Really Weird system set up

  • Thread starter Thread starter BudMan
  • Start date Start date
B

BudMan

Yesterday, I built my first completely based Intel system. The thing built
up well, but when I installed the OS, WinXP Pro, my HPNA network card was
not correctly identified. I have been running Diamond HomeFree HPNA cards
for my home network for years. The drivers are native to XP and install
without a hitch. When I transplanted the card from my old system to the new
one XP said it was a Broadcom i-Line 10 card, not the HomeFree card. The
drivers are not native to XP for this card, so it would not work. I shut
down and put another HomeFree card in. The same thing happened. Now both
cards even installed in another (AMD) system will show up as Broadcom cards.
Did
my motherboard overwrite the cards' bios?? I have built 20+ systems, all
AMD, and have never seen this happen.
 
Plug and Pray... damn XP and its 'I won't install that driver cause I don't like it' mentality. Someone mentioned awhile back a
similar situation. Got around it by deleting the INF related to the XP driver reference( in this case Broadcom) loading the driver
from the disk that came with the card FIRST then installing (physically) the hardware.
 
I would try that but DiamondMM has not made a driver since Win2K. I know
from experience they don't work with XP. The thing that puzzles me is that
the cards no longer reigster in any system as HomeFree. They show up as the
generic Broadcom chipsets...did my motherboard with XP reqrite the bios in
the cards??
JAD said:
Plug and Pray... damn XP and its 'I won't install that driver cause I
Click to expand...
don't like it' mentality. Someone mentioned awhile back a
similar situation. Got around it by deleting the INF related to the XP
Click to expand...
driver reference( in this case Broadcom) loading the driver
 
BudMan said:
I would try that but DiamondMM has not made a driver since Win2K. I know
from experience they don't work with XP. The thing that puzzles me is that
the cards no longer reigster in any system as HomeFree. They show up as the
generic Broadcom chipsets...did my motherboard with XP reqrite the bios in
the cards??
Click to expand...

XP won't flash any new bios to any HW. I would think that at some time with
your old system you installed drivers for your HF cards. XP is probably
trying to find the closest match to the cards and that might be the Broadcom
chipsets. Do you still have the driver disks for the cards?


Ed
 
The HF drivers are native to XP. No need to have an install disk. I have
been using them and installing these cards in the 7 systems I have built
(all AMD until now). The cards were purchased on eBay for about $5 each.
Until this latest system they worked great. Now every card I installed on
the new P4 system will not work on any of the computers I have. I tried one
of the cards on the original system it was pulled from. Device manager now
tells me its a Broadcom iLine 10 where it used to correctly report a Diamond
HomeFree 10mbps. I have never seen anything so strange.
Oh well, I just got a few Netgear USB phone line adapters as replacements
for $6 each. XP recognizes them correctly so I'll use them. I was thinking
about adding the computers to my wireless network, but why spend the $50 per
card.
By the way just a little aside. If you try the Diamond MM USB 10MBPS
phoneline adapters using the W2K drivers in an XP computer you will get some
very strange things happening to your system when you try to access the
network.
 
Back
Top