HELP! My KT7 is killing my connections!!

GrimReefer

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Nov 11, 2000
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After I connect via my USB 4060 speedstream, I can surf the net, play multiplayer games, download files, and post messages at AT, but not for very long. After a few minutes, my line will just stop working. The modem will not send or recieve any information even though I am still connected. When I disconnect, open my DSL Connection, and click connect, it freezes at "Dialing". When I cntrl-alt-del it takes about 10 seconds for the Task Manager to pop up, then I can cancel the "Not Responding" program.

Im running a KT7 raid, tbird 1.1, 512 mb pc133 cas2, win98 se. I have ALL the updated drivers that I could find. What could be doing this?

Information stops sending and recieving fastest when I start to play an online game.

One possibility might be that the USB controller doesn't like sharing an IRQ with my network card. How can I put the network card on another IRQ? Or is that not the problem?
 

glp1del

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Oct 9, 1999
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This is not exactly the same problem but I had serious problems with the built in USB controller on my KT7 board. Conflicts with my APC UPS and epson printer. The fix was to buy this USB controller card and all problems were fixed. Also read at usbman and KT7 FAQ

Hope that helps

Glp1
 

GrimReefer

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Nov 11, 2000
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I already have 4 USB ports, two built into the motherboard and two that are connected to the motherboard and run through cables. Is the reason why I keep losing the connection because there is not enough space in the USB to push the information through and its getting clogged?
 

miniMUNCH

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Nov 16, 2000
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Stop hitting the bong ;) (sorry..couldn't resist) and look at glp's links.

The USB drivers for the KT7 are wacked. Abit/VIA are still working on the issue. Until then...your onboard USB ports are off-limits for the most part. Get a USB controller from USBMAN like glp said if you must have USB support until then.

And post tech support questions in the tech support forum. :p;):D

Edit: I even did the work of finding a controller for you right here. Damn I'm a nice guy!!;):p I'd go with Outpost.com with the free overnight shipping (and probably no tax).
 

glp1del

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Oct 9, 1999
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The problem I am talking about is the fact that the via usb controller that is built into the motherboard chipset could be causing the problem. By putting in a pci card that has its own controller you can bypass the controller that is on the board, which is controlling both sets of USB connections that you are using. In my system;
pci #1 voodoo3 video card
pci #2 netgear FA311 nic
pci #4 usb controller card
pci #6 CL sb live

Try not to put anything into the 5th pci slot, shares an irq with the USB controller. Also, Abit came out with a new bios just a week or two ago you could think about updating the bios. But first what I would try is disconnecting the second set of USB ports and have only the modem plugged into an USB port and see if it works properly. If not think about adding the pci card and only using the USB ports on the card and not the ones connected to the motherboard.

Hope this helps, but keep in mind that I have never used an USB dsl modem I have the old fashion modem that connects to my ethernet card.

Again read the links I provided above and see if something seems to make sense.

Good luck,

Glp1
 

GrimReefer

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Nov 11, 2000
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Ok, I disabled my netgear FA311 nic and now everything works fine. It is sharing IRQ 10 with the USB controllers so that must be the problem. It seems that the controllers are very touchy about what they share their IRQ with. Does that mean that the NIC is plugged into pci 5??? Which slot is pci 1? The one closest to the agp or farthest from the agp?

 

GrimReefer

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Nov 11, 2000
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I went out and bought a USB card and plugged it in. So far everything is working fine, but Ive only been online for about 5 minutes. After I moved everything around inside my case, the sound card, the nic, and the on board USB controllers are all sharing the same IRQ. Did I miss something???

I got my SB Live in PCI #6, my USB Controller in PCI #2 and my NIC in PCI #4.

Is the KT7 just really bad with USB? Would you recommend selling this MB and getting another one?
 

glp1del

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Oct 9, 1999
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I would not give up on this board just yet. Once I added the pci controller card I stopped having problems. Hope things continue going well. If not post and maybe something else could be tried.

Glp1
 

GrimReefer

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Nov 11, 2000
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I added that PCI USB card, and it didn't help anything. Still had the exact same problem. I got pist so I formatted my hard drive and installed Windows ME. Everything seems to be running fine, but Im not sure for how much longer. I also flashed my bios up to WW instead of UL. Tech support told me that WW has better USB drivers or something.

II have yet to install any games on my system, but whenever I am downloading a large file, the mouse gets jumpy like the system is slowing down severely. What the hell is wrong with my computer?
 

GrimReefer

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Nov 11, 2000
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Ive made sure nothing is sharing IRQ 9 with the USB controllers. It has helped tremendously. Could my USB problems be linked with my BIOS settings? I have the newest award bios, WW, and a lot of the settings cannot be found on any BIOS guides.

Anyone else have this bios?
 

glp1del

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Oct 9, 1999
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I found this information at the KT7 FAQ link above. There are a few bios settings that are suggested. Sorry the usb pci controller card did not work out for you. Maybe something suggested here will work.

Good luck Glp1

Why don't my USB devices work?
A number of people experience problems with USB on motherboards using the VIA KT133 chipset, although these are not easily reproducible. The problems are therefore likely to be due to a number of cumulative problems. I therefore recommend the following:

Set "K7 CLK_CTL" as "default" instead of "optimal" in the "Advanced Chipset Features" submenu of the BIOS. This has no impact on performance and has solved the USB problem for most users.
Set "Enhance Chip Performance" to enabled in SoftMenuIII of the BIOS
Make sure you have an adequate power supply (at least 300W)
Try modifying your memory settings (slower or faster) - this has helped many people.
Get better quality memory (several users have solved USB problems by replacing generic RAM with Crucial or Mushkin brands)
Enable an IRQ for USB in the BIOS
Install VIA's USB Filter Driver
Some users have reported v4.25 of the 4in1 drivers solved USB problems - see drivers section for link
There is a known bug in the Universal Host Controller driver (Uhcd.sys) shipped with Windows 98SE that causes problems with the VIA chipset. Microsoft have a patch for this available at their support site under Q240075.
Read the Microsoft Knowledge Base article entitled General USB Troubleshooting in Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me. This includes many tips and links to several other related Knowledge Base articles.
Try ticking "disable USB error detection" in Device Manager under Universal Serial Bus controllers, PCI to USB Universal Host Controller
Does your USB device load on a port exceed the power handling capability of the onboard USB controller? This may be the case with devices such as USB cameras, in which case purchasing a powered USB hub would help.
Problems often arise if you are trying to run your memory too aggressively - try relaxing your memory settings (see memory section)
Other solutions reported include:

Putting your Soundblaster Live! card in PCI Slot 4 (rather than Slots 2 or 3) solves the problem
One user reported disabling his Soundblaster by ticking "Disable in this hardware profile" in Device Manager whilst scanning, etc, resolved the problem
Some users with a KT7-RAID have reported having a disk installed on Highpoint Secondary controller caused USB disconnects
One user found USB instabilities were due to SB16 emulation being enabled on his MX300 soundcard
One user reported problems with an HP USB Scanjet scanner failing to work. Even replacing with another HP Scanjet had the same difficulties, but on replacing it with another brand his problems were resolved
One user with an ABIT KA7 motherboard found that his USB solutions were due to using a 3Com 3c905TX PCI network card. On using a different NIC (in the same slot) the problem was solved. The D-Link DFE-530TX PCI and the 3Com 3c509B ISA network cards did not cause USB problems. Let me know if this problem occurs on your KT7!
One user explained that all of the following were required to achieve consistent USB stability on his machine:
The Highpoint drivers default the minimum and maximum cache to 0kB. Using a cache setting program such as RAM Idle SE, increase the max cache to 6140kB.
In WindowsMe go to Control Panel and Scheduled Tasks and disable the PC health task, this kicks in every 5 minutes or so and occasionally kicks out the USB devices.
Set the CPU drive strength at 3
In Properties, Advanced of the USB Universal Host Controller, disable USB Error Detection. This can be found under System Properties, Device Manager, Universal Serial Bus controllers, USB Universal Host Controller.
Also set I/O voltage to 3.3 or below and CPU voltage no higher than 1.80v.
Absolutely no FSB overclocking as this can make the devices unstable!!
Do not install the VIA USB filter driver in WindowsMe and
Install the Via 4.25a drivers with AGP4 disabled in the bios first, then re enable it afterwards.
For other USB problems try the usbman website and the VIA USB - Tip and Tricks page in particular.
Text
 

GrimReefer

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Nov 11, 2000
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I have Windows ME and I have already installed the USB Filter driver. Is there any way I can remove it?

Everything is working fine now, but my DSL takes a while to start sending and recieving. Once it does though, its blazin.