Sound card crippled network, suggestions?

Hi there,

I got a pci sound card (Sound Blaster Audigy2) from a friend and
attempted to install it in my computer today. When I booted up windows
didn't recognize it properly (couldn't find any drivers) and I had no
network connectivity ("a network cable is unplugged" message).

The sound card isn't a big deal, but I need to get my network working
again. I removed the sound card and booted up again, still no network
connection.
I checked the cable to the network hub in another computer and it
worked fine so the problem definitely lies with the machine itself.

I tried disabling and enabling the network device in the bios, and
restoring XP to a restore point before I put the sound card in, but
still no network connectivity.

The motherboard is an ASUS A8N32 Sli Deluxe and I'm using the onboard
LAN which has been working perfectly up until now. Any ideas why the
sound card would suddenly cripple it? What could I do to fix my
network again?

My next action is going to be a Windows reinstall but I was hoping it
wouldn't come to that.

Thanks.

<sienk700@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1186407410.526907.6920@l70g2000hse.googlegrou ps.com...
> Hi there,
>
> I got a pci sound card (Sound Blaster Audigy2) from a friend and
> attempted to install it in my computer today. When I booted up windows
> didn't recognize it properly (couldn't find any drivers) and I had no
> network connectivity ("a network cable is unplugged" message).
>
> The sound card isn't a big deal, but I need to get my network working
> again. I removed the sound card and booted up again, still no network
> connection.
> I checked the cable to the network hub in another computer and it
> worked fine so the problem definitely lies with the machine itself.
>
> I tried disabling and enabling the network device in the bios, and
> restoring XP to a restore point before I put the sound card in, but
> still no network connectivity.
>
> The motherboard is an ASUS A8N32 Sli Deluxe and I'm using the onboard
> LAN which has been working perfectly up until now. Any ideas why the
> sound card would suddenly cripple it? What could I do to fix my
> network again?

When you installed the new card, perhaps the BIOS shuffled round the address
of things and didn't move the network card back after removal of the sound
card.

Try completely removing the device from your device manager - select the
card and press delete key. Then reboot windows - it will automatically find
the same device and re-add it.

sienk700@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I got a pci sound card (Sound Blaster Audigy2) from a friend and
> attempted to install it in my computer today. When I booted up windows
> didn't recognize it properly (couldn't find any drivers) and I had no
> network connectivity ("a network cable is unplugged" message).
>
> The sound card isn't a big deal, but I need to get my network working
> again. I removed the sound card and booted up again, still no network
> connection.
> I checked the cable to the network hub in another computer and it
> worked fine so the problem definitely lies with the machine itself.
>
> I tried disabling and enabling the network device in the bios, and
> restoring XP to a restore point before I put the sound card in, but
> still no network connectivity.
>
> The motherboard is an ASUS A8N32 Sli Deluxe and I'm using the onboard
> LAN which has been working perfectly up until now. Any ideas why the
> sound card would suddenly cripple it? What could I do to fix my
> network again?
>
> My next action is going to be a Windows reinstall but I was hoping it
> wouldn't come to that.
>
> Thanks.
>

You have two LAN interfaces. One is a Marvell PCI Express gigabit lan
controller. The other LAN consists of two pieces of hardware. The
Southbridge has a MAC layer for a LAN, while a separate Marvell PHY
chip drives the Ethernet transformers for that interface. The Southbridge
interface could have features such as the Nvidia firewall etc.

I would try the Marvell PCI Express controller. The PDF copy of the
manual I have here, does not correctly identify which LAN connector
is which. You could try changing the LAN port, and see if things
improve.

In any case, the Audigy2 would sit on the PCI bus, and electrically
if the card fried the bus, both LANs should continue to run. So as
GT points out, there must be something else out of sorts, such as
resource allocation.

Things you could try:

1) Clear CMOS, then set up BIOS settings again. Before you do that,
record any custom settings you've been using. Clearing the CMOS
usually requires unplugging the computer first. Check the manual
for additional instructions (section 2.6 "Clear RTC RAM").

2) You could also just take a look through the BIOS, and make sure
the LAN controllers are still enabled.

With a tool like Everest, you can verify whether peripherals like the
PCI Express Gigabit LAN are seen on the bus or not. Under the Devices
tab, PCI Devices.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

HTH,
Paul

On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:07:38 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.com>
wrote:

>I would try the Marvell PCI Express controller. The PDF copy of the
>manual I have here, does not correctly identify which LAN connector
>is which. You could try changing the LAN port, and see if things
>improve.
>

According to this reviewer,
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article299-page2.html
the nVidia is on the left, Marvell on the right when looking
at the rear of the board on a table.

On Aug 6, 6:07 pm, Paul <nos...@needed.com> wrote:
> I would try the Marvell PCI Express controller. The PDF copy of the
> manual I have here, does not correctly identify which LAN connector
> is which. You could try changing the LAN port, and see if things
> improve.

Yeah, I enabled the Marvell LAN and that one functions fine so I'm
using that now.

> Things you could try:
>
> 1) Clear CMOS, then set up BIOS settings again. Before you do that,
> record any custom settings you've been using. Clearing the CMOS
> usually requires unplugging the computer first. Check the manual
> for additional instructions (section 2.6 "Clear RTC RAM").

This seems like the only option I have left if I want to use my nVidia
LAN again, I may give it a try at some point over the next few days.

> 2) You could also just take a look through the BIOS, and make sure
> the LAN controllers are still enabled.

That was the first thing I checked, both controllers are enabled.

> With a tool like Everest, you can verify whether peripherals like the
> PCI Express Gigabit LAN are seen on the bus or not. Under the Devices
> tab, PCI Devices.
>
> http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181
>
> HTH,
> Paul

I checked with Everest and the nVidia controller is being seen fine.

Thanks for your help guys, I am running okay on the second LAN
controller for now (I'm thankful the board came with two). I'll post
back if I'm able to get both controllers working again.