IBM Aptivas... grrrr... whats up with the Mwave card?

[Hersh]

im trying to fix up my old old computer, its an IBM Aptiva model# 2176-C33

it has a pentium 133mhz in it with one 16 stick of DIMM i think

this was before i knew how computers were made (aka Computer illiterate), so i just bought this aptiva for school/entertainment purposes

the comp is currently stashed on top of an old old old old old 66mhz computer...
i installed linux in the ibm cause i wanted to see what it was like, its ok, but since KDE requires at least 32mb of ram, its sloooowww...

so, i'll be installing win95 or win98 on it soon

my problem is that it has this Mwave adapter card or something.
i think its a vidcard sound card, and a modem all in one or a 2combination of those, but i can't find the right drivers for the actual Mwave modem!

i searched for the right driver in the cd that came with the comp, but it had drivers for Mwave Dolphin adapter and a driver to another version of the modem.

i installed netzero onto it, to try to see if it could call, and it did call out and connect with netzero; however, it disconnected me after 5 minutes

i tried freei and even AOL, it did the same basically.

anyone remember having this kinda problem(s) before with the aptiva?
i tried to install the original image of the computer from another cd it came with, and there was some partition error or something (so the image loading program says)

if you still don't understand, ill bump this message up later with more specifics after i install and try the modem again in win95.

thanks
john

 

[snowdogg187]

My parents have an IBM aptiva 166mhz. The modem doesn't work anymore so I added another modem that works allright. Problem is I didn't want to pull out the mwave card because it had sound also. So now I have to uninstall the mwave modem everytime I startup!! What is the best way to do this, maybe get new drivers for the mwave card??
I have many problems with this computer but don't really want to lose everything thats on it.
Thanks guys

 

[Homer]

I have a friend who had a similar problem. MWave soundcard/modem and wanted to install another modem, but made the mistake of uninstalling the modem part of the MWave in W95 and being unable to satisfactorily re-install it. I believe he ended up just installing it with a generic modem driver off the Windows disk, then installing the other modem, and selecting the new modem as the one to use with his dialup connection. I have done something similar with a couple of old Packard-Bells with combo cards.

 

[compuwiz1]

There was a class action lawsuit a couple years ago against IBM, due to the problems created with that combination. They were replacing modems and soundcards.
I doubt they are doing anything now.

 

[AC]

snowdogg187: couldn't you just disable the MWave modem driver in Windows? that way it won't interfere with the other one nor will it be detected on startup.

alphaz: A neighbor had one of those Aptivas, but I'm not exactly sure what model. They upgraded to a newer Windows and couldn't get the MWave modem/sound card combo to work correctly. It turns out that the MWave drivers on the CD were the incorrect ones (not just for the different OS, but for the wrong card). I did a search for the drivers on the web and finally found the correct one to download and install. It hadn't been working for almost a year.

 

[Balt]

I share your pain :disgust:

The mwave card is the biggest piece of poop I've ever had the displeasure of using (I had a 200mhz Craptiva).

Once I tried upgrading the drivers for it.... stopped working... tried uninstalling drivers... didn't work... then I reinstalled and uninstalled again (this time using the uninstall program for the newer set of drivers like I should have the first time)... reinstalled old drivers... computer wouldn't make it into windows anymore.

So I call up IBM's 'tech support' and they basically tell me to format. Instead I just tried replacing the config.sys with an old backup I had made, and it worked again (thankfully).

So, um, that probably doesn't help you any, but I had to share my tale of horror with you anyway

 

[Hersh]

hehe, dang... i guess it was a big problem, and i thought it was just a small

to those of you who had success finding the correct driver for the mwave thing in an aptiva...
please post a link on here or something!

thanks
john

 

[SickBeast]

i recently tried to fix my friend's aptiva with the same problem to no avail. you're probably better off buying a cheap sound card and a modem; the mwave isn't worth the aggrivation. just remove the mwave from device manager and burn it or something. i'm sure you can make it work, it's just that they're really hard to configure; the IRQ settings always seemed to cause conflicts in the system i was working on. anyways i hope this helps.

 

[SickBeast]

ps you can probably find the driver you need somewhere on the internet. then it's just a matter of configuring the modem...good luck..

 

[compuwiz1]

Did you check Windrivers

 

[skywhr]

mwave sux!!!!!!!! my 1st comp had that, never again

 

[Homebrew]

You might want to ask in the alt.comp.hardware.aptiva newsgroup. Sorry, it's been a few years. Used to belong to a Aptiva help mailing list and 90% or so of all the problems were Mwave related. Seemed like every other day someone posted a story of revenge and satisfaction about physically destroying the card in unique ways.
Like the other people here I also recommend just pitching it and get a cheapo winmodem and SB32, you will still be much better off.

Concerning the lawsuit - ironic that yesterday I recieved 3 (2 duplicates) letters detailing all the specifics. Never had any intention of participating, not worth the hassle. From what I can gather of the settlement it looks like Mwave owners are entitled to $100 and %10 off your next IBM purchase (yah right) and the attorney(s) are awarded $10.6M. Of course proof of reciepts for the Aptiva and replacement modem/soundcard is required for the full amount.

 

[Balt]

alphaz, finding drivers means finding your way through their (very) extensive support website crap. Gotta go through a lot of junk to get to the actually useful info. I'm not sure if they even have much devoted to the Aptivas nowadays, but way back when I was looking around I had to look through about 450936829087 of the questions on their website to find it. I assume this is because they were such POS's.

Try searching the IBM support site I guess.

BTW, I don't know if this has been cleared up, but the mwave isn't the video card. If your system is anything like mine was it probably has an onboard ATi card (on the mobo).


Homebrew, wish I had gotten in on that lawsuit. That card gave me such grief. :disgust:

 

[networkman]

It is possible to get the MWave card working.. I've done it; but it would've taken alot less time to simply yank it, jump up and down on top of it, and put in a seperate sound card and modem. Unfortunately, the customer wouldn't let me, so I actually got it working, but I got even.. I billed him for the entire amount of time that it took!!

 

[Wallysaurus]

If you do a search on driverguide.com for mwave, you should be able to find the driver you are looking for.

 

[Hersh]

i went to driverguide, mwave didn't come up with any results except CommWave...

i went to ibm channel, and found link to ibm driver site... but there are like 1000s MWave Drivers they list for download... how do i know which one to download?

k, thanks
john

 

[AC]

Are there any stickers or text on the card that would indicate it's model/revision/date, etc.?

[edit]
I just did a search on driverguide.com for mwave and got plenty of relevant hits. you can try all of them or try looking for your specific model.

 

[LevcoS]

You can also try the mwave modem driver at this link

Good luck!

LevcoS

 

[SickBeast]

how can i get my $100? i have receipts and everything..

 

[Homebrew]

Sickbeast - didn't catch the URL in the paperwork before otherwise I would have included it in my post.
Anyway, here is the website of the class action settlement.
Mwave Settlement

 

[Balt]

alphaz,

I just remembered in order to find the right driver, you should use your COMPUTER'S (not the modem's) model number to find the correct driver. I had like an S76-#### or something (if I had the computer handy I would look). Try searching that way.

Hope you get it worked out, I know those things can be frustrating. :|

Edit: After checking Homebrew's link (thanks for that by the way), I remember now I had an 2159-S76. Since your computer is different than mine, it is obviously a different model though. Check for the model number under the handle on the top of the case.

 

[Hersh]

hmmmm... i didn't know about this settlement thing until just now after reading the site...

it says that it requires Proof of Purchase of the Aptiva/ThinkPad and, Proof of Purchase of the Modem or Proof of Purchase of the Sound Card...

why is it an AND?
the Aptiva I have is a 2176-C33
and it CAME with that stinkin MWave card...
how would I prove that ?

dang, theres alot of text to get through to try to get that $100, but i sure could get a new modem and a nice sound card with that...

hmmm, can someone just simply step by step post how to make a claim?
i downloaded the claim form, but are there any negative consequences (if any was or will exist) to this?

thanks for clarification
john