Help! Several things going wrong with desktop,one after the other

krishna

I found some software for IntelPROSet Network Adapter on the computer and ran the diagnostics in that. Everything passed except for "Link", which it says "Checks the network connection and the adapters send and receive functionality by sending 1000 proprietary packets out on the network and retrieving those same packets."

If that test fails it says "make sure the cable is securely attached to the adapter and to the link partner. If the cable is secure, try attaching the cable to a different port on the link partner or try a different cable."
Different cable doesn't work and the same cable works fine in other computers.

Is there anything I can do to fix this, or do I need a new network card?

GunJack

^^^^^^^^^^ as above, pci ethernet card or wifi dongle, sounds like your current card is burgered, and as it's part of the mobo, an add-in of one type or another is needed

krishna

OK. Ordered one for £3.49 off Amazon:j

Thanks for your help.

candtalan

GunJack wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^ as above, pci ethernet card or wifi dongle, sounds like your current card is burgered, and as it's part of the mobo, an add-in of one type or another is needed

It is relatively common....
I had a mobo network facility fail recently, and rather than send the whole PC back under warratnty (might just have scraped into the end of warranty) I just took an old pci NIC from my recycled drawer and I am using that.

krishna

Network card arrived today. Installed as per manufacturer's instructions but can't get the drivers to install. I get a dialogue box with gobbledygook (drivers on a CD). Tried using Add new hardware from Windows control panel. It recognises the card, but won't install the driver. And now I get the blue screen popping up after a while with "recovered from serious error" warning.

The card is a Pluscom Fast Ethernet 10/100 LAN card (PCI). Tried going to manufacture's website to see if I could download an uptodate driver, but it just gives me some kind of text editing screen! (pluscom.cn)

What now? Any ideas?

candtalan

I would not have expected problems with this sort of thing. Can you again try the linux based live USB stick?
Note that any of the major linux based offerings will not need extra drivers for this general type of network interface card, they will be included.
However, it does make me think that something more may be at fault.

krishna

Tried to connect through Linux but no luck. Having confirmed the card worked (in another PC) I decided to try other PCI slots.

1st: plugging the network card in cut out video
2nd: card wouldn't install properly
3rd: windows recognised the card and automatically installed the drivers. Now up and running!

Thanks everyone for the help.

One more question. Is this likely to last for much longer or is this likely to be a progressive failure? This all started about six months or so ago with the failure of the plug-in graphics card (though I don't know if the card is fine but the slot on the mobo was the problem), which I thankfully also got help from this forum with resolving.

gonzo127

hm how long is a peice of string?

to me it sounds like the motherboard has got issues, however this could be caused by any number of things (a short, dodgy connections to the problem parts etc), which now might be fixed and last another 3-4-5 years etc, or they might not be and it could go !!!!!! in a weeks time.

i would personnally be setting myself up a new computer fund savings account if i was you. at least just in case

GunJack

I'd keep a close eye on your system......if bits of the mobo are beginning to fail, you may tootle along for a while and get a sudden catastrophic failure, or a further degradation over time, or (hopefully) it could still go on for years in it's current state

MAKE SURE you've got all your data backed up somewhere while you still can, and keep doing it regularly in case the worst does happen

GunJack

^^^^^ p.s. Note to self:- must type faster