(SOLVED) BSOD on installing zte data card Ac2739.

[rama]

 dxdaig under the System tab mentions Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2080 @1.73GHz. I have re-run the Intel Driver Update Utility, but it doesn't list any driver as available - neither under Latest Drivers nor Old Drivers. I tried the Add legacy hardware wizard, and it said that it didn't find any hardware.

Regards,
Rama.

[Boggin]

Does the Toshiba support site for your model list any chipset drivers that you can reinstall ?

Intel normally list these but you never know if the computer vendor has modified them so it's always best to get chipset and/or video drivers from the computer support site, although this isn't normally the case when an AMD processor has been installed.

When I checked Toshiba support site for any updated video drivers for my Toshiba, it took me to AMD so I know I can go straight there to check for updates.

[rama]

Before I reinstalled Vista, I checked the Toshiba site for driver and bios update. Though some updates were available for satellite A100 at http://pc.toshiba-asia.com/mn/support/legacy-drivers, no update was available for my model PSAAKL - they were specific about model number. Now I found that updates for Windows 7 for all A100 have been posted at http://support.toshiba-tie.co.jp/windows7/download/Satellite_A100_32_sp.htm. As per the recommendation found there, I downloaded  Toshiba Service Station 2.2.9 from http://www.support.toshiba.com/support/viewContentDetail?contentId=4003322 and ran it. It reports that no software updates are available. I remember Drive the Life downloading and installing some drivers, and it seems to have done the job adequately.

Regards,
Rama.   

[Boggin]

I was thinking about re-downloading existing drivers for Win 7 as the computer will be end of life as far as Toshiba are concerned.

[rama]

Okay, I got your point. I downloaded the relevant drivers and utilities from http://support.toshiba-tie.co.jp/windows7/download/Satellite_A100_32_sp.htm and installed. All of them installed without problem, except the Intel Chipset SW Installation Utility, which reported that the minimum requirements are not met. I downloaded the ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M Series driver from Cnet Download, which installed without problem. After restart, I uninstalled and reinstalled the modem. However, it is still recognized as a cdrom drive, and also 1Gb RAM only is detected.

Regards,
Rama.   

[Boggin]

That's bad news - roll back each driver until it recognises max RAM.

There's one thing you could check and that's Disk Management to see what drive letter the DVD drive is allocated and if the USB has been.

When Vista blue screened did you get a Stop Code ?

I've never used a networking USB but it should be listed in Network adapters and not as an USB device.

[rama]

Rolling back the drivers has made no difference. I still think that the memory issue is linked to the very old bios, for which I could find no updates.

I checked the Disk Management and found that the DVD drive has been allocated "G", the same as under "Computer". There is no mention about the Usb modem when it is not plugged in. Once plugged in, it is shown as a cd-rom drive "H", file system is CDFS, and Disk Management says "Healthy (Primary Partition). Under "computer", it is shown as "Cd drive H", but further exploring shows that it is installed as 2 devices, "usb storage FFF1 usb device" and "cd-rom drive" with location "on usb mass storage device". Similarly, under device manager, it is found under "modem" as "usb modem FFF1" and under "DVD / CD-ROM drives" as  "cd-rom drive".

Here's the Vista blue screen Stop Code

SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
0x1000007e   0xc0000005   0x9e206c19   0x80760bf8   0x807608f4   cdrom.sys+6c19            

Regards,
Rama.      

[Boggin]

It was probably a driver conflict which caused that error.

It's possible the BIOS has become a bit ragged around the edges and resetting could sort that - you would need to Google either for that operation for your make & model of computer or the service manual.

Sometimes it's just a matter of removing the CMOS battery and other times it's switching jumpers around, but there can also be an auto setting in the BIOS (Set up) to do it.

Shane may be able to make something out of the double entry for the dongle but there may also be some info to be gleaned from the ZTE site under the Support tab including contacting them.

http://wwwen.zte.com.cn/endata/magazine/mobileworld/2012/1/articles/201202/t20120222_287317.html

[rama]

I ran Driver Verifier for 48 hours continuously before reinstalling Vista, and it didn't find any error. 
Moreover, the same BSOD appeared while trying to install the modem with  freshly loaded Vista. It is more likely that the conflict is in Vista itself.

The bios has a 'set to default' option, which I had used before reinstallation, and now also, but it has made no difference.

Problems with this sort of modems are reported mainly in the linux system, like http://www.wikihow.com/Connect-Reliance-Broadband%2B-Zte-Modem-in-Linux-%28Using-Usb_Modeswitch%29  and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_CD-ROM_switching_utility. I inquired with the local Reliance outlet if anyone has reported this problem, and they said 'No'.

I tried another tactic. Using the Autoruns program I disabled cdrom.sys, and tried to install the modem, but couldn't. With cdrom.sys disabled, Windows didn't try to install drivers when the modem was inserted. Running the modem's installation program also got stuck, because the device was not recognized when inserted as prompted.   I can't understand why usb drivers were not installed, or the device was not run with the already installed usb drivers.

Regards,
Rama.     

[Boggin]

I suppose because no one had reported a similar problem, they didn't have any suggestions either.

See if ZTE have any suggestions by using the Contact Support link in the ZTE site I'd linked.

An IRQ conflict will cause a BSOD but you would have gotten a corresponding Stop Error code if that had been the case in Vista.

[rama]

That's right, they were clueless! I've sent an email to [email protected], let's see how it goes.

Regards,
Rama.     

[rama]

22.03.2015

email from     [email protected]
Sub: Unable to safely eject zte data card Ac2739.

thanks for contacting us. Since we are responsible for ZTE system equipment after sales service, we have forwarded your mail to our mobile Dept. Sorry for the inconvenience, wish you a nice day!

Dear Mobile Dept. Colleagues,
Please handle this issue for our respected customer at earliest, thanks!

23.03.2015

email from     [email protected]
Thanks for contacting ZTE.

For more assistance you can contact our ZTE Indian customer service at 1800 103 1900 from Monday to Friday between 9 AM to 5 PM .


email from me to   [email protected], cc to [email protected]
I contacted the ZTE Indian customer service at 1800 103 1900, and after inquiring about what OS I am using etc, he asked me to contact Reliance and gave me the toll-free number. Since this is a technical matter and has nothing to do with Reliance, I didn't contact them. I'm just passing on this info to you.

email from     [email protected]
Thanks for contacting ZTE.

For this issue, please contact the local dealer where you purchased the device to or network operator to consult.

Should there be further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.


24.03.2015

I went to the Reliance outlet where I bought the modem and told them the email details. They said the issue is not related to them, and there mighty be something wrong with my laptop.

So I thought out a workaround - uninstall the modem which is installed as cd-rom drive through the device manager. The hitch is that you can't normally run the device manager as administrator when logged in as a standard user. The solution is to type devmgmt.msc in the search box, and then right click and use the  run as administrator menu.

Regards,
Rama.