Cannot Detect my modem
in [Windows XP]
|
From: Paul on 12 Mar 2010 04:32 Alex wrote: > How exactly do I find out what kind of motherboard I have heh... You can use Belarc Advisor. http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html This is the section from Advisor for my system. The motherboard description is under "Main Circuit Board". Mine is an Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 (or was, until I replaced it). "Main Circuit Board Board: 4CoreDual-SATA2. Bus Clock: 200 megahertz BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. P2.00 05/22/2008" Note - do *not* just copy and paste all the output from Belarc, into a new posting. Belarc includes in the listing, the license key(s) for your software. Remove any license key information from the output, before doing anything with it. (For example, I saved my Belarc output to disk, then went into the file and X'd out the sensitive information, so that I can never, by accident, post that information.) Also, knowing just the motherboard name, isn't the total answer. We could still be totally lost as to what computer that has come from. You should have some idea what kind of computer it is, like a "Dell Dimension 8400" or the like. If at all possible, post the kind of computer like "Dell Dimension 8400", as well as the motherboard name. Some computers like that, have a "Service Tag" printed on a label on the computer. Entering the Service Tag, on the manufacturer's site, may help identify the computer. That is, if you can't find any other identifying marks to work with. For example, you could use the "Service Tag" to find drivers. Paul > > "sgopus" wrote: > >> You will need to look for the cd that contains the Motherboard drivers, just >> because it says plug and play doesn't mean it doesn't need drivers, >> especially when the modem is part of the motherboard. >> Please list your Computer type and Model if it's a brand name. >> if not list your Motherboard model and type, maybe we can suggest where to >> look for the drivers >> >> "Alex" wrote: >> >>> It is a bell modem which is plug and play.
From: Alex on 14 Mar 2010 01:05 Board: MSI MS-7160 20A Bus ClockL 200 megahertz BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 080012 08/31/2005 My cousin built the computer so it isn't a manufactured computer.
From: Paul on 14 Mar 2010 06:26 Alex wrote: > Board: MSI MS-7160 20A > Bus ClockL 200 megahertz > BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 080012 08/31/2005 > > My cousin built the computer so it isn't a manufactured computer. P4N SLI MS-7160 revision2. http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=manual&maincat_no=1&prod_no=197 You can compare the picture of the motherboard, to what is inside your computer if you want. Notice how "P4N SLI" is printed next to the green DIMM slots. http://www.msi.com/uploads/prod_0358b85dcad439a344d3047d3c122bb8.jpg ******* There is nothing to suggest a modem interface is right on the motherboard itself. When you connect your dial-up line, where do you plug it in ? Do you plug into a faceplate in the PCI slot area on the back of the computer ? Check your Belarc output, to see if it makes any reference to "modem" or not ? It could be, there is a modem card plugged into a PCI slot, and you'd need to identify that, to find a driver for it. A "Winmodem" type card, has no intelligence to speak of, and the driver is responsible for digital signal processing, to convert the modem tones into data. A card with a "data pump", on the other hand, needs much less in the way of a driver, and the PCI card does most of the work. In this Belarc example, there is a modem listed. http://don-lewis.net/Belarc.htm "Communications Conexant D850 56K V.9x DFVc Modem" And even that might not be enough to locate a driver. The box the modem came in, might label it with an actual model number and manufacturer name. "Conexant" in this case, makes the main chips in the modem, but probably did not make the card itself. Electronic identification of devices in an unambiguous way, isn't easy. I don't really have any tool suggestions I really like, for figuring out what hardware you've got. Another tool is Everest, but for the free version, it takes a lot of brain power and searching, to convert the information into something useful. If you have a product box, manual, documentation, anything that has the make and model number of the modem, that might be as useful as anything you can get from an identification utility. Paul
From: Alex on 14 Mar 2010 15:41 Hey thanks a lot for the help, under Communications there is none detected sooo..
From: Paul on 14 Mar 2010 16:38
Alex wrote: > Hey thanks a lot for the help, under Communications there is none detected > sooo.. Do you see where on the computer the phone line plugs into an RJ-11 modem connector ? This is a picture of a computer with a modem card present. The card could have one or two connectors on it. (In the picture, the red outline is drawn around the modem card faceplate.) The card has two connectors, as that card allows connecting the phone to the end of the line via one connector, and the connection to the wall is via the other connector. http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o195/aonfocaleile/pcicard.jpg If the thing looks like that, then the card is likely on the PCI bus. Another form factor, is the audio modem riser slot, but I don't think your motherboard has one of those. In this photo, the short brown slot in the middle of the photo is an AMR slot. It uses motherboard audio for the interface for the modem as far as I know. http://www.maximopc.org/images/articulos/5/agppro.jpg There is an example of an AMR card that plugs into that slot here. http://www.abouterp.com/erpsystemswordsa/images/AMR.jpg I don't know how an AMR is registered in the system, and what you'd see in Device Manager for that. Other means of connecting modems, are via external modems, I have a USR external, and it connects via 9 pin RS232 cable, to the back of the computer. Basically, that modem is connected to a serial port. If my modem was switched off (which it is right now), there is no way to detect it. My system remembers that such a modem was connected though, so it is not completely forgotten. (Modem that connects to serial port.) http://content.etilize.com/300/10005730.jpg A modem can also be connected via a USB cable, and that would be an external unit as well. ******* OK, so you can use your eyes, and take a guess as to what kind of modem you think it is. If the modem is "external" to the computer, that should be easy to figure out. If the modem is internal to the computer, it could be AMR or PCI based. For PCI, download and install this. Everest Free Edition (from Lavalys) http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html Install it, and then run the tool. Go to Devices:PCI Devices and look through the list. Is there a modem shown there ? Are there any items that say "NoDB". Things like that are not recognized by the program, so it can't give a nice text name to the product it sees. If your hardware is old enough, the program should get most of it. Lavalys charges for their latest software, so that version is the last completely free version. I don't hold out much hope of identifying the thing with a program, so if you get bored with this approach, take the cover off the machine and have a closer look at where that RJ-11 connector goes. If the modem is an external device, and it is not longer connected, that'll make it pretty hard to detect :-) Paul |