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Hello All,
I booted-up my computer last weekend to a nice surprise of seeing the error message on the screen after the initial Dell boot-up page (before the O/S loads) that says,
NIC failureMy computer continued to boot-up into Windows 2000 with all the reliability that I have come to know and love about WIN 2K, but sadly, with no internet connectivity (cable modem access through the NIC).
I am not certain why the NIC is failing, other than "it was time for her to go". And to add to the excitement of this problem, the NIC is integrated with the motherboard.
My questions are these:
1. Could there be another reason, other than total burnout, that the NIC is not being recognized by the BIOS?
2. Can an integrated NIC be replaced (by your average, run-of-the-mill, garden variety computer geek), and if so, what are the potential risks of additional damage to the rest of the motherboard by attempting to do so?
3. Is NIC failure a sign of other bads things to come for my motehrboard? In other words, "once one thing goes, other things will soon follow."
Any advise or responses to any of these questions will be greatly appreciated!!!Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
- Fuzzy
Check for a bad RJ45 cable or connection first. Then unplug your router/modem/switch and let it restart.
Do all this with the computer off and restart it last.
If that fails, a NIC can usually be found for about 10 bucks.
Skip
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Hey Skip, can you put a PCI NIC in a laptop?
I've never opened one up but wouldn't expect there to be room inside one for add-on cards.
Does the laptop have USB port available? Maybe a USB modem connection will be cheaper to establish than a new motherboard.Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach him to fish and you feed him for life.
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What made me think this was a laptop? I need new glasses.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach him to fish and you feed him for life.
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SkipCox,
Thanks for the suggestions. I already checked for cable integrity and all is well with my cat 5 cable and connectors. In addition, I already tried an add-on PCI NIC and it worked fine to resolve my connectivity problem. However, I don't have any available PCI slots on my MoBo. That is why I am hoping there is a proven method for replacing the integrated NIC, otherwise, I will have to remove one of my existing PCI devices to keep the PCI NIC in place.
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The only way to fix the integrated NIC is to replace the motherboard. The components are not replacable when integrated.
Richard
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It could be just a driver problem. Try removing the NIC in the Device Manager and let XP reinstall it.
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That's certainly possible ham...I concentrated on hardware because the error message is typical of a removed nic. i.e. you shut down the machine, remove the nic and get this message. I've also seen it happen when drivers were incompatible with the nic.
Good point.
Skip
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In response to the suggestion of the drivers being an issue in Windows, I am getting that error message even before the Operating System boots up. For example, if I remove the hard drive, which I have done as a test, and boot up my computer as far as it will go before it tries to access the primary boot device, I still get the error of "NIC failure."
And I thought device drivers are used to communicate to the operating system (Windows 2000) how to interact with those devices??? But seeing as how the BIOS isn't recognizing the NIC, I can't even get Windows Device Manager to tell me that I have an unknown network or communication device in my system's device architecture... it's like it isn't even there. And since it's integrated, I can't remove it and reseat it on the MoBo, very easily at least, not that I know of. But that's why I am here asking for advice.
And here's the other strange thing, I am still getting lights flashing on the NIC port when I plug-in a live network cable.
As much as I hate to say it, I am afraid Richard is right. However, any other ideas are always welcomed.
Thanks,
~Fuzzy
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Hi,
Although your NIC is integrated, and possibly has gone bad, you still can install a NIC card and it should function. I know I've done it before regardless of the errant response of #5.
However, you state you have no more available PCI slots. Are any of them occupied by something that is rarely or never used such as a modem? If this is the case, uninstall it and replace it with the NIC card.
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If you have both modem and sound cards, you could replace them with a card that has both. They are available.
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Great suggestion regarding the sound card / modem combo as this will take care of freeing up a PCI slot.
Thanks for all your suggestions.
~Fuzzy
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