XP Boot fail - Asus P5Q + Netgear WG311t

Hi All,
Trying to help a mate (I am in OZ - he is in UK) but stretched on this one...

XP Freezes on "Normal" Windows boot.
Can boot up OK in Safe Mode, but not in Safe Mode with networking (last driver to load is mup.sys).
When in Safe Mode, I am able to disable the network card & then boot the machine normally.
But the problem comes back as soon as the card is enabled again.
When in normal mode (with the card disabled), & I then enable the card, the Device Manager says that the card is operating normally & there are no conflicts.

Asus P5Q Pro P45 775 ATX Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 775 Wolfdale 1333FSB 6mb Processor
Corsair 2G DDR@ 800/6400 XMS2 RAM
Sapphire HD 3650 512MB DDR@ PCI-E Graphics card
Arctic 500W PSU
WIN XP SP2
This works fine until a Netgear WG311t (PCI WIFI Adapter) is installed.

After some combined extensive googling -
* Reinstalled XP , latest BIOS, Cleared CMOS
* Tried SP3 and SP2
* Tried SP2 with and without WZC enabled ( and with or without netgear software installed)
* Currently using the latest drivers off Netgear's website (Firmware v 5);
* Have previously installed Atheros drivers - no change
* Am currently using the PCI slot furthest away from graphics card ( have tried others)
* Tried disabling the onboard LAN both via Windows & the BIOS.
* Tried disabling the PnP PCI management feature of the MB
* No Luck with ASUS & Netgear help desks


Thanks in Advance ...

 

I didn't realize the WG311T had that range.

:-D:-D

More seriously there are known issues with 311 drivers so get the latest from Netgear.

What route are you using for the install?

 

I fitted a wire coat-hanger to my dlink wifi modem antennae

Have sent him a link to this wonderous site, should have a new member anytime now...

 

Sounds like a bad driver for the adapter. Did you download the latest driver from Netgear's website?

Here's the web address: http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/WG311T.asp

 

Hi all,

The posts kindly placed on this forum by Gyniolatry related to my PC.

Details of the problem:

• When Windows XP begings to boot, it feezes when the splash screen is displayed.
• I have a strong suspicion that it freezes when the OS detects the network card - this is because this problem dissappears if the card is disabled (via Safe Mode)
• Last driver to load is Mup.sys. Does anyone know how to find out what the next driver should be?
• Can boot in Safe mode, but not in Safe Mode with Networking.
• Have exhausted help desks of both Netgear & Asus

Just to recap of some issues mentioned in the posts below:

• Running Windows XP (SP2) - have tried SP3, but same problem experianced;
• Using the latest drivers as supplied by Netgear (obtained from their website (Firmware v 5)
• Using latest BIOS - obtain from ASUS website
• Have tried chipset manufacturer drivers (Atheros) - but problem still persists
• Card is installed following manufactuer's instructions - i.e. by installing the drivers & related software prior to placing card in PCI slot.

This problem is driving me nuts as my PC has been off line for nearly two months now due to this issue!!! :cry

Anyone got any good ideas on how to fix this? :confused

I've been told that this forum has a good reputation in resolving issues. I've posted messages on other forums on this issue - but I am yet to get any good responce. So, let's see if the reputation is true :major

 

For clarity and as an important piece of information, is this a new install of the WG311T or was it working correctly previously and now has an issue?

 

there are at least two ways to attempt installation of the WG311.

In my experience using Windows usually (but not always) fails.

Netgear provide their own installer which is usually more successful, whether you eventually use their management software for it or windows own.

Hence my earlier question, how did you install it?

 

Studiot:

I installed it using the Netgear installation software (Formware v5). After downloading the software off the Netgear website, I ran the file to install the software & drivers, then turned the PC off, placed the card in the slot & started the PC up.

When the PC boots for the 1st time after install, Windows does start, but it freezes once Windows auto detects hardware changes & starts to install the drivers.

If I reboot the PC at any point after this, the system will freeze when the Windows XP splash screen is displayed - I suspect that it freezes during the Kernel Load stage (when Windows builds the hardware / driver profile in the registry).​

risk_reversal:

This is not a new card, but a new install on my current system. I had to replace my old MB (BIOS issues). Due to having a new MB, I had to get a few other new items as listed in Gyniolatry's original post.

The card worked fine on the old system, which was also an ASUS MB, but used an AMD CPU - both were ± 4 years old (same OS).​

 

If the old bios became corrupted you could have just purchased a replacement one rather than a new mobo. This proceedure is easily done and the bios replacment company will even flash the new one with the bios version of your choice.

The Atheros chipset on the WG311T may have compatibility issues with the mobo's chipset / chipset driver. Usually, the Atheros has issues with AMD chipsets.

Of course it could be a Netgear driver problem but I think that this would have manifested itself with a different problem ie windows boots and card does not work. Possibility also of an IRQ clash cannot be ruled out though slim in my book.

I am not confident that the following will work but can you:

1. Disable the Netgear driver from loading at boot. Msconfig>startup and uncheck the wg311.

2. Control Panel>Administrative services>WZC - stop service and set to disable.

3. Reboot

4. Got to WZC - start service and set to automatic

5. Reboot.

You stated above that you have enabled/disabled WZC but I am not sure if you did what I suggested.

I am not sure why you picked the WG311T but the WG311 which I use on several system (all amd) has never given me much trouble.

PS: as a final thought, do you have any kind of USB devices connected to your mobo at all?

Good Luck

 

Try this.

Uninstall completely anything Netgear (Don't just disable it)

Remove the card.

Reboot without the card.

Replace the card preferably in a different slot.

Click cancel when Windows detects the card and try again with the Netgear installer.

 

Risk_reversal:

Yes, this is true, but I needed a system upgrade anyway as my old system was stuggling to keep up the pace - good excuse to spend some hard earned cash.

My current CPU is Intel. The mobo's onboard lan uses Atheros drivers, so I doubt that there is a compatability issue.

I tried what you suggested by disabling the startup drivers & the WZC - however on reboot, the system froze in the same place. I think the system freezes before it evn gets to loading the startup files. I think the item I disabled via the MSConfig tool only kicks in once Windows has booted up & your see the desktop wallpaper - but I might be wrong.

I can't remember the reason for buying the WG311t version as it was a long time ago, but I think it may have to do with it being a 108Mbs card vs the 54Mps of the WG311.

At the moment yes. I have tried installing with just the bare essentials - not no difference in end result.


Studiot:

When rebooting the PC, it froze as soon as the desktop wallpaper came up - which is further than what it usually does. No message about Windows trying to load drivers though. When rebooting, the system froze again in the usual place (Windws splash screen) - therefore I think this confirms my suspicion that the error is when Windows detects the hardware during bootup & is building the hardware section within the registry.

How can I be certain that anything Netgear related is deleted? After I unstall the software (using Uninstall) & uninstalled the drivers via the Device Manager, I think there must still be some drivers saved somewhere. When doing a search in the registry (via regedit), I have found multiple references to "Netgear" under various folders in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\.... Do you know how I can safely delete all of these references?

Maybe I should just pop down to Currys during my lunch tomorrow & see if I can get another g+ network card - maybe a Belkin. Does anyone know how good / bad Belkin network products are?

 

Testing an alternative would be good. you may even have damaged the Netgear in the move. Are you quite sure you have physically removed it an replaced it, rebooting Windows in between?

 

I am quite sure that I physically removed the device from the system. I don't do short cuts.

 

About the only thing I can think of is for you to disconnect all your usb peripherals (whatever they maybe) and see whether windows can boot to the desk top.

There is obviously a fundamental conflict happening which goes deeper than just driver issue.

Good Luck

 

Up date: After going to to Curry's on Friday to see if I can find another g+ network card they never had any in stock, so I didn't buy a new one. I got thinking about what risk_reversal mentioned about using a WG311 card & I remembered that I had one stashed away in the loft somewhere - anyway, after plugging in the WG311 everything worked just fine. (So studiot must have been right in thinking that the card got damaged sometime during the system change)

My PC is now up & running - although my network connection is rather weak (g signal instead of g+).

I had a minor scare last night while installing the other hardware as after plugging everything in & rebooting a couple of time (all without any problems), I installed the software for my Logitech keyboard & mouse - once rebooting, the system froze again at the same place (Windows XP splash screen).

The system could not even boot up in Safe Mode - but also froze after the Mup.sys driver was installed - all very weird.

This morning I was preparing myself to reinstall Windows again, when I remembered that my system was having a problem with my DVD & CD writers. When I have both plugged into the mobo(via IDE cables), the machine would not boot if the 1st boot drive was any on of the optical drives. Also, when in Windows (prior to the freezing problem), the system was only reflecting the DVD drive & not the CD drive. Anyway, this morning before doing anything else, I simply unplugged the CD-ROM & Windows booted up just fine - even with having the DVD drive as the 1st boot device. I've got no clue as to why this happened, but I do remember reading posts on other fourms where they said that this ASUS mobo seems to have problems in having more than 1 IDE optical device.

Has anyone got any tips n what I could try to see if I can get the CD drive to work? (I will be contacting ASUS re this problem).:confused

 

Thanks for the feedback.

Windows has always had a nasty habit of reporting

"the device is working normally"

In device manager

for modems, and network cards that are in fact faulty.

It's easy to waste hours as a result.

 

Good to see that you have got the system to work.

Not sure about Intel based boards but the common denominator is the soutbridge as far as I can ascertain. This handles PCI cards, optical drives and USB bus (especially since you said that reconnecting usb mouse & kb caused a freeze).

The WG311 which you have installed is that a v1, v2 or v3. My undertanding is that the v1 has an Atheros chipset, the v2 a TI chipset and the v3 is a Marvell.

If the WG311 which you have is not a v1 then I am not sure whether this clearly indicates that your WG311T is faulty. If you see what I mean.

Good Luck

 

The card is the v2 - so as we now suspect, the problem must be due to a faulty WG311t card.

As the WG311 card only runs at a max of 54Mbs, does anyone know an effective way of improving the connection to the router? At the moment I have a omni-directional antenna connected to the card as the std one is useless. The PC is located in a different room to the router (due to telephone socket positioning).

 

You could try a directional panel which produces a cone shaped signal instead of donugh shaped signal.

http://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-indoorantenna-24.htm

The NET-WL-ANT008PS (8db) has the reverse SMA connection which Netgear cards have.

Otherwise homeplugs wireless or wired.

All the best

 

Use an access point or a repeater, depending upon the layout of your building.

 

Told you they were good....

Thanks All !!

 

I have two remaining issues to try & solve:

1. ASUS Express Gate software
2. Multiple IDE optical drives

As these issues are getting off the topic of this thread (& this thread is getting a bit long), I have started two new threads in the hope of finding solutions:

1. ASUS Express Gate thread
2. Getting multiple optical drives to work

Both of these issues have been past ontot he ASUS techinical helpdesk & solutions will be posted in the above threads if they the threads are still open.