I just installed a Nexxtec (Circuit City) 56K PCI Internal Data Fax Modem, V.92 in a Dell Optiplex GX 150 with 80526 CPU running at 1GHZ with 256M RAM.
The OS is Win 98SE, originally configured to run on a LAN only.
I installed drivers and Dialup. Modem does not recognize dial tone so I forced it to dial without dial tone. As soon as the modem tries to connect it resets the entire system....black screen, then it reboots.
Any suggestions where to troubleshoot from here? I'm an old newbie!
Thanks, David

Hi David,

First thing to do is to go into Control Panel > System. In the Device Manager screen, check that the modem is shown as working correctly, without any yellow warning symbols next to it.

Then go into Control Panel > Modems. Go to the Diagnostics tab, select the modem from the list and press the test button (I think it's labelled "More info"). This will connect to the modem and run a series of queries and tests against it to check what features it can support and that it is working correctly. This takes just a few seconds.

If that works correctly, then it suggests the modem is OK and that it is only having trouble when it tries to actually dial out through the phone line. If that's the case, then you should return to your original comment about how it won't detect a dial tone. Is this a DSL-enabled phone line without a microfilter for the modem lead?

Thanks for your reply!
Device Manager says modem is working properly but Other Devices (PCI System Management Bus) has yellow question and warning labels. I'm unable to find driver for this.
Diagnostics show PCI SoftV92 Modem
Port COM3
Interrupt 0
Address 3E8
AT 11 255
AT 12 OK
My connection to phone is direct copper.
Any more suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
David

Hi David,

The missing/corrupt driver for the PCI System Management Bus may be the cause of the problem as the modem that you have is plugged into a PCI slot. The diagnostics test seems to show that it is working correctly, although I am unsure whether zero is a valid Interrupt number. Normally, it's 3, 4 or 5 for a modem.

Do you have the Dell Resource CD? It's usually blue. That should be where you would find the driver for the PCI System Management Bus. If you have it, put it into the PC, then go into Device Manager, right-click on the PCI System Management Bus entry and choose the Update Driver option. It should then automatically search the CD for an appropriate driver.

[5 minutes later]

..... Having said that, it looks like your Optiplex GX150 doesn't support Windows 98 and was shipped with either Windows 2000 or XP. A full list of available downloads for your model is on the Dell web site here:

http://support.euro.dell.com/support...n&catid=&impid=

The one that I specifically checked was the Intel chipset driver as this is likely to contain the driver for the PCI System Management Bus. However, that driver is only for Windows 2000 or XP.

That interrupt number seemed bogus to me too! I was looking for the chipset driver earlier but don't know how to identify what is installed.
Your research about the OS explains a lot....this was a decommissioned desktop given away to the community and a local tech loaded an OEM version of Win98SE. I have an installation CD but not the Dell Resource CD.
I'm thinking I should give up and get an external (my original intention) 56K USB dialup modem, or perhaps even a serial version? Any suggestions for an inexpensive fix?
I really appreciate your input.
Thanks again,
David

An external modem is probably the best way to go. Just one other thought: try moving the modem to a different PCI slot (preferably the furthest away from the slot that it's currently in) and see if that makes any difference

Sorry to just burst in here;

Following DJNafey's link, (http://support.euro.dell.com/support...n&catid=&impid) under Operating System, click on "Change OS", click on 98, and all the drivers will pop up.

Load the "heavy ones" (Motherboard chipset, etc) and then the modem drivers.

Nexxtech includes 98 in their package ( http://www.askext.com/internal_kb/pa....php?aid=1710).