Inspiron 8200 ethernet controller?

Question

we just reinstall window xp because of some viruses. now that we put in our wireless notebook card window xp say ' Found New Hardware'

and under Hardware, Device manager, it pop up a yellow question mark and it say ' Ethernet Controller'. we already install the chipset driver and the 3com in the dell download pages for the 8200. i read some where that the 8200 come with the broadcom bcm5701 ethernet controller but im not sure.

Can someone direct me to the correct driver. any input in greatly appreciated.

TheRealFireblad · Answer

Welcome to the forums :emotion-5:

Did you try just right-clicking on the device(s) which have a yellow exclamation mark, and selecting 'Update Driver'?

Have you checked the Inspiron 8200 'Support --> Drivers & Downloads' section for the drivers you need?

The specific model of ethernet controller will be mentioned in the system specifications?

crystalmimia · Answer

hello, we tried to ' update the driver' already, we also look at the Driver&Downloads for the 8200 and there's nowhere we could find anything about enthernet controller driver.

jackshack · Answer

Deleted, inaccurate info.

crystalmimia · Answer

really appreciate all the replies. as you mention above, i have a Inspiron not Dimension, will the driver for the Dimension work for my inspiron? once again thanks for any other input.

jackshack · Answer

Apologies on that; I must have the Dimension series hard wired into my head. No, I'm afraid the Dimension drivers won't work on the Inspiron.

Could you tell us the file name of the 3COM driver you are attempting to install? This usually goes in without a problem so long as you have followed the proper order of installation. R49651.EXE is the file that comes up for me. Double clicking the file should cause it to expand into a directory of the same name in C:\Dell\Drivers. Before installing this driver, however, you must install the Intel Chipset Driver, number five in the Drivers list. Without that particular driver, the operating system has trouble identifying the network interface adapter.

Another question I have is which network adapter are you trying to make work? You mention the 3Com, but that is the wired Ethernet port. Are you trying to make the Wireless card work? If so, there are about three drivers pertaining to wireless cards that Dell may have delivered with the computer when it was ordered. Two of these are mini-PCI cards that fit into a compartment in the computer, the third is a PC card that is inserted into a slot in the side of the laptop.

crystalmimia · Answer

Hello JackShack. sorry i've been busy doing christmas shopping and couldn't reply back to you. The first thing i install after new window was the Chipset driver and then the r49651.exe

to answer your second question, my wired ethernet port work great. I have a Belkin Wireless G Notebook Card that im trying to stick it in the side of the laptop to get wireless and everytime i put it in the 'Ethernet Controller' in Devices Manager come up and there is no way i could get the wireless to work. do you know which driver i could download to get the card to work? i've install the belkin driver from belkin.com and i still see 'Ethernet Controller' yellow question mark.

jackshack · Answer

Without knowing the model of the card it will be difficult to help, but having installed Belkin cards before, you likely made an error if you inserted the card before installing the driver.  The Belkin driver has difficulty identifying the card if you inserted the card first.  You should go back to the Belkin site and see if they have a recommended recovery approach.  One possible method is to use System Restore to go back to a time before you inserted the card.  This will remove the registry entries that are preventing the card from installing properly.

crystalmimia · Answer

its an Belkin F5D7010. from what you are saying, is this an onboard problem or its my belkin wireless card? The card worked good before and now since i reformatted the hdd and install new windown i couldn't get it to work. everytime i stick the Belkin card into the laptop its say 'new hardware found' and ask me to install the driver and in Device Manager a yellow mark Ethernet Controller pop up. This whole time i thought im missing a driver from dell because i've tried to install almost every version of the Belkin drivers and the 'Ethernet Controller never went away.

oO i forgot, i also have another wireless card and i stick it in the laptop and samething happen, thats why I think im missing a driver from dell.

I just wanted to say thank you for your time. please help if you know anything else, still trying really hard to get the wireless to work.

jackshack · Answer

I have reviewed the documentation for the F5D7010 and, as I expected, there is a warning that the software driver must be installed before you plug the card into the laptop for the first time. You cannot plug the card into the computer and then load the driver for it; the card will not be properly recognized. It is quite possible that the second card you tried has the same problem.

So far as I know the only Dell provided driver that could possibly have an effect on the wireless card installation is the chipset driver, which you state that you have installed. If you have a System Restore point that is before the first time you tried to plug the card into the computer you need to select that and restore the computer configuration to the earlier date. Once you have done that, try installing the software driver, and only after this has been done, plug the card into the computer and give it a try.

crystalmimia · Answer

Thank you so much for you time JackShack. This is what Im going to do, I will formate the computer one more time. I will install the chipset driver first then the 3com and then the wireless card before putting it into the laptop. I will try this and will let you know what is the result. once again thank you and i will update once i try it.

a quick question, do you know if the Inspiron 8200 (pentium 4 2ghz , 768 memory) might be compatible with vista?

jackshack · Answer

I wouldn't recommend putting Vista on a machine of that vintage.  The last BIOS update was in 2004.  If you would like to find out if it is possible, you can try this:  Vista Upgrade Advisor.  My feeling, however, is that there will be devices in the computer that have no Vista compatible drivers, and since Dell doesn't support Vista on the Inspiron 8200, you will have to search the web for any drivers that you need.

crystalmimia · Answer

a little update, i've tried to do another fresh installation with the software first then the card and still the same thing. JackShack do you know if i can find any newer version for the chipset ? this one is from dell and wonder if there are anyother newer chipset update driver.

Release Date:	4/19/2002
Version:	3.20.1008, A01

jackshack · Answer

There is really no use updating the chipset driver. Had there been a problem with it, Dell would have released an update during the production run of the Inspiron 8200. Newer versions of the chipset installation software add support for later model chipsets and would only be of use to you if you replaced the chipset in your laptop with a newer model. That, of course, is never done.

When you noted the "Found New Hardware" wizard, what action did you take? Belkin says that at this point you should select the option to automatically install the hardware.

davinn61 · Answer

Hard Drive went bad, bought a new one and re-installed Windows XP.

In Device manager "Other Devices" and everything in that section has question and explanation mark, Ethernet controller is gone completely.

I need help repairing this. I have desk top Dimension 9150/XPS 400 and no way to download to this computer.

Have to download to laptop, transfer to flash drive, then plug into desk top.

Need Ethernet controller so I can use my fiber optics internet.

Any help would be much appreciated!!!

kingdom85 · Answer

Hello, http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/xps-400?driverId=JD7PT&osCode=WW1&fileId=2731091880 is the ethernet controller driver for your computer.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Inspiron 8200 ethernet controller?

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