JaZCaLiBuR
join:2000-01-17
Milwaukee, WI
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JaZCaLiBuR Member 2000-Jun-27 11:08 pm NIC PICKAlright....I installed a 3Com NiC (3C905B-TX) into an open PCI slot. It showed up in the device manager, but with a big yellow ! next to it. So I downloaded some new drivers from the 3Com site. Installed them....Problem Still THere. So I deleted the NIC from the device manager and tried again. Now Windows doesn't detect a thing. It's a plug and play card. I plug it and it don't play. Hmmm...tried putting the card into a different PCI slot...NADA, ZILCH, not a thing detected. When I go in and manually try to install it it just says this is a plug and play device shut off your computer. Do it NADA. Anybody got any suggestions?? BTW, I was thinking of going to Best Buy to pick up a NetGear FA310TX. It's not even $20 so no big deal. But would I be better off going with the big name 3Com card if I can ever get it to work or does it not make a difference. I'm planning on ordering Earthlink DSL and Road Runner Cable next month, whatever is better I'll keep. Thanks In Advance. |
· actions · 2000-Jun-27 11:08 pm · |
| Spensergig
Past my Prime
MVM
join:2000-03-26
Bradenton, FL | Spensergig MVM 2000-Jun-27 11:30 pm The 905 can be ~funny~.
Go back to the 3com site and check through the FAQs for a clean and install procedure. If you had a bad install (sounds like you did), you may have to forcibly remove the earlier drivers before you do the install with the new ones.
Sorry, but it's true. |
· actions · 2000-Jun-27 11:30 pm · |
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JDS9
join:2000-04-22
Ventura, CA
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JDS9 to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-27 11:47 pm to JaZCaLiBuRA buddy of mine uses 3COM cards and apparently you have to install a pre-install patch from 3COM to keep Windows from installing its own drivers for the some of their cards. |
· actions · 2000-Jun-27 11:47 pm · |
PowerSlave
join:2000-05-27
Barnesville, GA
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PowerSlave to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-28 2:06 am to JaZCaLiBuR
I had a netgear for a short while , it caused random disconnects from the modem and would just hang there,and from what ive seen it does not like being overclocked either . One card in that price range i have had good luck with is the linksys card. BM |
· actions · 2000-Jun-28 2:06 am · |
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DrTCP
Yours truly
join:1999-11-09
Round Rock, TX
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DrTCP to JaZCaLiBuR
2000-Jun-28 2:29 am to JaZCaLiBuR
Well, I guess you have had a bad experince with Netgear. But, generally I find Netgear equipment better quality than Linksys. I too have a FA310TX and it ran very well both on overclocked Windows 98 and overclocked NT. Of course the PCI bus was left at 66Mhz. I don't think it is fair to qualify a brand as useless just because it did not run over its rated and tested speed. Some units produced may pass some others may not. It's as if saying Celeron CPU's are crappy as not all overclocked ones will get your PC running reliably. For the 3Com 90x card: Please read installation instructions that accompany the driver very well. It explains the situation and how to fix it. Do what is told there exactly. If you actually had read it you could avoid problems. Tolunay |
· actions · 2000-Jun-28 2:29 am · |
Mack Bolan
join:2000-06-06
Hatboro, PA | Mack Bolan to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-28 2:37 am to JaZCaLiBuRFor what it's worth I've got the 3C900B and 3Com told me to make sure that I wasn't using IRQ 9. Also as someone already suggested, make sure you're using the dirvers that came with the NIC. There's a text file located on the CD called WIN98.TXT in the "help" directory. Basically just uninstall the the card from your device manager, reboot and when Windows detects the card point it to your CD to load the latest drivers. Lastly, 3Com also suggested to me not to use either the first or last PCI slot. |
· actions · 2000-Jun-28 2:37 am · |
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cholt
Indeed
join:2000-04-26
San Jose, CA
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cholt to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-28 1:33 pm to JaZCaLiBuR
Definitely check the FAQ on 3Com's website about the 905. It will work, but you must run a preinstall program that blows out the default Windows drivers. Then install the NIC, let Windows find it, and install 3Com's drivers. The only funny thing my 905 does is disappear from the list of available adapters when I run winipcfg. Shows up fine in Control Panel - System, and in Control Panel - Network, but not in winipcfg (or Enternet 300 when I was using it). I have to do a power cycle, and then everything's fine. Anyone else have this problem? I'm using 3Com's latest drivers, BTW. |
· actions · 2000-Jun-28 1:33 pm · |
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mayniac2
join:2000-04-27
Lehigh Acres, FL
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mayniac2 to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-28 2:20 pm to JaZCaLiBuR
I have installed dozens of 3Com Fast Etherlink XL (3C905B-TX) cards in the dozens of computers I have built for the company I work for. I think out of all of them, I have maybe had a problem with two or three. I just pop those suckers in and then install the drivers and they work. You are really suppose to do the pre-install off of the CD before you physically install the NIC. This may be your problem. I have also used the Netgear on various test machines and I even tried using some in production machines, but they seem to be of a lower quality than the 3Com cards, I had many more problems with them. |
· actions · 2000-Jun-28 2:20 pm · |
| budgadget
join:2000-06-02
Las Vegas, NV | budgadget to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-28 8:11 pm to JaZCaLiBuR
I have the 3Com 3C905B-TX. It works flawlesly! Try using the "latest driver" on there website. I believe it's 5.2. The current release with the retail box is 5.1. I don't know what the difference's are. I use the 3Com with an Alcatel SpeedTouch Home, and have had no problems. I think anything 3Com makes, is good, for the most part. If they made shoes, I'd probebly buy them! Just my 2 cents! Brett ------------------
Dedicated 1.5d/550u DSL line / 3Com-Alcatel powered |
· actions · 2000-Jun-28 8:11 pm · |
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Base4
join:2000-04-24
Fort Lauderdale, FL
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Base4 to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-28 8:34 pm to JaZCaLiBuRI also use 3 of the 3C905B-TX with no problems. I do remember having to run that pre-install thing when I set them up. So that could well be the problem. |
· actions · 2000-Jun-28 8:34 pm · |
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gmlasam
Premium Member
join:2000-06-14
Sun Valley, CA
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gmlasam to JaZCaLiBuR
Premium Member 2000-Jun-28 10:11 pm to JaZCaLiBuRAfter reading all of your posts, I was just wondering if a higher priced nic card like the 3com or intel really make much difference compared to the lower priced nic cards like netgear, linksys, D-link, SMC, or even Kingston on DSL performance? Pacbell sends out the Kingston nic card with thier self install kit. I have a 3com 3C905BTX-NM installed in my other computer and it runs great, but its not connected to DSL. So I can't really compare how the performance is between both higher price nics and lower price nics on DSL performance. Has anyone compared it? |
· actions · 2000-Jun-28 10:11 pm · |
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cholt
Indeed
join:2000-04-26
San Jose, CA
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cholt to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-28 11:26 pm to JaZCaLiBuR
I've installed 905s in many machines, but the one in this machine is the only one that disappears after a restart. Yes, I've done the pre-install procedure, and am using the latest drivers. TO MACK BOLAN: The 905 in the problem machine is using IRQ 9. Where did you hear about avoiding IRQ 9? I'll try changing that and see if that takes care of it. |
· actions · 2000-Jun-28 11:26 pm · |
| cholt |
cholt to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-29 2:05 pm to JaZCaLiBuRChanging the IRQ didn't help; after a warm reboot, the card isn't recognized any more. Only a hard reset will bring it back.
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· actions · 2000-Jun-29 2:05 pm · |
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MENINBLK
Premium Member
join:2000-01-25
Yonkers, NY
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MENINBLK to JaZCaLiBuR
Premium Member 2000-Jun-30 1:45 am to JaZCaLiBuR
I have a lot of experince with these cards since we use them for ALL of our workstations. This is what you REALLY need to do to get this card working again. First, Make sure you have the LATEST drivers from 3COM installed on FLOPPIES. You can download the Floppy versions and extract them to floppies to make yourself a copy of the installation diskettes. Boot your system to SAFE MODE - VGA Mode won't remove everything. Go to your Device Manger and remove the NIC entries. When you close the Device Maanger and it asks to reboot say NO. Go to your Windows INF folder and remove the INF file for the NIC card.
For my 3C905B-TX card, the file you look for is w9x90xbc.inf. The older software shows it as w95el90x.inf. Look for these files also in the Windows/INF/INFBACK folder as well. You don't want to leave any of them around. While you are in the Windows INF folder, also rename the DRVDATA.BIN and DRVIDX.BIN file extensions from BIN to OLD or anything you want. These are the index files and they need to be replaced. Now you can shut down Windows and then TURN OFF your PC. Wait 30 seconds and then turn it on. Windows 98 should redetect the card and aks you for the driver diskette. Let me know how it works out. Pete... |
· actions · 2000-Jun-30 1:45 am · |
JaZCaLiBuR
join:2000-01-17
Milwaukee, WI
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JaZCaLiBuR Member 2000-Jun-30 3:10 pm I'm not trying to purposely sound ignorant in this post.....so all..please bear with me....but.....UMMMMMM......HOW exactly do you boot in Safe Mode??? Hehe [This message has been edited by JaZCaLiBuR (edited 30 June 2000).] |
· actions · 2000-Jun-30 3:10 pm · |
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cholt
Indeed
join:2000-04-26
San Jose, CA
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cholt to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jun-30 3:25 pm to JaZCaLiBuRWhen Windows is booting, (before you get the lovely Windows splash screen) press the F8 key. You'll get a menu of boot options, and one of these is to boot in Safe Mode. Select that, and you'll be all set!
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· actions · 2000-Jun-30 3:25 pm · |
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mballard
join:1999-11-15
Los Angeles, CA
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mballard to JaZCaLiBuR
2000-Jun-30 5:35 pm to JaZCaLiBuRThat doesn't work in all versions, if memory serves me correct, if you hold down the Control Key before the splash screen, and you can start holding it before the BIOS finishes loading. |
· actions · 2000-Jun-30 5:35 pm · |
JaZCaLiBuR
join:2000-01-17
Milwaukee, WI
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JaZCaLiBuR Member 2000-Jul-3 5:16 pm Ok, I just recieved an Intel Pro/100+ Management Adapter and the same thing occured, the comp. doesn't detect it. But the manual makes it seems that the computer won't detect it until the Cat 5 is connected to it. This doesn't seem to make much sense to me, but then again, this whole episode doesn't make any sense. I'll just wait until Friday when the installer is suppost to come and see what he says. |
· actions · 2000-Jul-3 5:16 pm · |
OriginalMaverick
Press To Release
join:2000-03-18
Vernon, NJ | OriginalMaverick to JaZCaLiBuR
Member 2000-Jul-5 8:45 am to JaZCaLiBuR
mballard is correct. The F8 key only worked in 95. To get to the boot options in 98, hold down the "Control" (Ctrl) key on boot-up. Believe it or not, this isn't as easy as it sounds. You have to catch 98 before it starts up. The easiest way to do it is to just hold that key down right after your machine POSTs. I hope this helps... ------------------
Regards,
//Andy//
"Always outnumbered, never outgunned..." [This message has been edited by OriginalMaverick (edited 05 July 2000).] |
· actions · 2000-Jul-5 8:45 am · |
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mikeeo
Premium Member
join:2000-03-12
Newark, DE
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mikeeo to JaZCaLiBuR
Premium Member 2000-Jul-5 6:24 pm to JaZCaLiBuRok, here we go..the linksys and the older Netgear used the Digital chip aka tulip this chip is as good or better than the 3com's. If you are a Linux Dood you know Donald Becker loves this chipset, it has a proven track record and for those of you who can't install a NIC..give up and start applying to Burger King. |
· actions · 2000-Jul-5 6:24 pm · |
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