Help Ethernet Adapter not found...

[Access Denied]

I have finally decided to upgrade my HDD from an IDE to an SATA. Done that, installed OS. No network, Adapter not found at all. Checked device manager, nada. Doesn't even show up in the system specs when I first turn on the computer.

Now the weird part is, it does show up and it does work when I have the old HDD plugged in (Like now)

I've already sent a support request to the MB manufacturer but I reckon I'll get a quicker response from the techies here on FB.

System:

MB: ECS GeForce6100PM-M2
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual
OS: Windows XP Pro SP3.

Here's hoping someone knows what's up because the only thing I've got left to try is flashing the BIOS.

 

[nath]

You've got nothing in "unknown devices" or some such? Have you installed all the drivers available to you from your motherboard manufacturer for your OS?

 

[Moriath]

sounds liike some mobo fault when the sata bus is in use then .. either update bios or new mobo maybe

 

[Access Denied]

The only items in the unknown devices section are bits and bobs for the onboard soundcard, which due to have a PCI one I never bothered to install. I've installed all the chipset drivers and such for the motherboard and I have the setup file for the LAN drivers but it won't install the drivers because it can't find the hardware.

 

[nath]

Ahh I see. If it shows up in the BIOS when the SATA is unplugged but not when it is, that is a bit weird. I think your best bet is indeed to flash the BIOS.

 

[Access Denied]

You could be right Nath. Just thought of something actually. Last time I flashed the BIOS the software reset stopped working. Just shut down the computer, could be that the BIOS is slightly askew and it's causing a conflict due to still having an IDE optical in there. I guess I'll see what happens.

 

[Access Denied]

Well I just tried flashing the BIOS. No dice. In fact while the flash utility says it was successful, upon reboot I get a CMOS checksum error and it loads defaults. Tried moving the SATA cable to another port on the MB too, didn't have any effect.

Looked in the BIOS and it shows onboard LAN as enabled so I know it's not that. I'm completely out of ideas.

 

[Access Denied]

Update..SUCCESS! Turns out that it was an incomplete Windows installation caused by a premature restart. Formatted and reinstalled, installed the nVidia Chipset Drivers and voila! Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated!