Laptop won't connect to DSL

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I'm working on a friend's Dell Inspiron laptop. In addition to having some
major problems due to too many bad software installations, it also lost its
ability to connect to the web. I reasoned that problem #2 could be related
to hardware or software, but since problem #1 also needed to be crushed, we
backed up her data and reinstalled XP Pro (first release). (Not a repair
installation, but wiped the HD first). The machine still won't connect to
the web.

A local PC shop says they can run some sort of diagnostic software to
determine what's going on with the hardware. But, I'm looking at Device
Manager, and under "Other Devices", there's a yellow question mark next to
Ethernet Controller and Network Controller. Matter of fact, there's the same
symbol next to all the other controllers, as well.

I'm not sure what to conclude from this, but here are my guesses:

1) The drivers are not installed (which is what I see if I check properties
for the ethernet controller). I downloaded them onto another machine from
Dell, but haven't installed them yet. However, the machine had the same
internet problem before the XP reinstall. Does this mean that before the
reinstall, some of the Dell drivers got whacked somehow? Or....

2) There really is a hardware problem, but it's affecting all devices in the
list. This might make sense, but the USB port works fine, even though it
also says its drivers are not installed.

I guess the real question here is whether it's worth the time to install all
the Dell drivers without first finding out if there's a hardware issue
(power surge damage, for instance), or what....

 

[BigJim]

what it is indicating is you need to go to the dell website and download the
drivers for those yellow marked item.
If after getting the drivers and installing and they still don't work the
items could be bad. Most Dell machines have an extra partition on the hard
drive that has diagnostics software.

 

[Paul]

I'm working on a friend's Dell Inspiron laptop. In addition to having some
major problems due to too many bad software installations, it also lost its
ability to connect to the web. I reasoned that problem #2 could be related
to hardware or software, but since problem #1 also needed to be crushed, we
backed up her data and reinstalled XP Pro (first release). (Not a repair
installation, but wiped the HD first). The machine still won't connect to
the web.

A local PC shop says they can run some sort of diagnostic software to
determine what's going on with the hardware. But, I'm looking at Device
Manager, and under "Other Devices", there's a yellow question mark next to
Ethernet Controller and Network Controller. Matter of fact, there's the same
symbol next to all the other controllers, as well.

I'm not sure what to conclude from this, but here are my guesses:

1) The drivers are not installed (which is what I see if I check properties
for the ethernet controller). I downloaded them onto another machine from
Dell, but haven't installed them yet. However, the machine had the same
internet problem before the XP reinstall. Does this mean that before the
reinstall, some of the Dell drivers got whacked somehow? Or....

2) There really is a hardware problem, but it's affecting all devices in the
list. This might make sense, but the USB port works fine, even though it
also says its drivers are not installed.

I guess the real question here is whether it's worth the time to install all
the Dell drivers without first finding out if there's a hardware issue
(power surge damage, for instance), or what....

The Dell comes with software already installed. They may provide a
recovery partition or the like, and that would be an OS image complete
with all necessary drivers already installed in the OS.

When you install Windows from a separate WinXP install disk, that
puts Windows in there all right, but it doesn't provide the
drivers for all custom hardware. A thing like an Ethernet controller,
could well still be missing. That could be why Device Manager
is still "colorful".

You need to install drivers, to get the rest of it working.

If I didn't know what hardware was in a machine, I might be
tempted to use Everest.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

The DevicesCI Devices can give some info. And using the
Device_ID, you can look up the chips. For example, my
sound card shows 13F6-0111 for a Device ID. If I go here:

http://pciids.sourceforge.net/pci.ids

13f6 C-Media Electronics Inc
0011 CMI8738
0100 CM8338A
13f6 ffff CMI8338/C3DX PCI Audio Device
0101 CM8338B
13f6 0101 CMI8338-031 PCI Audio Device
0111 CM8738
1043 8077 CMI8738 6-channel audio controller

That tells me, I need a driver for a CM8738, so I go to
the CMedia site and try and track it down (under PCI audio).

http://www.cmedia.com.tw/?q=en/driver

You'd do the same for your Ethernet controller. Track down
who makes it, and find the driver.

The Dell site may have the driver, if you can find it.

HTH,
Paul

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

The Dell comes with software already installed. They may provide a
recovery partition or the like, and that would be an OS image complete
with all necessary drivers already installed in the OS.

When you install Windows from a separate WinXP install disk, that
puts Windows in there all right, but it doesn't provide the
drivers for all custom hardware. A thing like an Ethernet controller,
could well still be missing. That could be why Device Manager
is still "colorful".

You need to install drivers, to get the rest of it working.

If I didn't know what hardware was in a machine, I might be
tempted to use Everest.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

The DevicesCI Devices can give some info. And using the
Device_ID, you can look up the chips. For example, my
sound card shows 13F6-0111 for a Device ID. If I go here:

http://pciids.sourceforge.net/pci.ids

Very interesting! I'll give this a shot. Thanks. The Dell site lists
multiple possibilities for the Ethernet controller on this machine, so this
utility should save some guesswork.

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

The Dell comes with software already installed. They may provide a
recovery partition or the like, and that would be an OS image complete
with all necessary drivers already installed in the OS.

When you install Windows from a separate WinXP install disk, that
puts Windows in there all right, but it doesn't provide the
drivers for all custom hardware. A thing like an Ethernet controller,
could well still be missing. That could be why Device Manager
is still "colorful".

You need to install drivers, to get the rest of it working.

If I didn't know what hardware was in a machine, I might be
tempted to use Everest.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

The DevicesCI Devices can give some info. And using the
Device_ID, you can look up the chips. For example, my
sound card shows 13F6-0111 for a Device ID. If I go here:

http://pciids.sourceforge.net/pci.ids

13f6 C-Media Electronics Inc
0011 CMI8738
0100 CM8338A
13f6 ffff CMI8338/C3DX PCI Audio Device
0101 CM8338B
13f6 0101 CMI8338-031 PCI Audio Device
0111 CM8738
1043 8077 CMI8738 6-channel audio controller

That tells me, I need a driver for a CM8738, so I go to
the CMedia site and try and track it down (under PCI audio).

http://www.cmedia.com.tw/?q=en/driver

You'd do the same for your Ethernet controller. Track down
who makes it, and find the driver.

The Dell site may have the driver, if you can find it.

HTH,
Paul

Lack of progress so far: Used Everest to ID the Ethernet hardware, and
downloaded the correct driver from Dell. Installed it. No luck. Went to
Broadcom's site, downloaded their version. No luck. I think this machine may
be headed for a repair shop, to see if they can at least figure out whether
the hardware's physically cooked.

 

[Paul]

Lack of progress so far: Used Everest to ID the Ethernet hardware, and
downloaded the correct driver from Dell. Installed it. No luck. Went to
Broadcom's site, downloaded their version. No luck. I think this machine may
be headed for a repair shop, to see if they can at least figure out whether
the hardware's physically cooked.

Just to double check, what Device ID did you get ? What does Everest
claim the Ethernet is exactly ?

Paul

 

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Just to double check, what Device ID did you get ? What does Everest
claim the Ethernet is exactly ?

Paul

Broadcom NetXtreme BCM4401-A1 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller

On the Dell site, this same device was one of several choices (different
brands).

 

[Paul]

Broadcom NetXtreme BCM4401-A1 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller

On the Dell site, this same device was one of several choices (different
brands).

There is a BCM4401 driver here, good for several OSes.

ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/lan/broadcom/4401
ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/lan/broadcom/4401/4401_653.zip

HTH,
Paul