WinXP not detecting Ethernet Adapters?

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

Just recently upgraded to Windows XP Home after about a year of using WinME. My system is generally up and running okay, except that I can't install LAN Cards! I've been using a CNET Pro120c 10/100 ethernet on my system (when it had WinME and even Win2k) without problems, but WinXP has a strange error when I try installing it, as well as a newer LAN card I purchased (forgot the brand, but it claims to be WinXP compatible as it has WinXP drivers in the accompanying diskette, and it gets detected as a Realtek LAN Card). WinXP tries to detect the card, attempts to install drivers, then this message appears at the end of the wizard (where it has the "Finish" button):

 

"Windows could not properly detect the device. Data is incorrect."

 

Any idea what's going on?

 

System specs below if it would help (everything listed is working fine under WinXP).

 

Intel Pentium III 1GHz

ECS P6VXAT motherboard (Socket 370, VIA chipset)

Apacer 512MB PC133 SDRAM (256x2)

Leadtek Winfast GeForce3 Ti200 video card (w/ 28.32 reference drivers)

Creative Soundblaster Live! Value

Creative Modem Blaster PCI 56k internal modem

1 Maxtor 20GB, 1 Maxtor 40GB, 1 Seagate 30GB hard disks

Creative 8x DVD-ROM drive

Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro Joystick

Logitech Wingman Force Feedback Wheel (via USB)

Interact Axispad gamepad (via USB, using default WinXP drivers)

Logitech Freedom Cordless Keyboard and Mouse

[NotSoSmart 0]

The chipset on the nic is made by realtek that is why XP is doing that use the drivers that came with the nic that should work.(You didn't say if you used the included disk to install drivers)

 

Also did you read the install instructions? Sometimes they call for you to install the included software first so when you install the nic the OS can detect the card correctly.

 

Good luck.

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

Already tried the drivers that came with the NIC. Same results.

[Blade]ZFA[ 0]

I had a user who had that problem, and it definitely was a stumper. In his case, the problem was that the nic's were either not properly getting an interrupt or memory resources. The solution was to upgrade his vid driver to the nvidia reference drivers.

 

We narrowed it down to a resource problem, since he was able to take out that nic and install it fine in another XP box. As well, he took the working nic out of the duplicate XP box and when he went to install on the original, received the same data error message.

 

It might help to troubleshoot by finding what interrupt, memory resources are being allocated, and if it's sharing with something else.

 

Hope this helps.

[Sampson 0]

You've probably already tried it but go into the device manager and try to update the drivers for the new XP compatible card. Don't let XP search for drivers just install the ones that came with the card.

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

Blade]ZFA[, you just reminded me of something. When my PC had WinME, some of my installed peripherals were sharing resources. Most notable were my Sound Card and Internal Modem (both using IRQ11) and the Video Card and LAN Card (both using IRQ10). Right now with WinXP, the Sound Card and Modem are again sharing IRQ11 without problems. Is it possible that WinXP is disallowing anything to share an IRQ with the Video Card for the sake of performance (at startup after the POST sequence, the list of installed devices and their IRQ's are listed, and again the video card and lan card are sharing IRQ10)? If that's the case is there a way to force the LAN card to use another IRQ at the BIOS level or something, in case I can't do that within WinXP (back in Win98 I even had the sound card, internal modem, and LAN card sharing IRQ5!)?

[Sampson 0]

The problem is not necessarily the sharing of IRQ's but the Memory resources assigned to each device. You can adjust this within Windows. You will want to write down the original configurations before you start. Physically moving the cards may also change the IRQ's assigned to each.

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

Well, looks like I'm really stumped. First I can't alter the resource settings within WinXP, because the checkbox of "Use Automatic Settings" is greyed. Next, even moving the PCI boards around, or even taking out another PCI board (tried taking out the internal modem), didn't have any effect. And lastly, in the device manager the entry for the LAN card is "Other Devices->Ethernet Adapter" with the yellow question mark, so the device driver is not installed at all.

 

Anyway here's a picture of that wizard containing the text, and my mistake, the message is "Data is Invalid".

 

 

 

Looks like my PC won't go into a LAN for the time being.

[Sampson 0]

Go into your device manager and Remove this device. You can then either install a new device or reboot and have it find it, but do not let XP choose the drivers, use the ones that came with the card.

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

Ok, someone from the Microsoft Newsgroups was kind enough to point out this piece of info:

 

http://www.winoscentral.com/article.php?sid=3497

 

It seems there's something really weird with the section of the Registry that handles the PCI devices - that section is set to Read Only, EVEN TO THE ADMINISTRATORS' GROUP! Because of that, any device you want to install and has to write to that section of the Registry gets denied access, resulting in that error message. So I changed the permission of that part of the Registry by granting Full Control of it to the ADMINISTRATORS and SYSTEM groups (and including all subkeys and children, but not inheriting from parent), and I got my LAN card to work.

 

Anyway thanks for trying to help.

[NotSoSmart 0]

Well very cool. Glad the problem is fixed and also wondering how this just "slipped" by. Didn't you say the nic had the XP approved logo on the box?

[Phalanx-Imawano 0]

Yes the box of the NIC had the WinXP logo on it, plus the older Microsoft Windows Logos having compatibility claims with Win2k, WinNT 4.0, WinME, Win98, and Win95. And the driver diskette had a folder and files for a WinXP driver, and when I told the New Device Wizard to use that driver, the Wizard didn't warn me that the drivers weren't digitally signed by Microsoft.

[Four and Twenty 0]

Quote:

Yes the box of the NIC had the WinXP logo on it, plus the older Microsoft Windows Logos having compatibility claims with Win2k, WinNT 4.0, WinME, Win98, and Win95. And the driver diskette had a folder and files for a WinXP driver, and when I told the New Device Wizard to use that driver, the Wizard didn't warn me that the drivers weren't digitally signed by Microsoft.

WTF?
That is really weird
It should have worked great right from the start