NIC card delay WIN98 startup maybe

[aardvarkron]

I'm running a typical slot 1 PII-350 with 360 megs of RAM. I posted a 'WIN98 startup delay' a few weeks ago to determine why my startup sits for 90-120 seconds after Norton gets done doing 'startup anti-virus check'.
________________
autoexec.bat has only the Norton Anti-virus line in it.
________________
config.sys exists with no data in it.
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I do have an SMC series 1211 network card in this computer. I've got 5 home built computers connected to Verizon DSL through a HUB.

How may I communicate with those people considerate enough to respond to my problem????

Thank you,

RON MAYNE- -midway between Gettysburg and Valley Forge in PA

 

[MISAdmin]

Ron,

Try to verify what is making your system hang. You say it happens after Norton AV loads. Try removing Norton from loading on Startup and see if the same problem persists.

Are you having a problem seeing other users on your Hub? Verizon uses WinPoet, a program which creates a VPN to Verizon's DHCP Server to assign the workstation that it is connected to an IP address. Verizon won't support a network and will only allow you a single IP. You should probably be using a router or setup a Proxy Server if you don't have one already so that you can use "internal" IP addresses on the workstations to share your internet connection.

Sorry... Don't know if any of this helped. I must have missed your original thread and your post this morning doesn't really tell me exactly what type of problems you are having based on the info you supplied... If you can be a little more specific I may be able to help you in more detail.

 

[swayda]

Hi Ron. I know nothing about DSL but let's walk through the boot process. Windows 4x boot is done in two steps. It starts in 16 bit mode during which it loads any drivers in the config.sys file, then runs the autoexec.bat and msdos.sys. Then it switches to 32 bit mode and starts to load Windows virtual drivers. During this phase Windows is also looking for other devices and testing the connections to ensure they're all communicating properly. This is where the drivers for your DSL are loading and establishing communications. If this delay started after you installed the DSL I'd write it off to that. A 90-120 second pause on a 350Mhz computer doesn't sound unreasonable. Others who have more knowledge about DSL may be able to explain or disagree, but that's what I think. Don Swayser
swayser@optonline.net

 

[MISAdmin]

Hi, Don.

Good description of the boot process, but, just so you know, there are no drivers for DSL. A DSL Modem gets connected to the PC through a LAN Card. Of course, there are drivers for the LAN Card, and the LAN Card communicates with the DSL router and sends Internet traffic utilizing the IP Protocol. Based on the information provided... my guess would be the Network Configuration, or the Anti-Virus causing the "hanging" on boot... The easiest to isolate would be the Anti-virus. Once that can be definately verified as not causing the problem, I'd probably start out by uninstalling and reinstalling all Network Components including the card and IP stack. But again, I can only go by the information provided above...

 

[AlexIT]

Ron,

I had a similar problem with PIII450, on my system the network card was fighting the sound card for IRQ10 during driver loading. Try setting your network card to use a static IRQ (=11) and reboot. This may solve it.

Alex

 

[Vansplatter]

Ron,

Is the boot process still hanging after the NIC was replaced? I thought it had ben reduced. If you wish to correspond with users directly via email or some other protocol I would just ask the peroson whom you wish to speak to if they are willing to do so. Then provide them your email or ICQ# or whatever and let the games begin
However, this is a great forum to correspond through and the public nature of it provides a great benifit to those with similar problems; helping others while helping yourself. I apologize if I have mis-interpreted your post, would not be the first time. Good Luck

Van-

 

[aardvarkron]

TO; MISAdmin and others;

When I 'rem' out rhe Norton startup function there is no difference in startup time. Next, I'll disconnect this computer from the HUB, and, if necessary remove the NETWORK card to see if anything changes.

The entire system (HUB and all related computers) does work very well. Maybe someone could just explain to me what the 'box' is doing during this long pause. Perhaps it is just the nature of the 'beast'.

Thanks again,

RON MAYNE

 

[MISAdmin]

Ron,

If you are going to remove the network card, make sure you also go into the Network Icon in the Control Panel and remove the card from the network configuration as well.

You say you REM out the Norton and it doesn't make any difference. What OS is this machine running? Is it running Windows 9x??? If so, the reference to Norton in your Autoexec.bat is just checking system files before loading Windows. Remarking that out will stop your system from the preliminary check, but Norton will still load at the desktop. You'll note that it puts a small icon in your system tray. You'll need to disable this too. It's probably not in the Startup group... So you'll need to find an option to turn it off in the software or do it in the registry if you know how. Sorry I can't be more specific than that, I don't have a Norton Client in front of me.

When did the system begin to get slow? Was it right after you added the Network Card and Norton Software?? Sorry if you've already covered this... again, I must have missed your first thread.

 

[cdogg]

Whenever you have "Client for MS Networks" installed with the "Primary Network Logon" set as this component, then bootup times can slow easily by 30 seconds or so. Your NIC is spending the extra time either a)communicating with your DSL modem or b)looking for a connection even if you don't have one.

It does seem strange that you are experiencing a 90-120 second pause. Try changing the Primary Network Logon to "Windows Logon" and reboot when prompted. This is just a quick test to see if it'll improve your boot time. If not, I would suspect either a driver problem or app running some sort of check at startup.


Good Luck...

 

[aardvarkron]

Hi cdogg and others;

Update; this is a home made collection of 5 computers (for my at home family members); all looking at a HUB that looks at the DSL. All the computers are set to "Windows logon". During startup the screen goes from:

- -ESCD- -
- -DMI- -
Starting Windows 98- -
Norton NAVDX- -
- -
- -
Norton Complete- -
C:\>

Then the thing sits for 100 seconds (I timed it this time)until it goes into the Windows 98 Desktop etc etc.

CDOGG; you're right, wheteher or not I have the network cable connected to the network card, the thing still does nothing obvious for 100 seconds.

MISAdmin; the network cards and Norton stuff have always been part of the system as I assembled it (I never thought much about the startup time during my step-by-step assembly).

If no one has a more immediate idea; I'll first remove the network card and check again. Then, I'll uninstall the complete NORTON program for a test with the network card still removed.

Thanx again,

Ron Mayne

 

[cdogg]

That's what I would do, Ron. Good luck!!

 

[aardvarkron]

Hello cdogg and others:

Well, here's the story.

The 100 seconds apparent pause time is reduced to 20 seconds when I remove the network card. This still allows one system to run fairly well (and slower)from a 56k modem. However, this would only allow one computer to be on-line at any time (instead of 5 or 6). So, yours truly will certainly tolerate the 100 seconds.

Is there a smart person in the group who might explain the extra 80 seconds versus the network card (different brands of network cards still cause about the same delay)??? The system will not let me change drivers or IRQ choices for the network card.

Thanks all,

RON MAYNE- -midway between Valley

 

[MISAdmin]

Hi Ron.

cdogg actually gave a good answer up above for why your system is taking extra time with the network card installed. Obviously you have TCP/IP installed to access the internet through your DSL modem. Are you running a Proxy Server? Are you using Static Addresses or Dynamic Addresses (DHCP)?? Try disabling both the DNS settings and WINS settings in the IP Configuration for that machine. Does that help any? Are you running any other protocols on that machine besides IP?

 

[Vansplatter]

Ron,

You say the system will not let you update the network card drivers, why? Under device mngr the update driver function will not work? If it does update from there. The microsoft drivers for some nics are very poor performers and can cause all kinds of slow downs as well as shut down problems. If need be delete the current driver-->reboot (without win98 CD in) -->and update driver from floppy. I really suspect a driver problem here. Sp don't give up on getting the driver installed NIC's are notoriously problematic during install. Good Luck

Van-

 

[aardvarkron]

Hi Van and others;

Van, it won't update the driver because it insists that it is using the only proper one in the group. The driver it is using did come from the CD that came with the SMC 1211 card.

- -in spite of assorted changes; we're still at 100 seconds and counting.

Thanks for continued input,

RON MAYNE

 

[grygst76]

A buddy of mine needed me to install his DSL. Before we installed it boot up time was typical. Immediately after we installed it we experience some crazy hang times around what you have stated 100 seconds sometimes more. I updated the drivers to the dsl and asked about a flash upgrade. After installing the new software our times to wait dropped to around 10-15 seconds!! You will always have a wait time when you have more then 1 pc connecting to your system because of tcp/ip,it needs to check the existing connections,e.t.c so check for an update to your dsl software or the winpoet software which surely will limit your wait time.

 

[cdogg]

Ron,

Ensure you have the latest driver by going here.

http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?action...oads&categoryID=1&productID=72&fileDownload=0

Just fill out Step 3 and download the zip file. I would unzip it to a temp folder on your C: drive. View the readme.txt file to see a couple BIOS and config.sys tweaks you'll want to set. Then try and update the driver by pointing it to your temp folder.

 

[aardvarkron]

Hello grygst76;
Hello cdogg;

grygst76, I called the Verizon techie guys and verified I was downloading the latest WinPoET exe file (3.48 megs)a few hours ago. It still creates version 2.0; the same as the one I uninstalled a bit earlier this evening. And, the 100 seconds from the C:\> after Norton finishes to the desktop picture still remains.

cdogg, I downloaded the SMC stuff and unzipped it in it's own directory. Then I went to the 'update drivers' in Device Manager. After offering the unzipped files from the SMC download, the system said it was working very well with it's existing drivers.
No BIOS changes fit the bill.

Such is life at the moment guys, with 100 seconds and such. Everything works well, at about 10-12 times faster for downloads compared to my 56k modem approach.

- -any other ideas and I'll be here,

RON MAYNE

 

[cdogg]

Ron,

Just a quick note that it will almost always tell you the existing drivers are fine. You should, however, update them anyway if the ones in the unzipped directory are later versions. This will ensure better compatibility and a slight chance that it fixes your problem.

Other than that, I'm all out of ideas. You said you've tried other NIC's with the same results? Were they different brands or SMC as well? Perhaps it is a limitation within Windows 98 of taking a long time to let multiple pc's connect. Definitely try a different brand if you haven't already and take a close look at your BIOS settings that might affect PCI performance...