NIC installation problem; help!!

[medward2]

Wonder if anyone can help me with this irritating problem:

Have recently installed D-Link DGE 530T Gigabit Ethernet adaptor into my old Dell PC (win2k professional; full spec below) in order to set up wireless LAN at home.

HOWEVER, weird problem with the NIC; after the PC has been shut down for some time (e.g. overnight), switching it on again leads to Windows thinking that the NIC driver isn't there; I get the "New Hardware Found" dialogue and asked to install a driver for the NIC. If I refuse, there's no router/internet access and the usual yellow/black exclamation mark against the device in Device Manager (with the properties saying "no driver installed for this device"). Bizarrely, this can be solved by restarting the computer, after which everything works fine; NIC recognised and working perfectly. The problem also doesn't seem to occur after shutting down for short periods of time.

Having looked at the D-Link troubleshooting site (and downloaded the latest driver) i've taken the following action:

1. initially I allowed Windows to re-install drivers that were already there; this just lead to 2 different instances of the NIC, but the problem would recur, so...

2. Uninstalled everything and started again (hardware removed in Device Manager > shutdown > card physically removed > boot > shutdown > put card back in > boot > ignored the Windows wizard and used the supplied CDROM to install the driver > restart)

Problem recurred! So...

3. Removed card via device manager again > restart > install latest driver via Windows wizard.

Problem recurred, so I also..

4. Enabled "Plug & Play OS" in the BIOS (which is the latest available version).

5. Removed other unused PCI cards to free up resources.

Problem recurred this morning! Again solved by a restart, but obviously I don't want to have to boot my computer twice every morning!

Any help in sorting this out would be very gratefully received!

Full system spec:
Dell Dimension XPS T500 PC (circa 1999); P3 500Mhz on Intel SE440BX2 mobo, BIOS version 11 (latest possible), 512Mb RAM
Windows 2000 professional SP4
D-Link DGE 530T Gigabit Ethernet adaptor (latest driver; version 7.42.1.3, present as m4cxw2k.sys in C:WINNTsystem32drivers) plugged in to Belkin pre-N wireless router/switch- this also has an ntl cable modem plugged into it.

Thank you, and sorry for verbose post... (more information = good, right?!)

 

[dagomer]

Uninstall the nic in device mgr. Then uninstall any of its software you find in add/remove programs in control panel(if any). Shut down the system.

Then Remove the card physically from the motherboard. Reboot, Let Windows see there is no nic card there. Shut down the system again. Install the nic into the mobo and let Windows find it. Install the drivers if needed.

Hope this works for you,, does for me.

 

[medward2]

Thanks, dagomer.

Followed your advice, but this doesn't seem to have worked. When I physically re-installed the NIC I actually tried it in a different PCI slot (having let Windows "see" that there was no card there after uninstalling).

Bizarrely, when Windows rebooted after this it didn't even ask for the location of the driver; despite the fact that I'd deleted the driver file before re-installing it seemed to already "know" what driver was required and reinstalled it back to C:WINNTsystem32drivers. Again, after shutting down and leaving the computer off for some time the problem recurred on the next boot up.

Thanks for trying; any other ideas??!!

 

[weilin]

A buggy driver? did you try downloading the newest driver from Dlink's website?

 

[medward2]

Yeah, got that. The driver file is m4cxw2k.sys, and the version on the CD that came with the NIC is actually the same as the latest version found on the DLink website. Thanks anyway...!

 

[medward2]

Have done a bit more to try and sort this out (unsuccessfully!). I uninstalled the card (again) through Device Mgr, then realised that in effect this did very little; there was a trail of files associated with the NIC's driver, as well as the driver file itself, still in the original locations! Carefully deleted all these one by one, switched off, took NIC card out, switched on, switched off, put NIC back, switched on again and reinstalled the drivers from the supplied CDROM.

At the last boot-up the problem recurred! Don't really know where to go from here. I found a log of drivers etc being loaded at boot time; don't know if this helps:

This is me turning on the computer after putting the NIC back in (and ignoring the Found New Hardware wizard):

[2006/06/29 14:27:36 232.3 Driver Install]
Munged cmdline: C:WINNTsystem32services.exe
EXE name: C:WINNTsystem32services.exe
Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
Selecting best compatible driver caused error: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.
Completed default installer, error: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.
[2006/06/29 14:28:07 824.2]
Munged cmdline: rundll32.exe newdev.dll,DevInstall PCIVEN_1186&DEV_4B01&SUBSYS_4B011186&REV_113&61aaa01&0&68
EXE name: C:WINNTsystem32rundll32.exe
Set selected driver.
Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
Selecting best compatible driver caused error: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.
Completed default installer, error: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.

This is me now installing the driver from the D-Link CD-rom:

[2006/06/29 14:30:43 1304.596]
Munged cmdline: "Crogram FilesD-LinkDGE-530TDeviceInst.exe" -install config.dat
EXE name: Crogram FilesD-LinkDGE-530TDeviceInst.exe
Set selected driver.
Searching for hardware ID(s): pciven_1186&dev_4b01&subsys_4b011186&rev_11,pciven_1186&dev_4b01&subsys_4b011186,pciven_1186&dev_4b01&cc_020000,pciven_1186&dev_4b01&cc_0200
Searching for compatible ID(s): pciven_1186&dev_4b01&rev_11,pciven_1186&dev_4b01,pciven_1186&cc_020000,pciven_1186&cc_0200,pciven_1186,pcicc_020000,pcicc_0200
Found PCIVEN_1186&DEV_4B01&SUBSYS_4B011186 in crogram filesd-linkdge-530tnetm4cx.inf; Device: D-Link DGE-530T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter; Driver: D-Link DGE-530T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter; Provider: D-Link; Mfg: D-Link; Section: SLYukCopGig.ndi
Decorated section name: SLYukCopGig.ndi
Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
Selected driver installs from section SLYukCopGig.ndi in crogram filesd-linkdge-530tnetm4cx.inf.
Changed class GUID of device to {4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
Set selected driver.
Selected best compatible driver.
Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICEFILES.
Doing copy-only install of PCIVEN_1186&DEV_4B01&SUBSYS_4B011186&REV_113&61AAA01&0&68.
Device install function: DIF_REGISTER_COINSTALLERS.
Co-Installers Registered.
Device install function: DIF_INSTALLINTERFACES.
Installing section SLYukCopGig.ndi.Interfaces from crogram filesd-linkdge-530tnetm4cx.inf.
Interfaces installed.
Device install function: DIF_INSTALLDEVICE.
Doing full install of PCIVEN_1186&DEV_4B01&SUBSYS_4B011186&REV_113&61AAA01&0&68.
Device install finished successfully (PCIVEN_1186&DEV_4B01&SUBSYS_4B011186&REV_113&61AAA01&0&68).


This is me restarting the computer (the NIC driver loaded fine):

[2006/06/29 14:35:06 1504.235 Driver Install]
Munged cmdline: C:WINNTsystem32mmc.exe "C:WINNTsystem32devmgmt.msc"
EXE name: C:WINNTsystem32mmc.exe
Selected driver installs from section SLYukCopGig.ndi in c:winntinfoem8.inf.
Changed class GUID of device to {4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
Set selected driver.

This is me turning on the computer later the same day; this time the driver wasn't loaded properly and the NIC didn't work:

[2006/06/29 15:48:28 232.3 Driver Install]
Munged cmdline: C:WINNTsystem32services.exe
EXE name: C:WINNTsystem32services.exe
Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
Selecting best compatible driver caused error: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.
Completed default installer, error: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.
[2006/06/29 15:49:01 820.2]
Munged cmdline: rundll32.exe newdev.dll,DevInstall PCIVEN_1148&DEV_4320&SUBSYS_43201148&REV_103&61aaa01&0&68
EXE name: C:WINNTsystem32rundll32.exe
Set selected driver.
Device install function: DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV.
Selecting best compatible driver caused error: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.
Completed default installer, error: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.

The only thing I notice is that when the NIC is referred to as PCIVEN_1186&DEV_4B01&SUBSYS_4B011186&REV_113&61aaa01&0&68
things seem to go OK, but when the NIC is referred to as PCIVEN_1148&DEV_4320&SUBSYS_43201148&REV_103&61aaa01&0&68
it doesn't work! I'm sure this must be relevant, but I've no idea how to fix it!!

Any thoughts?

 

[weilin]

ok 1 last stab at this issue.. have you tried flashing firmware on that card? maybe its a bug in the card itself esp if the device registers as 2 different things at 2 different times. If that doesnt work, try RMAing it.. it could just be a defective card.

 

[bmouring]

Here's a thing I always try when getting weirdness like what you are reporting: even when you "uninstall" something from Device Manager, it remains hidden in the system. Try this to completely uninstall then reinstall:

1 ) With power off, remove card.

2 ) Start Windows normally

3 ) Open a command prompt (Start->Run->"cmd"->OK)

4 ) Type in "set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1", without the quotes, into the prompt

5 ) Type in "devmgmt.msc", without quotes, into the same prompt

6 ) This should open the Device Manager, in it select (view->Show Hidden Devices).

7 ) When you start expanding categories, you'll notice many "ghost" or faded devices. You may carefully remove devices you are sure aren't in your PC anymore (not recommended unless you really are sure)

8 ) Expand the "Network Devices" category: you should see at least one (probably many copies) of the network card in question.

9 ) Right-click each of the versions and select "Uninstall" for each.

10 ) Shut down, follow manufacturer's instructions for installation (some require software installation before hardware installation, please read the manual!)

Hopefully this will help.

 

[marky1607]

Hello, everyone!

I don't know is this topic still active or is there anyone waiting for a solution becouse last post was over a year ago...

Anyway, I've found a way to solve the problem. I've had DGE-530T for a couple of days now and after first restart of the computer I got same problem as in original post. I've tried everything for the first 2 days to repair this annoying problem - without success.
Then I googled a little and found your post in this forum and tried couple of tricks described here.

Finally, I did the following:

1) I've used bmourings advice and activated Device Manager with option to show hidden devices - I've removed DGE-530T adapter, and couple of wireless Siemens devices that I am no longer using in the system. Make an special attention on the Other Devices (if any) - there I had 2 instances of Ethernet Controller (that's unsuccessfully installed DGE-530T). Removed them as well.

2) Shutdown computer, power off, physically remove the NIC.

3) Power on computer (NOTE: I have a motherboard with nVidia onboard Networking Controller that doesn't work - that's the reason I bought D-Link DGE-530T - I've disabled my onboard LAN in BIOS. I don't know if that had any affect on this problem, but I thought you should know and try the same if my advice won't work).

3) Let the computer and OS boot normally. Uninstall any utility agent or driver of the DGE-530T.

4) Shutdown computer, power off, install the NIC back in.

5) Power on computer.

6) When new hardware is found, go to advanced option to install driver from a specific location -> Next

7) On next step specify that you will search for driver yourself (second option "Don't Search") -> Next

8) Put the CD with driver in optical drive, on Hardware wizard click button "Have Disk"

9) In new window, click "Browse" and opet the driver CD from D-link DGE-530T, choose your version of OS (I've choosed Windows XP (32bit version)). Mark the *.inf file and click OK. You will maybe recieve a message that this driver is not for your device. Install it anyway.
I think that was the original problem, that the OS and driver installation from CD use the wrong drivers for device.

NOTE: This isn't exact procedure I've used. Before I have manually installed drivers from CD I used the driver from D-Link website version 6.23 (driver packages from website and CD are completely different)

http://www.dlink.com/products/support.asp?pid=284&sec=0#drivers

That is the older version from 2003. Version 5.00 is newer and that didn't work for me before.
So, first I installed drivers from website ver 6.23 using the same procedure as described before - those drivers were stable in the system but card couldn't work - it didn't sense when you plug the RJ-45 in. After that I had manually install driver from CD, but I didn't remove the NIC or it's previous driver from the system!!!

That were exact steps I've taken. It works for more than a day for now.

I'll post you a reply if this procedure proves to be unsuccessfull as well.