Tag Archives: amd

bigpond nextG 7.2 MF636 usb modem doesn’t like an AMD PC

Computer Aid Posted on by

A customer recently got a bigpond MF636 USB modem for her Compaq desktop PS (she can’t get ADSL).

She Installs the modem, and it works for about an hour, and then stops connecting to the internet.

I’ve not seen this model before, and find it works in an iteresting way:

– When you first plug it in, it acts like a USB drive, with the all the driver software automatically installing itself.

– After the driver software installs, it resets itself into USB modem mode (and the USB drive is no longer visible).

In this case, however, the software says that it can see the modem, it detects a signal strength of 4/5 bars, but pressing the connect button will have different effects, depending on which usb port you plug it into.

Mostly, it will appear to be connected, but no browsing, no ping, no email.

At first I thought: its trend thats interfering as usual.

But removing trend and resetting the windows firewall doesn’t fix anything.

I eventually start running out of ideas.

The only thing thats unusual about this PC is that it uses an AMD CPU, and that the USB modem (and the drivers) are probably less than 1 year old.

So its possible that the modem drivers have not been tested much on AMD hardware.

All I can suggest is that the customer returns the modem, and gets a different brand (a few days later, I’m told that the different modem worked correctly).

Blue screen (0X0000007e) when moving between amd and intel

Computer Aid Posted on by

As mentioned in a previous post, I decide (for stability and throughput reasons) to change my main system from a “newish” AMD Sempron 2800+  to an old Intel P4 2.6Ghz.

I swap the motherboards, run the XP repair install, and the intel system is up and running (mostly).

I do the usual search for drivers, and I get the ethernet going, but the onboard sound doesn’t work… and the PC freezes at some point.

Being the eternal optimist, I reboot and give the system another chance.

But the lockups keep happening.

I try using linux, but still no sound… the drivers are setup correctly, as the system goes through the motions of playing, with equalisers pulsing, showing what the sound would “look” like… just nothing coming out of the green plug.

And the system cannot run for more than 2 hours without a lockup… looks like a trip back to [censored] for a replacement.

So I look at temporarily reinstating the sempron system.

I put the AMD mobo back, do a repair install, but after the initial copy of files, and the necessary reboot into a GUI install to complete the XP installation, I get a glimpse of a blue screen of death (BSOD), and the system restarts (where the process repeats).

Pressing F8, and choosing “disable automatic restart on system failure”, lets me get a good look at the BSOD:

STOP: 0x0000007E (0xC0000005,0xBA278750,0xBA4C7430,0xBA4C712C)

A search finds a few tentative solutions.

I try the chkdsk /f c: … but it doesn’t help

The strange thing is that linux and bartPE work just fine, so there isn’t a hardware problem.

I eventually get an answer that works:

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic21621-2.html

In particular, the solution by alisvolat on the 25/04/2007 is exactly what I need… from bartPE, I rename  c:winsystem32driversintelppm.sys

And the repair install can finally complete.

I used to be a strong supporter of AMD, but lately, I’ve really started to like the stability of Intel.

I have seen so many AMD systems with impossible to fix “peculiarities”, that I now prefer intel.

dell AIO 810 (scanner won’t work: device is not available)

Computer Aid Posted on by

I connected a new Dell 810 multi function printer connected to a customers new Dell XP system, and it would print, and copy, but scanning wouldn’t work (the software would give the error: device is not available

The software would give an error, and no amount of uninstalling and reinstalling software and drivers would make it work (even with the latest software from the dell website).

The best Dell support could muster was to use MS paint to scan via the twain interface.

After some prior work in trying to make an Epson 3490, I suspect there is a problem with the PC running on an Athlon 64 X2 processor (but cannot confirm it)… I’d really like to know if its the processor, the motherboard, or something else…

epson 3490 scanner (escndv.exe problem and maybe an amd athlon issue)

Computer Aid Posted on by

Another odd problem:

Customer would like me to setup his new system (he got it a few months ago, so it didn’t get incapacitated with Vista 🙂 )

So I start the Dell (with 1GB RAM, and a nice quick Athlon 64 X2 processor), and it goes through the usual customer screens (enter your location, etc). It all goes smoothly except for the bluetooth mouse and keyboard (thats another story!).

Anyway, its all running smoothly, and I’m then asked if I can get the epson 3490 scanner working (he wants it setup, as it it has a backlight for scanning negatives).

The Epson software installs without a hitch, but when I try to run it, it says something like: escndv.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close.

I download the latest software from the epson website, but I get the same thing.

OK, I uninstall the software, and then remove any leftover files/folders, and also scan the registry, removing any epson scanner entries. I then install the latest software and: same problem…..

I take it back to the office, and it works just fine on my old P4 1.8Ghz system (after I realise there is a lock switch under the scanner (doh!)).

I take it back, and it still doesn’t work.

The customer previously rang dell support (to get scanning working on his dell multifunction printer/scanner), but they were also confused and couldn’t help (except to use microsoft paint to scan via the twain interface).

I thought it was a good idea, so I also tried MS paint and managed to get a scan from the 3490…. interesting, but the twain interface doesn’t allow for switching on the negative backlight.

I try the customers laptop, and it also works perfectly… at least he now has a way of scanning his negatives.

It suddenly dawned on me that this might be because his dell system uses an AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor.

It just might be a coincidence, as I’ve never seen an AMD/Intel compatibility problem before.

I wonder if AMD / Dell / Epson know about this problem?