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Rebranding the Atheros 928x cards - The guide

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WARNING !!! Do not try to change the Vendor/Product IDs! You may change them even to any other manufactuter IDs, but after that, there's no turning back, because on the next boot, the Atheros EEPROM Tool won't recognize the card as Atheros and you won't be able to restore the previous EEPROM state !!! Use it only to rebrand one Atheros 928x card to another Atheros 928x card !

WARNING!!! For advanced users only! Do not try this unless you know what you're dealing with! The following operation is dangerous and may destroy your WiFi card ! I've warned you !!! I don't take any responsibility, if you have bricked your card !!! Read the whole guide carefully, before doing anything !

EDIT: A RECOVERY GUIDE IS AVAILABLE, CHECK HERE.

This guide is mainly for all 4x30s owner, but can be used by anyone with whitelist in BIOS.

You'll need the following:
- Windows XP or later (Windows 7 recommended) - obviously, the tools, used in this guide, works only on Windows XP or later, so you'll need another computer, running Windows XP or later **or** you can use your ProBook with installed Windows XP or later and the modified FanReset.dylib file by RehabMan (required for cards, not present in the whitelist, like AR9280).
- this Atheros EEPROM tool. It's modified to extract the first 512 bytes of the WiFi card's EEPROM.
- An Atheros 928x based card, running with the stock Atheros driver.
- A hex editor (I've used this one, because it's free and doesn't require installation, but you can use any hex editor).

VERY IMPORTANT: all Windows 7 and later users should disable temporarily the Windows 7's driver signature enforcement. Select Windows 7 in your Chameleon menu and then press quickly F8, then select Disable Driver Signature Enforcement in the menu. After selecting it, Windows 7 will continue its boot process. This is not a one-time operation, on the next boot the driver signature enforcement will be enabled again. This step is a must, because without doing it, the drivers, bundled with the Atheros EEPROM tool, will not be loaded and you may damage your card !!!

1. So, let's begin! The first thing is to check your current card's IDs. In this manual I've used an Atheros 9280 based card:

1_the _ids.png

The first line is quite enough for us:
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A&SUBSYS_3041103C&REV_01

That means 168c:002a 103c:3041
These should be changed to 168C:002b 103c:1461 for ProBook 4x30s (the IDs of the HP Atheros 9285 card).

2. Now we should extract a 512 bytes dump from the card's EEPROM. Download and extract the Atheros EEPROM tool in some folder. Open Command prompt as an administrator (right click on Command Prompt and Run As Administrator), go to the folder, where the tool is located (cd C:\somewhere\aet_rw512) and run the following command:

Code:
[B]atheros_eeprom_tool.exe /r512[/B]

2_eeprom_read.png

When you press OK, a new file will be created in the tool's folder, called eeprom_dump.rom:

3_dumped.png

4_the_dump.jpg

It's recommended a copy of this dump to be made, if you want to restore the EEPROM to its previous state later.

3. Now the dump should be edited properly. Open it in the hex editor:

5_the_hex_editor.png

NOTE: All IDs in this dump are flip-byted !!! Keep that in mind, when you search for them !!!

First, to change the SubVendor/SubProduct IDs. In this case, they are 103c:3041. That means we are looking for hex values 3c10 4130. In my case I won't change the SubVendor ID, because it's already set to HP (103c), but the owner of cards from another assemblers like Dell Wireless 1515 will have to change it as well. First, the SubProduct ID (unmark the two checkboxes):

6_find_the_values.jpg

And when you find it, change it to 6114 (the flip-byted value of 1461):

7_4130_to_6114.png

NOTE 2: you'll probably find the Subvendor/Subproduct IDs in more than one place in this dump, you should change them in all places (in this card they were on two places)!!! If you are not sure if any hex value you may find in the dump is a Product/SubProduct ID or not, look at the previous two values and if they are the flip-byted Vendor/SubVendor IDs, you are on the right path.

Same goes for the SubVendor ID (only if needed).

Now it's time for the main Vendor/Product IDs. Actually, we need to change only the Product ID, because the Vendor ID is already set to Atheros (168c). You could use the Replace function as well:

8_new_find.jpg

and change the Product ID from 2a00 (Atheros 9280) to 2b00 (Atheros 9285):

9_2a00_to_2b00.png

All needed edits have been made. Now, save the file.

4. It's time to upload the modified dump on the card. In Command prompt, run the following command:

Code:
[B]atheros_eeprom_tool.exe /w512[/B]

10_write.png

11_written.png

5. Reboot your computer. The card will be recognized again, the driver will be installed and now you should see the following:

12_new_ids.png

The funny part is in OS X:

khu5.png
As you can see, the card appears like Atheros 9285, but acts just like Atheros 9280: same channels, same speed. I'm using it for already a week and haven't seen any problems so far. Of course, in order to work, the current Atheros 9285 DSDT patches / kext injectors should be used, because this trick only avoids the whitelist in BIOS, but for OS X it's still unsupported Atheros 9285 card.

NOTE 3: During the extraction/writing process you may see this:

13_warning.png

This is only a warning message, it shows that an unsigned driver has been loaded and you may ignore it.
The problem would be if you see this:


14_failed.png

That means you haven't disabled the driver signature enforcement. Don't try anything, close all programs, reboot your computer and disable it (the first note in this guide, marked as VERY IMPORTANT) Continuing the procedure in this case (especially if you're trying to write the dump) may brick your card !!!


This guide can be used for rebranding of all Atheros based card, supported by this EEPROM tool (as far as I know, the whole AR92xx series).

Credits:
eugene
- for the modified Athero EEPROM tool.
edukees - for the initial Atheros 9285 rebranding guide.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you for include me in the credits i was banned right after the post of the "guide" :-X

Your card obviosly seems to be working great in Mac, but what is happening in windows?, the driver detect it like an ar9285 does work ok?, a modification of the driver can be done for that, but my doubt is about another IDs that can be work in our 4530s. I found this in the win driver:

HP laptop
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_303F103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_3040103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_137A103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_137B103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_1385103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5006 802.11a/b/g WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_1386103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5006 802.11a/b/g WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A&SUBSYS_1381103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5009 802.11a/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A&SUBSYS_1382103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5009 802.11a/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A&SUBSYS_3041103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5009 802.11a/g/n WiFi Adapter" (Philip's original card (don't work)
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A&SUBSYS_3042103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR5009 802.11a/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002B&SUBSYS_303F103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002B&SUBSYS_3040103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002B&SUBSYS_1461103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter" (Combo Probook) (working)
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002E&SUBSYS_1462103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9287 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002E&SUBSYS_1626103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9287 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0030&SUBSYS_1628103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9382 802.11a/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0030&SUBSYS_1627103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9380 802.11a/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0032&SUBSYS_1785103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0032&SUBSYS_179F103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0032&SUBSYS_1838103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0032&SUBSYS_191A103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0034&SUBSYS_1864103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0036&SUBSYS_18E3103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_0036&SUBSYS_217F103C --> "Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter"


BTW: I rebrand with this method an Acer ar9285, and a Sony (AIO) AR5B195. No problem at all.
 
Hi
I was lucky to catch your guide from the google cache and made some tests. Regarding the work of the card in Windows, actually this is the easy part, no driver modification is required, all you have to do is to set the driver manually to Atheros 9280 and you're good to go, no matter the IDs. My concern was that the kext in OS X will recognize it like AR9285 and the card will work with limited functionality. Well, that didn't happen. As you can see on the shot, the card is shown as Atheros 9285 and yet, the channel list is full with 5GHz channels. My guess is that the kext determines the card functionality not by its IDs, but by querying the chipset directly. For already a week I've tested the card and it works just like any AR9280 card: speeds above 8 MB/s, the WiFi scanner apps indicate the 5 GHz networks around me etc.
 
Great!
This is a really good alternative for those who don't want Bluetooth (HP Combo Ar5b195), and better yet, use a diferent and "advanced" card.

A note that can be important: this modified aet requires the msvcr100d.dll, and i have dificulties to make it work with WIN 8 :banghead:.

I will try this two Ids for the ar9285 and report if work/don't work with the 4530s

PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002B&SUBSYS_303F103C
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002B&SUBSYS_3040103C

msvcr100d:
http://rghost.net/49717779
 
I will try this two Ids for the ar9285 and report if work/don't work with the 4530s

PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002B&SUBSYS_303F103C
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002B&SUBSYS_3040103C

Don't bother, the only accepted IDs for all 4x30s ProBooks are these:

PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002B&SUBSYS_1461103C

If you're going to rebrand any Atheros 92xx based card, you should change its IDs to these and these only. You may want to check here for more information.
 
Don't bother, the only accepted IDs for all 4x30s ProBooks are these:

PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002B&SUBSYS_1461103C

If you're going to rebrand any Atheros 92xx based card, you should change its IDs to these and these only. You may want to check here for more information.
Yes you're right i check it out the 68SRR.BIN (from BIOS f.41) in HEX, just in case if any other card was added recently (very strange coming from Hp) but ... nothing. Only atheros 168C:002B 103C:1461
 
Yes you're right i check it out the 68SRR.BIN (from BIOS f.41) in HEX, just in case if any other card was added recently (very strange coming from Hp) but ... nothing. Only atheros 168C:002B 103C:1461

You know, in theory, you could change all card IDs to the IDs of any other card from the list, even the Broadcom and Realtek ones and with the proper kext injector / DSDT patch you could achieve the same effect :D
 
WARNING!!! For advanced users only! Do not try this unless you know what you're dealing with! The following operation is dangerous and may destroy your WiFi card ! I've warned you !!! I don't take any responsibility, if you have bricked your card !!! Read the whole guide carefully, before doing anything !

This guide is mainly for all 4x30s owner, but can be used by anyone with whitelist in BIOS.

You'll need the following:
- Windows XP or later (Windows 7 recommended) - obviously, the tools, used in this guide, works only on Windows XP or later, so you'll need another computer, running Windows XP or later **or** you can use your ProBook with installed Windows XP or later and the modified FanReset.dylib file by RehabMan (required for cards, not present in the whitelist, like AR9280).
- this Atheros EEPROM tool. It's modified to extract the first 512 bytes of the WiFi card's EEPROM.
- An Atheros 928x based card, running with the stock Atheros driver.
- An hex editor (I've used this one, because it's free and doesn't require installation, but you can use any hex editor).

VERY IMPORTANT: all Windows 7 and later users should disable temporarily the Windows 7's driver signature enforcement. Select Windows 7 in your Chameleon menu and then press quickly F8, then select Disable Driver Signature Enforcement in the menu. After selecting it, Windows 7 will continue its boot process. This is not a one-time operation, on the next boot the driver signature enforcement will be enabled again. This step is a must, because without doing it, the drivers, bundled with the Atheros EEPROM tool, will not be loaded and you may damage your card !!!

1. So, let's begin! The first thing is to check your current card's IDs. In this manual I've used an Atheros 9280 based card:

View attachment 72905

The first line is quite enough for us:
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A&SUBSYS_3041103C&REV_01

That means 168c:002a 103c:3041
These should be changed to 168C:002b 103c:1461 for ProBook 4x30s (the IDs of the HP Atheros 9285 card).

2. Now we should extract a 512 bytes dump from the card's EEPROM. Download and extract the Atheros EEPROM tool in some folder. Open Command prompt as an administrator (right click on Command Prompt and Run As Administrator), go to the folder, where the tool is located (cd C:\somewhere\aet_rw512) and run the following command:

Code:
[B]atheros_eeprom_tool.exe /r512[/B]

View attachment 72882

When you press OK, a new file will be created in the tool's folder, called eeprom_dump.rom:

View attachment 72883

View attachment 72884

It's recommended a copy of this dump to be made, if you want to restore the EEPROM to its previous state later.

3. Now the dump should be edited properly. Open it in the hex editor:

View attachment 72885

NOTE: All IDs in this dump are flip-byted !!! Keep that in mind, when you search for them !!!

First, to change the SubVendor/SubProduct IDs. In this case, they are 103c:3041. That means we are looking for hex values 3c10 4130. In my case I won't change the SubVendor ID, because it's already set to HP (103c), but the owner of cards from another assemblers like Dell Wireless 1515 will have to change it as well. First, the SubProduct ID (unmark the two checkboxes):

View attachment 72886

And when you find it, change it to 6114 (the flip-byted value of 1461):

View attachment 72887

NOTE 2: you'll probably find the Subvendor/Subproduct IDs in more than one place in this dump, you should change them in all places (in this card they were on two places)!!! If you are not sure if any hex value you may find in the dump is a Product/SubProduct ID or not, look at the previous two values and if they are the flip-byted Vendor/SubVendor IDs, you are on the right path.

Same goes for the SubVendor ID (only if needed).

Now it's time for the main Vendor/Product IDs. Actually, we need to change only the Product ID, because the Vendor ID is already set to Atheros (168c). You could use the Replace function as well:

View attachment 72889

and change the Product ID from 2a00 (Atheros 9280) to 2b00 (Atheros 9285):

View attachment 72890

All needed edits have been made. Now, save the file.

4. It's time to upload the modified dump on the card. In Command prompt, run the following command:

Code:
[B]atheros_eeprom_tool.exe /w512[/B]


View attachment 72891

View attachment 72892

5. Reboot your computer. The card will be recognized again, the driver will be installed and now you should see the following:

View attachment 72893

The funny part is in OS X:

View attachment 72894
As you can see, the card appears like Atheros 9285, but acts just like Atheros 9280: same channels, same speed. I'm using it for already a week and haven't seen any problems so far. Of course, in order to work, the current Atheros 9285 DSDT patches / kext injectors should be used, because this trick only avoids the whitelist in BIOS, but for OS X it's still unsupported Atheros 9285 card.

NOTE 3: During the extraction/writing process you may see this:

View attachment 72895

This is only a warning message, it shows that an unsigned driver has been loaded and you may ignore it.
The problem would be if you see this:


View attachment 72896

That means you haven't disabled the driver signature enforcement. Don't try anything, close all programs, reboot your computer and disable it (the first note in this guide, marked as VERY IMPORTANT) Continuing the procedure in this case (especially if you're trying to write the dump) may brick your card !!!

This guide can be used for rebranding of all Atheros based card, supported by this EEPROM tool (as far as I know, the whole AR92xx series).

Credits:
eugene - for the modified Athero EEPROM tool.
edukees - for the initial Atheros 9285 rebranding guide.


philip, 2 questions:

1: I have an 9285 card that is working with the kext injection and in the info, the supported channels are only from 1 to 13 and not like your image here (from 1 to 13 and more till 140). Is this normal?

2: Which are the real benefits of this rebrand?

Thanks!
 
1: I have an 9285 card that is working with the kext injection and in the info, the supported channels are only from 1 to 13 and not like your image here (from 1 to 13 and more till 140). Is this normal?

Yes, it is, because your card is an ordinary AR9285 adaptor (1x1+BT) and mine is Atheros 9280 based card, rebranded to match the IDs of your card. It appears like Atheros 9285 in System Information, but acts like Atheros 9280 (because it has the support in the chipset), that's why System Information shows all these channels.

2: Which are the real benefits of this rebrand?
IMO:
1. You can rebrand any Atheros 9285+BT adaptor from any vendor (not only HP) with the IDs from the whitelist and use it on the 4x30s ProBook.

or

2. You could try the above scenario (if you don't need BT) and rebrand any Atheros 9280 card to look like the Atheros 9285 with the IDs from the list and use it on the 4x30s ProBook.
 
i have 4540s laptop now am using wifi card iAR9285 my system info test wlan any problem laptop ?
 
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