Installing network driver.

[Michael]

I'm having trouble with drivers on my system. I've got the following -

Windows XP Home Edition
3.02 gig Intel Pentium 4
1024 Megabytes Installed Memory
120 Gigabytes Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8X

When I go into Device Manager under the heading Network adapter I've got
NetComm NB1300 USB Network Adapter and Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast
Ethernet NIC. The first one NetComm is not digitally signed while the
Realtek one is. I don't think Realtek RTL8139 is the correct driver for my
system. I've gotten some advice from other newsgroups and after hours of
searching and reading web sites found Realtek RTL8029 which I'm fairly
certain is the driver I need to be using. So I downloaded it, problem is
it's a sys file and I can't open it or get it to do anything or know where
to put it. At the moment my Network adapter driver and Audio driver are
sharing the same IRQ address. I looked up info on IRQ not knowing much about
it. What I did find didn't help much. According to the site I read IRQ
numbers only go up to 16. Well the IRQ address these drivers are using is 18
on my system! In fact I've got 19 different IRQ numbers ranging from 0 - 23.
I've been given the advice of removing the network card and putting it into
another socket to try and change the IRQ it is using. When I opened my box I
couldn't figure out which card was for the network or even if I had one.
None had a label or identification on them. My sound is onboard I think my
network is too, if that's possible. The main problem I have is when keys are
pressed on my keyboard they interfere with any sound/music that is running
at the time. If I press a key while sound is running then it is interrupted
and eventually stalls until I release the key again. That brings me back to
the drives using the same IRQ, I think that or the fact that the network
driver is not the right one to be using could be causing my sound/keyboard
problem. How can I change the IRQ setting for the network driver is it
possible? And how do I install this other driver I've found?

If anyone has bothered to read all this and think they could help me or
direct me to where I might find the right info then I'd be very grateful.

Much Obliged
Michael

 

[Pavel A.]

So I downloaded it, problem is
it's a sys file and I can't open it or get it to do anything or know where
to put it.

When you download driver updates, usually you want to get
entire package (not just the sys file) with specific, step by step instructions what to do with it.
A single sys file, of course is of little help.

At the moment my Network adapter driver and Audio driver are
sharing the same IRQ address. I looked up info on IRQ not knowing much about
it. What I did find didn't help much. According to the site I read IRQ
numbers only go up to 16. Well the IRQ address these drivers are using is 18
on my system! In fact I've got 19 different IRQ numbers ranging from 0 - 23.

So now you know that not everything they write on various sites, is true.
The reality is changing fast.

Regards,
--PA

 

[Guest]

Hi,

What make you think that the NIC is 8029 instead of 8139?
If it is an on-board NIC, it must be 8139 as 8029 is too old.
Just go to device manager and uninstall the NIC then reboot.
Let windows search and install the drivers.

Or

Check the mobo user manual or go the the mobo manufacturer's website to have
a look for your mobo model. You should find the NIC drivers if it is an
on-board NIC.

Peter

 

[Guest]

Hi Michael,

Not so much a newsgroup post as a tale of hardware mystery!

Now I'm nit qute sure if you have on problem or two - but lets start with
the basics..

You have two network cards - do you use both of them? If not you could
probably disable the onboard one through your BIOS setup util, this may help.
You may be able to chage some IRQs here too- but take care.

Don't worry too much about IRQ sharing - this used to be a serious problem
back in the old days of Win 3.1, but from 98 on sharing seems to be the way
to go - I don't know why, but all seems OK usually.

The pauses to aound are they just wave device sounds or others too? Wave
sounds have to be processed so the processing could be being interrupted. It
could be that your mainboard is a bit dodgy - the IRQ level of keyboards is
very low (takes high precedence) and this can cause problems with devices
with a higher IRQ - you could try another (maybe USB) keyboard?

The .sys file driver is of no real use to you I'm afraid - it may be that
this replaces a sys file from another driver version release, normally you'd
always see a .inf file with any driver.

I hope this gives you some things to consider - let us knwo how you get on!

Jason

 

[Michael]

Howdy

You have two network cards - do you use both of them? If not you could
probably disable the onboard one through your BIOS setup util, this may
help.
You may be able to chage some IRQs here too- but take care.

No I only have the one network card and it's onboard. I've had a look inte
BIOS setup screen but I've not been able to find where or how to change IRQs

Don't worry too much about IRQ sharing - this used to be a serious problem
back in the old days of Win 3.1, but from 98 on sharing seems to be the
way
to go - I don't know why, but all seems OK usually.

Ok then I'm not sure I need to change my driver for the network adpter. This
is starting to give me a headache. But it was the only thing I could see
that was wrong. Could it be causing my keyboard to interfere with the sound?

The pauses to aound are they just wave device sounds or others too? Wave
sounds have to be processed so the processing could be being interrupted.
It
could be that your mainboard is a bit dodgy - the IRQ level of keyboards
is
very low (takes high precedence) and this can cause problems with devices
with a higher IRQ - you could try another (maybe USB) keyboard?

It occures with all sound, no matter what program I'm running at the time.
eg when I'm playing Diablo2 pressing the keys not only effects the sound in
the game but the game play as well. Sound stutters and pauses and so does
game play. This is not just restricted to Diablo2 any game I play does the
same thing. All the games I play are multiplayer, which lead me to belive
the network drive could be at fault. And the only thing I can see that might
be a problem is the fact that it shares it's IRQ with the Audio. I've tried
using different types of keyboard with no luck.

The .sys file driver is of no real use to you I'm afraid - it may be that
this replaces a sys file from another driver version release, normally
you'd
always see a .inf file with any driver.

I think I might have solved this little problem. When I first downloaded the
drivers I'd found I was using Mozilla Firefox browser. For some reason when
I downloaded files with this any setup structure that would have came with
the file failed to work. I found if I use Internet Explorer to download the
same files I have no problems. Go figure!!

I hope this gives you some things to consider - let us knwo how you get
on!

My headache is getting worse and I fear I'm no closer to solving my keyboard
problem (If that is truly what it is!) than before. Just getting more
confused and frustrated! But thank you very much for your input Jason. I
seem to be getting more and more information, about my system, as well as
what could be wrong with it.

Much Obliged
Michael

 

[Guest]

Hi again,

Not being one to leave a problem unsolved (at least not until I have to go
back to work tomorrow!) all I can think of suggesting is checking for
mainboard drivers - I have known some very strange things to happen with XP's
guess of a right driver - the biggest problem (unless you have a known brand
PC or mainboard) is getting the right driver.

On the network card front - did you try disabling this in the BIOS?

Just had a bit of a though (wow - on a Sunday too!) - when you get this
break in sound is it as though the sound stops or that the sound carries on
and you cannot hear it (or you get a hum instead) - this can be down to
faulty electronics on the mainboard (most likely keyboard controller).

If you play a CD through your PC (make sure you pick one which does play the
audio track rather than a set of MP3s on the disk - best pick (if poss) a
pre-1998 CD) and you press any key - does the same happen? If so I'd suggest
that the problem lies with the audio amplifier circuit on your PC - if your
CD-ROM has a headphones socket you should find that the sound from there is
not interrupted.

You could also check that the PC speaker/hedphone socket is no loose or has
a poor connection.

I tend to take a system to pieces, give the mainboard a bit of a check for
stray solder, dust etc, & plug things back one at a time until the problem
starts again.

There are a load of things which could cause this - if you do get anywhere
(or maybe even if not!) - do let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Jason

 

[Michael]

What would cause the CPU Usage to jump up to 90% whenever the keyboard keys
are pressed for any length of time. Even just typing this to quickly makes
it jump up to 30%+??

Not being one to leave a problem unsolved (at least not until I have to go
back to work tomorrow!) all I can think of suggesting is checking for
mainboard drivers - I have known some very strange things to happen with
XP's
guess of a right driver - the biggest problem (unless you have a known
brand
PC or mainboard) is getting the right driver.

Well my motherboard make is MSI (Micro-Star International) MS-6533.

On the network card front - did you try disabling this in the BIOS?

I had a look in BIOS but not being to familiar with it decided against
changing to much. I no longer think the network card is the problem. Even if
it is using the same RIQ as the Audio. What I have discovered is when I go
into Windows Task Manager and click on the Performance Tab, pressing down on
any key makes the CPU Usage jump up to over 90% until I release it again. So
I'm thinking that the keyboard is not only interfering with the sound but
but somehow slowing down my whole operating system.

Just had a bit of a though (wow - on a Sunday too!) - when you get this
break in sound is it as though the sound stops or that the sound carries
on
and you cannot hear it (or you get a hum instead) - this can be down to
faulty electronics on the mainboard (most likely keyboard controller).

No the sound doesn't stop it actually slows down breaks up and stalls or
pauses if you like, until I release the key I've was pressing then it
continues as normal.

If you play a CD through your PC (make sure you pick one which does play
the
audio track rather than a set of MP3s on the disk - best pick (if poss) a
pre-1998 CD) and you press any key - does the same happen? If so I'd
suggest
that the problem lies with the audio amplifier circuit on your PC - if
your
CD-ROM has a headphones socket you should find that the sound from there
is
not interrupted.

I did as you suggested and put a music CD in my drive. It played fine until
I pressed one of the keyboard keys. Then it just slowed down and stopped
until I released the key again. Placing headphones into the headphone socket
made no difference.

You could also check that the PC speaker/hedphone socket is no loose or
has
a poor connection.

Seems to be fine can't see anything wrong with it.

I tend to take a system to pieces, give the mainboard a bit of a check for
stray solder, dust etc, & plug things back one at a time until the problem
starts again.

That might be just a little beyond me. If I took my system apart I doubt
very much it would go back together again and work at all!