PC - ADSL woes

[Mpprh]

Hi

I offered to look at a laptop with the idea of a friend using it for an ADSL internet connection.

The laptop is a GATEWAY, from USA. It is c1998, but was pretty powerful for that time. It runs on windows 98.

The starting position was that it had no software, but the original disks were present. I guess it was via a relative who bought it from their US company who had wiped the hard disk before sale.

So far we have loaded windows, and various software, configured a printer and the next step is the ADSL connection.

It has vga, speaker, microphone, PS/2, parallel, serial and phone in ports. There is also a cd reader, and some sort of pc card reader which is described as being suitable for type 1, 11, or 111 cards. There is a USB socket which doesn't recognise my memory stick. There is a modem port with a phone type square socket. (no shortage then !).

So, the USB port appears dead (supported by windows 98 ?). There is no ethernet connection.

My question is " Is it possible to get an adaptor from serial port to accept an ethernet plug ?"

Now, I don't even know if this technically possible, but I think I've seen old external dial up modems running from the serial port.

Anyone know what I'm talking about ?

Peter

[Mazan]

You probably need to install the USB drivers (aka chipset drivers) which should be on the Gateway site if you don't have the original disk. A look in device manager will show the current state of the USB controllers and ports. You may also need to install the USB Win98 supplement depending on what version you have.

Once the USB drivers are in you can use the USB ADSL modem. Install the modem drivers first before connecting it.

The serial port is a bit slow to use for ADSL but you can easily get a PCMCIA card with an ethernet socket http://www.repotec.com/pcmcia_ethernet/pcmcia_ethernet.htm

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oh, and just to tack on to mazans post (he forgot to add this) the slots you found and could not identify would almost certainly be PCMCIA slots - about 2 and a half inches wide by 5 mm or so tall and usually two of them, one above the other.

[Ecossais]

Peter,

 

Have a look at this question / answer at www.usb.org - http://www.usb.org/faq/ans3#q1

The evaluation utility may help you? (You’d need to download it onto another PC first.)

 

If you only have one USB socket and you can get it working, you can buy USB hubs for around £10 which will allow you to connect (eg) 4 USB devices to the one socket.

 

There are broadband modems which connect by USB, I have an Alcatel Speedtouch which is USB.

 

Gateway are still alive and well in the USA so it might also be worthwhile having a look in the support area of their website as there are Q&A’s about Windows 98 issues – http://www.gateway.com

 

I think I’m right in saying that a lot of USB devices are only compatible with Windows 98 Second Edition (SE).  You should be able to check which version you have in Control Panel > System > (General)

 

 

[Mpprh]

Hi

Thanks all .......

well, there seem to be possibilities, which I'm researching.

I'm on the track of getting this working as cheaply as possible.

It is for an 82 yr old man who wants to get started with internet. He reckons he'll have no problems because he learned to touch type in the 40's ! He's been on the phone this morning asking how to save his first letter. You have to admire his enthusiasm. He is resigned to buying himself a new laptop eventually, but wants to learn a bit about PC's on this one first.

His daughter has given him the laptop. His wife has bought him a digital camera for Xmas, so when he fills the 128mb card in that I'll have to have another go with the USB port.

In fact the laptop may not be as old as feared. The User manual was printed 11/99 and US tend to be ahead of Europe in technology. The original specifications are here : http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Solo_Series/P1100/P110002.shtml , but I'll need to check what upgrades it has had.

Peter

[Mazan]

I think I’m right in saying that a lot of USB devices are only compatible with Windows 98 Second Edition (SE). 

USB works fine on Win95 and up if you install the USB supplement. Which is why I mentioned it.

That and the proper chipset drivers should do the trick.

[tel]

One other point to mention, when you have installed all that Mazan suggests, you 'Memory stick' still won't be recognised by windows 98, it should have come with a driver disk for windows 98 if not go to the manufacturers website and download them.

 

[Ecossais]

Hi Mazan,

 

Thanks for explaining how to make USB devices compatible with Win 95 / 98 – I’ve only used USB peripherals with ME / XP.

 

[hoverfrog]

if the pc was a reasonable spec then it may be better to install W2K on it. We've updated several, installing W2K then updating the drivers via the net. W2K is more stable and a lot easier to work with (speaking as a programmer and a user!) Make sure you get a full system printout before you start otherwise you will be wondering just what was the make and model number of the video card it had, etc,....

We introduced my father to a personal computer when he was 80 but we got him an iBook. No viruses, etc, to worry about and virtually maintenance free! He took to it like a duck to water, even though his last expeience of computers was when they took up several rooms. As a journalist he knew how to type, so that wasn't a problem, and his last years were greatly enhanced by having email contact with friends and family across the globe. I have seen it written numerous times on the net that the best computer to give to friends/family is a Mac, usually an ibook or iMac, otherwise you will be maintaining it forevermore

[Mpprh]

Hi

Well, we got there. The laptop is working with ADSL.

I "borrowed" an ethernet adaptor card & Voila !

Well Voila ! after reloading all the software because of conflicts initiated by the Wanadoo disk when it met some old NAV stuff.

Thanks all.

Peter