Help! ECS K7S5A & "Cannot Install Hardware. An Error Occurred During the Installation of the Device." problem

[gard]

Hi,

I recently built a machine with the ECS K7S5A board (+ Athlon 1700 XP). The AGP video card installs fine and I can get the machine up with Win2k or XP. However, installing a PCI card (pretty much any card, I've tried an USB 2.0 card, a 1394 card and now IOMagic PC PVR card) always results in a driver installation failure.

When I boot up with the new card, the "new hardware found" window pops up and I go through the driver installation process and then it ends up with the message ""Cannot Install Hardware. An Error Occurred During the Installation of the Device." It also says "The data is invalid".

Last night, I was trying to install the IOMagic PC PVR card (a TV tuner & video capture card). I booted with WinXP (no service packs) and used the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website. I got the above problem. I found some references to such an error for other hardware on XP ((here) with link to a Microsoft support page. I was not sure if my problem was a result of the same condition or not, so just for the heck of it, I booted with Win2K that I had in another partition, and got the same problem again.

Any idea what is going on here? I've had the same thing happen with other cards on different slots under XP on this machine. I did apply all the drivers that came with the motherboard when I first built the machine a couple of months ago. Does the fact that the "new hardware found" window is popping up, rule out the motherboard or BIOS as an issue? I built another machine a year or so ago with the K7S5A board and that one's been running like a champ. No such problems with PCI cards there.

Thanks for your help!
gard

 

[Bacinator]

I would get that error when I had my frontside usb ports wired up : +5v -data +data Ground, instead of +5v +D -D Ground. It would acknowledge a device was plugged in from the +5v to ground circuit, but the data was backwards, and therefore hosed. Probably not your same fault, but it gave me the exact same symptoms.

So maybe you have a data corruption problem somewhere. It is possible there is an IRQ conflict... You would have to go into the BIOS after you install a PCI card, and verify that IRQs are different between devices.

Also, have you tried multiple PCI slots, or do you have any that are currently working?

 

[gard]

Hi,

Thanks for your response, Bacinator.

I don't have the frontside usb ports set up (I am using an Antec SX830 case which doesn't have front USB ports, so I never set them up). I do have devices plugged in to the rear USB ports.

I have not checked for IRQ conflicts. I was under the impression with ACPI under WinXP, all cards will use the same IRQ and that it is okay. I didn't pay attention to the IRQ issue before. Will check that tonight.

Yes, I have tried multiple PCI slots and get the same problem on all. None of them are working, now or on past occasions when I tried to install USB2.0 and Firewire cards.

I did do the power LED connector mod (pull one connector pin and insert it in the middle slot of the connector to get the power LED to come on) on this machine. I didn't do that on my other K7S5A machine, where the PCI slots work fine.

Thanks again,
gard

 

[Bacinator]

Sounds like you may need to send your board back if you are having problems with all of the PCI slots. Good luck... I tried contacting ECS a coupla times for support, and never heard back.

You could try thier Support Center if you feel lucky, or if the board is more than a year old. Too bad they do not have a knowledge base of known issues like most companies. Sorta leaves you helpless.

Plus you already have the same model ECS mobo with no problems. Definitely sounds like this board is bad.

 

[gard]

Hi,

Thanks again, Bacinator. I think you are right. I have to see if I can send it back to ECS. I will post if I hear anything back from them.

Thanks,
gard