[C E Jones]

I've been having ongoing problems accessing the internet with my DSL connection at home. The connection works for awhile then eventually it stops working and I have to keep re-starting my computer until it starts working again, and this keeps happening. I know the problem is not with the service provider but I'm not sure how to fix it on my computer.

I think the problem is with conflicting drivers. My network adapter is a Broadcom Pro/1000 MT. I'm running the Broadcom driver but the Microsoft 1394 Net Adapter is also running, and I think the problem is being caused by a conflict between these two drivers. The reason I think this is because when I boot up I sometimes get the following message:

ERROR
Resource Conflict - PCI Network Controller on Motherboard
Bus: 02, Device: 02, Function: 00

I tried uninstalling the 1394 driver, but Windows automatically re-installs the damn thing every time I restart! I tried deleting the driver file from my system folder, but 5 seconds after I delete it it re-appears out of nowhere!

Anyway, I'm really at a loss for what to do. Obviously my internet is working right now (after having to re-start like 10 times), but it will eventually blink out again and take hours to start working. This is very frustrating and a huge time drain, so I would very much appreciate any advice. Thanks,

cej

[Dave Hybrid]

Originally Posted by C E Jones I tried uninstalling the 1394 driver, but Windows automatically re-installs the damn thing every time I restart! I tried deleting the driver file from my system folder, but 5 seconds after I delete it it re-appears out of nowhere!

Don't uninstall it, disable it.

[C E Jones]

Originally Posted by Dave Hybrid Don't uninstall it, disable it.

Hi Dave,

I should have mentioned, I tried disabling it before uninstalling, and that didn't do a thing--that's why I tried uninstalling. I'm wondering whether maybe this is a hardware problem. Here's another weird error message I get every time I boot up:

Initializing boot agent:
The LAN Adapter's configuration is corrupted or has not been initialized. The boot agent cannot continue.

I really don't know what to make of all this. I'm thinking the easiest solution might be to get a USB ethernet adapter and hope that fixes it.

cej

[Dave Hybrid]

It's a difficult one to diagnose.

Yeah, an alternative USB or PCI network adaptor will probably bypass the issue.

[C E Jones]

Originally Posted by Dave Hybrid It's a difficult one to diagnose. Yeah, an alternative USB or PCI network adaptor will probably bypass the issue.

Thanks Dave, I'll try that. It's very weird that this is happening--it's really more out of curiosity that I want to fix the issue, but shelling out for a hardware fix is probably the way to go.

cej

[Dave Hybrid]

Sometimes it's easier than bothering with the fixing headache.

Network cards can be had for the price of a coffee anyway.

[C E Jones]

Originally Posted by Dave Hybrid Sometimes it's easier than bothering with the fixing headache. Network cards can be had for the price of a coffee anyway.

Just to let you know I figured out how to deal with this problem (with my ethernet mysteriously starting and stopping), if not exactly what's causing it. After trying a zillion different things, it gradually dawned on me that what works every time is to power off for 20 minutes, then when I turn it back on the ethernet is working again. I don't know what it is, but it seems to be a general problem with the computer's performance declining when it's been on for awhile. It affects other processes as well, particularly video playback. When I first turn on the computer it plays avi's and DVD's perfectly, but I notice the video starts to halt and skip about 90 minutes into a movie. So I guess it's all being caused by heat (even though I haven't noticed my laptop getting unusually hot) and my computer can't go on forever the way it used to. It's going on 4 years old--I guess I'll just get as much more use out of it as I can and start thinking about getting a new one. Thanks for your feedback--

cej