[SOLVED] Suggestions regarding the Qualcomm Atheros Drivers & Killer Network Drivers

blueelvis · Jun 21, 2015

Hi Everyone ^_^,

The update URL's for most of the Qualcomm drivers in the DRT is as below -

Official site: https://www.qualcomm.com/contact (scroll down for product support)
Unofficial site: http://www.atheros.cz

Now, the problem is that after visiting the Qualcomm's above Contact URL, I cannot find the link where the drivers are hosted for the Atheros product. Strangely, Atheros is not even mentioned as a product in the list. Honestly speaking it is like a maze there. Now, my question is what do we do with these entries? The Atheros driver links are one of the most visited links (Just my guess) and I believe that this should be changed. I tried searching for the Qualcomm Atheros drivers as well, but I could not find any repository which was official

Should we simply list the Atheros.cz website? Till now, it has provided the Atheros drivers for most of the people. Furthermore, the site is regularly updated and new versions are released.

Now, regarding the Killer Network Drivers, the Update URL is set to either bigfootnetworks.com or killergaming.com . The problem is that both of these websites are down. Big Foot Networks was acquired in 2011 by Qualcomm. Now, the co-founder and co-ceo who were at BigFootNetworks earlier merged with Qualcomm and worked there till 2014. Now, they seem to have created another company which goes by the name Rivet Networks. The support URL to their company is as below -

Killer Networking - Driver Downloads

The company is providing two types of drivers for the Killer NICs. One is the plain Vanilla version without the Killer features (Killer Suite which is known to cause problems) and the one which includes the Killer Suite.

Now, the confusion is should we change the current URL's to point to the above URL? Is the company legit? (It seems legit to my eagle eyes :0) )

-Pranav

usasma · Jun 22, 2015

I'm wondering about using "Official" and "Unofficial" links.
Would that hurt things? I'd only suggest using them in extreme circumstances - and only for dedicated hosting sites, not for things like CNET or other software download sites.

Jared · Jun 22, 2015

Stick with [NO-PARSE]http://www.atheros.cz[/NO-PARSE] I used to get my drivers from there when I had an Atheros network card.
They're updated regularly and are easy to find.
Qualcomm is a maze, and just not worth it, never mind the fact that they never list half of their products.

jcgriff2 · Jun 23, 2015

usasma said:
I'm wondering about using "Official" and "Unofficial" links.
Would that hurt things? I'd only suggest using them in extreme circumstances - and only for dedicated hosting sites, not for things like CNET or other software download sites.

I like the idea of "Official" and "Unofficial" links.

blueelvis · Jun 25, 2015

usasma said:
I'm wondering about using "Official" and "Unofficial" links.
Would that hurt things? I'd only suggest using them in extreme circumstances - and only for dedicated hosting sites, not for things like CNET or other software download sites.

If the official sites do not contain *any* kind of information regarding the drivers then what is the use of listing them? Till now, I haven't seen a single problem with Atheros.cz. When I moved to Windows 8.1, my laptop was crashing because of the Atheros driver and this site was the only site to have the updated driver for Windows 8.1.
I wonder how bugs are reported in Qualcomm Atheros Drivers :noidea:

Regarding the dedicated hosting sites, I agree with you and don't worry, you are not going to see them as well till we all are here :0)

Jared said:
Stick with [NO-PARSE]http://www.atheros.cz[/NO-PARSE] I used to get my drivers from there when I had an Atheros network card.
They're updated regularly and are easy to find.
Qualcomm is a maze, and just not worth it, never mind the fact that they never list half of their products.

You described my view on Qualcomm perfectly

Also, what about those Killer Networking Drivers which I have mentioned?

-Pranav

Jared · Jun 25, 2015

blueelvis said:
usasma said:

I'm wondering about using "Official" and "Unofficial" links.
Would that hurt things? I'd only suggest using them in extreme circumstances - and only for dedicated hosting sites, not for things like CNET or other software download sites.

Click to expand...

If the official sites do not contain *any* kind of information regarding the drivers then what is the use of listing them? Till now, I haven't seen a single problem with Atheros.cz. When I moved to Windows 8.1, my laptop was crashing because of the Atheros driver and this site was the only site to have the updated driver for Windows 8.1.
I wonder how bugs are reported in Qualcomm Atheros Drivers :noidea:

Regarding the dedicated hosting sites, I agree with you and don't worry, you are not going to see them as well till we all are here :0)

Jared said:

Stick with [NO-PARSE]http://www.atheros.cz[/NO-PARSE] I used to get my drivers from there when I had an Atheros network card.
They're updated regularly and are easy to find.
Qualcomm is a maze, and just not worth it, never mind the fact that they never list half of their products.

Click to expand...

You described my view on Qualcomm perfectly

Also, what about those Killer Networking Drivers which I have mentioned?

-Pranav

That's a difficult one.
I've had a lot of issues trying to guide people to download a killer network driver.
Go with the vanilla downloads, best on the killer website. I did manage to find a good 3rd party alternative that I used to use, which worked well. I'll try and find it.

jcgriff2 · Jun 25, 2015

blueelvis said:
When I moved to Windows 8.1, my laptop was crashing because of the Atheros driver and this site was the only site to have the updated driver for Windows 8.1.

So... the unofficial Czech ".cz" site worked then...?

Jared · Jun 25, 2015

jcgriff2 said:
blueelvis said:

When I moved to Windows 8.1, my laptop was crashing because of the Atheros driver and this site was the only site to have the updated driver for Windows 8.1.

Click to expand...

So... the unofficial Czech ".cz" site worked then...?

I recommend it over any other site, you just need a translation extension.
It regularly updates new drivers, hence why it is the best. In my opinion.

blueelvis · Jun 25, 2015

Jared said:
That's a difficult one.
I've had a lot of issues trying to guide people to download a killer network driver.
Go with the vanilla downloads, best on the killer website. I did manage to find a good 3rd party alternative that I used to use, which worked well. I'll try and find it.

In cases where very little information is provided and in the ones where the Killer Network is blamed, I generally recommend the complete removal of that software. There is a canned speech by usasma which I use. It is as below -

(Thanks Usasma!)At times the Killer Network Manager may cause BSOD problems:

NOTE1:Link thanks to blueelvis (15Oct2014): https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=178064.0 This is a method for removing all the network software and only installing the driver. Perfect for those issues that can't be resolved any other way!

NOTE2: See this link first: BSOD while playing on msi gt70 dragon edition 2 (thanks to kaelaan) It appears that the Killer Service problem was solved with the latest release of the Qualcomm versions of the drivers (so try updating to a version dated from later in 2014).
The Qualcomm Atheros Killer Service/KillerNetManager is known to cause BSOD's. Please follow the workaround instructions here:

First, open the Run dialog (Win + R keys) and type in "services.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter
Scroll down and locate the "Qualcomm Atheros Killer Service" and right click on it. Select "Stop"
Right click on it again and this time select "Properties"
In the dropdown box for "Startup type", select "Disabled", then click on the "OK" button at the bottom of the window

Next, open Task Manager (right click on TaskBar and select "Task Manager")
Click on the "More details" dropdown (if present)
Click on the "Startup" tab
Scroll down and locate the "KillerNetManager" entry, right click on it and select "Disable"
There may also be an Install Shield (with the Killer gaming K next to it), if so Right click on it and select "Disable"
Finally, restart the system in order for the changes to take affect.

At times the Killer Network Manager will continue to load. If so, it's usually listed in the MSINFO32...Software Environment...Startup Programs section. If it is, please try this:

It may be that the instructions aren't stopping everything.
In some cases, there's a program running out of the Program Files/Program Files (x86) directory.
"c:\program files\qualcomm atheros\killer network manager\killer~1.exe" (NOTE: killer~1.exe is most likely killernetmanager.exe)
In other cases, there's a program running out of c:\windows\installer\{Long string of letters, numbers, and dashes}\networkmanager.exe_130c27d738f34c89bddf21bcfd74b56d.exe (the long string of letters and numbers may change)

Here's some things to try
1) Please see if there are any entries in the Startup tab of Task Manager that are related to Qualcomm/Atheros/Killer Network Manager (and NOT the card itself) and disable them (please let us know what you find) Be careful as the wrong selection can disable the network card.
2) Check in "msconfig" for any entries that aren't in the Startup tab of Task Manager. Let us know if you find any Qualcomm/Atheros/Killer entries there (we'll disable them differently if they are there).
3) Locate the "c:\program files\qualcomm atheros\killer network manager\killer~1.exe" and rename the .exe to .BAD (the killer~1 is actually a filename that starts with killer and ends with .exe) There will be an error in event viewer, but it'll stop the bugger from loading.
4) Locate the "c:\windows\installer\{Long string of letters, numbers, and dashes}\networkmanager.exe_130c27d738f34c89bddf21bcfd74b56d.exe" entry and rename the last .exe to .BAD (the long string of letters and numbers may change)

Just FYI - here are the MSI workaround instructions: MSI USA - Online Technical Support FAQ

I first recommend to use the fix suggested by MSI and if that doesn't work, I suggest them to remove the software and leave alone the drivers. Note1 contains the link to the guide for removing the crappy Killer Software and leaving the drivers alone.

jcgriff2 said:
blueelvis said:

When I moved to Windows 8.1, my laptop was crashing because of the Atheros driver and this site was the only site to have the updated driver for Windows 8.1.

Click to expand...

So... the unofficial Czech ".cz" site worked then...?

It is the only one which works for me. Recently there was another update on that site for my laptop's network card which on applying caused my laptop to start blue screening again

So, I reverted back. But yes, I have never seen others having trouble with that Czech website.

Jared said:
I recommend it over any other site, you just need a translation extension.
It regularly updates new drivers, hence why it is the best. In my opinion.

The website appears in English to me.

usasma · Jun 26, 2015

I would really like the DRT to have an "Official" link for every driver we are able to identify.
If we find a link that is better (as in the Qualcomm, Atheros, and Killer drivers) then there'll be an Official link (that may just state "No drivers here" with a link to the most appropriate page on the site. Then there can be an Unofficial link where the drivers are usually gotten from.

This allows the person using the DRT to see where the product comes from, yet we can still provide a reliable link to get the actual drivers from (this was ironed out when we started using the atheros.cz site). Another option is when you see who the manufacturer is, then you can search for those drivers and start working with drivers from other OEM's that can be used on that particular system (like using an HP Atheros driver on the identical hardware on an Asus system).

Finally, this is just an attempt to make the DRT look the same in each entry - so it's easier for users and helpers to scan through it. It's not intended to restrict the DRT in any way.

I don't worry about the Killer network drivers unless the system has older drivers installed. Then I suggest that they remove all the Killer stuff and then just install the drivers (without the Network Manager)

blueelvis · Jun 29, 2015

Another option is when you see who the manufacturer is, then you can search for those drivers and start working with drivers from other OEM's that can be used on that particular system (like using an HP Atheros driver on the identical hardware on an Asus system).

I doubt the stability because in case the HP driver is modified which is not accepted by the ASUS System, we might be seeing another BSODs. Furthermore, most of the OEM's restrict the driver installation packages to their systems only (In most of the cases they even restrict the system model). So, technically, it is even possible that such drivers won't work on other systems.

Like I mentioned in my starting post, the links for the Killer Networks (Source field in DRT) are dead and need to be replaced. Since these are also accessed by quite a number of people, hence my question whether to change that information according to the new information found.

-Pranav ^_^

usasma · Jun 30, 2015

First off, if the old link doesn't work then a new link is needed immediately!
There's plenty of time to discuss it here - but the users still need to know where to go in the meantime.
Just make the addition to the best of your ability - and then we'll second guess your work here (just kidding!).

As for differing drivers for different OEM's - you'll have to either test it, or open up the package's files in order to see if it'll work.
In the past it wasn't uncommon to get drivers from other OEM's in order to make devices work on a particular system.
That technique has fallen to the wayside over the last several years. At work, when I do that most of the tech's look at me confused :0)

Just FYI - the predecessor to the DRT was a listing of the PC Manufacturer/OEM's and their download sites.

jcgriff2 · Jul 3, 2015

Drivers from different OEM systems can indeed work just fine on a different OEM system.

My mom's then Vista laptop BSOD'd to death naming a Belkin WiFi driver. Sony had no updates for her Vista system; did not list Windows 7 as a supported OS.

On Christmas Day 2009, I installed full retail W7 and was shocked to find that it (Windows 7 installation DVD) contained/found an updated WiFi driver for her system. I have no idea if it was a Sony OEM driver or not.

Point being is that it's worth a chance to try a different OEM driver -- can't hut to do so & is easily reversible via Windows System Restore, assuming a restore point was created before driver update.

blueelvis · Jul 4, 2015

Really sorry for the delay. I have updated the entries regarding the Killer Network NICs.

For the entries which did not mention the BigFoot Networks, I have changed the Update field to this -

Download - Killer Networking - Driver Downloads Support - Killer Networking - Contact Us

For the entries which said Bigfoot Networks and said that the product is from VisionTek, I changed the entry to this -

Download - Killer Networking - Driver Downloads
(Scroll below to see the section about Legacy drivers from VisionTek)
Support - Killer Networking - Contact Us

Let me know what you think about this :)

@jcgriff2 - That happens a lot of times. It has happened with my Bluetooth NIC as well. On Windows 8, it did not work since Toshiba did not provide drivers for Bluetooth. Windows 8.1 comes and I can send/receive files via Bluetooth easily now.

Now we need to finalize on the Qualcomm drivers. Usasma could you think of something? I scratched my mind but I kept scratching

-Pranav

usasma · Jul 5, 2015

It appears that the Qualcomm links have been finalized - with the Official and Unofficial links (as we had discussed)

blueelvis · Jul 5, 2015

usasma said:
It appears that the Qualcomm links have been finalized - with the Official and Unofficial links (as we had discussed)

Aye Aye Captain!

I checked for Qualcomm entries using the Advanced Search and seems like every entry has already been modified according to what you said.

By the way, do those Killer entries (I like the sound of that :0 ) look fine to you?

-Pranav

usasma · Jul 6, 2015

The ones that I saw looked fine (I did an advanced search to find them)

blueelvis · Jul 6, 2015

usasma said:
The ones that I saw looked fine (I did an advanced search to find them)

Great ^_^.

Since the killer entries have been modified and it is decided what to do with the Atheros entries in future, I am marking this thread as Solved :)

-Pranav

Deejay100six · Jul 18, 2015

Hi,

I was going to start a new thread but this one seems to be a similar subject.

One of our techs over at TSF posted this;

etaf said:
my article
Atheros AR5007EG & AR5007 Problems - Tech Support Forum

just needs anote added at the top
that the website
https://www.atheros.cz/

is nolonger downloading the drivers correctly

thats all we need for now - as it maybe fixed in the future

I have had a few threads where OP cannot download
Nor can I
not sure if this is a local issue - depending on what country you are in
OR
simply the website nolonger works

When you click on download
and wait - which used to take a while
Now it either just waits and the page is waiting to load
OR
it takes you to a another page
CHYBA 403 - Pøístup zablokován

I have tried IE, Chrome and firefox

Thanks

I tried a couple of downloads and also got redirected to CHYBA 403 - P??stup zablokov?n

which is flagged by WOT. I know WOT isn't the be all and end all but I tend to shy away from sites marked as untrustworthy.

Anyone else having this issue?

blueelvis · Jul 18, 2015

Hi Dave ^_^,

Could you please provide with the links which are redirecting or maybe links to those threads where the OPs are having the problem? I tried downloading a few drivers from their website and everything seems to be running fine. Maybe it is a temporary issue?

Regards,
Pranav

[SOLVED] Suggestions regarding the Qualcomm Atheros Drivers & Killer Network Drivers

BSOD Kernel Dump Senior Analyst

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BSOD Kernel Dump Senior Analyst

Sysnative Staff, BSOD Kernel Dump Expert

Co-Founder / AdminBSOD Instructor/ExpertMicrosoft MVP (Ret.)

Sysnative Staff, BSOD Kernel Dump Expert

BSOD Kernel Dump Senior Analyst

Retired Admin

BSOD Kernel Dump Senior Analyst

Retired Admin

Co-Founder / AdminBSOD Instructor/ExpertMicrosoft MVP (Ret.)

BSOD Kernel Dump Senior Analyst

Retired Admin

BSOD Kernel Dump Senior Analyst

Retired Admin

BSOD Kernel Dump Senior Analyst

Sysnative Staff

BSOD Kernel Dump Senior Analyst

Co-Founder / Admin
BSOD Instructor/Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

Co-Founder / Admin
BSOD Instructor/Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)

Co-Founder / Admin
BSOD Instructor/Expert
Microsoft MVP (Ret.)