ECN Forum Forums Technical Discussion Re: Computers and the Internet Broken Computer!

Just want to get my camera going again Scott,I've got heaps of pics from adventures of Luke(new Faultsman) and I stored in the camera, I really would like to be able to retrieve the pics.
Hope you can help.
Cheers,
Trumpy.

USB ports on the motherboard can often be enabled or disabled from the BIOS settings, as can on-board serial (RS232) ports.

Silly question maybe, but did you install the proper drivers for the camera?

Trumpy;

Sorry for the delayed reply. Was in the middle of replying last night when Netscape decided to throw a GPF Monkey Wrench at me!

Anyhow, verify the USB settings are enabled in the BIOS setup. If a setting is disabled, change it to "Enabled", then save changes and exit the setup.

After verifying all is OK in the BIOS setup, see if Windows found the USB ports. Do this in the System Properties Device Manager (accessed from the Control Panel).
If you see a "?" or "!", Windows has some conflict with it.
Verify all IRQs and Addresses are not being stepped on.
Try removing the USB port and, if also affected, the root hub, from the Device Manager by highlighting each device and selecting the "Remove" button.

After rebooting, Windows should go into a "new hardware found" setup routine, which should result in proper port setup.
If not, manually tweek the settings.

If Windows does not look for the port after reboot, try a manual hardware search (Control Panel / Install New Hardware).

Make sure your machine / O.S. has the USB drivers needed. If needed, the Windows CD-ROM has them in a Cabinet file.

Once the USB port is active, you will need some type of camera uploading driver - unless you are going the TWAIN route, which only needs a TWAIN driver.
Check the net + Microsoft's site for compatable drivers.

Good luck!

Scott35

p.s. - Re: Connector polarity;
If the USB ribbon cable connector does not have a "Keeper Pin", try matching up the pin numbers of the connector to the identified pin numbers on the board. If no numbers are available, let me know.
I'll check the good book of USB for more information.

Scott

Scott,Paul,
Sorry to be a PITA, but I already had the drivers in the computer, for the camera and now that I have the new USB ports in the thing, it seems that I am now back to square 1, camera no go.
But here's the real nuisance, I can't remember how on earth I got the thing to work, finally.
I remember that I d/loaded the new drivers from the BenQ site and all of a sudden the camera lept into life.
I tried this again and nothing happened (after un-installing the drivers).
Everything was going fine until the darned thing got damaged.
BTW, Scott, the new USB ports have 2 circular cables, 1 from each port socket.

Guys,
I reckon that that device that I was talking about above, that had burned out, had something to do with the fact that the USB add-on doesn't work now.
I think that the only way I am going to get around this one is to fit a new motherboard, as I don't know of anyone around here that repairs computer motherboards, if it can in fact be done.
I may just have to bite the bullet and spend some cash.

Almost anything can be repaired by replacing whatever components necessary (unless the PC board itself is badly damaged), but these days it's down to the question of whether it's worth it.

As replacement boards are so relatively cheap, repair is often just not worth it these days.

Paul,
I have absolutely no idea what sort of M/Board I should be replacing the one that I already have, with.
Is there anywhere where I can find out just what I actually have installed here.
In all honesty, I had a guy that I know well, but he has moved away from this area, build this system up for me, in leiu of quite a bit of Monitor servicing that I used to perform for him, while he was running an Internet Cafe and just in the last couple of months, the whole system has turned to custard.
As you may realise through my many posts in this Area!.
I'm fully conversant with Win 95 and 98, but XP is just a real PITA as I see it.

I've located a marking on the M/Board, next to where the component blew.
It reads FB5, could someone tell me if this is a fuse that has failed?
I have desoldered the failed USB ports from the board and I am sort of hoping that soldering a piece of Tinned copper wire, will reinstate the use of the USB ports that I added on, as these do not work either, even though they are enabled in BIOS, it seems like there is a break in the circuit, even though Device Manager tells me that the ports are working properly.
I really hate double-sided PC Boards, especially when they have SMD devices on them!.

Trumpy;

The Designator FB5 could be anything! I am hoping it's an SMD fuse, so you can get this problem solved finally!

If you can figure out the maker of this M/Board, maybe they will have some "Usable" Tech Docs on line for that board, which could be used to figure out the component (along with other issues).

Man, that USB situation is really becoming a Giant PITA!!!

Just wish I had more help than questions!

Scott35

Second what Scott has said. It's very difficult to tell what's going on in a situation like this without actually being there.

Double-sided can be tricky sometimes, but not nearly as bad as the five-plus layers on some new boards!

I've never used XP or ME myself, although a friend uses ME. The removal of the "Drop to MS-DOS prompt" option in ME would be a major reason for me not accepting it.