How do I identify network adapter 2

[KarateLois]

I am rejoining an ethernet after fixing a crash and formatting my hard drive. My Windows 98 can't identify my network adapter which is on my motherboard. It did before. It does not appear in my device manager or network config windows. The ethernet cable connects into a silver box that says AMP. I spoke with a tech at my cable company who was helping me set up, and she said I may need a driver for the network adapter. How can I find out the company and specs on the adapter so I can find the right driver?

 

[narnian]

If you have a look at the card you should see a model number from the manufacturer. Failing that look for the biggest chip and you might see a brand like RealTek or SMC or somesuch. This might be look like RTL8129. Type it in google and you might have luck in being able to download the driver from the manufacturer.

That being said, have you tried "Add New Hardware" from the control panel. This should be able to search and find the device and maybe install the driver or at least give the name as a search clue

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I'm just trying to help, and am not a spokesman for my employer

 

[KarateLois]

Add new hardware finds three things, but gives obnly general info on each and can't find the drivers for any, probably since I formatted the drive. I tried to look on all the CD's I have that support the ethernet, but have none for the adapter. I'll look again for a model number, but i'm not sure exactly where to look. As I said, the cable clicks ito that silver box.

 

[narnian]

Oh yes it is integrated on the mainboard. Same things apply. If you know the motherboard model then again go to the manufacturers site. (Many have downloadable manuals that *should* have the chipset specs.

Also most BIOS allow you disable on-board devices such as ethernet controllers. A harddisk crash wouldn't normally change this but you might want to check.

It's also possible that Plug-and-Play and messed interrupt allocations and the ethernet controller's IRQ is being stomped on by other devices. It is possible in the BIOS setting to clear these back to default and have the BIOS "rediscover" all the devices. (Not sure if this is the best approach as it might shift devices to different interrupts which might mean you have to get Windows to rediscover them all again)

(Later versions of Windows such W2K and XP do a much better job here, and Linux as well if you are keen to try that )

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I'm just trying to help, and am not a spokesman for my employer

 

[tx0223]

i have been able to solve several identical problems with a utility called "unknown device identifier". you can download it here:

http://www.zhangduo.com/udi.html

if the link should be outdated by the time you read this, try searching google...

it should present you with an accurate list of what hardware is in your pc so you can search for appropriate drivers.

hope this helps...

 

[bcastner]

Aida32 and the Belarc Advisor are also good for detailing what is in a system.

http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

 

[nemotek]

Each card has it's own MAC ID or MAC ADDRESS,it is a unique hexadecimal ID based system. The first six (6) characters uniquely identifies the manufacturer of the said device. It's usually in this form 00:A0:40:AC:FF:88 > first 3 pairs identifies the maker.


IEEE regulating body for MAC Add assignments to diff makers or manufacturers.

http://standards.ieee.org/regauth/oui/oui.txt

or simply go to this site and type your MAC Add (first 6 char)

http://coffer.com/mac_find/

how to find the MAC address :

http://www-dcn.fnal.gov/DCG-Docs/mac/

once you have found out who the maker is search the web and simply go to their website > make a list of all the markings on the board that could give you a clue about the model > then simply download the file.

hope this helps,

nemotek

 

[KarateLois]

You are all great! I am up and running, online and I have sound for the first time in a long time. Kudos to all of you!