Motherboard Driver(s)? HELP?

[TheLostBoy]

I've got a few problems that I've determined, after spending a good deal of time looking around online, are due to a MOBO driver needing updated / reinstalled. I know NOTHING about how to go about this - tried once, and the DOS-like screen it brought me to terrified me into canceling it.

My problems are, whenever I try to plug in USB devices, Windows detects something is there but always fails to recognize the device, no matter which port or device is being used. I bought a USB card & plugged it in, and those work like they should.

Aside from that, it is much slower than I feel it should be. While I know just enough about computers to get around w/out getting myself into too much trouble, I don't know enough to say for sure how it should perform. For the record, my previous computer was about 15 yrs old w/ a 10gb hard drive & no technology newer than the computer itself installed aside from Windows XP. This is just a touch faster, but not much.

It also will not shut itself off after I choose "Shut Down". Windows will shut down and the monitor goes black, but I have to wait for this to finish & hit the power button to shut it down.

Does the MOBO driver sound like the source of my problems, or does anybody have any other suggestions? I don't know what details are needed to help, so sorry if this is excessive (or not enough):

Operating System
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (build 2600)

System Model
American Megatrends Inc. VIA694X/686A
Enclosure Type: Desktop

Processor (a)
1000 megahertz Intel Pentium III (2 installed)
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Main Circuit Board (b)
Board: GIGABYTE 6VXD7 1.0
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 62710 07/19/2000

Drives
40.02 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
20.82 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
LITE-ON LTR-52246S [CD-ROM drive]
SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-612 [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]
WDC WD400BB-00AUA1 [Hard drive] (40.02 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WMA6R1990799, rev 18.20D18, SMART Status: Healthy

Memory Modules (c,d)
1024 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot '0' has 256 MB
Slot '1' has 256 MB
Slot '2' has 256 MB
Slot '3' has 256 MB

Local Drive Volumes
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 40.02 GB 20.82 GB free

Controllers
Standard floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]
VIA Bus Master IDE Controller

Display
NVIDIA Vanta/Vanta LT (Microsoft Corporation) [Display adapter]
DELL M781p [Monitor] (14.9"vis, s/n 957VU0AHH3XL, October 2000)

Bus Adapters
ALi PCI to USB Open Host Controller (3x)
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller (2x)

Multimedia
Creative AudioPCI (ES1371,ES1373) (WDM)
Game Port for Creative
Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device

Other Devices
HID-compliant consumer control device
HID-compliant device (3x)
USB Human Interface Device (2x)
HID Keyboard Device
PC/AT PS/2 Keyboard (84-Key)
HID-compliant mouse
SmartCard Reader Driver (2x)
usb token Enumerator
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub (6x)


I don't know if those of you more enlightened than me can tell from that or not, or if it even matters, but it is a Dual BIOS (no idea what that means, personally, but thought it might be relevant).

Thanks for looking and for any help you can give! If any other info is needed, please let me know!

 

[Baez]

I would first suggest uninstalling your USB drivers. You can do this by entering Device Manager and individually uninstalling the driver for each one. At the next restart, Windows will automatically reload the drivers for them. Then test to see if they work properly.

Also I'm not sure what you're implying about your motherboard. Motherboards do affect performance but not in the way I think you're thinking they do. You're computer probably just feels slow because you do have a very slow computer by todays standards.

 

[TheLostBoy]

I would first suggest uninstalling your USB drivers. You can do this by entering Device Manager and individually uninstalling the driver for each one. At the next restart, Windows will automatically reload the drivers for them. Then test to see if they work properly.

Also I'm not sure what you're implying about your motherboard. Motherboards do affect performance but not in the way I thinking you're thinking they do. You're computer probably just feels slow because you do have a very slow computer by todays standards.

No doubt it's slow by today's standards, but compared to a computer 15 years older, with a single, older processor & 1/4 the memory, it should be much faster, right?

To be honest, I'm not sure what I'm implying about my motherboard , other than that came up as a potential cause for the USB issues & I figured it might also cause the speed & no auto shut-down issues as well. I honestly don't know much about them though.


I tried uninstalling / reinstalling the USB drivers, but it unfortunately didn't change anything

What should I try next?
.

 

[KSoD]

Try installing your chipset drivers. Those also control the USB drivers now.

 

[TheLostBoy]

Try installing your chipset drivers. Those also control the USB drivers now.

These may be dumb questions, but any advice on where I might go or look to find them, and how do I make sure I'm getting the correct drivers for my hardware? Is install pretty self-explanatory once I've found them?

 

[Baez]

These are the chipset drivers you are looking for: Gigabyte GA-6VXD7

Just open the .exe and install them in Windows. Nothing else is required .

 

[TheLostBoy]

Try installing your chipset drivers. Those also control the USB drivers now.

These are the chipset drivers you are looking for: Gigabyte GA-6VXD7

Just open the .exe and install them in Windows. Nothing else is required .

Thank you! It appears my "built in" USB ports are working like they're supposed to for the 1st time since I got this computer! It may be my imagination, but it seems like it boots up & shuts down a bit quicker too...

Now, how do I address the issue of the computer not shutting itself off after I hit "Turn Off Computer > Turn Off" from the Start menu? Windows shuts down, but I have to hit the power switch to actually shut the computer off...

 

[Baez]

There are several things that could be affecting that. Does it say "It is now safe to turn off your computer."?

Try the more common and simple fix ones first:

1. Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> Power Options. Click on the tab at the top that says APM. Then select the "Enable Advanced Power Management Support" check box.

2. Start -> right click My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager. Go to the Universal Serial Bus controllers section and right click on USB Root Hub (if there is more than one of them just select any one). Go to Properties and then the Power Management tab. Clear the "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" check box if it's checked.

Try those two for starters. If the problem persists let us know again and we'll give you a couple more solutions. As I said before, there are many things that could be affecting it.

 

[KSoD]

Windows XP Shutdown Troubleshooter

Try reading thru that page.

 

[TheLostBoy]

Does it say "It is now safe to turn off your computer."?

No, it goes from the "Windows is shutting down" screen to nothing, just a black screen.

I'll try to get home on lunch to try everything you've both suggested. If not, I'll do it after work tonight; either way, I'll post back w/ what I find out.

Also, I don't know if this is a different subject but figured it wouldn't hurt to let you guys know that on start-up it emits one single beep. I've heard this is basically a computer "trouble code" (equivalent to a "Check Engine" light in the automotive world), so could it be relevant? I just remembered it's been doing that & I never mentioned it. If it helps with solving the issues I've already layed out, then great; If it's a separate issue I'll just add it to my list of things to address.

Thank you both very much again for all of your help so far & your patience in working w/ me & my inexperience - I can see there's a lot of knowledge here, and I hope to learn a lot!

Windows XP Shutdown Troubleshooter

Try reading thru that page.

After reading through that page, perhaps I should be calling this a "power down" issue as opposed to a shut down issue? Not that it makes a difference you guys seem to understand what I'm getting at, I just want to be sure to use the correct terminology...

Try those two for starters. If the problem persists let us know again and we'll give you a couple more solutions. As I said before, there are many things that could be affecting it.

I tried both of those things & found I do not have an APM tab under power options. Next, I went into all of the USB root hubs in Device Manager one by one & cleared that box in each, hit okay, then closed DM. Tried shutting down, and it didn't seem to have any effect.

I did not have time to try the things on the page Mak213 linked to, but I have read through it. It looks like most of it won't apply to me, but I'll make note of what does & try them all, then follow every link on that page just in case there are uncovered bases. I'll post whatever I come up with (as if you're hanging on my every last word LOL)

I've performed all of the following from the link Mak213 provided, and none corrected the issue (the list is lengthy, so I've highlighted the actions to make it quick and easy, but there are some interesting (I think? Maybe?) details to some:

1.) Tried enabling APM/NT Legacy Power Node, but it wasn't listed in Device Manager. I did notice mention of something about this in CMOS/BIOS setup that looked like it was disabled, but I didn't want to mess with changing that without some input...

2.) Went into Setup (I'm assuming this applies to both CMOS & BIOS?) and reloaded all default settings, then went into Dual BIOS setup & did the same. On a side note, it was set to boot from backup rather than the main BIOS (boot from main is default - changing it to default setting didn't affect my shut down issue so I changed that back). Does it matter in terms of performance which it boots from? I also noticed by default the "Plug & Play Aware OS" was set to 'No', so I changed that to 'Yes'. Aside from changing those 2 things back after my problem wasn't corrected, I pretty much left everything else w/ the default setting.

3.) Applied "ShutNTdown" Registy Patch after setting a system restore point. I undid w/ system restore when it didn't fix the problem.

4.) Set both "Turn Off Monitor" & "Turn Off Hard Disks" to 'Never' in Control Panel > Power Options. I noticed that I didn't have a System Standby option to set, although I could swear it used to be there...

5.) Disabled CD-ROM's AutoRun feature by applying provided "Disable AutoRun" Registry Patch. Made no difference, undid w/ system restore.

6.) Disabled CTFMON.EXE - Instructions found didn't seem to apply to Office 2000, so I went through the "Regional and Language Options" link in Control Panel, checked the box to Disable Alternative Inputs, and noticed CTFMON.EXE drop off my processes list in Task Mgr.

I did not try a BIOS upgrade because, as with the chipset drivers, I have no idea where to look or how to do it.

Sorry for the long post - I'd rather give too much detail (more than what's needed) than not enough. That was everything on the page Mak213 linked to that I could find that seemed like it would apply to my situation.

I know (think?) the software is capable of commanding a hardware power down, because in the Dual BIOS setup there's an option to press F10 to shut down. I hit that key, and the computer shut off instantly.

Where should I go next? Thanks for bearing with me!​

Anybody? I know that was a long post but...

Any more help would be very much appreciated...