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Windows 95 hangs on startup with new network card.

D

DOS lives on!!

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I'm trying to get an Eagle Technologies NE2000T Plus card to work on a Windows 95 computer. When the card is inserted, Windows freezes up on the startup screen. When the ethernet cord is connected, it asks for a password before starting up (in the BIOS screen).:confused:

I first tried the card without drivers, then installed the drivers, but that makes no difference.

It starts up fine when the card is removed (of course). Any ideas of what's causing this? Could it be an IRQ conflict?
 
It is normal for win95 and 98 to wait a litle at the logo display when there is a network card in the system as it's searching for connection.
 
DOS,

I've used the NE2000 for years with no problems on my 486's and '95. It shouldn't hang on boot. Whether or not you have a driver problem would be another issue, IMHO. Why not try another card - they're not that hard to find. Also, with 2 IRQ's knocking heads I don't think it would hang, but it would give you an error. You might try a different slot and see if that makes a difference.
 
It completely freezes up, nothing responds. I've let it run for 15 minutes, and nothing. Having the ethernet pluged in or unplugged doesn't matter.
 
You will get a hang when the card is set to use DHCP on a network with static IPs, but usually it'll time out after 5-10 minutes and continue on.

The password thing sounds like there's something more to that network card, like maybe it's trying to use a net-boot function or something. If there's a ROM installed on the card, disable it. Also, there may be a jumper setting to select the topology... if you're using a modern type of network with CAT5 and a switch/router you'll want it set to 'star', or if you're using the old 10Base2 coax then set it to 'linear' (and make sure you have terminators properly installed).
 
There's no jumpers on the card. I'll see if I can find any information on the boot ROM.

I have a feeling that this card is rebranded by Eagle Technologies. Along with that on the sticker, it also says Novell.
 
My guess is conflicting resources (IRQ or port address). I use NE2000 generic boards quite a bit with Win9x with no serious issues--once I have them set up correctly.
 
If the IRQ conflicts are checked in the Device Manager, how could I check for and resolve them if the PC won't start up all the way? The PC will only boot without the card. Kind of a catch 22 when no conflicts can be solved if I can't get to them!:mad:
 
If the card doesn't have jumpers you can use a boot disk with the card setup utils on it and change its settings then try again.

Also have a look in the bios and see what IRQs and addresses have already been allocated in there. Assuming it has IDE/com/lpt etc integrated in the mobo of course.

You could pull any extra cards fitted, like sound cards, out to see if its conflicting.

What is the system btw?
 
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A NE2000 Ethernet card is pretty standard, I would try to do a test install of a contemporary-to-the-motherboard Linux distribution, and see whether Linux can make the card work or not.

If Linux works with the network card, then your Win95 install is foobar.
 
The system is a Gateway 2000 P5-100. I tried a diagnostic utility I found online, but when attempting to start it from the prompt, it says some files don't match. I'll check the BIOS settings sometime later.
 
I'm assuming that your NE2000 card is of the ISA PNP type. If that's true, it was shipped with a (DOS) utility that allows you to specify IRQ and port addresses and even run a diagnostic.

You really need that utility to make things work right.
 
What's the network chip on the board? There are only a few--I may have a setup routine from another manufacturer that works with it.

(One of the big problems with "jumperless' ISA boards, sort of like MCA boards without ADF files).

EDIT: Try the files HERE.
 
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When you install a NE2000 compatible networkcard, always look, if the manufacturer has a driver for it. This may saves you from unnecessary problems. For example the cards with the Realtek RTL8019AS chipset. They appear to work fine with the generic ne2000 driver, but not even a single byte is transmitted. Apart from that, these are really nice cards.
 
Thanks for that Chuck. Whenever I would try to run the PLUSDIAG program, it said that one of the .MSG files didn't match up with the program. But that came from DG. That whole setup is at a different location, so it may be a while before I can get back to it.

TNC, I checked the Wayback Machine, but there's many sites named Eagle Technologies, and none of them turned up what I wanted. However, the proper drivers that Chuck provided may solve the problem.
 
Yep, I got spare cards. WWhen I get over there next, I'll try them out.

Whenever I had the cable plugged in, the green light would continuously stay on, and with it unplugged, the orange light would stay on.
 
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