kodi

Download BELARC ADVISOR it should fit on a floppy,run it and it will tell you what hardware and software you have then we can find drivers for you.
I would try to download the manual from the link in my previous post (even if you have to use another computer) as you will find it EXTREMELY helpful

linderman

yes you could use a PCI slot IDE controller card to boot the hard drive with but make sure in your quest for a cheap one; verify you get a bootable one

loninappleton

How about Everest?


I recall Belarch But that was on a different machine I had.
I never had much occasion to use it.

I'll see if the manual link goes through today or I can use a public
terminal at the library.

I have done some things.

I tried to put the image of the small drive that work on the system
to its own IBM Deskstar which is larger. I did this on another machine
of about the same age.

The clone job said it went through ok. But the Deskstar would not boot
on the GX150. I used what looked to be the right settings for
master rather than cable select because the old drive that boots is
set up that way with no problem. I then tried the original cable select
config. and that too just gave a cursor on a blank screen.

I also ran an operating system reinstall hoping that the discovery
process would be complete but the same three devices from the previous
post failed to get installed.

Ethernet (one of the devices that shows errors in device manager) on the motherboard lights up and shows a bit of activity so it seems to be working.

Most motherboards have a driver install disk. How could I search for
a setup disk for this Dell? This seems like a knotty problem.


As to the IBM deskstar, it doesn't seem to behave like a normal hard disk
after wiping and putting on a fresh image.

linderman

when you clone a hard drive the clone has to be from the same machine that going to run it

otherwise if you clone from machine A then try to run it in Machine B; the hardware configuration is so much different that it wont boot. With Win XP and Win 2K you can boot from the set-up CD (normally) and run a repair install usually.


the water gets deeper huh?

linderman

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1755

loninappleton

That's why I did the reinstall so that the discovery process would be completed.

This is normally no big deal on my machines: the OS finds a piece here or
there and goes through.

The water should never be this deep: it's all proprietary bs.


Right now I am going to try to run Everest.

Belarc only works on a net connected machine.

How big of a deal is it to get a Dell setup disk for a GX150 that has
everything on it-- just like I'd get with a motherboard like my Mach Speed
X-Caliber?


Why should you have to pick through a haystack of menus for this stuff?

Maybe I just don't know how to look for what's needed.

linderman

you should not need any dell disk ?


the operating system should set-up most everything, you may have to get the motherboard drivers but that should not be any big feat once the system can boot into an operating system ?

the big quest is getting a boot disk or cd rom which will fire up the OS install

I would try a PCI slot dual channel IDE controller card. Once channel for the cd-rom (ide version of course) and the other channel for the hard drive.

I believe your whole trouble may be with the onboard IDE controller ?

loninappleton

Maybe a bit of review is needed.

I have the win98se operatiing system installed and booting on a small
Maxtor drive.

I have screen working but it is only at 640 x400

I have an Ethernet port which lights up and is getting data (a couple blinks)
from the 4 port switch I have connected to my dsl router.


I just ran everest but I don't know if a separate message is necessary
for that so here goes with what Everest told me.

PCI devices:

Eth 3com 39c20 Integrated fast ethernet controller

Audio Intel 82801BA ICHZX AC'97 Audio Controller

Graphics Intel 82815 chipset integrated i752 Graphics VGA controller.


I'm not real concerned about audio.

But the eth and screen rez are the priority.


Please give any help you can with driver info.

I am going to go back to Dell and see if any of these numbers match up.

linderman

ahhhhhh so sorry for losing where we were in this mission! my bad




use driverguide to point you in the direction of needed drivers.


I would use whatever means you can to get connected to the internet, then you can access driver guide toolbox to get drivers. dial-up modem, cable modem etc

http://www.driverguidetoolkit.com/re...lkit__download

loninappleton

I thought if driver guide but may need some help with that.

The latest problem I found was that the info Everest reported did not
match up with what was available on the Dell driver download page.

I found one pretty close match for video so that the screen (my screen) can
display what would be on a web site.


So how to use driver guide to find the 3Com3C920 Fast Ethernet Controller?

Wouldn't that be at 3Com? I am getting burnt today. :-(

linderman

download the software then install it open the program there will be tabs


one of them is ID unknown devices then you click connect to internet and find the unknown device driver

it then gives you a web site adress to get you right to a model number and often the driver itself

loninappleton

There's no connecting to the internet on this machine. That's what the
3Com driver is needed for.

I'm buried in the haystack. I need a needle solution. Where is a driver
for the #Com3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller?


All that driver guide muck is pay-for stuff and I don't want to deal with
it.

Why couldn't the manufacturer supply the real deal?


Elsewhere, the video driver shown for the GX150 at Dell Driver Download
didn't run. I'm still stuck with 640x400 and no options in Display manager.



I'm beating my head against the wall on this. It's all dead ends.


Plus there is that PCI system driver or whatever up there in the previous
post which I don't even know what it is or refers to. I don't mind doing some
research but I don't want to go to the haystack day in and day out.


We are trying to solve one problem: ethernet connection to a plug which
appears to be lit up and working. Everest has reported that the controler is a
3Com3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller. This number does not match
any of the selectible items at the Dell Download site.

loninappleton

I'm about ready to throw in the towel on this.

The only google reference i got for the original product code 3com3c920
mentioned something about Gateway and a different product code 3c905c-tx
which was a pretty close match to what is at the Dell site.

So I got an exe file called 3c90xcfg.exe copied to floppy from the
file download executable.

That exe file gave the following error:

"You have installed a version of EMM386.exe prior to v4.49 which may have
problems with your PCI Bios. The program cannot be executed with this
EMM386.exe installed."


I give up for today.


I've never had any of this level of problems with builds I've done from
scratch. But in those cases I had the NIC driver disk at least. This is a nightmare.


What is an EMM386.exe?

linderman

can you install a dial up modem and can you get dial up access?


you must have an easy way to "add" a network card or cable modem so you can connect to the internet

from their you can get drivers with that driverguide it works as trial version for 10 days

either way; you cant fight the fact you need access to the internet ???? whats your plan to do that ?

we can proceed from their

loninappleton

Hi Joe,

Well I am calmed down a bit. The latest is I found some news at Microsoft about an EMM622 prog. which supposed to fix some headaches from a floppy
disk.

I'll try that tomorrow.


I just don't have that much faith and trust in downloads.com or whatever.
I've gotten too many dead ends from all of this. I don't know if this stuff is
*that* old that I should be having all these problems. Or if it's proprietary
stuff that was screwed with or wiped before giving it to the party I'm
working on it for.


I wonder what trying to install Windows 2000 Pro would do. I have that
and had that installed on a box that I got used which was a real oldtimer.


I don't have any extra NICs here. This desktop has a couple slots going
sideways but that would introduce a nightmare of conflicts.


I may give up if I can't run that EMM622 and then the 3com setup prog
all from a floppy. Enough for today. Thanks for staying with me on this.

kodi

Driver for Ethernet located HERE

Down load to floppy and install

linderman

nice find brian! bravo




you are experiecing right now why I dont like manufactured PC's my dislike had nothing to do with price or service, its drivers and hardware support; especially when you upgrade beyond the original specification!

kodi

Video driver HERE

loninappleton

http://www.soft32.com/Download/Free/...-170768-1.html


Says here that there's no way to get it. They have a lot of nice advertising though.


I'll see what I can do tomorrow.

thanks for your efforts.

kodi

Just tested it and THIS DOWNLOAD WORKS

This is the driver for the 3com905 but while searching for the 920 drivers I read that this one will work.
The other alternative is drivers guide (it is free, just scroll down) they want to know your life history but it is one of the best driver site around