Building hidden computer - Page 3

**wrench97** · 04-06-2009, 12:01 PM

It's not the router if it works with other connections. in Device manager uninstall the Network adapter, reboot see if windows rediscovers it, I'm not convinced it's software related.

Partholon · 04-06-2009, 01:37 PM

already did that

**wrench97** · 04-06-2009, 02:13 PM

In device manager are there any yellow marks or red X's?

You may want to test the Ethernet port using a version of live linux such as Puppy Linux.
http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads/...2-deep-thought

Partholon · 04-06-2009, 02:19 PM

no error flags in device manager, and it says it is operating properly.

i pulled the HD out of my other computer and popped it in this one, booted up, dispite all kinds of missing drivers it was able to instantly get online. the problem cant be the hardware its obviously the vista.

**WereBo** · 04-06-2009, 02:19 PM

I've noticed that the Vista updates (on Mrs WereBo's laptop) keeps wanting to install 'updated' Realtek network drivers.

I installed them the 1st time, and the network went belly-up. I uninstalled that particular update and re-installed the original drivers and all was well again. I did notice that the network light stayed on, even with bad drivers though.

Could this be related to your problem?

I'm not happy with, or very knowledgeable about Vista and my networking skills are sketchy, at best - The fact that the indicator light goes off makes me wonder whether a fault with the RJ45 socket, or related circuitry, on the mobo has developed.

I'm sorry I can't be more helpful with this - Purely for testing purposes, would you have a Win-XP install disc around? If it works with that, then it would definitely tie the problem down to Vista.

Edit: Hehehe... you just beat me to it

At least it ties the problem down to Vista, rather than hardware

**WereBo** · 04-06-2009, 02:25 PM

Sorry Partholon, all I can suggest is either uninstalling your last updates, or a complete re-install

Partholon · 04-06-2009, 02:34 PM

the fact that it works just fine with the XP hard drive in makes me think that there is nothing wrong with any of the hardware. sense it cant get online at all, auto updating also cant be an issue.

i also tried a complete format and reinstall,twice, once with x64 and once with x86.

still same exact problem

**WereBo** · 04-06-2009, 02:47 PM

Daft question but, it said on the box that it's Vista-compatible?

If yes, then this is beyond me - All I can suggest is to try asking the 'Networking' section of TSF, they have some wizards there

**wrench97** · 04-06-2009, 02:56 PM

Yes that will eliminate the hardware as an issue, does the motherboard cd have realtech drivers for Vista on it if so, in device manager click on update drivers and point vista to the path on the cd.

Partholon · 04-08-2009, 05:23 PM

ive tried several different drivers including the latest and it didnt fix the problem. Im positive theres nothing wrong with my hardware. I was so disgusted with windows vista that i traded it for a stand alone version of Windows XP from a co-worker. Everything works perfectly now.

Im very, very disappointed, i wanted to have more then 3gb of ram and was really looking forward to a new UI but the epic fail that is vista just wouldn't cooperate.

That whole fiasco set me back quite a bit on my custom building, but now that its overwith i can get back to the more fun stuff. ill keep yas updated.

**WereBo** · 04-08-2009, 05:36 PM

Don't worry too much, Partholon, it won't be too long before Win-7 is released - That's supposed to be a lot better

One bonus though, Win XP should zip along a lot faster than Vista would, with all its 'bloatware'

**wrench97** · 04-08-2009, 05:38 PM

If you ever want to dive in again Realtech has a Vista Diag. program as well as Vista 64 bit drivers on their web site> http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...130/RTL8139B(L)

It is not a common problem I can't say that I've ever ran into it before.

Partholon · 04-09-2009, 09:51 AM

my networking adapter is nvidia why would i need realtech tools?

**wrench97** · 04-09-2009, 01:20 PM

What motherboard is this again?

dc88 · 04-17-2009, 12:57 AM

If you haven decided on what to do with your disk drive yet heres a thought
would it be at all possible to mount an internal drive in the wall so that just the face plate is seen one would shorten wire length a little and if you could customize the drive itself some how and position it to mach the design of the car instument panel might look cool very nice car by the way

Partholon · 04-20-2009, 02:10 PM

i had considered something along those lines DC88, but after deciding i wanted absolute silence the idea went out the window. Particularly sense ill be setting up RAID, i just didn't want the sound of hard drives at all. could have looked cool though yer rite about that.

dc88 · 04-20-2009, 10:09 PM

i was talking about you cd/dvd drives but i didnt read the whole thred just first page didnt notice other pages until after i posted that you probably already have them done sorry wasnt paying attention

Partholon · 04-21-2009, 08:45 AM

oh i thought by disk drives you meant heard disk drives, as i origionaly considered making them external for easy swapping out.

my Blu-ray drive and dvd burner are being just to the right of my seating position, approximately where the old radio is located in the dash board. I have the remains of my cars radio face plate (those old tuners use a steel face plate over the electrionics, and the numbers and such are actually written on the faceplate not the radio its self)

i was trying to think of a way that i could modify the drives so that i could use the faceplate as a "frame" for them, but i just don't see that happening because im just not willing to hack the plate apart so dramatically. it would require me nipping off a good 20% of the trimming which is where all the classic decor is.

I just finished the Starter button but now have to decided exactly where i want to mount it. Obviously i cant have it near where it would have been on the dash, it would be too likely to be accidentally hit by my keyboard or mouse. Im thinking about bulding a custom stand for my monitors (i have three of them) and sorta attaching them all together. doing so would give me a space at the bottom trim of the monitors to mount the button. only problem there is, ive never really mucked with an LCD before and the risk could outweigh the adventure of it.

**WereBo** · 04-21-2009, 01:46 PM

I hadn't noticed you were building it on a 'car' theme, otherwise I'd have suggested a car's ignition-key switch for your power on - The 2nd switch position is a 'momentary-make' type switch, same as the power on/off

**magnethead** · 04-21-2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Partholon

oh i thought by disk drives you meant heard disk drives, as i origionaly considered making them external for easy swapping out.

my Blu-ray drive and dvd burner are being just to the right of my seating position, approximately where the old radio is located in the dash board. I have the remains of my cars radio face plate (those old tuners use a steel face plate over the electrionics, and the numbers and such are actually written on the faceplate not the radio its self)

i was trying to think of a way that i could modify the drives so that i could use the faceplate as a "frame" for them, but i just don't see that happening because im just not willing to hack the plate apart so dramatically. it would require me nipping off a good 20% of the trimming which is where all the classic decor is.

I just finished the Starter button but now have to decided exactly where i want to mount it. Obviously i cant have it near where it would have been on the dash, it would be too likely to be accidentally hit by my keyboard or mouse. Im thinking about bulding a custom stand for my monitors (i have three of them) and sorta attaching them all together. doing so would give me a space at the bottom trim of the monitors to mount the button. only problem there is, ive never really mucked with an LCD before and the risk could outweigh the adventure of it.

Leave the LCD's in their stock housings, and make a one piece housing that all 3 LCD's can mount to (if they have wall mounts on back) or that straps to the pedastals.

04-06-2009, 12:01 PM	#41 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,516 OS: Win7	Re: Building hidden computer It's not the router if it works with other connections. in Device manager uninstall the Network adapter, reboot see if windows rediscovers it, I'm not convinced it's software related. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

04-06-2009, 01:37 PM	#42 (permalink)
Partholon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Building hidden computer already did that __________________ X

04-06-2009, 02:13 PM	#43 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,516 OS: Win7	Re: Building hidden computer In device manager are there any yellow marks or red X's? You may want to test the Ethernet port using a version of live linux such as Puppy Linux. http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads/...2-deep-thought __________________ Power Supply and Selection

04-06-2009, 02:19 PM	#44 (permalink)
Partholon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Building hidden computer no error flags in device manager, and it says it is operating properly. i pulled the HD out of my other computer and popped it in this one, booted up, dispite all kinds of missing drivers it was able to instantly get online. the problem cant be the hardware its obviously the vista. __________________ X

04-06-2009, 02:19 PM	#45 (permalink)
WereBo Resident Village Idiot Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: SE London, UK Posts: 14,454 OS: Win-7, XP-Pro SP3 My System	Re: Building hidden computer I've noticed that the Vista updates (on Mrs WereBo's laptop) keeps wanting to install 'updated' Realtek network drivers. I installed them the 1st time, and the network went belly-up. I uninstalled that particular update and re-installed the original drivers and all was well again. I did notice that the network light stayed on, even with bad drivers though. Could this be related to your problem? I'm not happy with, or very knowledgeable about Vista and my networking skills are sketchy, at best - The fact that the indicator light goes off makes me wonder whether a fault with the RJ45 socket, or related circuitry, on the mobo has developed. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful with this - Purely for testing purposes, would you have a Win-XP install disc around? If it works with that, then it would definitely tie the problem down to Vista. Edit: Hehehe... you just beat me to it At least it ties the problem down to Vista, rather than hardware __________________ I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them. Last edited by WereBo; 04-06-2009 at 02:20 PM.

04-06-2009, 02:25 PM	#46 (permalink)
WereBo Resident Village Idiot Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: SE London, UK Posts: 14,454 OS: Win-7, XP-Pro SP3 My System	Re: Building hidden computer Sorry Partholon, all I can suggest is either uninstalling your last updates, or a complete re-install __________________ I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.

04-06-2009, 02:34 PM	#47 (permalink)
Partholon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Building hidden computer the fact that it works just fine with the XP hard drive in makes me think that there is nothing wrong with any of the hardware. sense it cant get online at all, auto updating also cant be an issue. i also tried a complete format and reinstall,twice, once with x64 and once with x86. still same exact problem __________________ X Last edited by Partholon; 04-06-2009 at 02:36 PM.

04-06-2009, 02:47 PM	#48 (permalink)
WereBo Resident Village Idiot Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: SE London, UK Posts: 14,454 OS: Win-7, XP-Pro SP3 My System	Re: Building hidden computer Daft question but, it said on the box that it's Vista-compatible? If yes, then this is beyond me - All I can suggest is to try asking the 'Networking' section of TSF, they have some wizards there __________________ I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.

04-06-2009, 02:56 PM	#49 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,516 OS: Win7	Re: Building hidden computer Yes that will eliminate the hardware as an issue, does the motherboard cd have realtech drivers for Vista on it if so, in device manager click on update drivers and point vista to the path on the cd. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

04-08-2009, 05:23 PM	#50 (permalink)
Partholon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Building hidden computer ive tried several different drivers including the latest and it didnt fix the problem. Im positive theres nothing wrong with my hardware. I was so disgusted with windows vista that i traded it for a stand alone version of Windows XP from a co-worker. Everything works perfectly now. Im very, very disappointed, i wanted to have more then 3gb of ram and was really looking forward to a new UI but the epic fail that is vista just wouldn't cooperate. That whole fiasco set me back quite a bit on my custom building, but now that its overwith i can get back to the more fun stuff. ill keep yas updated. __________________ X

04-08-2009, 05:36 PM	#51 (permalink)
WereBo Resident Village Idiot Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: SE London, UK Posts: 14,454 OS: Win-7, XP-Pro SP3 My System	Re: Building hidden computer Don't worry too much, Partholon, it won't be too long before Win-7 is released - That's supposed to be a lot better One bonus though, Win XP should zip along a lot faster than Vista would, with all its 'bloatware' __________________ I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.

04-08-2009, 05:38 PM	#52 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,516 OS: Win7	Re: Building hidden computer If you ever want to dive in again Realtech has a Vista Diag. program as well as Vista 64 bit drivers on their web site> http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...130/RTL8139B(L) It is not a common problem I can't say that I've ever ran into it before. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

04-09-2009, 09:51 AM	#53 (permalink)
Partholon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Building hidden computer my networking adapter is nvidia why would i need realtech tools? __________________ X

04-09-2009, 01:20 PM	#54 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,516 OS: Win7	Re: Building hidden computer What motherboard is this again? __________________ Power Supply and Selection

04-17-2009, 12:57 AM	#55 (permalink)
dc88 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: PA Posts: 13 OS: Windows XP	Re: Building hidden computer If you haven decided on what to do with your disk drive yet heres a thought would it be at all possible to mount an internal drive in the wall so that just the face plate is seen one would shorten wire length a little and if you could customize the drive itself some how and position it to mach the design of the car instument panel might look cool very nice car by the way

04-20-2009, 02:10 PM	#56 (permalink)
Partholon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Building hidden computer i had considered something along those lines DC88, but after deciding i wanted absolute silence the idea went out the window. Particularly sense ill be setting up RAID, i just didn't want the sound of hard drives at all. could have looked cool though yer rite about that. __________________ X

04-20-2009, 10:09 PM	#57 (permalink)
dc88 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: PA Posts: 13 OS: Windows XP	Re: Building hidden computer i was talking about you cd/dvd drives but i didnt read the whole thred just first page didnt notice other pages until after i posted that you probably already have them done sorry wasnt paying attention

04-21-2009, 08:45 AM	#58 (permalink)
Partholon Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 67 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Building hidden computer oh i thought by disk drives you meant heard disk drives, as i origionaly considered making them external for easy swapping out. my Blu-ray drive and dvd burner are being just to the right of my seating position, approximately where the old radio is located in the dash board. I have the remains of my cars radio face plate (those old tuners use a steel face plate over the electrionics, and the numbers and such are actually written on the faceplate not the radio its self) i was trying to think of a way that i could modify the drives so that i could use the faceplate as a "frame" for them, but i just don't see that happening because im just not willing to hack the plate apart so dramatically. it would require me nipping off a good 20% of the trimming which is where all the classic decor is. I just finished the Starter button but now have to decided exactly where i want to mount it. Obviously i cant have it near where it would have been on the dash, it would be too likely to be accidentally hit by my keyboard or mouse. Im thinking about bulding a custom stand for my monitors (i have three of them) and sorta attaching them all together. doing so would give me a space at the bottom trim of the monitors to mount the button. only problem there is, ive never really mucked with an LCD before and the risk could outweigh the adventure of it. __________________ X

04-21-2009, 01:46 PM	#59 (permalink)
WereBo Resident Village Idiot Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: SE London, UK Posts: 14,454 OS: Win-7, XP-Pro SP3 My System	Re: Building hidden computer I hadn't noticed you were building it on a 'car' theme, otherwise I'd have suggested a car's ignition-key switch for your power on - The 2nd switch position is a 'momentary-make' type switch, same as the power on/off __________________ I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.