Just put Win 98SE on the following computer:
IBM PC 300 GL, 400 MHZ, 6277 machine type, 8 GB, 128 MB.
Reformatted and put Win 98SE on it fresh.
Trying to install various modems.
Friend had this sent to her from her cousin in Wash. DC. No device drivers, but thing was supposed to work. Cousin had AOL on it. I took that off prior to reformatting and did not, (and will not), reinstall it. She will use another ISP.
The problem is these two modems, on of which was installed, (Aztech), one of which came as a spare.
Downloaded drivers for these from the internet.
No matter how much I try, I can't get these modems to work. The diagnostic in the Control Panel, (Modems), says "port cannot be opened", or some such.
The peculiar thing is the com ports. I thought Win 98SE left you with two com ports and one printer port. At various times, when trying to install one of these modems, I have seen Com 3, Com 4, and even Com 5. Also, at one time the System Device Manager showed only one Com port-had to install another from the Win 98SE disk.
Amybody know why Com ports change number so easily, and why one would even disappear on me? Shouldn't these things just stay Com 1 and Com 2 forever?
If worse comes to worse, I have an inexpensive modem which works that I can give to her, but I cannot understand why, after downloading the drivers for these modems, I cannot install them. Especially since one modem apparently worked in the machine before it got shipped from DC.
Any advice here would be extremely welcome.
IBM PC 300 GL, 400 MHZ, 6277 machine type, 8 GB, 128 MB.
Reformatted and put Win 98SE on it fresh.
Trying to install various modems.
Friend had this sent to her from her cousin in Wash. DC. No device drivers, but thing was supposed to work. Cousin had AOL on it. I took that off prior to reformatting and did not, (and will not), reinstall it. She will use another ISP.
The problem is these two modems, on of which was installed, (Aztech), one of which came as a spare.
Downloaded drivers for these from the internet.
No matter how much I try, I can't get these modems to work. The diagnostic in the Control Panel, (Modems), says "port cannot be opened", or some such.
The peculiar thing is the com ports. I thought Win 98SE left you with two com ports and one printer port. At various times, when trying to install one of these modems, I have seen Com 3, Com 4, and even Com 5. Also, at one time the System Device Manager showed only one Com port-had to install another from the Win 98SE disk.
Amybody know why Com ports change number so easily, and why one would even disappear on me? Shouldn't these things just stay Com 1 and Com 2 forever?
If worse comes to worse, I have an inexpensive modem which works that I can give to her, but I cannot understand why, after downloading the drivers for these modems, I cannot install them. Especially since one modem apparently worked in the machine before it got shipped from DC.
Any advice here would be extremely welcome.
Hi,
Forgot to mention it but Win98 can also be rather too liberal in addressing resourses to COM ports:
Check in control panel, system, com ports, COM 1 if the resources are as follows:
I/O range: 03F8-03FF
IRQ: 04
COM 2: 02F8-02FF
I/O range: 03
If not, either try to change manually, or delete the port alltogether.
Good luck,
Forgot to mention it but Win98 can also be rather too liberal in addressing resourses to COM ports:
Check in control panel, system, com ports, COM 1 if the resources are as follows:
I/O range: 03F8-03FF
IRQ: 04
COM 2: 02F8-02FF
I/O range: 03
If not, either try to change manually, or delete the port alltogether.
Good luck,
mbroker said:
I think I am having trouble with the COM 2 port. this computer is a friend's.
I have two Lucent Modems. One, with an AV92 chipset, is new and installs on Com 2 no problem. But it seems sluggish in this 400 MHz computer.
The other, the 1648 chipset, only installs from a self-extracting file to com 2 and wouldn't work. This is the one I use in my own computer-another IBM-but am lending it to this one momentarily to see how it works, so I can order a new one for this computer if it is satisfactory.
I go to the BIOS and see no mention of Com 2.
Here is what I saw in the BIOS about interrupts, etc.
Devices And I/O Ports
Serial Port Setup:
Serial Port A 3F8h
Serial Port IRQ IRQ4
ISA Legacy Resouces
I/O Port Resources:
2F8h-2FBh Available
2Fch-02FF Available
3F8h-3FBh Serial Port A
3FCh-3FFh Serial Port A
Interrupt Resouces:
3: Available
4: Serial Port A
Going from BIOS to Control Panel-System
Modems Properties Diagnostics:
Com 1: No Modem Installed
Com 2: Lucent Win Modem
Com 5: No Modem Installed
System-Device Manager-Ports:
Com 1
Com 5
ECP Printer Port
Out of desperation to get the 1648 chipset Lucent Modem working, I went System-Device Manager-System Devices-PCI bus Properties-Settings, and switched to USE BIOS instead of Use Hardware, but swithched back. Then I clicked Set Defaults.
I went to System-Device Manager-System Devices-PCI bus Properties-IRQ Steering, and clicked St Defaults.
Then the 1648 chipset modem worked.
But I still don't know the following:
A) In the BIOS, is Serial Port A the same as PCI port? If so, why isn't there a Serial Port B corresponding to Com 2?
B) Why are the numbers corresponding to Com 2 listed as "Available" in the ISA Legacy Resouces, but the settings corresponding to Com 1 listed as belonging to Serial Port A?
C) What the heck is Com 5 and how did it get there?
D) How can a modem hooked up to Com 2 , (according to the System Modem Properties) work so well when the System Ports says Com 2 doesn't even exist anymore?
I realize this is complex stuff, but if any mavens out there can figure out this crazy quilt, please let me know. I want to uninstall this 1648 chipset modem and reinstall the SV 92 chipset modem-the one which worked all along, although slightly sluggishly. I want to order a new 1648 modem for this person's computer, ( I am using the 1648 for my own computer), and install the 1648 chipset modem in the future. So I want Com 2 functioning, which I suspect it is not in this computer.
How do I get Com 2 to appear in both System-Modems and System Com Ports at the same time?
Bedeviled
is not the word for my predicament. 
I would like to thank both F. deGrove and Mark Broker for the help they have given so far.
Hmmmm....
Serial Port A is definately a com port, not a pci.
All of the internal modems I've ever used (all two of them ) used COM 3 or COM 4. Typically COM 1 and 2 are on the motherboard and extra cards use COM3, 4, 5, etc. It's entirely possible that your computer DOESN'T have a COM 2 on the motherboard. Or, and perhaps more likely, a cable isn't connecting the MB to a DB-9 on the back of your computer.
Does the modem have any jumpers you need to set? Is it set to PnP? (I haven't used dialup since I graduated school in 2001, and there it was 28.8k external)
I recommend deleting (removing) all the COM ports and the modem(s) from the Windows Control Panel. Upon reboot it should detect the "new" hardware and "install" the correct drivers.
Serial Port A is definately a com port, not a pci.
All of the internal modems I've ever used (all two of them
) used COM 3 or COM 4. Typically COM 1 and 2 are on the motherboard and extra cards use COM3, 4, 5, etc. It's entirely possible that your computer DOESN'T have a COM 2 on the motherboard. Or, and perhaps more likely, a cable isn't connecting the MB to a DB-9 on the back of your computer.Does the modem have any jumpers you need to set? Is it set to PnP? (I haven't used dialup since I graduated school in 2001, and there it was 28.8k external)
I recommend deleting (removing) all the COM ports and the modem(s) from the Windows Control Panel. Upon reboot it should detect the "new" hardware and "install" the correct drivers.
Mark:
It won't install either modem because it doesn't have the drivers on the Windows disk. Each modem is installed by an exe program that you simply click on and it performs the installation all by itself-to Com 2. There are no inf files hanging around-just one exe file, period. Click on it and the install shield process begins.
I can uninstall the both com ports, though.
Neither modem has any jumpers or settings.
How about if I uninstall the ports and modem drivers, remove the modem from the PCI port, and shut down. Then put Win 98SE in the CD drive, and reboot. Then, while computer is still on, put the modem into the PCI port. I think it would be better if the computer did not detect anything-just let the exe install the modem.
Is it a good idea to put a PCI card while the computer is still on and running?
Thanks for all your help so far.
It won't install either modem because it doesn't have the drivers on the Windows disk. Each modem is installed by an exe program that you simply click on and it performs the installation all by itself-to Com 2. There are no inf files hanging around-just one exe file, period. Click on it and the install shield process begins.
I can uninstall the both com ports, though.
Neither modem has any jumpers or settings.
How about if I uninstall the ports and modem drivers, remove the modem from the PCI port, and shut down. Then put Win 98SE in the CD drive, and reboot. Then, while computer is still on, put the modem into the PCI port. I think it would be better if the computer did not detect anything-just let the exe install the modem.
Is it a good idea to put a PCI card while the computer is still on and running?
Thanks for all your help so far.
KelticWizzard,
The numbering of Com: ports in windows is purely a logical addressing. Therefore you cannot rely on the numbering; not to mention any copmparison with numbering in the BIOS.
When you open the BIOS, it seems that there is only one COM port in your PC (on the motherboard). Any additional ports, placed on plug-in cards, are often referred to as com3 or 4, as windows by default expects the availability of two com ports on the main board (like history gave the PC two floppy drives, which is why your hard disk remains drive C: even if you only have one floppy drive.)
If your internal modem is on an ISA card (long black/dark connector on the mother board, it weill need som IRQ settings (jumpers or switches) on the plug-in board.
If it's a PCI (smaller, white connectors on the mother board) Plyg and Play (or: plug-and-pray) , it will require some sort of name.inf file to work. An exe file (unless it unpacks an inf file for windows to work with) will not likely do the trick.
If it's an external modem, but connected to a com: port on a plug-in card, you have two reasons for possible error:
The com: card is too old (yes, they can be if an ISA type!), or it's IRQ/Address settings are incorrect. Before you connect any modem to it, check if Windows Hardware manager shows this com port (serial interface) in the list. If not, the port isn't working properly, and hence you'll not find anything if you connect a device to such a port.
A picture of the rear of your PC will probably help to illustrate what ports are installed.
Jennice
The numbering of Com: ports in windows is purely a logical addressing. Therefore you cannot rely on the numbering; not to mention any copmparison with numbering in the BIOS.
When you open the BIOS, it seems that there is only one COM port in your PC (on the motherboard). Any additional ports, placed on plug-in cards, are often referred to as com3 or 4, as windows by default expects the availability of two com ports on the main board (like history gave the PC two floppy drives, which is why your hard disk remains drive C: even if you only have one floppy drive.)
If your internal modem is on an ISA card (long black/dark connector on the mother board, it weill need som IRQ settings (jumpers or switches) on the plug-in board.
If it's a PCI (smaller, white connectors on the mother board) Plyg and Play (or: plug-and-pray
) , it will require some sort of name.inf file to work. An exe file (unless it unpacks an inf file for windows to work with) will not likely do the trick.If it's an external modem, but connected to a com: port on a plug-in card, you have two reasons for possible error:
The com: card is too old (yes, they can be if an ISA type!), or it's IRQ/Address settings are incorrect. Before you connect any modem to it, check if Windows Hardware manager shows this com port (serial interface) in the list. If not, the port isn't working properly, and hence you'll not find anything if you connect a device to such a port.
A picture of the rear of your PC will probably help to illustrate what ports are installed.
Jennice
Jennice:
The modem is a PCI card.
I am sure the inf file is in the exe file somewhere, there just doesn't seem to be a way to separate it out.
The sv92 chipset modem attached and worked very well, attaching itself to the com 2 port.
The 1648 chipset modem is now working, just that Control Panel-System-Ports does not show a Com 2 in it. the Modems-Properties does-along woth a Com 5.
There are no jumpers or adjustments on the card. I cannot figure out how the two modems, one right away and the other after much trying-managed to work when the com port they were attached to were not even present in the control panel-system-device manager profile.
The modem is a PCI card.
I am sure the inf file is in the exe file somewhere, there just doesn't seem to be a way to separate it out.
The sv92 chipset modem attached and worked very well, attaching itself to the com 2 port.
The 1648 chipset modem is now working, just that Control Panel-System-Ports does not show a Com 2 in it. the Modems-Properties does-along woth a Com 5.
There are no jumpers or adjustments on the card. I cannot figure out how the two modems, one right away and the other after much trying-managed to work when the com port they were attached to were not even present in the control panel-system-device manager profile.
Hi,
Apparently the IBM machine only has one physically present COM port, namely COM 1.
Those resources will be reserved in bios for an external serial device unless this is disabled in bios.
So, for Windows, any serial address range from COM 2 through COM 5 is handled as a virtual device.
It could very well be possible that by the time the second modem was installed the IRQ for COM 2 or part of the COM 2 address range was already granted to some other device.
Same for COM3 (virtual COM 1 as it uses the COM 1 IRQ), COM 4 (virtual COM2 as it uses the same IRQ as COM2)...
So Windows creates virtual COM 5 probably sharing the IRQ of COM 1 but with a different memory address range. The IRQ sharing could create a problem if the two devices were to be addressed simultaneously.
This is quite unlikely to happen as most comms soft isn't clever enough for that.
In short, whether the COM port is 1, 2 or whatever, doesn't really matter as long as your software can talk to it.
This can be problematic in some cases as, for instance some banking software demands a particular port with default addresses assigned to it.
If everything works, I'd leave well enough alone as talking someone through the entire procedure of changing addresses is not an easy task over the phone, let alone in writing.
Hope this helps,
Apparently the IBM machine only has one physically present COM port, namely COM 1.
Those resources will be reserved in bios for an external serial device unless this is disabled in bios.
So, for Windows, any serial address range from COM 2 through COM 5 is handled as a virtual device.
It could very well be possible that by the time the second modem was installed the IRQ for COM 2 or part of the COM 2 address range was already granted to some other device.
Same for COM3 (virtual COM 1 as it uses the COM 1 IRQ), COM 4 (virtual COM2 as it uses the same IRQ as COM2)...
So Windows creates virtual COM 5 probably sharing the IRQ of COM 1 but with a different memory address range. The IRQ sharing could create a problem if the two devices were to be addressed simultaneously.
This is quite unlikely to happen as most comms soft isn't clever enough for that.
In short, whether the COM port is 1, 2 or whatever, doesn't really matter as long as your software can talk to it.
This can be problematic in some cases as, for instance some banking software demands a particular port with default addresses assigned to it.
If everything works, I'd leave well enough alone as talking someone through the entire procedure of changing addresses is not an easy task over the phone, let alone in writing.
Hope this helps,
kelticwizard said:
Not unless you want to risk frying the MB and/or modem....
I agree with what others have stated. The EXE probably unpacks or even creates the necessary files. It really doesn't have to do much since windows just needs some basic information in order to communicate with it properly. If one or both modems now work, I wouldn't try to "fix" anything at this point.
The one internal modem I remember having on my PC ran on COM 4 IIR. 1 and 2 were on the back of the machine.
Mark
Okay. I just installed one of the two Lucent modems that the machine will accept. The exe. file automatically installed the inf files and whatever was needed, and it created COM 3 and put the modem on it. It works. I'm leaving it alone.
I would like to thank all the people who contributed to this, it was a great help. I never knew that any Pentium computers could have less than 2 actual COM ports. Learn something new every day.
I would like to thank all the people who contributed to this, it was a great help. I never knew that any Pentium computers could have less than 2 actual COM ports. Learn something new every day.
LOL, I just realized I broke my own rule for installing anything on Windows 98 SE: make sure you install the latest version of Microsoft Installer.
I was singing the praises of the latest version last year because I found the new version much easier and effective than the version on the Windows 98 SE disk. Then I go and try to install all these modems without using it.
I was singing the praises of the latest version last year because I found the new version much easier and effective than the version on the Windows 98 SE disk. Then I go and try to install all these modems without using it.
Okay, guys, a continuation of the story.
I got a call from the computer owner. She could no longer get on the internet.
When I tried connecting, no go. When I went to Control Panel-Modem-Diagnositics, I found "Port Already Open".
Tried uninstalling, then reinstalling the modem driver-actually, using the modem's setup.exe from the CD.
Control Panel-Modems-Diagnostics said everything was OK.
Tried connecting to the internet. No go.
Went to Contol Panel-Modems-Diagnositics. It said Port Already Open.
Opened up computer case. Moved Modem over to other PCI port. Uninstalled, then reinstalled modem driver. Com 3 again. Worked fine.
If it happens again soon, should I advise her to just purchase a new modem, or tell her that something is wrong with her machine?
Which is more likely? I mean, the modem in the machine her cousin sent her didn't work, (I assumed it worked for her cousin down in Wshington DC), the modem her uncle gave her didn't work-I presume that modem worked for her uncle in his machine. Now this modem works beautifully, then in a few days needs to be moved to a different PCI slot and have the driver reinstalled.
If it happens again, is it indicative of internal problems on the board? Or should I tell her to buy yet another modem-maybe an external modem-all these were PCI slot modems.
I got a call from the computer owner. She could no longer get on the internet.
When I tried connecting, no go. When I went to Control Panel-Modem-Diagnositics, I found "Port Already Open".
Tried uninstalling, then reinstalling the modem driver-actually, using the modem's setup.exe from the CD.
Control Panel-Modems-Diagnostics said everything was OK.
Tried connecting to the internet. No go.
Went to Contol Panel-Modems-Diagnositics. It said Port Already Open.
Opened up computer case. Moved Modem over to other PCI port. Uninstalled, then reinstalled modem driver. Com 3 again. Worked fine.
If it happens again soon, should I advise her to just purchase a new modem, or tell her that something is wrong with her machine?
Which is more likely? I mean, the modem in the machine her cousin sent her didn't work, (I assumed it worked for her cousin down in Wshington DC), the modem her uncle gave her didn't work-I presume that modem worked for her uncle in his machine. Now this modem works beautifully, then in a few days needs to be moved to a different PCI slot and have the driver reinstalled.
If it happens again, is it indicative of internal problems on the board? Or should I tell her to buy yet another modem-maybe an external modem-all these were PCI slot modems.
As a general rule, reinstalling should proceed like this
Either
[1] Use control panel to remove the "driver".
[2] Power down or swich off as it tries to reboot (at the bios prompt)
[3] Remove the card
[4] Power up and power down (and say the magic incantation – “bill is god”)
[5] Re-install the card / new card
[6] Power up and it should install / reinstall the "driver".
Also, win98/ME has a habit of losing its networking capabilities, both modem, ISDN and LAN. Usually rebooting will fix it but sometime you will need to remove the network cards / protocol stacks etc (in the network configuration, not the device manager) and then put them back. What joy !!
Or download fedora / suse etc etc and say goodbye to that pile of .....
Dave / has to work on windoze for a living
Either
[1] Use control panel to remove the "driver".
[2] Power down or swich off as it tries to reboot (at the bios prompt)
[3] Remove the card
[4] Power up and power down (and say the magic incantation – “bill is god”)
[5] Re-install the card / new card
[6] Power up and it should install / reinstall the "driver".
Also, win98/ME has a habit of losing its networking capabilities, both modem, ISDN and LAN. Usually rebooting will fix it but sometime you will need to remove the network cards / protocol stacks etc (in the network configuration, not the device manager) and then put them back. What joy !!
Or download fedora / suse etc etc and say goodbye to that pile of .....
Dave / has to work on windoze for a living
Dave:
Thanks for the advice.
Actually, I moved the driver over to a new PCI slot, uninstalled the old driver, then reinstalled with the modem in the new PCI slot. The installation CD installed the driver so it worked very well.
The problem with this modem is not installing it-the installation CD does that very well, on COM 3, but keeping installed after the first few connects.
A) Considering this fact, is your procedure still appropriate? I will gladly do so if your procedure is still called for.
B) If your installation procedure is not appropriate, would an external modem possibly be the answer? All the problems are with PCI modems-we never hooked up an external.
Thanks for the advice.
Actually, I moved the driver over to a new PCI slot, uninstalled the old driver, then reinstalled with the modem in the new PCI slot. The installation CD installed the driver so it worked very well.
The problem with this modem is not installing it-the installation CD does that very well, on COM 3, but keeping installed after the first few connects.
A) Considering this fact, is your procedure still appropriate? I will gladly do so if your procedure is still called for.
B) If your installation procedure is not appropriate, would an external modem possibly be the answer? All the problems are with PCI modems-we never hooked up an external.
It's difficult to know whats going on if the supplied modem drivers "do their own thing". FYI ...
What it **should** do is copy the low-level drivers and "inf" files to the HD. When windoze starts up is scans the PCI bus and uses the device codes returned from the pci bus slots to find a driver (via the inf files) for the attached hardware and load / initialise it. There **should** be no need to ever uninstall the driver software (ie add / remove software) as once you have actually pulled the pci card out the driver will not get loaded. Note, it may be nessesary to remove the relevent entry from the hardware manager in order to prompt windoze to rebuild it's pci slot / driver mapping as it can be more than a bit stupid at times (mostly done to speed up the boot time - I hate to think what it would be like without !!). BTW - if these modem cards are so called "win-modems" throw them away - they will use a huge slice of the CPU as everthing is done in software ....
Typically, when a low-level modem driver is installed (either as an additional COM port or a dedicated device), all the network protocols / drivers etc will be installed and setup as well (from memory these will be TCPIP / netbios / Modem card / whatsit-protocol etc). In my experiance, it is mostly this logical layer that goes wrong ....
Dave
What it **should** do is copy the low-level drivers and "inf" files to the HD. When windoze starts up is scans the PCI bus and uses the device codes returned from the pci bus slots to find a driver (via the inf files) for the attached hardware and load / initialise it. There **should** be no need to ever uninstall the driver software (ie add / remove software) as once you have actually pulled the pci card out the driver will not get loaded. Note, it may be nessesary to remove the relevent entry from the hardware manager in order to prompt windoze to rebuild it's pci slot / driver mapping as it can be more than a bit stupid at times (mostly done to speed up the boot time - I hate to think what it would be like without !!). BTW - if these modem cards are so called "win-modems" throw them away - they will use a huge slice of the CPU as everthing is done in software ....
Typically, when a low-level modem driver is installed (either as an additional COM port or a dedicated device), all the network protocols / drivers etc will be installed and setup as well (from memory these will be TCPIP / netbios / Modem card / whatsit-protocol etc). In my experiance, it is mostly this logical layer that goes wrong ....
Dave
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