modem card not detecting dial tone

[Kirk]

All of a sudden my laptop's xj1650 modem card has stopped
detecting a dial tone. I've verified a dial tone on
several lines within my home and have ran diagnostics
which has futher verified that the 3COM 56K X2 XJ1560
Modem card is not detecting a dial tone. No hardware or
software changes have been done. This modem card is
installed in a Dell Latitude CPi D266XT running Windows
98. Again, this modem and laptop have been performing Ok
and then all of a sudden the modem has stopped detecting
a dial tone.
What are the probable causes of this problem?
Driver gone sour? Modem fried?
Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

Modems are cheap. Unless you can test it in another PC, I'd just go out and
replace it.

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately, I do not call $155.00 "cheap".
I'm making an attempt to positively identify the issue
prior to making such an investment in such an old piece
of hardware.

 

[Cari \(MS MVP\)]

Huh... is your modem gold plated or diamond studded?

http://shop1.outpost.com/category/Outpost/PCtab/Computer+Upgrade+Cards+&+Hubs/Modems+&+Broadband/PCI

Average price here about $25... though I do see a USB one for $79. Cheapest
one $12.99.

 

[D.Currie]

It may have cost that when you bought it, but I've seen that same model is
for about $39 now and you can get cheaper ones if you don't need the x-jack
feature or buy a less expensive brand.

The only way to test whether it's the modem or not is to take the card out
and test it in another computer and/or test a different card in the same
slot in your laptop.

If it suddenly doesn't detect a dialtone and you haven't changed any
software, chances are it's a hardware problem of some sort. Most likely is
the modem itself. Less likely is the PCMCIA slot. If the slot was bad, it
probably wouldn't recognize that the card was there at all or would
completely mis-identify it.

Not detecting the dialtone is most often the symptom of a dead modem. It
could also be that you've got voicemail on your phone and the modem is
hearing the beep tone that's telling you that you have a message, but that's
something that would have been happening all along, unless, of course, you
just signed up for voicemail.

I've also seen that same symptom when someone has installed the wrong driver
for the modem, but once again, you say you haven't changed anything, so that
rules out that possibility.

I'd bet that the modem is bad.

(e-mail address removed)> wrote in message

 

[Guest]

I'm hoping that D.Currie's assessment is correct. My
suspicion all along but again, would like a way of
confirming prior to purchase (my budget is being crippled
by the price of gasoline).
I'll attempt to find another modem to try and/or another
laptop to try it in. Which leads me to my next
question. What do I do about the appropriate drivers?
If I borrow a modem and the lender does not have the
drivers on floppy or CD? I know I don't have any drivers
for the modem I have (I came upon this laptop in a "as
is" condition with no software discs), therefore, I have
to be careful with anything that I do to it as I don't
have any software to restore with.
Lastly, I thank you for your input, it's nice to have a
method of asking questions of those in the "know".
Oh, by the way Carie, I went to Dell's website and found
that the modem listed at $155.00, I certainly hope that
it is gold plated AND diamond studded ... lol.

 

[Cari \(MS MVP\)]

If the modem came with the PC and it is a Dell PC, you should find the
drivers at the Dell website. It's a bit of a pain, you'll have to input
model of PC and after a few prompts, you should end up at a page with all
the drivers for your model.

I had an HP desktop (once and once only!). For a replacement motherboard
(not that I needed one but I was bored one day and mindlessly surfing) I
discovered HP wanted $350 for a replacement. We're talking about a mobo for
a 1ghz Athlon, not gold plated or diamond studded for a PC that had come
with WindowsME.. At that time I could purchased a replacement (and much
better one) for about $100. Moral, unless you're REALLY dedicated to a
particular PC manufacturer, look around first!

 

[D.Currie]

I'm hoping that D.Currie's assessment is correct. My
suspicion all along but again, would like a way of
confirming prior to purchase (my budget is being crippled
by the price of gasoline).
I'll attempt to find another modem to try and/or another
laptop to try it in. Which leads me to my next
question. What do I do about the appropriate drivers?

If you have a friend with a laptop that has a working modem, best bet is to
ask you friend to download the drivers for your modem, take his out, install
yours, and see what happens. I'm betting the modem doesn't work, and your
experimenting can stop there.

If I borrow a modem and the lender does not have the
drivers on floppy or CD? I know I don't have any drivers
for the modem I have (I came upon this laptop in a "as
is" condition with no software discs), therefore, I have
to be careful with anything that I do to it as I don't
have any software to restore with.
Lastly, I thank you for your input, it's nice to have a
method of asking questions of those in the "know".
Oh, by the way Carie, I went to Dell's website and found
that the modem listed at $155.00, I certainly hope that
it is gold plated AND diamond studded ... lol.

That's a Dell replacement model. If you do a search for that 3com part
number, you'll find it a lot cheaper. And, as I said, if you don't need
3com, you can get something for even less.

When it comes to modems, the technology is so mature (and dial-up isn't
going to get any better than it is) that you're not going to find a whole
lot of advantage to buying a top-end modem. It's going to be the same
dial-up speed, no matter what. Of course, with the bigger brand names,
you're probably going to get a better shot at finding updated drivers in the
future, etc., but if you pay $20 now, in a couple of years it's not going to
matter all that much if you have to replace the modem.