General Discussion - Problem activating PCI 1394 Firewire cards

Author

Problem activating PCI 1394 Firewire cards

Timber

2004-12-22, 1:49 pm

Several months ago, I purchased a PCI 1394 Firewire cards made by Belkin for my HP Pavilion 563W-PC. The computer is running the Micro Soft XP Home Edition operating system, with Service Pack 2; Pentium® 4 CPU; 2.40 GHz; 504 MB of RAM. When I installed the card, it never showed up as something new on the computer, and when I placed a lead from my Sony Handycam to the new connection on the back of my computer – it never showed up as a new drive on My Computer. I tried to place the PCI card in another slot, and got the same results-NOTHING.

Thinking the card was defective I took it back, and later got a new PCI card made by Mercury. Same results!!! The likelihood of both cards being defective is slim. I’m betting on my lack of knowledge, and seeking WISDOM from y’all’s collective infinite knowledge base for some guidance. I’m not sure if something needs to be ENABLED, or if the computer that I’m trying to do the installation on (purchased at Walmart as a bundle) never had the extra PCI slots connected in a working fashion.

Thanks in advance for any & all help that you can provide in this matter, and have a Happy Holiday,
Timber

TheShadow

2004-12-23, 3:23 pm

did you install the drivers that came with the cards. not all communication cards, cheap modems or sound cards are detected as anything by plug and play. Most USB 2.0 cards and may firewire are in this category. After you install the driver and reboot plug an play seems to notice it as new hardware found. Also check for your yellow question marks in device manager to see if you had a part installation. Once the question mark is there the device will not be checked again with out manual intervention.

P.S. be aware that firewire (1394)+ XP service pack 2 + video cams has problems with staying ready. Been all over the net news for the last month since MS finally admitted the problem.

Timber

2004-12-24, 12:07 pm

quote:
Originally posted by TheShadow
did you install the drivers that came with the cards. not all communication cards, cheap modems or sound cards are detected as anything by plug and play. Most USB 2.0 cards and may firewire are in this category. After you install the driver and reboot plug an play seems to notice it as new hardware found. Also check for your yellow question marks in device manager to see if you had a part installation. Once the question mark is there the device will not be checked again with out manual intervention.

P.S. be aware that firewire (1394)+ XP service pack 2 + video cams has problems with staying ready. Been all over the net news for the last month since MS finally admitted the problem.

TheShadow

Thank you for your response to my quandary. A driver did not come with either of the PCI cards, and when I went to www.microsoft.com/download for the updated patch, as the manufacture suggested, I was unwilling to let Microsoft scan my computer. All of my software is legal, (which is what they say they are trying to confirm), but I’m a little hesitant to allow someone open season on my computer if there is another way. It appears that will be the only way to get the driver. Since I’m on a different computer right now, I won’t be able to tryout your suggestions until after Christmas. I’ll let you know the results on the 26th. Thanks again & Merry Christmas, Timber

TheShadow

2004-12-24, 8:01 pm

Merry Christmas to you to Timber. I would not worry about Microsoft checking your software. If they were looking for things they would have found it long ago. Most of Microsoft software phones home now anyway. Media Player, Office 2003, XP after service pack 2 all send check packets. They have to say what you have to decide if updates are required. Fire walls like Zone Alarm will tell you. There are quite a few other chatty packages like Acrobat 6 and most of the Adobe CS suite, Macromedia products.

Oh make sure you check to see if your PCI slot are on when you get back. Not likely that is a problem but it is one more thing to check.

Timber

2004-12-26, 9:20 pm

Thank you for being patient with me. After your reply, I went back to the Micro Soft downloads, and it stated something to the effect: that no driver updates were available for XP OS running Service Pack #Two for the Keyword – “q311542”, which was what the Mercury/Kobian user manual stated to download.

I’ve been on the Belkin & Kobian (for the Mercury PCI card) websites, however they do not offer drivers - just manuals, which also came with the products in their packages. I still have the Mercury PCI card, however the Belkin card was returned several months ago.

Both of the Firewire 1394 I/O Controller Cards were purchased new from reputable local computer stores, and were in sealed packages. Neither package had disks or CD’s with drivers. Both stated on the package/box something to the effect:

· “For Windows 2000/XP – After installing the IEEE 1394 Adaptor into an available PCI slot, Windows 2000 & Windows XP will find the new device. It will then install the driver for it seamlessly. Finally, an “OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller” will be added to your system”.

I installed both the Belkin & the Mercury 1394 I/O Controller Cards (made by Kobian) each time in two separate PCI slots on the current computer, but it did not find the new device. Before returning the Belkin PCI card, I placed it on a second computer (also a Hewlett Packard) with the same negative results.

The computer that the Mercury PCI card is currently on has the 3.3 - 10/29/02 BIOS Revision of Phoenix BIOS Setup Utility. It states under the Advanced settings: Plug and Play – Yes. There doesn’t appear to be any settings specifically for PCI slots. The only thing that I see mentioning PCI is the Primary Video Adapter.

So much for my “Paper Certs”, I can’t even determine if the PCI slots are turned on!!! Initially, my interest in computers was sparked by trying to keep up with my high school aged children, but now I’m trying to learn the Network & Hardware side of computers to give me some marketability composed of hardware & software knowledge in the event I ever go looking for a career in the IT field. Needless to say - that job search won’t be anytime soon. Theory vs. experience, I’ll take the hands on experience every time, however a balance of both would be optimal. Oh well.

The following website offers Phoenix BIOS updates:
http://www.bios-drivers.com/companies/815.htm. Any comments on doing updates through them or someone else, since the Phoenix website apparently doesn’t offer BIOS updates? http://www.phoenix.com/en/Home/default.htm

On my computer’s “Event Viewer - Applications”, there is nothing notable to comment on other than a few hanging applications; Messenger; and Micro Soft Fax Errors/Warnings that also occurred prior to the installation of the PCI cards. In “Event Viewer – Systems”, I’m receiving an Event #7 Disk error. Not sure how long that has been going on, which apparently is topic for another discussion, under a separate posting.

In “Device Manager” - there doesn’t appear to be anything remotely similar to IEEE 1394 to manage. Through the “Control Panel”, I even tried to manually “Add Hardware” without success.

After trying a “Google Search” I’ve found a few other postings from people with similar problems using Hewlett Packard PC’s, and no specific manufacture of the 1394 PCI cards. All of these queries have gone unresolved, which leads me to believe that it may be an issue with Hewlett Packard, and not the PCI cards.

As far as Micro Soft scanning my system, I think of them as the World’s Greatest Neighbor. Just about everything on my computer is made by Micro Soft legal, licensed & greatly appreciated, however I don’t want my neighbor (who helped build my house/furniture etc...) going through every room of my home/garage while I’m working in the backyard. Perhaps I’m just a little too paranoid, since I like my privacy. I make a better Hermit than a Computer Tech.

Thanks again for all of your help,
Timber the Perplexed

Timber

2004-12-27, 9:37 pm

TheShadow:

I want to THANK YOU for your ideas, suggestions, and direction in solving the problem that I was having installing the 1394 Firewire cards.

BY replacing my unused modem with the 1394 PCI card in its slot, the problem has been resolved. It appears that the empty PCI slots on both of my Hewlett Packard Pavilion PC’s are defective.

Just in case someone else is having the same type of troubles - the following is an excerpt of the response I received from a HP Total Care representative that worked for me, but only after many other things were ruled out on this & other forums.

“After completely going through the history, I come to the following
conclusions:

* The PCI slots you had used might be defective
* The version of PCI card you are using might not be compatible
* BIOS program might need to be updated

I would like to isolate the issue with the following steps:

The motherboard shipped with HP Pavilion 563w Desktop PC is equipped with PCI 2.2 slots. The version of PCI slot is 2.2 and if you are installing
larger version of PCI cards, the computer may not be able to detect
them. Please check the specifications of the PCI cards.

If the PCI cards you tried are of version 2.2, then test the
functionality of PCI slots. As one of PCI slot is filled with modem,
remove it. Install the new PCI cards in the same slot and start the
computer. If the computer is able to detect the PCI card, the first used
PCI slots might be defective.

If the computer is still unable to detect the PCI cards, I recommend you
update the BIOS software. Visit the following web site to download the
BIOS update for the computer:

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/softwa...4-1/sp23989.exe

1. Download the BIOS update.
2. Double-click the BIOS update icon and then click NEXT.
3. Accept the license terms and then click NEXT.
4. If an Overwrite Protection message appears, click YES TO ALL.
5. Wait for the update to complete.
6. At the 'Windows Based BIOS Update' window, click YES to restart your
PC.
7. If you see the following message during the restart of your PC,
continue with the remaining steps; otherwise you are done with the
update.

0251: System CMOS checksum bad - Default configuration used

8. Press and hold F1 for a few seconds to open the BIOS Setup.
9. Press F5 for a few seconds, choose YES, and then press Enter to load
the BIOS defaults. (Use the arrow keys to choose YES, if necessary.)
10. Press F10 for a few seconds, choose YES, and then press Enter to
exit the BIOS Setup and save your changes. (Use the arrow keys to choose
YES, if necessary.)
11. Press Enter to confirm the save.

Now try to install the PCI card. Be sure that the troubleshooting steps helped to resolve the issue.”

They can be reached through http://www.hp.com/support

Thanks again for all of the encouragement,
Timber

TheShadow

2004-12-28, 7:40 pm

Timber I am glad that you solved your problem. But wow to systems with the same identical problem almost sounds like a quality control problem or a design defect on HP's part. I can see why you were at a loss on what to do. Two different cards and two different systems would put anyone in doubt on what was happening.

Well at least you can now get back to your original goals with your camera.

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