Modem probs

[TimPoet]

Need help for sudden failure of modem.

56K V.90 Creative modem with Win 95 OS.

It was working fine and one day just stopped.
My remedies:
Rubbed eraser on copper leads of card to clean them. Reseated card in PCI slot and when that failed to help, moved card to other two slots with no results.
Thru Device Manager removed modem and rebooted. Windows didn't seem to complete the detection because no modem was found in Device Mgr.

It's detected by Modem Properties in Control Panel at Com 4. But when I try to do diagnosis by hitting "More Info" in Diagnostics tab a window comes up labeled Open Comm, which says, "Couldn't open port" and the diagnosing function stops.

Hope this post makes sense, am too tired to think clearly.

Oh yeah, don't know if this is related to modem problem, but the mouse was having problems, too, right in the middle of tinkering with the modem. After a reboot it was no longer detected by computer and had a ! by it in Device Manager, when I got it back by reinstalling its driver, its performance was degraded, seemed to act as if its cord was loose and worked better if I pushed it in with my left hand as I manipulated it. Now, this may be a direct result of me reinstalling the monitor driver (Viewsonic), which caused the need for the reboot, because the mouse was working great right up to the point I installed the monitor driver. This mouse however was also not being detected by the computer prior to today and just started working upon starting the computer today.

Thanks for the help.

Tim

Cyrix II 300, 4 Gig HD,
Dial Up Networking was configured for an ISA NIC card which isn't being used now,
onboard sound and video, 64 MB SDRAM, no other PCI or ISA cards used

[GaryRouth]

Sounds like IRQ conflicts.

If you're not using, nor are going to use, the network card
any longer, you can try uninstalling that to free up some
possibly conflicting resources. You'd remove the NIC's drivers
from the Add/Remove Software applet in the control panel. And
from Device Manager, select Network Adapters, select your NIC,
and select Remove.

The Viewsonic monitor should only require a ".inf" file that
matches its model. Shouldn't have affected your modem at all.

Most mice don't need special drivers either. . .unless they are
optical or USB mice. Does your mouse use a PS/2 connector (tiny
round one), a serial connector (9-pins in a parallelogram), or a
USB connector (teeny rectangle)? Look in Device Manager to see
if you have more than one mouse installed, and delete any you're
not using.

Do you still have your modem manual handy? or the box it came in?
Check to see if it's a controller-based modem or a software
"WinModem". If it fit's in an ISA slot, it's likely a "hardware"
or controller based modem: and likely you'll need to set the
jumpers on it to match a free IRQ on your system. When you
changed the modem to a different slot, your system probably
changed the IRQ it was using (and that IRQ might have been in use
by another device).

If you're not used to looking for free IRQs and all, poke around
in System Information awhile (in the System Tools folder in Accessories).
Or in Device Manager, select Computer, and then select Properties:
that will list IRQs for you also.

You might also check around on other posts about modems,
since some of the techs have good links for modem troubleshooting.

Good luck
...Gary

[azscary]

I would not have believed this if I had not seen it work several times. Remove the modem in the Device Manager. If there is more than one copy remove them all. Shut completely down and remove the modem from the machine. Boot up all the way to the desktop. Shut the computer down completely again and power off. Removing the modem and booting to the desktop frees up avaialble IRQ's. Unplug the power cord FROM THE COMPUTER NOT THE WALL OR POWER STRIP! Press the power button in and HOLD it in for 15 seconds. Motherboards can store energy like a capacitor. This will completely discharge the Motherboard and allow everything to completely clear out. Plug the modem back into the machine. When you are ready to plug the cord back in, LISTEN closely and you will hear the fan on the power supply run briefly as soon as you plug the cord in and then stop. Turn the power back on enter BIOS. Make SURE that if you are using a VGA slot video that BIOS is NOT attempting to assign an IRQ to a PCI video card. Disable Plug & Play OS so that the hardware assigns the IRQ. Close BIOS and allow it to reboot and let windows detect the modem. Have the driver disk handy if it needs it. Follow these steps exactly and in order and let me know what happens.

[TimPoet]

Ok, tomorrow I'll swing by my friends and follow your suggestions.

[TimPoet]

Btw, modem in question is Creative Modemblaster DI 5655-00


Basically, it's still not working, neither the mouse or the modem.

Gary, no NIC drivers found under Add/Remove, nor under Network Adapters in Dev. Mgr.
It's not a WinModem. And it's a PCI card, not ISA.
Mouse still kaput. Tried getting it detected by Windows many times and tried to load driver many times via Dev. Mgr. According to your description (and thanks for that, I had forgotten the difference between a PS/2 and a serial) it's a serial connected mouse. When Windows did the detecting and loading of the driver it kept labeling it as a PS/2 and Dev Mgr would show it with an X over it. Obviously, not good.
I think a year or so ago I had similar problems and just went out and bought another mouse. Now it seems to be repeating. Anothr factor- it's the motherboard type (is it AT?) that has a cable from the port to the motherboard, and where the mouse plugs into the connector, the connector on the computer side is loose, one of the two screws is missing. Maybe it's causing a bad connection there and hence, the problems.

Thanks.



AZ, did everything you said step by step. Did it twice actually.

When plugging in the power cord both times, the power supply fan did not start, so I could not hear it.

When I closed the BIOS and allowed it to reboot, Windows did not automatically try to detect the modem. A dialog box appeared saying "The selected port, COM 4, is not available at this time, HotSyncMgr will open up the port when it becomes available."

After getting rid of that, I opened Add New Hardware and made Windows detect it. I chose the make and model but when I hit the NEXT radio button, and got the box titled, INSTALL NEW MODEM saying, "You have selected the following modem" in the text box there is no modem listed indicating what was selected. Under that it says, "Select the port to use with this modem" and there is a bigger text box which I am to type in with a highlighted space for me to enter the port but it doesn't respond to letters or numbers I type from the keyboard. The NEXT radio button is grayed out so I can only go back or cancel. I tried using Add New Hardware and letting Windows detect any new devices instead of me choosing make and model and a couple of times a Rundll32 error (general protection fault) occurred.

Like I said I tried your procedure twice. After the first time it showed the IRQ for the modem having two other devices on Channel 11 with it- DSI modem controller and IRQ holder for PCI steering. After the second time there was only the IRQ for PCI steering and PCI communication device on IRQ 11.
IRQ channels 3 and 5 are free.

Thanks for your advice, I look forward to more so I can try, try again.:)

Tim

[azscary]

It is possible your modem just died. It is also possible that Win 95 hashed the communications package and the TCP/IP stack. It occurs very frequently in both Win 95 and 98. YOu might consider one of a few options:

1. Try going back into BIOS an enable Plug & Play OS.

2. Purchase a new modem that comes with the driver disk.

3. Try to troubleshoot the Win 95 communications package and protocols. To do this you will need the EXACT same disk the original OS was installed with or locate the CAB files on the hard drive.

4. Extract the RASAPII.dll, WINSOCK.dll and WINSOCK32.dll files. Again you will need the EXACT same disk the original OS was installed with or locate the CAB files on the hard drive.

5. Reinstall the OS. If the original CD has a file called "Win95" you can copy that into the root of your hard drive and then open the Win 95 folder and look for a file called "Setup". With Win 98 this will reinstall the OS without trashing your other files. Unfortunately you may lose all of your files if Win 95 does not do the same.

6. Upgrade to Win 98se.

7. Use your current machine for a boat anchor and get another one!

[glc]

First of all, that IS a winmodem. Physically remove it from the computer. Fix the loose port adapter. Go into the BIOS and turn OFF PS/2 mouse function. Start in safe mode and uninstall your hotsync manager for now. If you are not using a Palm Pilot, leave it uninstalled. Uninstall any modem software that you find in add/remove programs. Still in safe mode, go into device manager and remove ALL com ports, modems, modem enumerators, PCI communications devices, and mice. Go into Windows Explorer, and in the View options, set it to show ALL files and do NOT hide extensions for known file types. Go to c:\windows\inf\other and delete any Creative Modem Blaster .inf files. Reboot and go into bios again and turn OFF the second com port if you do not need it for the Palm hotsync. Restart into Windows and the com port or ports will be reinstalled and you should get mouse function. Reboot if necessary and keep trying to get the mouse recognized. If no mouse, the com port is bad or you disabled the wrong one, shut down and try the other port.

When this is sorted out, NOW you can try reinstalling the modem. When you get that working, THEN you can reinstall your Hotsync if you need it.

[TimPoet]

Ok, that's sounds like a plan. I'll get that together by the weekend and see if I can get internet access for my friend.
Ugh, a winmodem , what would my PC Mainetenance and Repair teacher think?

Tim

[azscary]

Unfortunately, if you purchase your computer and it comes with a modem today it will almost ALWAYS be a Winmodem. At a cost to the manufacturer of under $2.00 it is their way of cutting costs. Sadly, this also cuts performance, especially if you are low on resources to start with as the Winmodem uses ram and the OS to perform most of the functions of a real modem. This of course also slows the 56K modem down as well. This is one advantage to building your own computer as opposed to buying one already built from Dell or somebody. For speed and performance I have heard that an external modem hooked to the COM port is the way to go for dial up. I use DSL so I have not had the opportunity to test that theory.