Santa Cruz Hardware Conflict?

[DrChaos]

I just built a new computer. WIN98SE still does not fully recognize all of my hardware.

The Santa Cruz Turtle Beach card was working initially. I was installing alot of other drivers from OEM install disks that came with my other hardware. On one of the many rebbots that I did, windows had a conflict with a file (I think it was sb.exe). I haven't had any sound since.

I believe that the error occured twice before windows may have removed some of the sound card files from system.ini. My other hardware is as follows (I haven't overclocked anything yet):

1. P4 1.8A (Seems ok)
2. ASUS P4S533 (Seems ok)
3. Pioneer 106s DVD 16X (seems ok)
4. Cendyne Lightning II CD-RW (has a drive letter but won't work)
5. Samsung 512MB DDR PC2700 333MHZ (Seems ok)
6. Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache (Seems ok)
7. Maxtor 60 GB (From last computer; does not work; recognized by BIOS and Norton Disk Doctor but does not have a drive letter asigned to it)
8. Gainward Ge4 T14200 128MB
9. Realtek PCI Card w/ 10. RCA Cable Modem (Worked fine on last computer but can't seem to set it up correctly yet; the PCI card shows up in network settings but the modem does not)
11. Generic Lucent 56K Faxmodem (Seems ok until I try to dial ISP)
12. Enermax 431W PSU (seems ok)
13-15. 3 Case Fans (Mobo at ambient temperature P4 at 104-114F)

Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Crashman]

Try this: First make sure that nothing is mounted in the first PCI slot. Then set BIOS to PNP OS-NO. Doing that turns ON the BIOS PNP feature. When set to "Yes" it turns off BIOS PNP and lets Windows do the PNP, and BIOS is better at this.

<font color=blue>At least half of all problems are caused by an insufficient power supply!</font color=blue>

 

[DrChaos]

Crashman, you must be psychic.

One of many changes that I made was setting the BIOS PNY to Yes.

I will change it back tonight and see what happens.

The first PNP slot is empty because my video card is huge and has a fan that would probably be touching any PCI device inserted.

Thanks.

 

[DrChaos]

I changed the BIOS PNY back to no. I had to reboot my computer a couple times.

Once WIN989SE was running again, my device settings did not seem to change. I still don't get any sound.

Unless I receive better suggestions, I will open the case up and switch devices to different PCI slots. I will still leave PCI slot 1 empty.

Thanks again.

I didn't spend six years in chaotic medical school to be called mister!

 

[williamc]

My best guess is the problem is your OS.


Win98se doesnt natively support most of your hardware. In order to run win98se on that hardware you have to install custom drivers from Asus to update win98 and allow it to operate with p4 hardware.

I had similar issues with my Asus P4T w/ p4 1.7

If you didnt install those Asus motherboard drivers and Intel chipset drivers immediately after installing your OS and before installing ANY other drivers OR direct X then thats probably your problem.

This is the reason i upgraded to WinXP...its the only windows that natively supports P4 Hardware and its worked great with mine whereas win98se never was without several quirks and loads of bugs.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

 

[DrChaos]

Your post makes alot of sense.

I was going to play with the hardware first because it would be less time consuming than running fdisk again and starting over. It still seems that the os (and missing / incomplete / wrong drivers)is the likely culprit.

If I do restart from scratch, I could use help with the following questions.

Which drivers should I install?
Where can I get the most recent versions?
In what order should I install the software (drivers) / hardware?

Thanks again.


I didn't spend six years in chaotic medical school to be called mister!

 

[williamc]

Well, your motherboard SHOULD have come with a CD with the Asus motherboard drivers on it and probably the Intel chipset drivers as well.

When i got my Asus p4t it came with that CD.


The order of installation for 98se and XP are the same cept for mobo and chipset drivers and directx cause XP has all those built in.


Install process:
reformat
create partition

allow OS to format partition and install itself

DO NOT install any drivers while the OS is running its setup routine. When it asks for sound card or graphics drivers keep hitting cancel. Use standard VGA graphics.

After OS setup is done and no extra drivers are installed insert the Asus Driver CD and install the motherboard drivers, reboot, reboot...install the intel chipset drivers if its a seperate install on the cd...reboot.

Install Directx 8.1

reboot

Install Graphics card drivers.

reboot

Install sound card drivers.

reboot

Install any other drivers

reboot

Install your software

reboot

pray

try to run a game.

edit: write a letter to MS complaining about their crappy registry that requires so many reboots=)

Also, you may find it easier to just remove extras like the Sound Card until your ready to install the drivers for it...i know i do..

Get the latest SC drivers from www.hercules.com and latest graphics drivers from www.nvidia.com I cant remember asus's site atm...but then you probably already have those bookmarked-)

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by williamc on 07/23/02 03:22 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[DrChaos]

I will use the mobo came with the cd.

Should I download the video / soundcard drivers or use the ones from the gainward & santa cruz cds?

I think I need drivers for the Cendyne Lightning II CD-RW. Cendyne's website isn't very helpful. Any ideas about where I can find the drivers?

Thanks again.

I didn't spend six years in chaotic medical school to be called mister!

 

[williamc]

Gack, was thinkin GTXP instead of SC for some reason.
DL the latest drivers from Turtle Beach's website!
Also download the latest drivers from nvidia's site.
Don't bother with older versions on the cd's.
Never heard of that brand of CD-RW=(

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by williamc on 07/24/02 12:06 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[kinney]

problems with santa cruz on a p4 board?? whoa nelly that is far out, the supposed devil that is audigy doesnt even have problems with intel stuff.

P4 is like a mustang, real slow but with a rocket on it its fast, but you still wouldn't want one!

 

[williamc]

Read the thread Kenny...it aint the board... SC, GTXP, and audigy all work fine with those boards far as i know.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

 

[DrChaos]

I don't think that the board is the problem either.

I reformatted the hard drive. I even repartitioned it (probably wasn't necessary).

This time, I followed your instructions as closely as I could. I had to install directX before I could install my video drivers. I started with the video card in the AGP slot and nothing in the PCI slots.

The only setback so far was when I tried to install the VIA 4 in 1 drivers. I had to reinstall windows but did not have to reformat C: again.

My soundcard and video card both work great. I had no trouble running a DIVX version of the Planet of the Apes movie. I was also able to install MS Office (On the first go round, the installation would not work). I also installed drivers for my scanner and printer but haven't tested either device.

I will find out if everything will still work when I install the remaining hardware tonight (CD-RW, Fax Modem, NIC Card w/ External cable modem, TV tuner, Firewire Card, Dead Slave Hard Drive).

I plan to install the remaining hardware in the following order following order:

Faxmodem
CD-RW
NIC Card / Cable Modem
TV Tuner
Firewire Card

I think the NIC card is SMC and not Realtek. I will download some drivers from the SMC website in case the ASUS drivers don't work.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks again.

I didn't spend six years in chaotic medical school to be called mister!

 

[kinney]

i dont care i was just causing trouble like you guys always do when theres a problem with an audigy.
"must be that santa cruz!"

P4 is like a mustang, real slow but with a rocket on it its fast, but you still wouldn't want one!

 

[DrChaos]

Last night I installed the NIC card (slot 2) and the Fax modem (slot 3).

I meant to plug the modem in fists but the cards look similar.

Sure enough, as soon as the OS detected the new hardware it changed system.ini (and whatever else). Once again, I have no sound and the modem doesn't work. The sound card is still detected but I can't hear any sounds.

I am also getting error messages about a missing VXD file and a missing DLL for the "dynamic link library". When I installed Windows, I initially got rid of these problems by copying the files (downloaded from the internet)into every system folder that had any other VXD files in it. I am still getting the errors as my solution is not working this time.

I removed the NIC card and the modem. I also uninstalled and reinstalled the sound card drivers. I can't seem to do anything short of reformatting the C: partition to restore the sound.

Unless I get better advice, I will reformat C: and install the fax modem BEFORE the sound card.

Please help.

I didn't spend six years in chaotic medical school to be called mister!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by DrChaos on 07/26/02 09:39 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[williamc]

Ack! Get better faxmodem / nic cards....

Thats an extremely bad problem if the fax modem and or nic cards are messing up your system and i dont see the problem going away anytime soon.

Try upgrding to a new 3com FaxModem and nic.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

 

[DrChaos]

I happen to have a 3Com NIC card. I haven't used it before so I'm not sure if it works. The SMC NIC card worked just fine in my old computer.

I think I can return the Faxmodem. If I can't get everything working this weekend, I will replace it.

I would prefer not to wait for new parts to arrive by mail. Is there a cheap, reliable Faxmodem that I can buy in a store (CompUSA, Best Buy, etc.)?

P.S. Audigy still sucks --- Yes, the Kinney warning system is working!!!

I didn't spend six years in chaotic medical school to be called mister!

 

[williamc]

I use the 3Com/US Robotics 56k Performance Pro Modem off the shelf at CompUSA. Should do everything you need. Has an onboard controller so it won't take up your processor time.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

 

[DrChaos]

After trying everything I could think of to get the os to recognize the SMC NIC card, I removed the NIC card from the equation. I plugged my RCA cable modem directly into the USB port on the mobo.

I was able to get the sound card, cable modem, and the fax modem to work separately.

The faxmodem worked when I installed it first. When I added the cable modem, I was no longer able to get a connection using the fax modem (with the power to the cable modem turned off or with the cable modem unplugged from the USB port).

I couldn't get any sound if I installed the soundcard after the faxmodem or the cable modem. It seems that whenever the soundcard stops working, I can only get it to work by reformatting C: and starting over (At least 2 hours each time).

I was able to back up the entire C: drive (about 1 GIG of data) to another partition while the soundcard worked and no modems were installed. Let me know if you know how I can copy the data over the contents of the C: drive. I have encountered the following problems when I try to overwrite C: with the data from the other partition:

1. Dos Command - Copy (Files Only - Doesn't copy folders or their contents)
2. Dos Command - xcopy/a/e (Folders Only - No files)
3. Windows Command - Copy (Stops when it tries to copy over two or more files that Windows is "using")

If I have to reformat each time I try something new, I might give up on WIN98 after a couple more attempts (without the faxmodem). Otherwise I will try other install combinations to see if I can get my computer to run.

Thanks again.

I didn't spend six years in chaotic medical school to be called mister!

 

[williamc]

Ouch=(

It sounds like you just went into windows and copied the whole drive over....which isnt a good idea for creating full drive backups. You should use a drive image program for stuff like that.

I would actually suggest getting rid of win98....to be honest its a buggy piece of crap and windows 2000 or windows xp both run much better overall. Windows XP has a completely new way of handling memory and both handle drivers much differently. Driver problems with one device are far less likely to affect other devices in 2k and xp.

I guess you've pretty well found your problem now. Does your faxmodem have a speaker built in that it might be trying to install drivers for or something? Its a strange conflict but it sounds to me like its definitely the faxmodem causing your grief.

Good luck with your fixes. If it were me i'd get a new USR modem and switch to windows xp.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the empires state building, along came goblin, wiped the spider out

 

[DrChaos]

I was able to get xcopy to work but unfortunately, my registry was not included in my backup.

After I started over, I finally got the soundcard (PCI slot 3)and the cable modem (from USB port) to work. I plan to buy a 3com US Robotics modem and return the generic one.

I let the system select the IRQs but set PNP to no. I installed hardware / software in the following order.

1. Video Card & DVD-ROM(Never took it out)
2. Windows
3. All software from ASUS CD-Rom
4. All software from Gainward CD-Rom
5. All software from Santa Cruz Cd-Rom
6. Soundcard
7. Cable Modem
8. Heroes of Might & Magic III
9. Go-back from Norton Systemworks CD (Hopefully I won't have to reinstall windows anymore)
10. Everything Else from the Norton Systemworks CD

I installed items 1-8 last night. Then I took a well deserved break. Heroes III and the Van Halen CD I tried really sounded great with the soundcard and PC speakers. I can't wait to hook the computer up to my stereo & TV.

I loaded Norton Systemworks this morning. I will see how it works when I get back from work. I will try to figure out how Go-back works before I install everything else. It would really make life easier if I can restore my settings when something goes wrong.

I plan to install more components in the following order:
1. Norton Firewall
2. CD-RW (I will try a different IDE cable)
3. Leadtek CD-Rom
4. TV-Tuner
5. Firewire Card CD-Rom
6. Firewire Card
7. Everything Else (MS Office, DVD codecs, Etc.)

I will probably order the 3Com modem online and install it next week.

If I can get everything to work, I will try to dual-boot with XP-Home.

Thanks again.

I didn't spend six years in chaotic medical school to be called mister!