Gnarly, Lorg. You have tried just about everything, short of the OS install and motherboard. Do you have other PCI cards that work properly, like audio? (Video doesn't count, it's wired differently.) Have you tried the modem with all other slot-cards removed?
I was going to say driver, until I read where you replaced that along with the modem. Or the phone wire, but that worked fine with another system.
Ordinarily, if the PCI bus has 'that big' a problem, it won't identify hardware and probably won't pass POST. See if a modem diagnostic came with the new modem software and if it reveals anything. Windows should not be able to inflict that degree of confusion on a device and still otherwise operate.
Do you ever notice other delays in response, like staggering mouse pointer? One thing that can hang PCI intermittently is chattering interrupts, which is a hardware issue. It can come from any PCI device, or from the chipset itself. It could even be coming from an onboard NIC, even though you're not using that. You might disable it in BIOS, if you haven't already.
Look in event log for possible clues relating to erroring devices--might not necessarily be the modem--also might escape being logged altogether. Boot to the diagnostic partition, run all the system board tests--long shot, but like I said, this is gnarly.
Have you reset the Connections settings in Internet Options? Sounds almost like the computer is trying to fax instead of dialing out. I would set up a completely new dialup connection from scratch. Change the telephone cable to a new one and connect to a different telephone jack. Check with a telephone that you plug into the internal modem's telephone port. I assume you have no broadband connection, just dial up.
Restore probably won't help you. You should run the complete Dell Diagnostics to see if the motherboard is failing. Test everything. The fact that a diff computer worked OK is ominous.
Well I brought the computer to work and tried it here. I had the same thing. So I did a wipe and reloaded everything. I even put the old modem back in. Then it was working fine from the office. I went home and tried it out and it seemed to work so I loading an HP print driver then I started having problems again. I uninstalled the driver but did not have time to check it out before I had to go to work.
I do not have DSL yet. They say about 6 more months and it should be available. I will try and switch phone jacks and see if it helps at all.
x_lab rat
2K Posts
0
February 14th, 2008 15:00
Gnarly, Lorg. You have tried just about everything, short of the OS install and motherboard. Do you have other PCI cards that work properly, like audio? (Video doesn't count, it's wired differently.) Have you tried the modem with all other slot-cards removed?
I was going to say driver, until I read where you replaced that along with the modem. Or the phone wire, but that worked fine with another system.
Ordinarily, if the PCI bus has 'that big' a problem, it won't identify hardware and probably won't pass POST. See if a modem diagnostic came with the new modem software and if it reveals anything. Windows should not be able to inflict that degree of confusion on a device and still otherwise operate.
Do you ever notice other delays in response, like staggering mouse pointer? One thing that can hang PCI intermittently is chattering interrupts, which is a hardware issue. It can come from any PCI device, or from the chipset itself. It could even be coming from an onboard NIC, even though you're not using that. You might disable it in BIOS, if you haven't already.
Look in event log for possible clues relating to erroring devices--might not necessarily be the modem--also might escape being logged altogether. Boot to the diagnostic partition, run all the system board tests--long shot, but like I said, this is gnarly.
Mary G
4 Operator
•
20.1K Posts
0
February 14th, 2008 20:00
Have you reset the Connections settings in Internet Options? Sounds almost like the computer is trying to fax instead of dialing out. I would set up a completely new dialup connection from scratch. Change the telephone cable to a new one and connect to a different telephone jack. Check with a telephone that you plug into the internal modem's telephone port. I assume you have no broadband connection, just dial up.
Restore probably won't help you. You should run the complete Dell Diagnostics to see if the motherboard is failing. Test everything. The fact that a diff computer worked OK is ominous.
jmwills
2 Intern
•
12K Posts
0
February 15th, 2008 02:00
Since I am VERY good at spending other peoples money, get an external modem to see if it indeed the modem.
Check the return policy. These should be around $25. No DSL available in your area?
jmwills
2 Intern
•
12K Posts
0
February 15th, 2008 16:00
Lorg
2 Posts
0
February 15th, 2008 16:00
Well I brought the computer to work and tried it here. I had the same thing. So I did a wipe and reloaded everything. I even put the old modem back in. Then it was working fine from the office. I went home and tried it out and it seemed to work so I loading an HP print driver then I started having problems again. I uninstalled the driver but did not have time to check it out before I had to go to work.
I do not have DSL yet. They say about 6 more months and it should be available. I will try and switch phone jacks and see if it helps at all.
Thanks for your help :)