Help with my computer problem

Discussion in 'Other Trades Talk' started by dewaltdisney, Jun 1, 2004.

  1. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    dwd,

    just been checking the compaq (hp), bt and microsoft knowledge base''s for you and guess what - diddly squat there!!

    Another q for you - you running sp1a on XP - I do remember that bt do insist on this level because there are some fixes in it that might be appropriate.

    Also - read link below, it's very long but there are lot's of ideas there for you to go at!!

    http://www.btsuck.org/?article=117

    Seems that many people have had this and they have all used different methods to fix it!!!!

    M....
     
  2. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    Que - Al-yeti with the stupid one word message
     
  3. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    DWD,

    Probably more suggestions to follow but this is a quote from an article I just found on the web - worth a go I think as it won't cost ya anything.

    M......


    I've read your article on the internet and I wonder if I may have the answer to your problem.

    Forgive me if I am wrong - perhaps you have already tried this).

    I am an NTL customer and on their LAN connection I experienced the exact same thing after installing Windows XP onto my PC.

    The XP windows system has a USB 'sleep' facility for power management. You must disable it as it is faulty on XP and is only supposed to go into the sleep mode when the USB socket is inactive.
    Once it has gone into the sleep mode it will NOT reliably wake-up again!

    I spent 2 full days trying to stay on the internet for more than 4 minutes at a time.
    When the USB socket goes into sleep mode all 6 modem lights come on and stay on (when they should be flickering on and off).

    To disable the sleep mode click on 'Settings', then 'Control panel', then 'System', then 'Hardware', then 'Device manager', a list will appear.
    Right click on 'USB HUB' and select 'Properties'.
    Then click on 'Power management' and remove the tick in the box.
    Click 'Ok' for everything to close all the boxes.
     
  4. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

  5. Dewy

    Dewy New Member

    That is interesting MR MAN
    I used XP for 6 months and have a 'sleep' button on the computer. I pressed it & the computer went dead & wouldn't restart until I turned the power off then back on.
    I then had to wait longer than normal for it to start.
     
  6. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    If you ever had the oportunity to see the blue screen caused this was more than likely a fault in usbhub.sys I believe - now fixed in sp1a you would see "STOP 0x000000A in Usbport.sys". There is a microsoft tech article available at www.msdn.microsoft.com but can't remember the number, partucularly relavent if you have a usb mouse... where the system won't come out of C1 and C3 status properly which are clock stopped power states.

    M......
     
  7. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    It's getting near to 12:30 - that's al-yeti time (before and after pub - as regular as clockwork!!), go for it Al and I hope tonight's one is a blinder!!

    M.....
     
  8. dewaltdisney

    dewaltdisney New Member

    Thanks for all the leads Mr Man, very much appreciated. I will work through them and come back with results. Off to Manchester in a moment so if any correspondents are at Piccadilly at 2.15pm, I will be waiting at the bus stop on the Oxford Road. Give us a lift!!!

    DWD
     
  9. dewaltdisney

    dewaltdisney New Member

    Hi again,

    Thanks for your time on this Mr Man, plus other suggestions, most helpful.

    Had a short session before 8.00am this morning and it was fine, no drop outs. Came back on at 10.00am and it was back dropping out every minute or so.

    I have read through all the links which were very interesting and it would appear that this problem is common.

    I checked the event log and all it shows is BT Broadband connected and disconnected with no reasons at each occurrence.

    I changed the system clock and turned off the internet link lock but it still dropped out straight away.

    Turned off the power savers on the USB Hubs and it went again.

    I am pretty sure it is not the Voyager as I had this same problem on BT dial up. I am sure that it is within my PC but it looks like I have to start putting bits in to experiment.

    Not sure what to do next?


    DWD
     
  10. billythekid

    billythekid Member

    my m8 had this problem when he first got broadband from BT, his trouble was a line fault, something to do with the 4-in-a-block flats he was in. when BT checked the line they found nothing, but after harassing them for a while they sent out an engineer who found something and got the line re-wired from the pole outside and no problem since. He bought 3 hubs/modems in the process costing over £500 I think. He was pretty p|§ed off!
     
  11. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    I've just had a chat with out client support guys who are rolling out BT BB to hunderds of users in the UK and you guessed it - the same thing is common they seem to have no definitive answer but try lots of things and eventually sort it.

    The 9 to 5 thing - they suggested perhaps a telephone exchange thing where there may be a local company or something killing the bandwidth during normal workin hours - a thought? The same guy then told me he had a problem that only started at 5:00pm so he moved to NTL!!

    A suggestion they made is - ensure you only use the BT USB and telephone cable supplied with the kit - I assum you are doing?

    Also don't use any phone extension cables - always plug modem diect to master socket.

    For time being - does it help if you remove any other phones etc.....

    Also the usb thing - they suggest as a previous post did that you are careful with how this is setup because you can kill the comms if you overload the usilisation of the USB bandwidth. They said you can try firstly make sure the modem is direct to the onboard USB and not a hub. If you have any other USB devices that are realtime user input such as a web cam, mouse or keyboard then remove them for the moment and see if that helps. When you put these devices back on later then use the 2nd USB port to connect to an externally powered USB hub and connect the devices to that.

    Also they said that the next time you get BT to check the line be sure to ask them for the noise level and if it's above 58dB then they need to sort out a new cable for you as this is the limit for DSL comms.

    Don't know how accurate this stuff is or even if it may help but a few more ideas anyway.

    As the guys are also on it at work now if I should get anymore info from them then I'll pass it on.

    Here's one - one of our users rang BT 2x yesterday to get her DSL line checked and BT said it was working perfectly. She then rang into out support guys who told her that it could not be working because we've not even placed the order for it yet - how can this happen I ask??????

    Mr Man
     
  12. dewaltdisney

    dewaltdisney New Member

    Hi Mr Man,

    Thanks for all this help.

    I thought about the exchange thing but since Summer Time came on the drop out zone seems to continue until 7.00pm. I will have to check if it starts dropping out after 9.00am or if it is now 10.00am in the morning as this may suggest a link.

    Yes, I am using the BT supplied USB cable.

    I have the modem linked to an upstairs extension with a phone which is split from the main BT socket with the filters. I humped the kit downstairs and plugged it in with no telephones and it still dropped out. I have permanently disconnected the Sky phone link.

    I have four USB ports and I only have the Voyager and the keyboard and mouse connected. I plug other stuff in when I need it but take it out when done. I did try the Voyager in a different port but that did not help either.

    I disconnected the mouse and keyboard as suggested and let it stand idle and it dropped out. I am not sure what you mean by an external powered hub?

    The BT engineer was very thorough. There are three properties in my turning and we all come off the same telephone pole. He went step by step down the line using his computer and modem. He said that the signal was strong and no interference. As I said before when he connected his laptop to my modem it worked perfectly.

    whilst I have been typing this we have passed out the drop out zone and it has been running for 16 minutes with no drop out. There must be a time link surely?

    I can see that I will be buying a new computer at this rate, perhaps I can borrow one off a pal for testing purposes?

    Thanks again

    DWD
     
  13. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    Strange you suggest that - that was going to be my next port of call, try to borrow another system which will prove beyond doubt that it's yours and not the modem or comms.

    This office hours thing is still bugging me???? strange!!

    Just been speaking to yet another bod who had a problem - this time in London, he called BT 3 times and was told everything was ok, seems that the first 2 guys were not up to much but the third found a loose wire up the telephone pole outside his house - no problems now...

    By externally powered USB hub I mean that there are 2 types, one you just plug into your computer and the other you plug into the computer but it will also have a mains cable you plug into the wall socket thus providing independant power for those ever so nice flashy lights!!

    M.....
     
  14. dewaltdisney

    dewaltdisney New Member

    I did an experiment last night as I left the computer running and connected to the internet from the session that started around 6.45pm. It did not drop out once until I shut it down at 10.30pm.

    During this time I left it idle for nearly an hour and then did a few web pages to stop the cut off process at 59 minutes.

    I think that this proves that the telephone lines cannot be at fault and it must be a time related software problem. This is why I thought that it must be embedded in the Compaq boot stuff as the disk was zapped when XP was loaded yet it behaves in exactly the same way as it did with the ME OS.

    I guess that another PC to test is the next logical move so I will have to see what I can do. Is it just a case of plugging it in to my Voyager or will I need to load the BT Broadband software?

    Ta,

    DWD
     
  15. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    DWD,

    I think one of the guys out there with BT BB can answer better as I've only installed 3 myself, but, I think you will have to load the BB CD because it sets up the dial-up connection for you (could do it manually I suppose) - other wise as you say a simple case of plug it in and go......

    As for last post - agree to a point that this proves that this cannot be the line but I don't think it can not rule out BT completely - telephone exchange or bandwidth problem as suggested before - what you think? Also does not discard the possibility of perhaps a local company feeding noise into the line and blowing poor you out....

    I'll be honest - there is not a lot more info I can feed to you with regards to PC related fixes for this now as you've tried just about everything I can think of - I suspect it is something to do with BT but I obviously cannot prove that statement.

    Basically I look at it this way :-

    1) If you have had software that is running 9-5 and killing the session (perhaps a service) then you've eliminated that by a re-build. Software ruled out then!

    2) If you have a hardware fault then this problem would happen 24hrs per day and not be consistent 9-5 as you describe - there is nothing in the system timers that are associated to a 9-5 pattern. Hardware ruled out then.

    Now then what's left - BT. I wonder if the BT engineer who came out to you and tested with his laptop was just lucky at the time not to get a line drop - what you think to that??

    You live arround Manchester somewhere don't you - if you can't get hold of a system let me know and I'll see what I can dig out - won't be top of the range but will at least assist with your quest to test....

    M......

    P.S. Everyone else gone quiet - any more ideas for the melting pot??
     
  16. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    DWD,

    Just had another thought - have you got a friend with BT BB installed with no line problems?

    If the answer is yes then take your PC to his house and plug it in for a day and work from his - no line drops then you know that your PC is fine and the problem is BT but if there are drops then you will also know is not without douby your hardware/software.

    Again - don't know anyone with BT BB (assuming you live near Manchester) then I do know someone who will probably assist.

    M.......
     
  17. dewaltdisney

    dewaltdisney New Member

    Hi Mr M,

    Thanks for the help and advice. Yes I think that I have to either test my box on another line or borrow another PC to test my line. I will have to think about how I can do this.

    I was talking to the kid next door and he has Broadband off the same lines as me and he does not have these problems so that may suggest that it is not a BT problem? I think I will have a word with them to see if they mind me using their connections but they are quite private people.

    Anyway thanks again for your efforts and all those who offered help as well. I will come back with an update if I solve it but I am not holding my breath

    By the way I actually live in Essex but I was in Manchester the other day on business


    DWD
     
  18. Tangoman

    Tangoman Well-Known Member

    The fact that he has it off the same lines as you only rules out the physical connection.

    It appears as if the problem has now been restricted to the software run by BT against your particular connection - which for some reason has chosen YOU as it's victim of the month??? I suspect that you've offended somebody through this forum who works for BT and they are sitting on a stool in the BT tower, flicking a switch and giggling madly.

    Seriously though, if this is the case, the next thing to try to prove it is to borrow another machine. You only need borrow the box, plug in your own monitor etc, or better still borrow a laptop. Connect up your modem and log on as you would on your own machine and see if the problem goes away.

    Tango
     
  19. Mr MAN

    Mr MAN New Member

    DWD,

    If the lad next door does not have the problem then why not invite them for a lunch time BBQ and get them to bring their PC to your house and see if it drops out, a good known working PC (already configured for BT BB) connected to a suspect line may assist here.......

    M.....
     
  20. Markybob

    Markybob New Member

    DWD, good chap this Mr Man isn't he :) I had more help from him than all the a/holes at Aria (my component supplier)
     

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