Cannot enable IEEE1394 card in WinXP (to scan chase slides)

[Roger Edwards]

Maybe someone here is enough of a "Windoze" guru to help. If so, I appreciate it.

SHORT: IEEE 1394 (FireWire) card will not activate in my Windows XP (with SP2) box. I desperately need this for my FireWire-only slide scanner (to give folks new SkyPix images from last year's slides).

LONG: Mother(f____r)board fried a couple months ago and I had to get a new one. Since then, the FireWire card has been inaccessible. The card does not show up in <Control Panel>===<Network Connections> as it should but does show up in <Device Manager> -- with a yellow exclamation over its icon.

When I attempt to enable it <Device Manager> the error I get is error #10 (device cannot be started), device icon shows yellow exclamation.

Some possibilities I've already explored:

* DISABLE/ENABLE hardware: Done. Many times. No success.

* UNINSTALL/INSTALL from Device Manager: Done. Many times. No success. Displays yellow exclamation immediately upon reinstall.

* MANUAL UNINSTALL/INSTALL: Same story.

* CARD SECURELY IN SOCKET: Yes. I've tried it in all 3 sockets, in fact.

* DEVICE DRIVER: The WinXP default driver for TI IEEE-1394 chipset (which this card contains) is there, Windows finds it, and claims it is the latest version. The same driver (built in WinXP support for IEEE 1394) worked fine for me before with the other motherboard and same FireWire card. MS says, "Most IEEE 1394 devices do not need special drivers," and this one sure didn't before.

* SCANNER DRIVER: Installed but not relevant. Can't even enable the card to begin with, whatever is or isn't attached.

* CABLE LENGTH: Less than four feet...no problem. [MS recommends less than 4 meters).

* MS PATCHES for IEEE 1394 CONNECTIVITY in XP: One exists for when the connection isn't visible when the device is connected to the card ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/317812/en-us ), but in my case it won't show up in <Network Connections> with *or* wirhout the scanned plugged in. Still, I downloaded it and tried it, with no change in results.


I'm not bridging it with anything else, nor do I typically ever plug anything into the card but the scanner (which itself is in fine working order).

I've browsed forums in MS and places like devhardware.com and cannot find a coherent solution for a situation lke this, once the above steps (the usual bugaboos) are all accounted for.

Any ideas what else I should try before I go spend money on a new IEEE 1394 card or tear open Elke's PC (rather would avoid if at al possible) to try it on another machine? The only thing I can figure for now is that the card itself somehow has gone bad and won't activate. But if I plug a new card in and experience the same thing, then what?

 

[Matthew Havin]

First off, I love the Rants...good stuff.

Like most annoying computer problems.... this one will be a quest for answers. Here is what I would do...

But first:
Assumptions:
1. MOBO has fried and been replaced. All other components are original in computer.
2. The new MOBO differs from the original in make/model.

Unknowns that have to be solved:
Is it?:
1. Fried/broken 1394 card
2. XP SP2 error where driver is in limbo hell where it has the device driver, can install it, but for some stupid reason STILL doesnt work
3. Other hardware issues

Steps I would take for fate of 1394 card:
1. Answer some questions. I am adventurous.... so I would take the 1394 card out and find another computer to test it in (try another XP SP2 computer....otherwise if you do it on Win2000 you will know you have a working card but may not detect a XP problem if that is the case)
2. If you test it on another XP SP2 box and it DOES NOT work.... then test it on Win2000 box
3. If it still doesnt work, install device driver (even though it doesn't supposedly doesnt need it)... and test
4. Still doesnt work? Card likely bad. Go to pricewatch.com, get an OEM IEEE 1394 card for about $6 I have done it personally and works great.

What if the card works?
1. Then you have 2 unknowns...... bad hardware in your computer causing a problem with the 1394, or XP SP2 is taking a dump and wont bridge the gap between software driver and hardware.... or some other strange reason that you'll likely pull your hair out trying to solve. Reinstalling XP SP2 is extreme but would take out the unknowns about software/driver problems or conflicts. Some problem may stem back to the new MOBO without a fresh reinstall of XP SP2 (unless you have already).

You should hope the card is bad! Then you're only out a few bucks and can save a lot of time on diagnosing a more complex problem.

Good luck Roger!

 

[Roger Edwards]

Matt,

Thanks for trying to help me solve this one.

Assumptions:
1. MOBO has fried and been replaced. All other components are original in computer.
2. The new MOBO differs from the original in make/model.

Correct on both counts. Also...

Some problem may stem back to the new MOBO without a fresh reinstall of XP SP2 (unless you have already).

Yes, I did (actually the shop did). The hard drive was formatted and XP+SP2 freshly reinstalled.


I'll try your ideas step by step and in that order, much as I hate to crack open my wife's PC (she uses it professionally, daily, but it does have XP+SP2, like mine).

I'll report back on this forum in the event this can benefit any other chasers who have IEEE1394 problems in the future, since so much postprocessing of storm related media to PCs is done through FireWire ports.

 

[Roger Edwards]

I put the FireWire card in Elke's PC (different/older MOBO, different chipset, etc.) and it wouldn't start there either...same error. The card was as dead as the Victorian monarchs, probably blitzed by the fallout from when the mother(f____r)board that originally held it nuked itself.

The saga isn't over yet, though. I procured a new and working FireWire card (is recognized and does start in both PCs) but *neither* PC can see the scanner through it (yes, reinstalled drivers again). As often is the case with me and electronics, it appears to be simultaneous juxtaposition of problem (cooked MOBO) on top of problem (killed FireWire card) on top of problem (apparently, either the IEEE1394 cable is bad...will swap out tomorrow and see...or the FireWire port on the scanner has gone off into the weeds).

[Any wonder now why I'm not a techno-chaser, with bluetooth this and Motorola that and HDV this and Threatnet that? It would all malfunction at once! That, I'd rather concentrate on the sky, and I'm a cheapskate. ]

I do have the scanner Jerry-rigged through a slower USB connection now thanks to a highly anomalous burst of electronic intuition, so at least it is working and I can scan pix again for the first time all winter (only one at a time or it goes painfully slow). In conclusion...

"It ain't as fast as it once was, but it's as fast once as it ever was."

 

[Matthew Havin]

Oh! USB eh? Ya, I would have taken that route myself. Slow, but it works!

More often than not in the world of computers, clear victories are hard to come by. Compromising computer conclusions like this seem to be common in my experience. Good job!