HP Folio13, How to Fix the WiFi button

Hewlett Packard made a laptop called the HP Folio13 a few years ago. The WiFi would work for a while and then appear to stop working (even if the WiFi keyboard key was On). This is how to fix that. Basically "only" the HP Connection Manager could turn a Secondary "Airplane Mode" switch off and on inside the laptop. Later releases of the drivers on the Laptop Support page did not include the older HP Connection Manager tool. -- If Airplane mode was turned on, and the drivers upgraded, you no longer had a way to turn the Airplane mode off, or re-enable the WiFi internal switch.

Demo of Flipping the internal WiFi Airplane Mode Switch

This internal switch is [independent] of the keyboard WiFi switch, which will remain On at all times whether the Airplane mode is turned on or off. It is also "counter" intuitive, but Airplane mode ON, means the internal WiFi Airplane mode switch is turned OFF. And the two are not "Exclusive".

You can turn the Airplane mode ON, and then manually select [only] the internal WiFi Airplane mode switch independent of the internal Bluetooth Airplane mode switch. (AND) the internal WiFi Airplane mode switch "is NOT" labeled as a separate switch.. but it behaves as a separate switch.

The proof of this, is that the ERROR condition when using the Microsoft Windows Troubleshooting tool indicates the WiFi Radio is OFF and instructs you to turn it on, to resolve the problem. Which is NOT possible, because it is already ON.. toggling it back and forth ( regardless of the lighted LED state ) has no effect.

The keyboard WiFi switch has a white LED in the upper right corner of the keycap which remains ON at all times while the internal WiFi Airplane mode switch is "flipped" back and forth using the HP Connection Manager tool.

When the keyboard button is actually Turned OFF the HP Connection Manager displays a [Totally] different "kind" of OFF. ( this is "Real" Off, not "Airplane" Off )

Airplane mode OFF is much more subtle and "mis-leading" when the WiFi button is ON but the internal WiFi Airplane mode is OFF - it merely says "Off" and not "Disabled by Wireless button"

Technically, from my investigations it is a (problem with the Bluetooth sharing the WiFi button) in the programming logic for Airplane mode. You can switch WiFi or Bluetooth Off or On "while" Airplane mode is Off or On. This drums up the possible combinations to at least 6 and possibly 9 "modes" which the display interface does not accomodate. And while they "tried" to cover all combinations.. the user interface failed to do so.. and the Intel Connection Manager doesn't even try.. it just fails. -- dumbing it down.. just make sure to turn the internal WiFi Airplane mode switch OFF or On from inside the HP Connection Manager.. there is no other place you can control it.

[AND] don't try to control the Bluetooth state from the HP Connection Manager, only use the keyboard button. -- This is fundamentally what broke everything.

Upgrading the driver from the HP Support page for this laptop installs a "new" Intel Connection Manager, which cannot disable or manipulate the internal WiFi Airplane mode switch on this laptop.

You can still uninstall the Intel Connection manager, then use Windows File Explorer to browse to the C:\swsetup directory and find the specific HP spXXXX package directory and a subdirectory under the the new Intel drivers.. (avoid) installing from the top level directory that would also install the Intel Connection Manager, instead go to the drivers only directory and look for [ dpinst64 ] and double click that .. it will [ONLY] install the updated Intel WiFi drivers with NO Intel Connection Manager. Then find a copy of the older HP Connection Manager installer and install that to [regain] control over the internal WiFi Airplane mode switch.

Beware!! the fully opened HP Connection Manager cannot be used to turn the internal WiFi Airplane mode switch off and on. [Only] the right-click system tray icon (round blue ball) and going straight to the WiFi switch under the Airplane mode menu actually works.

Kdenlive, a replacement for FinalCut Pro or Adobe Premiere

Opensource on Windows usually doesn't blend well. But Kdenlive is a suprisingly functional and smooth NLE - Non-Linear Video Editor that just got ported to Windows and MacOS. Free as in Beer it has all the features you would expect in the old FinalCut Pro, Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas Movie Studio products. Multi-track, themeable and stylable its also easy to adapt the editor look to something more comfortable. kdenlive.org

It has a ton of transitions, color correction, and video and audio effects. Its built upon several ultra-portable opensource project foundations which doesn't tie it to one PC platform. Originating on KDE on Linux, it runs just as well on many vintages of Microsoft Windows and Apple MacOSX.

If your in the market for a video clip editing tool of the calibre of FinalCut Pro or Premiere, definitely give it a shot. On Windows its still so new there isn't even an installer. Its just a smallish Zip file to download and extract, and a few ffmpeg files to copy into its core program folder, and a presets folder to copy from the ffmpeg distro into its core program folder and then simply double click the kdenlive.exe - there is a warning box that currently flys up and suggests some missing icons and add-on tools.. but they are totally unnecessary. The default windows MFC control icons are both familar and makes it feel much more "native" to the Windows operating system.. and I presume the same would be on MacOS.

The Linuxscoop YouTube Channel reportedly uses it to edit some of its videos (if so):  then take a look at that channel to see if its what you've been looking for -

I would caution (a) it's "Zippy" as in fast, and (b) its not a "Storyboard" editor like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.. those are [cut and paste] editors that let you draw a story like a train with box cars.

A Non-Linear Editor, gets its name (NLE) from the ancient artform of literally cutting film into strips called "clips" and then resequencing and splicing them together (either) one after another or even (on top) of each other to "composite" an entirely new visual scene.. this was the way Special-FX were done in Hollywood back before there were "computers" and even how the first Star Wars movie was made.

As an NLE with infinite [tracks] both above and below, Kdenlive.. can composite.

[Note: I got a an out of bandwidth question about setup. It does (Not) have a slick installer yet, its still just a Zip file download. After downloading on Windows, extract it. And download the ffmpeg Zip file which is linked from the same page. Extract ffmpeg, inside that folder are ffmpeg files, copy those over straight into the Kdenlive folder, [and] copy the ffmpeg "Presets" folder over into the Kdenlive folder. Then you can double-click on the > Kdenlive.exe and everything starts up and runs just fine. -- understand Windows isn't their primary focus.. it just happens to run extra sweet on Windows.. enjoy the Candy.] - {You add Tracks from [File] > [New] > mid-page > "Video tracks" or "Audio tracks"}