Cannot delete or update bad NIC driver 3

[craigjh]

I have a Dell Latitude C610 laptop with an integrated 3C920 Ethernet controller is currently not usable by Windows 2000. (The device passes 3Com diagnostics that talk to the device directly.) Device Manager reports that "The device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)". Efforts to update or uninstall the device driver result in "Failed to uninstall the device. This device may be required to boot up the computer.". (Curiously, the device usually disappears from device manager after this occurs, like it had been uninstalled anyway.) Attempts to install a new device driver result in "An error occured in the installation of the device. The INF or the device information set or element does not match the specified install class." Efforts to make changes in Safe mode result in the same outcomes. The bottom line is that the driver cannot be completely uninstalled nor can a new driver be installed.

I have tried using the latest Dell BIOS, Dell drivers and even the comparable 3Com drivers but cannot get past this. Online tips suggests that a dependent driver may be having problems but I have not found a way to determine what this dependent driver might be.

The system is 10 months old and I have had no problems until after the motherboard was replaced (about 3 weeks ago). I use a wireless card most of the time and did not notice the NIC problem until an outage on the WAP, so I cannot say that the new motherboard is related but the timing seems curious.

 

[d3crypt4]

It's entirely possible that the new mainboard has an updated on-board NIC on it, and you're refreshing/reinstalling drivers that won't work. Not guaranteed, but possible. You should be able to delete it, however. Have you tried renaming the .sys files specified in the drivers list to see if it will allow you to load without trying to initialise the NIC?

If you have to resort to kicking them out of the registry just to get a fresh run at installing, the key should be in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Enum (probably then /PCI) - just browse through until you find the relevant key. Be warned though, this is just as likely to bork your OS as fix it, so I'd only do it as a last resort and after a back-up.

 

[rblue]

If you want to reinstall the onboard NIC with an updated driver, I would suggest deleting it's .inf and .pnf file (net3c920.inf/pnf?)in the %windir%\inf directory and it's driver file in %windir%\system32\drivers after uninstalling it. On reboot, when the system detects the hardware and cannot find the .inf file, it will prompt for the location of the updated .inf and driver.

The reg hack suggested by d3crypt4 can be risky, but if done properly, is VERY effective.

If you want to just permanently disable the onboard NIC, I suggest doing following the above steps, (uninstall, file delete, reg hack) then disabling the device in the BIOS.

If you're unable to disable the device in the BIOS, then do the uninstall, the file delete and the reg hack, reboot and let the OS detect the device. When it is unable to find the device driver, it will disable the device.

 

[craigjh]

Thanks for the great tips. I tried these last night and learned more but still cannot get the driver to install. I did discover that I had to delete/rename the .sys driver in the dllcache directory and in a similar reinstall directory because Windows was restoring them after I deleted them. Because I'm probably going to have to repair the OS I tried several registry edits, including the one that d3crypt4 proposed. No change.

A Microsoft KB case says that the problem is caused by an unsigned driver or a dependent driver or filter not loading. The driver is signed, so the possibility of a dependent driver or filter exists. I checked for the upperfilters and lowerfilters registry keys but there were none. Is there another way to check for dependent drivers that I'm not aware of?

Last night I also tried to enable my IR port, which also used to work. I am getting the same message when I try to load the driver for that. That pretty much convinces me that there is something toasted in the OS somewhere.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

[d3crypt4]

Okeydokey Craig.

First off, is this a corporate laptop or something? By that, I mean is there any chance you could look at a working one? If you can, checking out the drivers used by the NIC under Device Manager would show you all the files you should need. Just an idea..

If your IR port isn't working either, I'm thinking that something fairly fundamental in the laptop has gone byebye. When it boots, does it display an IRQ list? Does it list the IR port and the NIC as having an IRQ reserved?

Short of removing ALL of the tcp/ip stack (protocols, services, adapters, the lot), then rebooting, then trying to rip out the card and port again, then rebooting and seeing if it goes in clean and re-detects, I'd say your next step is going to be an over-the-top install in the hope that it'll calm everything down so that you can get a better shot at it. Or even better if you have hard drive space, install 2k into a second instance and see if it has a problem with the NIC/IR straight away - at least that will tell you for sure if it's hardware or drivers.

Keep updating us - we'll get there!

 

[craigjh]

A tip of the sombrero for your tips -- you've had some super ones! Sorry I was not able to respond sooner but I had very little access to the web during the past week.

You assumed correctly about it being a corporate laptop. I was at the mothership this week and ended up turning it in to be re-imaged. I couldn't spend anymore time on it.

I'll let you know if the refresh solves the problems.

Craig

 

[d3crypt4]

Fingers crossed for you - if it doesn't at least you may be able to get a nice new one out of em!

 

[flyboytim]

I had this problem with a Dell Laptop. The Dell branded 3Com NIC would not work with the updated drivers from the Windows Update site. I eventually removed the device in device manager and network, restarted the machine then restored the original driver files from the Dell disk. All was OK after that and the NIC worked perfectly. A case of if it ain't broken...

 

[fiijjiit]

Strange I also am running a w2k machine and replaced the motherboard now I can not get the nic card to work. tried to repair it by upgradeing with the w2k disc, said there were things that had not finished installing. Ive tried everything did a repair on the install that acted like it was trying to install what ever it was but never finished installing it and Im not sure what it was that it is trying to finish installing.

 

[craigjh]

I haven't gotten my laptop back yet from being reimaged but the guy that did it said that reimaging fixed the problem. Can't say that was a surprise since the port was passing h/w diagnostics, but I sure wish there had been a way to figure out what was broken.

I am impressed by and grateful for the support efforts by the many people that offered suggestions. There were some real quality ideas. Way cool!