carlton150 Posted February 18, 2001 Report Posted February 18, 2001 Ok....I know this isnt a Tech Support forum.....but lots of you out there are an excellent source of information.Has anyone come across this before:A coupe of months ago I got a DSL link....all my prayers were answered...amazing download speeds, 24 7 access etc etc.Anyway 3 weeks ago is was busy uninstalling some junk off my hard drive and when I went to reconnect to the internet the modem connected but IE and Email etc failed to recoginse that the computer was connected to the internet at all. Tech support didnt help and in the end I decided to go for a clean install.Backed up all my important stuff to my second hard drive and went for a clean install, format C, reinstall windows, reinstall allthe latest drivers for my hardware etc etc. I reinstalled the drivers for my USB DSL modem and everything was looking rosey. Back on the net, downloaded some patches etc went to bed a happy man.In the morning when I switched on, the computer gets half way through booting and the monitor suddenly goes to standby. All attempts to get it out of standby failed until I hit the ESC key. The monitor comes back on and the screen is totally screwed.After starting in SAFE mode and finding no problems with drivers etc I decided to reinstall the USB modem drivers in SAFE. This goes fine, reboot and the damn thing comes back on.Now Im getting the same symptoms intermittently on a regular basis. I know its the modem cause if after a failed start up I disconnect it the computer restarts no probs. If I try to plug the modem back in without reinstalling the drivers it causes a fatal exception error.Ive tried downloading the new drivers from Alcatels website and that hasnt cured the problem. I never had any problems with the modem when it was first installed. Only since I got the problems with my internet connection but surely a complete reinstall should have cured any glitches?If any one has any ideas Id be very very grateful...System specsPIII 500 Processor Intel 82371 AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller 128MB RAM 3D Prophet DDR DVI Video Card 32MB Monster MX 300 Sound Card Alcatel USB DSL Modem (driven from computer port) Boca Winstorm 56k Modem 15GB HD© 8.4GB HD(D) DVS DVD ROM------------------ Commander Carlton GCV - Deathbringer, Orion Starstation (CENTRIS) Wing Leader, Deathbringer Battle Group http://www.orionfleet.com 'Peace is something you only get when you're dead!'
Rattler Posted February 18, 2001 Report Posted February 18, 2001 Sounds like your Op System and your Modem are competing for the same resources and Memory Allocation Addresses Carlton. Did you do a Windows update AFTER you installed that Modem? I bet ya did! Wife gave me grief for over 3 weeks with the same kind of problem. She kept installing McAfee Online then doing windows updates. Windows updates kept wanting and taking memory addresses that McAfee had claimed. They fought continuously too! Finaly, I convinced her to do it my way first. Trust Microsoft first, then do McAfee install, been roses ever since! How you're going to solve the USB issue, I don't know. Maybe one of these hardware hackers up here can throw you a life ring.------------------ Insurgent One, Rattler ICV Necromancer, Spectre HQ (Antis) Commander-In-Chief, Insurgency Official Tester, Battlecruiser Series [email protected] ICQ 12894104"You can only love or hate something you truly understand"
carlton150 Posted February 18, 2001 Author Report Posted February 18, 2001 Firstly Rattler, thanks for getting back so quickly....that is one of the things I love about this little community of ours such a fast response time.I did do the Windows Updates after I installed the modem. Its the only way I've ever done them.....except when I got the DSL modem installed...all the windows updates had been done by me previously on my old 56k modem.I've also got McAfee online....but I installed it after the Windows updates.But it makes me wonder if the Windows is competing with my OS.....my IRQ settings are as follows01 Standard 101/102 Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard 02 Programmable Interrupt Controller 03 COM 2 04 COM 1 05 Vortex AU8830 Multifunction PCI Platform 05 Vortex AU8830 PCI Audio 05 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering 06 Standard Floppy Disk Controller 07 LPT1 08 System CMOS 09 Vortex AU8830 Sound Blaster Pro Emulation 10 PCI Modem Controller 10 PCI 56k Modem 10 Intel 82371 AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host Controller 10 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering 11 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering 11 3D Prophet DDR-DVI 12 Cordless 7 (PS/2) 13 Numeric Data Processor 14 Primary IDE 15 Secondary IDEAny problems that anyone can see?The system is reporting no problem devices????------------------ Commander Carlton GCV - Deathbringer, Orion Starstation (CENTRIS) Wing Leader, Deathbringer Battle Group http://www.orionfleet.com 'Peace is something you only get when you're dead!'
Wold Posted February 19, 2001 Report Posted February 19, 2001 Brother, seems like a rash of computer weirdness going around... Here is my 2 cents worth...(In otherwords, try the following) Looks like you have your internal modem and your USB on the same IRQ. According to the PCI standard, IRQs are supposed to be sharable. For testing, pull that 56K modem, delete the driver (from safe mode) then boot to win98.Most people don't have anything connected to com1 and com2. If they aren't being used, DISABLE them in CMOS. (located under I/O or Peripherals, usually) This will free up 2 IRQ's. Boot to windows then delete them or mark them "Disable in this hardware profile"WARNING: Look for a CMOS option "Plug and PLay OS? Yes/No" Set it to NO. Reason: If set to YES, then Windows has control of your CMOS. On some systems the YES is hard-coded. Then the only option is to load the driver, open device manager, look at the properties of the offending device and mark the box "Disable in this hardware profile", then REBOOT.After you have 1 or both of those com ports disabled, reinstall that 56k modem. Hopefully it will grab IRQ 3 or 4 and your problem will go away. Finally, if that doesn't work, you can also try moving the cards around. Most systems assign 4 IRQs to the PCI slots. PCI slot 1 (next to the AGP port) typically shares an IRQ w/ the AGP port.Hope that works for you...------------------ Commodore Wold ICV-Drakr, Spectre HQ (Antis) Commanding Officer, Spectre HQ Spectre FleetICQ 4669033 "You can only love or hate something you truly understand"
Gallion Posted February 19, 2001 Report Posted February 19, 2001 What Wold said and....USB network connection are the pits in my experience.1. Get a decent NIC PCI card and install it in your PC. 2. Connect the DSL modem via ethernet cable to the NIC card.3. Set the DSL modem TCP/IP settings up per DSL provider data.4. Pray Good luck and TTFN------------------ Rear Admiral Gallion ICV-Graf Spee, Spectre (Antis) Executive Officer Spectre Fleet "You can only love or hate something you truly understand." Official Tester, Battlecruiser Series Leader, Team 1
Akira Posted February 19, 2001 Report Posted February 19, 2001 Have to agree with Gallion on this one. I'd do everything Wold suggested, then toss that USB network adapter in the trash. Go to your local CompUSA/BestBuy or mom and pop and drop 25 bucks on a NetGear 10/100 pci based network card.You're better off than using a kludgey USB product that will never give you anything but problems. Plus, later on, you can get yourself a router and share your DSL with the rest of the house, but that's another day and another headache
carlton150 Posted February 21, 2001 Author Report Posted February 21, 2001 Firstly......thanks for all the help guys!!!Secondly...sorry I havent posted the thanks sooner.....been away on business.Thirdly.....it works!!! For now I have disabled the 56k modem in the Windows system screen. That appears to have resolved the conflict on the shared IRQ.I havent taken any more steps yet as that appears to work for now. At least the computer boots up every time now. I will move the modem about etc when I get a spare couple of hours. Must say its the first time I've come across a shared IRQ problem and Windows failed miserably to spot it!!I can actually reactivate the 56k once the computer boots up and there are no problems as long as I remember to deactivate it before shutting down.Anyway, once again thanks very much for the help and the excellent advice.------------------ Commander Carlton GCV - Deathbringer, Orion Starstation (CENTRIS) Wing Leader, Deathbringer Battle Group http://www.orionfleet.com 'Peace is something you only get when you're dead!'
Wold Posted February 22, 2001 Report Posted February 22, 2001 You are welcome and thanks for the update! Glad you were able to find the hicup. ------------------ Commodore Wold ICV-Drakr, Spectre HQ (Antis) Commanding Officer, Spectre HQ Spectre FleetICQ 4669033 "You can only love or hate something you truly understand"
carlton150 Posted March 8, 2001 Author Report Posted March 8, 2001 Just a quick update for you guys!Firstly after I thought id cracked the problem, it started back again, slightly less frequent but none the less bloody irritating.After much digging and hair pulling out I found the solution....without wiping my hard drive and starting again (which wouldnt have worked by the way)It turns out the Alcatel USB DSL Modem that British Telecom are shipping with their DSL package sucks!!!!!Their drivers are pretty poor and after finding many many articles referring to problems with them at (perform site search for "Alcatel") http://www.usbman.com/Drivers%20and%20Patches.htm I found the solution to the problem at Alcatels own website under http://www.alcatel.com/consumer/dsl/supfaq...m#_Toc501768603 The solution is a little bizzare to say the least but it appears to work. Appears the drivers corrupt the registry on a regular basis and the patch repairs it every time Win 98 boots up.Hope this helps anyone else that has the BT DSL setup and encounters the same problem!!------------------ Commander Carlton GCV - Deathbringer, Orion Starstation (CENTRIS) Wing Leader, Deathbringer Battle Group http://www.orionfleet.com 'Peace is something you only get when you're dead!'
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