Problem with modem & I/O ports

[ulver79]

I have a very annoying problem cropping up in an old computer I'm trying to resurrect. It is an old Pentium 166 MMX with Win 95. Every time I boot the computer, it stops with the message Conflict I/O port 2F8. I entered BIOS, disabled the port, and next time got Conflict I/O port 3E8. So I put both ports on "Autodetect" in my BIOS, everything appears to boot fine. Then, when I got into Windows, the modem (a USR Sportster 28.8) appeared to be fine, but won't dial. Claims there is no dial tone, although I have put several different active phone lines in the jack. Tried everything. Reinstalled it, nothing. Installed 3 other modems (2 PCI and another ISA), and could not get the PCI ones to work..the ISA modem (a USR Sportster 33.6) did the exact same thing as the other. It appears to work fine, shows up in Device Manager just fine, and receives AT commands. But when I try to dial out with it, it makes the "click" sound just before it dials, but gets no dial tone every single time. I even tried forcing it to dial without the tone and it still won't connect or do anything.

Is this a port conflict? I've tried moving the modems between COM 1 and COM 2..with no luck..I've tried disabling one or both ports..I've even tried removing other cards (like the Soundblaster 16 card) from the computer to see if that would help..but still, nothing. I've been working on this for about 10 hours now and would appreciate any advice I can get!
Thanks.

 

[pansophic]

I have to ask the obvious question first:

Is the phone line plugged into the line jack, and not the phone jack?

What driver are you installing for the ISA modem? A generic modem driver should work fine, and is less prone to problems of this kind.

Have you attempted to dial out through Hyperterminal, or are you using DUN?

Have you checked the phone cord? If you plug a phone into the phone jack, can you get dial tone?

What you are describing is common with the PCI WinModems, but I've never experienced it with an ISA modem before. And the fact that you have tried several different modems makes it even weirder.

Normally, if you are having a port conflict, the AT commands will not work properly, so you won't get as far as a "NO DIALTONE" message.

Have you tried an external? Have you figured out what was conflicting with your on-board serial ports? One could have been your modem, but two must be something else. I recall that the msd command was useful in troubleshooting this type of problem, but I am searching through years of cob webs to recall that.


pansophic

 

[ulver79]

Well, yes, I've checked and re-checked the connections, making sure the line was plugged in correctly. I switched lines several times, nothing worked. I've tried generic drivers, the USR drivers, everything. Same thing each time. The modem appears to be fine, responds to commands through Hyperterminal and looks like it's working fine up until it dials. Then no dial tone.

To make matters worse, I attempted to install two 56k PnP PCI modems in the computer, but it wouldn't even recognize them at all, and I've installed these same modems on numerous computers with no problems whatsoever..

Keep in mind I am trying this with two seperate ISA modems..one 28.8 USR Sportster and a 33.6 USR/Gateway Telepath II. Both do the exact same thing, regardless of what driver I use, either generic or manufacturer's.

I can't figure out what could be conflicting with the ports..the only things installed in the computer are the modem, a SB16 sound card, and an ATI Mach64 card. Nothing else. When I put the ports on autodetect in the BIOS, the conflict message disappears, though..

For the life of me, I can't figure this out. Nothing appears to be wrong with the modems when I install them, they respond to commands, Windows can detect them when it runs autodetect through the Modem panel, I've tried numerous drivers and configurations, checked connections, etc etc etc. I've never run into a problem like this before. I'm considering just scrapping Windows and starting from scratch, maybe that will fix the problem.

Anyway, thanks!

 

[pansophic]

I would have been to that point a long time ago. It is nearly inconceivable that there is any type of hardware conflict, because you would have trouble getting other commands to work in addition to actually dialing.

Driver sounds like the obvious answer, but it would be hard to believe on an ISA modem, and even more difficult because you have used more than one driver, all arriving at the same result.

Good luck with the reinstall!


pansophic