Ah, often found and not identified 'PCI simple communications controller' listed in Device Manager in Windows 2000 and up.
Ain't that a tough one?
You could do several things, none of which in my experience will necessarily install the driver for this hardware or make Windows recognize what the hardware actually is.
Step one - Who produces the chipset for your motherboard? If it's Intel, you need their latest Chipset INF package (available here:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18052&ProdId=816&lang=eng)
If it's AMD/ATI, check out the AMD website for drivers.
If it's VIA, go here:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/support/drivers.jsp
If it's Nvidia, go here:
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
In my experience installing current chipset drivers (think Northbridge/Southbridge, integrated components) will usually provide the correct driver for 'PCI simple communications controller', allowing Windows to recognize the hardware properly and install the corresponding driver.
A specific example - put together a machine running and Pentium D 940 on and Intel board w/P965. Everything installed and worked well. Linksys 54G WLAN NIC, 7600GT, SATA HDD, DVDROM, CDRW, USB card reader, etc. Onboard Gbe NIC and 7.1 HD audio were no issue either. However, a very persistent 'PCI Simple Communications Controller) device hung out unidentified in the Device Manager list of hardware. This was with Win2K Pro/SP4 install w/all updates, as well as Intel Chipset drivers, and all relevant drivers and software for other hardware devices. It was perplexing, but not really a problem as not actual functionality was missing from the machine.
Eventually, this box got an upgrade to WinXP Pro/SP3. By install I mean clean install. The issue instantly disappeared. No new functionality (besides what is included w/XP SP3) was revealed, but whatever the 'PCI Simple Communications Controller' was, it was identified and configured properly under XP Pro/SP3 w/ the Intel chipset drivers, whereas that was never going to happen under Win2K.
Perhaps it has something to do with the Pheonix Bios or the Intel integrated Gbe NIC. I don't know. What I do know is that this issue *generally* occurs on systems the Win2K or older OS's, and there generally is not a fix, although there isn't really a problem if the machine has full functionality either.
P.S. - If you're running a current OS (read Vista or Win7), try downloading and install the current chipset driver package for your OS from the chipset vendor if one is available. It may resolve the issue.
Good luck!
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