify,meaning I was unable to get an actual internet connection. I tried in desperation to troubleshoot the error in order for a solution, to no avail. Eventually, I decided to just install new drivers I had downloaded from the Microsoft website. The driver did not install and gave the error: 'The system cannot find the file specified.' In order to overcome this, I was forced to uninstall the old drivers and the device from device manager. I tried reinstalling the drivers I had downloaded and was greeted with a success message. I then refreshed Device Manager to find that the device (Marvell AVASTAR Wireless Composite Device) now had a yellow sign on it's icon, which I had not noticed before. No matter what sequence I attempt these steps, I am greeted with the all too familiar error messages; including the more detailed 'This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device.(Code 31)'. And that, my friends, is where I am at now.

Things I have tried:

  • Uninstalling and Installing device drivers
  • Rebooting (countless times)
  • Verifying the presence of mwlu97w8x64.dll and mwlu97w8x64.infin C:\Windows\System32\Drivers
  • Different sources of Device Drivers

Things I cannot try:

  • Refreshing Windows 8 (forcing me to reinstall everything)
  • Reinstalling Windows (see above)
  • Removing wireless adapter (Surface Pro)

Other notes:

  • This is my first driver issue
  • Another device called Marvell AVASTAR 350N Wireless Network Controllerhas disappeared from device manager
  • I think the issue is Windows automatically installing the default Windows drivers (potentially corrupted)
Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous
2014-12-23T15:10:23+00:00

Hey All,

I had the same problem constantly now even not long after downloading the latest recovery image from the microsoft website for the Surface Pro 2's and reloading my surface from factory defaults using that latest image.

Anyway i have managed to get the WiFi working again by completing the following

  • Download the "Windows 8 Installer" from the Marvell website (http://www.marvell.com/support/downloads/search.do).
  • Transfer the zip file to a USB key or Micro SD Card and connect it to the Surface Pro 2.
  • In the zip file run the setup.exe and follow the default options from the Marvell Installation Wizard.
  • Uninstall the current driver for the device (including the Delete the driver software/package for this device option) via device manager
  • To complete restarting the machine.

The down side to this though is that Windows reinstalled the WiFi device as a brand new device (Marvell AVASTAR 350N Wireless Network Controller) and so all wireless connections setup using the previous driver will not be used with the new driver.

Hopefully with this driver direct from Marvell we wont be having this problem again.

Many thanks

Nathan

Was this answer helpful?

1 person found this answer helpful.
0 comments

24 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2014-12-01T19:02:44+00:00

    See if there are any clues in  msinfo32.exe  under  Network Adapter.   If you have another system which is working it might be useful doing a search in there for WIFI and comparing the two that way.

    Sorry for the slow response, I have been very busy. I am yet to resolve this issue. The msinfo32 program gave me only information on WiFi adapters which were not my AVASTAR device. I got information about my Hyper-V devices and my Bluetooth device but not my main adapter. I am still unable to use the internet on my Surface.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2014-11-11T22:16:02+00:00

    the device (Marvell AVASTAR Wireless Composite Device) now had a yellow sign on it's icon

    See if there are any clues in  msinfo32.exe  under  Network Adapter.   If you have another system which is working it might be useful doing a search in there for  WIFI and comparing the two that way.

    Similarly you could compare two using  netsh  wlan  commands.   sh  d  for example.

    FWIW when I do that I find some drivers which have names starting with VWIFI but I don't know if that might be because I have enabled Hyper-V.

    HTH

    Robert Aldwinckle

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2014-11-11T18:46:25+00:00

    Thanks for your input, however, I have already attempted all of the solutions that you have suggested. The issue is that the driver that Windows automatically installs does not work correctly and returns a Code 31 error. I have also tried manually installing drivers, but they have collisions with the default drivers for some reason and fail to install. The only method for installing other drivers is to fully uninstall the device,install the downloaded driver and then scan for new hardware, at which point it simply returns the same Code 31 error, probably because Windows has installed the default drivers. I can go into the update driver dialog and attempt to switch the drivers there but I am confronted with 'The system cannot find the file specified.'

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2014-11-11T09:49:07+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft community.

    Based on the issue description, I understand that you are facing issues to install the Marvell AVASTAR Wireless Composite Device drivers.

    I can understand how frustrating it could be when computer and devices behaves unusual.

    Code 31 indicates This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31) refer to the article below for more information.

    Error codes in Device Manager in Windows

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310123

    Follow the steps given below to install the drivers from the Windows 8.1 Operating System driver library.

    a) Press “Windows Logo” + “X” keys on the keyboard.

    b) Click on “Device Manager” from that list.

    c) Click on the “Scan for hardware changes” button at the top of the Device Manager window and check if Windows 8.1 detects the “Marvell AVASTER Wireless Composite Device” and installs an appropriate driver automatically.

    d) If the Windows 8.1 is unable to install the device driver, then search for it from the device list.

    e) Right click on its entry and select “Update Driver Software”.

    f) Follow the onscreen instructions.

    Additional reference:

    Install wireless drivers on Surface Pro

    http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/networking-and-connectivity/install-wireless-drivers

    Refer to the suggestions from Steven_B replied on June 11, 2013

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfwinrt-surfnetwork/wi-fi-broken/8444e04b-37c5-4ee5-89b0-79aed0da2a34

    Hope this information helps, please reply with the status of the issue for further assistance, we will be happy to assist.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments