Got a Problem & Need Help

[GentleGiant]

Hi, my new office PC is only 2 weeks old, the day I got it home I fitted a TP-Link "G" wifi card to connect to my router. Everything worked perfectly until Saturday evening when the PC went into "Slo-mo" for 10 seconds or so.
When it returned to normal the wifi was not working.

Thinking the card had blown I ordered a new "N" spec card that arrived today, but I have the same issue.

The card appears to be in working order, but no networks are found, the WIN7 error service says "There is a problem" and attempting to set it up manually gets "Unknown Error" message.

I cant have 2 duff card!!
I have tried swapping pci slot, a full remove and uninstall and downloading fresh drivers to no avail.
I have even replaced the generic psu with a new Corsair one in case it was not supplying a stable voltage to the board.

I have fitted a sound card the check the pci slots work but now I am at my wits end.

It is a Gigabyte MA78LM-S2 mobo with an AMD Athlon 245 running Win7 32 bit Home Premium, and 2 gig RAM

[Smifis]

BIOS update?

[alexnifty]

Hmm, tough one. Have you tried the wireless cards in another pc. You could have had some very bad luck and got a couple of dedders.

[andyn]

Sounds like you have tried all of the sensible things really.

Next step (after a BIOS update, but really it's hard to see that helping given that the card worked fine for a while..) would be a totally different brand of PCI wireless card.

And ideally, as Alex suggested, try the card in a different PC (if there's one available).

[DoubleTop]

full malware check on the machine - I've had a laptop in for repair that windows stated network not found, and a netstat told a completely different story.

Double check netstat -a

DT.

[GentleGiant]

I've done a full scan with Malwarebtyes and AVG over the weekend as malware was one of my thoughts, not found anything.

I havent got a spare PC right now, but I cant see 2 different spec cards, albeit same make, but bought a year apart, are both going to have EXACTLY the same fault.

The sudden slow-mo is the biggest puzzle, I was writing a letter on gmail and had 2 translation windows open; and also a window to the aria forums when it happened.

The cpu fan suddenly went through the roof during the incident, then straight back to normal.

[El Wayneo]

The cpu fan suddenly went through the roof during the incident, then straight back to normal.

PSU then??? Voltage out of spec?

One of the rails might be going or something else technical that i don't know enough about to suggest?

I had a rail go on an OCZ GameXstream i had and it overvolted and took out my Mobo and RAM.

[GentleGiant]

Put in a new Corsair psu, and tried a sound card in the pci slot, everything else works.

(Stumped)

OK, updated Bios, no change after reboot.

I'll try to "borrow" a pc over the weekend and check the cards out, but I am still guessing mobo or win7 problem, but as the sound card works in the pci slot I cannot prove anything is wrong with the mobo.

[IanS]

To rule out a Win 7 problem, try a system restore to before the first installation of the card, then do a fresh install of the card.

Regards IanS.

[andyn]

You could also try booting from an Ubuntu (or other linux distribution) "LiveCD". If it picks up the wireless fine and works with it you know it's a software issue.

[Mr Banana]

You could also try booting from an Ubuntu (or other linux distribution) "LiveCD". If it picks up the wireless fine and works with it you know it's a software issue.

Perfect way to check, latest Ubuntu livecd should work with 99% of wireless cards.

[GentleGiant]

Wouldn't allow it to run from disk, threw an error at me. Seems to have installed to HD ok, but where do I look to check the wireless card?? It keeps asking to install a driver for my onboard gfx, and throws an error as well, display is ok though.

Never touched Linux before, although I have been meaning to for a year or so. Even had an Ubuntu 9.xx iso on my hdd.

[Mr Banana]

What error did it give about running it off the disk? The wireless is a signal icon on top panel to the right of the screen, if you click on it then it will show you networking options to connect to.

[wizard]

What's the chipset on the 2 cards?

[GentleGiant]

Thanks guys; I cant tell you the chip set without looking it up, the components are hidden under a shield; and I forget the exact error message

I can confirm the cards work under Ubuntu though.
When I tried before I had the Ethernet cable still connected and couldn't figure out how to see if the wireless connection was working.


Then this morning I had a face/palm moment and unplugged the Ethernet cable. Viola! I have a wireless connection.

Either that or I am posting this via telepathy!!

Now I can get on to TP-Link support and speak to Ling Zhou about it being a M$ ****-up.

[GentleGiant]

:censored: Now Ethernet wont work under Win7 either!!!

Something really strange is going on, both work under Ubuntu but Win7 now says the Ethernet cable is unplugged or broken. I tried replacing it with a brand new one to no effect.

I have downloaded a few music torrents, but scan everything with AVG and Spybot before opening.
COULD this be malware, and if so, WHY block internet access??

[Toonshorty]

Strange, what motherboard have you got.

I can work out what Ethernet controller you've got and find some drivers for you to see if that'll help.

[andyn]

That's pretty messed up. If it's not going to cause you massive problems, I'd strongly consider backing up your data, formatting the drive and re-installing windows at this point.

[GentleGiant]

This is really weirding me out now.

I stuck in an old 10/100 card and it installed and worked under win 7 long enough for me to start to write a reply here, then according to WIN 7 is THERE IS NO CARD!!

Rebooting and only the onboard Ethernet port shows, but the old card works perfectly under Ubuntu, same as the wireless.

Another thing that has started happening is the mobo refusing to switch on some times; I have to unplug the mobo - psu header and reattach, then it will spring into life.

So I am suspecting a mobo issue. Originally I wondered about a virus, but now I am really stuck. :cry


:censored: Another reboot back into windows and the :censored: 10/100 card is found and working again!!
Still no wireless though.

What do you think, mobo??

I am going to d/l SdFix and ComboFix and see if they find anything.

[Mr Banana]

I had a similair problem back in the days of Windows XP on my real old desktop. It would never auto connect, i had to disable and enable it every boot - but still odd it doesn't pick it up at all sometimes.

[Hax]

Long shot.

Does it pass memtest?
How are the IRQ's?
Reset/repair Winsock?

[Smifis]

Do IRQ problems still exist?

[Hax]

Do IRQ problems still exist?
Rarely now. I did have some cards not long ago that didn't play nicely with each other sharing the same IRQ.

[GentleGiant]

The winsock idea came up on another site, gonna try it in the morning, but still dont think that explains the new Ethernet problem, it says the cable is unplugged or broken using the on board port, but the same cables work perfectly using the old 10/100 card.
And Ethernet was working until this morning when the PC refused to switch on.

And what about the board refusing to boot without messing with the power lead?? Tried 2 psu's and both the same (new Corsair).

Will run memtest under Ubuntu in the morning as well, or just chuck in some new RAM, I have 2x2Gb sticks of new stuff on the desk

[Littlestman]

hey im trying to connet to my internet i plug in the ethanet cable to my pc to my router (bt home hub) but nothing happens can anyone help??

[Spaceboy]

Best bet... start a new thread and provide a little more info on your setup - lights on the router etc :)

you'll get more views / replies if you start a new thread :)

[GentleGiant]

Had you turned the hub off and then on again after inserting the Ethernet cable??
I know that some routers (including mine), need a reboot after changing a network cable.

[Littlestman]

ya have try it no change

[GentleGiant]

Here we go, went and spoke to the dealer this morning; it turns out he has had a lot of these boards returned for exactly the same reason.

It turns out it is a Southbridge problem and Gigabyte are working on a solution.
Apparently something tries to carry out an incorrect shutdown of the system that corrupts BOTH BIOS chips.

Currently, the only fix is to pull the BIOS chips and manually "Flash" them in a suitable EEPROM programmer box. (Gaw! havent used one of them in 25 years!!)

I need my pc up and running, so bought a new mobo, but I will be stripping this one out and sending it back under warranty.

Thanks for all the suggestions peps.

The board is a Gigabyte MA78LM-S2 in case anyone else has problems; not sure if the variants have the same issues, I would suspect so.