Your bios is RSA signed, so it can't be modified in any way. If you want to search a compatible device the whitelist is in the CD28DACA-BDBE-481A-90AC-625C79CF234C_2_949.ROM module.
Thank you very much, that was a lightning fast response! Since I did not have access to a Windows installation, I flashed the .rom with PHLASH16 from a bootable USB stick. I succeeded with PHLASH16 v1.7.0.0. Earlier versions of PHLASH16 gave me the "IBM table signature not found in the interface" error message. Once I had the PHLASH16 issue sorted out, updating the BIOS went like a charm, and the 1802 error is gone. The new wifi card works flawlessly. Thanks again for your help!
Well that sucks... THANK YOU VERY MUCH! You have no idea how much even this bad news means to me. Thank you for responding! What do you mean compatible device? I've been going at it for 2 days with HP tech support who assure me my card should work, but they have no idea why it wont. What do I look for in that module to decide which device is compatible? Sorry, I'm trying to get my hand into the programming end of things, I usually just play with hardware... Thanks for everything so far! Thanks again, Joe
Here's the wifi whitelist (compatible device): PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0083&SUBSYS_13058086 PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0084&SUBSYS_13158086 PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0083&SUBSYS_13068086 PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0084&SUBSYS_13168086 PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_008b&SUBSYS_53158086 PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_008a&SUBSYS_53058086 PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_008a&SUBSYS_53078086 PCI\VEN_10ec&DEV_8176&SUBSYS_1629103c PCI\VEN_1814&DEV_5390&SUBSYS_1636103c PCI\VEN_10ec&DEV_8176&SUBSYS_169f103c PCI\VEN_168c&DEV_002b&SUBSYS_1461103c PCI\VEN_03f0&DEV_311d