compaq presario 1230 notebook, PC card problem

[pollux]

Hello, all.

Maybe someone in this forum can help me with my compaq presario 1230 running Windows 98. I am trying to get the PCMCIA slot to work so that I can use a functional (tested on another notebook) Trust plug and play ethernet network card. The compaq does not recognize when this or any other card is inserted into the PCMCIA slot.

I have updated all drivers on the compaq using the hp/compaq site, including flashing the BIOS with the most recent available softpaq update (dated 1999). This step was recommended by hp/compaq "customer communities" support and is the only advice I received there. However, it has not corrected the problem.

In both the Device Manager and MS system information, the PCMCIA slot is recognized and the TI CardBus 1221 driver is installed 2x, which I understand is correct. No hardware conflicts or problem devices of any sort are reported. However, the slot is shown as empty no matter what card is plugged in. I have tried inserting the card before booting, no effect.

I have deleted all superfluous drivers in safe mode. I have opened the box to see if the connectors look OK and to make sure the card is inserted properly. I have located an updated set of drivers for the processor (in particular the PCI bus), which is a Cyrix mediaGX (I found the drivers on driverguide.com). I have uninstalled all drivers so that Windows 98 was required to set up all hardware again.

The card manufacturer suggests that the card needs to be enabled in the BIOS. I tend to think this is right because when I ran a BIOS testing utility, I learned that PCMCIA services could not be tested. So I think the BIOS doesn't know the card is there although Windows 98 does... Confusing, but it makes me think that the problem is not with the physical hardware.

However, there is no setting for PCMCIA card services in the compaq phoenix BIOS setup program. I have nevertheless tried disabling different peripherals in the BIOS to see if the IRQ's would be assigned differently, thus enabling the PC Card. I have also tried disabling IRQ steering altogether in Window's Device Manager. I have tried looking for a another BIOS flash altogether - the fact that Cyrix no longer exists as a company hasn't helped, I've found nothing.

None of this has had any effect whatsoever. No further advice is forthercoming from hp/compaq. In looking through the customer communities, however, I've seen that others have had similar problems and have not found a solution. So, maybe someone on this forum has another idea of what to try. I, you may have gathered, am at my wit's end!

Thanks in advance,
pollux

[NooNoo]

Have you considered the cardbus may be faulty?

When a laptop boots it checks all its hardware... usually the card in the pcmcia will give out a "roger" bleep.

Do you get this bleep?

[pollux]

Have you considered the cardbus may be faulty?

When a laptop boots it checks all its hardware... usually the card in the pcmcia will give out a "roger" bleep.

Do you get this bleep?


No, I don't get the beep, and I know what you're talking about from other laptops.

Now, here's a question that will probably reveal the enormous limitations in my knowledge about this stuff: is the cardbus like a thing that is in some way separate from the processor? I know that it has a different driver, one by a different company even (Texas Instruments, as opposed to Cyrix for the processor). Of course, Cyrix no longer exists and TI no longer supports their old stuff, according to the web site.

When I look in the service manual for the compaq, there is no separate listing for anything to do with the PCMCIA except the spring for its ejector and the door for the case. It is possible to replace the "system board" as a whole - I think they call it that because the Cyrix processor has the audio & video built in. But that wouldn't be worth the money, I think - better to save for a new machine altogether.

So is there any way to test for a faulty cardbus, whatever it is? Maybe I need a repair person for that.

pollux

[pollux]

Another thing: if the cardbus is simply bad, why does Windows find it & give it a driver? That's been what makes me think there'sa problem in the configuration rather than the harware, but maybe this is not good reasoning.

By the way, NooNoo, your signature tag is great, completely true.

pollux

[NooNoo]

heheheh

The device can be good enough to self test, but still be bad. (thinking of hours tearing hair out over modems and nics that self test ok)

It still could be configuration... the quickest way to test that would be to wipe the drive and install windows again with the pcmcia attached.

As to your cpu/cardbus question.... well it depends..The cpu commands all, but some devices can get on with things on their own and then request that the cpu interupts what its doing and take the information the device has.... this is the Interupt ReQuest you may have heard of.


You could try testing in DOS - that is boot with dos with the dos cardbus drivers and the dos drivers for the pcmcia card....

But the reason I went for faulty is your own troubleshooting, although you said you believe the pcmcia card could not be tested via bios, the cardbus can be but you didn't state whether it was or not.

[pollux]

Well, your post catches me at work on the problem, so here's a reply right away.

Wiping the drive & reinstalling is maybe fast from one angle but from the angle of reinstalling all the software & tweaks it's a big project. I did a clean install about a month ago (with no PC Card inserted)....

I have stumbled on another troubleshooting option for the configuration that I've yet to try: running Knoppix, a version of Linux that boots off of a CD-rom that creates a RAM drive. It sets up the system hardware without touching the OS on the harddisk. I'll probably get myself a Knoppix CD just because it interests me, but I'm not yet sure whether I can expect it to deal with the presario harware without adding a bunch of special configuration options that I'd have to learn... (another big project).

Since my last post, I did think of trying DOS drivers - no luck. "No cardbus card is inserted."

As far as the BIOS is concerned, well, in the very limited series of configuration options available to the user in the BIOS setup program provided by compaq, there is nothing involving the cardbus. Nothing at all.

I found "tweakBIOS," a utility that does what it sounds like. It so happens that none of the PCI devices on the presario are supported. However, I was able to read that, in DOS, the cardbus doesn't have an IRQ. Win98, on the other hand, assigns it to IRQ11. So I don't know where to go with that information. It suggests that the BIOS isn't initializing the cardbus and therefore the PCMCIA card services, which seems consistent with other symptoms (like, no beep). But then again, the compaq BIOS doesn't beep when it's run successfully so that's not conclusive. None of the tweakBIOS settings for the cpu, which is supported, have made any difference for the card.

I've been looking into the possibility of flashing the BIOS with something other than the compaq-provided softpaq, haven't discovered whether that is feasible.

I seem to have learned that the cardbus is a thing soldered to the "system board" which in theory means it is replaceable. But one would need the replacement part, and google hasn't shown me that such a part is obtainable. (I'm not really thinking of trying to do that myself, but I'd rather do as much troubleshooting as possible before taking the thing in).

So, that's where it's at. Any thoughts?

pollux

[NooNoo]

You have to be damn sure you know the bios is compatible to be able to flash any motherboard with another...
The knoppix idea sounds good... certainly if you can't get linux going on it, then it pretty much proves the situation, and it won't affect your windows install if you go with the one that runs from cd.

hmmm this might help (http://www.pbnec.nl/support/itemnr/NECFIUP00970200.html) While its a pb driver, I have found that most drivers are the reference drivers and will run on various brands of laptop.

this is the base driver (http://www.pbnec.nl/support/itemnr/NECFIUP02400200.html)

[pollux]

Well, Knoppix Linux reproduces the problem.

The PC Card is identified during boot, card services are installed, but then no inserted card is recognized. I messed around some with the different included drivers which made no difference since no inserted card is found.

So I'm ruling out configuration in favor of hardware.

Where that leaves me regarding the possibility of repair is something I suppose I'll have to take up with a compaq specialist...

Thanks for your responses, NooNoo!

pollux

[NooNoo]

my pleasure.