asked on

Network controller driver in Dell laptop will not install. Why?

I am working on a Dell Inspiron 5100. I install the operating system Windows XP Home from a Dell OEM CD. I then install the R50830 Chipset Mobile Chipset Driver. (Dell service has told me that I should install the R96945Dell Notebook System Software before the chipset. Have tried both). From what Dell themselves has said, graphics driver and audio driver are the next in line. I have installed the R66756 Video ATI mobility M7 Driver Version A02 and the R90698 Audio Driver. Everything goes well. Next in line is the Ethernet and Modem drivers.

I install the R54627 Network Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller Diagnostics Version A01 and the R54631 Network Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Driver. And I am still left with a yellow mark on the Network Controller in Device Manager and no connection to the Internet through the ethernet cable.

I have talked to Dell Support and even though they do not always agree on the order of which the Drivers are to be installed, I have tried different ways, but stayed with Chipset first and the network drivers afterwards. Dell has also confirmed that these are the drivers to install.

I have also tried installing the operating system several times, with different CD`s, downloaded the drivers from Dell Support on different USB flash drives in case of corruptions, but I am running out of options.

Does it matter which of these, R54627 Integrated Controller Diagnostics Version A01 and R54631Integrated Driver, that comes first? Even though Dell says these are the correct drivers, could they be wrong? What is wrong?

I know I have to be doing something wrong, but I can`t figure it out. Just to mention it, the network drivers are installed correctly, but their properties on device manager says the drivers are not installed.
Any advice?

Tomorrow I will try Driver Magician to see what unknown drivers pops up, and see if the drivers need to be installed from the vendors websites, but this should not be neccessary.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

souseran

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

EasyTechNY

ASKER

Hi, and thank you very much for the tip. I will be doing this same process with a friends Dell laptop in a few days and give you a feedback if it works. What I will do is copy the (PnP) ID and paste it in at Google or Dell`s Website on Downloading drivers to see if it works.

When it comes to the computer I was working on, I ended up installing the Wireless Driver. When I then updated Microsoft with Service Pack 3, the modem and network controller driver installed itself. The weird thing is that the drivers installed successfully. No yellow marks. Still, I did not get unto the internet wired. All the time a popup came up telling me constantly that a network cable was unplugged. It searched continously without success. I called Dell and they did a remote service on the computer without finding an error.

At the time, we all, including the other Techs and Dell, concluded that it was our 4 port Netgear switch which might have been the problem. The reason is that it has had some problems, especially in the rain. A few days later, the computer came in for an installation of a program. At that time I had tried another computer on the wired network successfully, but when I tried this problem computer it still did not work. So it could not have been our switch causing the problem. The conclusion is probably a defect circuit where the eternet cable connects to the computer, or it is the driver. I did not at that time dare to uninstall and install the driver.

But I will try your solution with the new Dell laptop, and give you a feedback shortly.

souseran

Your best bet once you have the Device Instance Id is to go to http://www.pcidatabase.com and enter the VEN and DEV numbers there to identify the vendor and device. In some cases there are also links to specific driver download locations as well.