"Updating ESCD...success" on bootup: any ideas?

[tco99]

I came home from work today and my internet connection inexplicably
stopped working.

I tried swapping the RJ45 cable to my mobo's 100mbit LAN port instead
of my Realtek Gigabit ethernet card. I still couldn't even telnet into
my router. At this point my PC was getting jerky and the mouse was
getting "sticky". Task manager reported no CPU hogs or suspicious
programs.

I tried rebooting my computer. On bootup I got the message: "Updating
ESCD...success". Now Windows XP brought up the "Install new hardware"
wizard but couldn't install the drivers for the Realtek card properly.
Obviously the drivers were already installed when I left home for work
in the morning!

I figured the ethernet card might be dying, so I unplugged it and
reconnected it to another computer. It worked fine.

I replugged it back and I got the message "Updating ESCD...success"
again. This time everything went back to normal.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

 

[Paul]

I came home from work today and my internet connection inexplicably
stopped working.

I tried swapping the RJ45 cable to my mobo's 100mbit LAN port instead
of my Realtek Gigabit ethernet card. I still couldn't even telnet into
my router. At this point my PC was getting jerky and the mouse was
getting "sticky". Task manager reported no CPU hogs or suspicious
programs.

I tried rebooting my computer. On bootup I got the message: "Updating
ESCD...success". Now Windows XP brought up the "Install new hardware"
wizard but couldn't install the drivers for the Realtek card properly.
Obviously the drivers were already installed when I left home for work
in the morning!

I figured the ethernet card might be dying, so I unplugged it and
reconnected it to another computer. It worked fine.

I replugged it back and I got the message "Updating ESCD...success"
again. This time everything went back to normal.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

I can give you an idea. I have a sound card based on CMI8738
sound chip. The card does not seat properly in the PCI slot,
as the mechanical design of the card is pretty bad. (I had to
make one modification to the card, just so I could plug it in.
The faceplate versus the connectors had some issues.)

If I am not careful, plugging audio connectors into the card,
the next time Windows boots, the sound card disappears. Checking
with Everest or Sandra, the enumeration of the card has changed
by one bit, implying one of the PCI bus connections is flaky.
Pressing the card back into the slot, with power off, brings it
back to life, and changes the device code back. Other PCI cards
don't do this, so it is the sound card at fault.

(Obviously, just the enumeration is not the issue. If one signal
on the PCI bus is not making contact, that could affect a lot of
system operation, if a driver was actually installed, and the
card was used by the OS. It is actually a good thing, that it
gets stuck while in the enumeration phase, since if the card
remains unidentified, then Windows won't be doing anything to it.)

Paul

 

[tco99]

I can give you an idea. I have a sound card based on CMI8738
sound chip. The card does not seat properly in the PCI slot,
as the mechanical design of the card is pretty bad. (I had to
make one modification to the card, just so I could plug it in.
The faceplate versus the connectors had some issues.)

If I am not careful, plugging audio connectors into the card,
the next time Windows boots, the sound card disappears. Checking
with Everest or Sandra, the enumeration of the card has changed
by one bit, implying one of the PCI bus connections is flaky.
Pressing the card back into the slot, with power off, brings it
back to life, and changes the device code back. Other PCI cards
don't do this, so it is the sound card at fault.

(Obviously, just the enumeration is not the issue. If one signal
on the PCI bus is not making contact, that could affect a lot of
system operation, if a driver was actually installed, and the
card was used by the OS. It is actually a good thing, that it
gets stuck while in the enumeration phase, since if the card
remains unidentified, then Windows won't be doing anything to it.)

Paul

Thanks Paul. I suppose a flaky connection could explain it. Pressing
the card in was something I tried though, although
unplugging/replugging might have been what was needed.