[Chickabiddybex]

Hi, one of my friends is trying to get the internet in his new house and encountered problems and as he's computer illiterate he asked me to see if I can fix it for him. He's trying to set up a wireless connection with Talk Talk. They sent him a D-Link box and disc but when I tried to set it up I got an error screen saying "Ethernet port not detected" and it suggested that I check in Network Connections and enable it. But there is nothing in Network Connections. Odd. There is on my laptop (but my ethernet port works fine so that makes sense I guess)

He used to go online on his computer but he used a USB port so I don't think there is any other issue with the PC. It's Windows XP and the motherboard is a GeForce 6100-m7. I'm guessing that it needs new drivers which is why it isn't working. But when I went to device manager expecting to see a yellow exclamation mark, I saw nothing there at all. In fact I don't even see a section for Network Adaptors like there is on mine. So do you think it's the drivers or could it be something else?

And if it is the drivers could someone be so kind as to link me to a site that will provide me with them and a short explanation as to how I'd install them? Normally I'd just give it a shot but it's not my machine so I don't want to risk it. Especially as he's my landlord!


I hope this all made sense and I gave enough details, I only vaguely understand what I'm talking about!

[JohnWill]

Well, since you didn't provide any information about the exact make/model of the system, it's pretty hard to recommend drivers, there are thousands of different drivers.


Hold the Windows key and press R, then type devmgmt.msc

Please respond to all the following steps.

1. Under Network adapters, please tell me all the devices listed.
2. Are there any devices under Network adapters that have a red x displayed?
3. Also, are there any devices anywhere in the Device Manager display with yellow ? or ! displayed?

Let's see this as well.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following command:

Note that there is a space before the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the / in the following command.

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[Chickabiddybex]

I don't know the make or model of the system as it has no stickers on it anywhere which is why I gave motherboard details - I assumed you'd only need to know motherboard details?

I'll fetch the other info you asked for right away!

[JohnWill]

What motherboard details? We need exact make/model data, not a general description of the board! You provided nothing that will be useful in determining what you need.

[Chickabiddybex]

Ok, there is nothing that says "network adapters" - when I said "nothing at all" earlier I meant really, nothing at all! Not just the absence of an exclamation mark. Shoulda made that clearer.
Here is a screen shot (well, a photo from my phone. I don't have a storage device/CD with me)
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2.../Image1406.jpg

I did the next thing you asked, I don't know if it worked as all I got was:

Microsoft Windows XP (Version 5.1.2600)
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\David>IPCONFIG /ALL

Windows IP Configuration

C:\Documents and Settings\David>

[Chickabiddybex]

Can you tell me how I'd find out what motherboard it is? I don't know much about hardware. I'd download Belarc onto the PC if I could get online on it/had a memory stick.

[vicks]

Use the computer you use to get here, d/l it to a stick, floppy, or cd and install it on computer in question.
vicks

[Chickabiddybex]

If it turns out that the drivers are probably the issue, I'll go and buy one/borrow one.

Do you think that it is?

[DoubleHelix]

The screen shot indicates that there is no network adapter installed. Check the BIOS to see if it's been disabled. You may need to buy a new network adapter as it could be hardware failure.

Drivers won't fix this problem. The computer doesn't detect any hardware to install drivers for.

[TheOutcaste]

Here's the download page for your motherboard:
http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdownloa...ORCE%206100-M7
Might want to get the Graphics driver, as your screenshot shows it's not installed correctly (Video Controller)

They don't list a separate LAN driver, so hopefully it's included with the chipset drivers. If not, they say this board uses a realtek NIC:
• LAN:
Realtek RTL8201BL 10/100mbps LAN

You can find drivers on the Realtek website here

[Chickabiddybex]

I looked in the bios and found no option to enable/disable the ethernet port. So it needs a new network adapter?

[JohnWill]

You can add a PCI NIC to the machine. Here's a nice cheap gigabit card, should allow you to determine if that's the issue: http://www.microbarn.com/details.asp...rce=pricewatch

[Chickabiddybex]

Wait, PCI?
I can enable MAC LAN in the BIOS and in Device Manager PCI something or other pops up. I know pretty much nothing about using the BIOS I'm afraid.

[vicks]

The PCI is a 'card' that you install onto the computer. On a desktop you open the case and insert it in a slot that is attached to the motherboard. On a laptop, they are called PCMCA cards. They slip into a slot on the side of the laptop
Both are easy to do. JohnWIll's link shows you what the one for a desktop looks like.

Vicks

[Chickabiddybex]

I can go into the BIOS and enable the PCI thing. Should I do this?