sw100
first of all let me say that you sure provided a lot of good info for someone to work with in an effort to help you. i like too that you included things you've tried and what some of your ideas are. very helpful stuff, imo.
i think i may have come across some things that could help your situation. i've excerpted below a couple troubleshooting routines.... one involving tweaking the irq settings, and one that forces win98 to take another look at the device it has already recognized.
first the irq reassignment:
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"There are a few snags that can turn installing a modem into an exercise in frustration. Most hassles are caused by conflicts in interrupt request line (IRQ) and direct memory access (DMA) assignments. Hardware components must compete for these limited resources, and sometimes they run out, or the assignments overlap. A scanner, for example, might be assigned the same IRQ as the newly installed modem. If this happens, one device may work and the other may not, or sometimes neither device works. If the competing devices are activated at the same time, it may cause the entire system to crash. Usually Win98 will prevent these conflicts from occurring in the first place, but in rare cases users have to fix the problems manually.
It is usually best to leave the modem alone and assign new IRQ and DMA settings to the conflicting device. Right-click My Computer, select properties, and click the Device Manager tab to access the settings for every device attached to the PC. Scroll down the list until you find the conflicting device entry, which will probably contain a subentry marked with an exclamation mark in a yellow circle. This symbol indicates a device with a conflict.
Click the entry for the device, click Properties, and select the Resource tab. Make sure this device is the one causing the problem by looking at the Conflicting Device List. Uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and select a new basic configuration from the Settings Based On drop-down list. Selecting a new configuration will update the conflicting device box, letting you know if the change affects hardware elsewhere in the system. Try to find a setting that prompts a No Conflicts reading in the box. As an alternative, it is sometimes possible to click the Change Setting button and directly tweak the IRQ settings. Again, the conflicting device box will tell you what the changes will do. When you’re finished making changes, click OK and select Yes at the prompt to reboot the system and implement the changes."
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and the extra look:
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"The moment of truth comes after you’ve installed the modem and you turn on the PC. Here Windows 95 and Windows 98 (Win9x, collectively) should automatically detect the new device, go through a short initialization procedure, and ask for any additional software and drivers it needs to complete the installation. Just insert the appropriate software when asked, which will usually be either the Win9x CD-ROM or software that comes with the modem. This process is typically seamless, and there is a good chance the modem will be available for use after the first boot-up procedure.
This automatic procedure doesn’t always work. Some older modems are not compliant with the Plug-and-Play standards that detect new hardware, and sometimes there is a glitch that prevents automatic detection. Faulty connections are the cause of most problems, so make sure the modem is properly seated in the appropriate slot. If you know the modem is seated, there are a few ways to force Win9x to take another look.
One of the easiest ways is to click Start, select Settings, choose Control Panel, and double-click Add New Hardware. Click Next in the wizard box that appears to begin the process where Windows looks for the new modem. Follow the prompts, and Windows should list all of the new hardware it finds. If the modem is on the list, select it and choose the Yes radio button. Click Next and follow the prompts to install the necessary software drivers. If the device isn’t on the list, choose the No radio button and click Next. You can then ask Windows to look for the new hardware, which probably won’t work since the first attempt failed, or choose the No radio button to look manually. Click Next, scroll down the list to Modem, select it, and click Next.
The first time you try this, click Next to let Windows look specifically for the modem hardware and, if it finds the modem, install it normally. Otherwise, put a check in the Don’t Detect My Modem box, click Next, and scroll through the lists until you find the correct manufacturer and model name of the modem installed in your PC. If your modem is not listed, click the Have Disk button and try to use the software that came with your modem to install it manually. If nothing else works, use the generic drivers by selecting Standard Modem Types from the top of the Manufacturer list and then selecting the Standard model from the other list that most closely matches your modem’s specifications. These generic drivers should work with any modem, but you will not get the full performance from the device. Use the generic drivers to access the Web with your modem and then browse to the manufacturer’s Web site to download modem-specific drivers and read online technical support documents.
After selecting a modem and clicking Next, you will have to select a port to use it with. This can get tricky because the modem will not work if another device is assigned to the same port. Avoid the LPT port, which is used for printers. Instead you’ll want to use a COM port. Select one of the available COM ports and click Next. You modem is now installed."
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the article in its entirety can be found here
smartcomputing.com
hopefully this helps and you don't have to make that call to creative.
let us know. and good luck
:)
mark |
