Exec,

Wow, what a treasure trove.

Tried this http://scan.esupport.com/?CFID=2783901&CFTOKEN=58932890

and it said that all my USB drivers were out of date

http://driveragent.com/driveragent_results.php?hwid=2e204026d738ac6357604a9fae837a76&ticket=17LKLQZ&PHPSESSID=2pa3eco5higehkmn8t59m29td1

I am not sure whether you'd be able to read that link. Is this Driver Agent operation safe to use.

Foregive me if that link is not showing correctly. I can do it the proper way if it helps.

TP

TP

Here's some more from the web site of the guys who look after my computing needs when I really do need the professionals:-

http://www.computerdoctors.uk.net/pages/links.htm

As far as I am concerned, if they recommend it or give a link to a site to get it, then it's OK.

You say, "Is this Driver Agent operation safe to use?"

Hmmm? Well it comes from Touchstone Software and they have been in business for over 20 years. I guess they must be reasonably ethical.

Here's their Terms of Use for Driver Agent: http://driveragent.com/privacy.php

Of course, you will need to download their specific version of Active-X to do a scan. Nice to see it is specific to them.

Importantly:

Q. G8. Does DriverAgent install any other software onto my PC?
A. No! When you scan with DriverAgent, no other software is installed onto your PC. Our DriverAgent Scan Technology is 100% Guaranteed Adware Free, Spyware Free, and Virus Free.

Hmmm? Yes. I'd give it a go.

I've had a quick look at the asus drivers page, I wouldn't bother with the driveragent thing. USB drivers are included in Windows if you have an Intel motherboard (which you do). I can't see anything obvious to do with USB except a BIOS update.

What USB devices are you trying to connect? You might need a driver for the devices and maybe have to use the Add Hardware control panel applet to scan for new hardware.

Leave it with me and I'll have a think and little look at a few things. I'll try and get back to you either later today or by tomorrow.

Yes. Just a thought...

Having done the free scan, well, then you can look to find most of the required drivers, which should be for free.

eg, Start Here:- http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2

"What USB devices are you trying to connect? You might need a driver for the devices and maybe have to use the Add Hardware control panel applet to scan for new hardware."

Yes, there is a coincidence here. What does work on this machine are a couple of Canon cameras, my HP printer, my Asus MyPal PDA and my Maxtor external hard disks. All came with software driver disks.

What has worked and did not come with any disk was a CF card reader.

What is now causing problems is my wife's Ricoh GRD2 and my Garmin Nuvi 760t. Neither of these come with drivers as 'you don't need them with XP it says'. In fact the Ricoh has a disk but it won't load onto XP.

So it might be the case that this machine has always needed external drivers to work its USB devices.

Incidentally I have just bought a version of SiSoft Sandra Pro Home, recommended by ComputerDoctors, but I can't get it to install - so I am waiting for their Help Desk on this one.

That viaarena site looks pretty scary when you look at the USB area. I get the impression they are saying that if I have SP2 I have up-to-date drivers. I'd hate to install anything else and lose the USB devices that do work.

But thanks for all the help.

TP

There's a firmware and software update to download for that Ricoh camera http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/download/ Updating are firmware is usually a good idea, but I'd install the software first and then apply the firmware update.

As for the Garmin sat nav thingy, there's software for that here https://buy.garmin.com/shop/store/downloadsUpdates.jsp?product=010-00538-00&cID=134&pID=6291

You probably need the software to communicate with the devices and you ought to bookmark these sites for future updates.

See if this works for you.

Thanks miner,

The Ricoh software turned out to already be on my machine from when we had the Ricoh GRD1 - which did work fine with this machine. But it still does not allow the GRD2 to plug and play.

The Garmin software presumes that the 760T is already showing up as a USB device. Which it is not so I am no further on with that either.

Sorry.

I have got that SiSoft Sandra software running now. It was a problem with the MS root permissions. Snag is I have no idea how to get it to tell me if there is anything wrong with my USB software. It could be thirty quid wasted as they did not do a try and buy deal - but I will keep trying.

TP

You could have a look here, it seems to have more solutions than anywhere else I've seen http://www.usbman.com/WinME%20USB%20Guide.htm

There's a few tricks on that site like disabling power management for USB item(s) in device manager. USB always seems to cause weird problems, so you're not alone.

Also, I wouldn't trust what you were told about the bios being updated. Have a look on the Asus site and try applying it, it won't do any harm even if it really is up to date. Do that first, then have a look at that USB website.

Miner,

You could be right about that BIOS. The support guy asked me what version I had and I replied:-

You asked for my bios version. It is:-

BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 0211, 30/04/2004

SMBIOS Version 2.3

But when I look at the Asus S5N on the Asus site it says version 0213A is the current one.

Can you point me to a URL that will tell me how to apply an updated BIOS please.

Thanks for the USBman site. I had already found it - but it's not solved my problem yet.

There is certainly something odd. I found


When I tried to install it this came up


and then this




TP

TP

I'm wondering if you have an ASUS motherboard in that machine. What does Belarc Advisor report?

Opt,

Here are the shots from my recently purchased Sandra and from Belarc



and



Any clues?

TP

And Belarc on my bus:-



TP

TP

I too am confused when comparing your info and that on the ASUS site. It still looks a though you have an unlisted motherboard.

Have you checked that the serial no and Asset Tag are the same as the coputer label?

Did ou get the support people to check verify your machine from the serial no.?

Did you try option 4 on the Bios flash utility?

I assume that you're not using Win2K - there is a USB driver update for that.

It appears from the ASUS site that BIOS V 0213A did address some USB issues if you could install it.

There is a DOS version of the BIOS utility which may work better, but the DOS versions are not always as clever as the Windows versions so yo need to be 100% sure of your motherbord first.

BTW. I'm sure that they have it worked out properly, but I would always download the BIOS to disk rather than get it straight fro the Internet.

"Have you checked that the serial no and Asset Tag are the same as the coputer label?"

No they are different.

"Did ou get the support people to check verify your machine from the serial no.?"

No, but that's because they didn't ask. I can try again, but it takes up to 48 hours (and ignores weekends) to get a reply.

"Did you try option 4 on the Bios flash utility?"

No, because it refused to install. As per the screen shots above. Said I did not have an Asus board.

"I assume that you're not using Win2K "

No. XP Pro.

"It appears from the ASUS site that BIOS V 0213A did address some USB issues if you could install it."

Yes, I saw the reference to booting from a USB. If I could install? I am not sure (a) how you do install a new BIOS - and (b) even more importantly how you protect the old one in case the new one does more harm than good.

Yes, it is confusing. Belarc seems to be saying that the motherboard is Asus and the BIOS is American Megatrends. But I think that is the same with my big studio PC - an Asus board and Am Meg BIOS.

TP

TP

If the Serial No and Asset tags on the label are different to those reported by Belarc then that points to an error in manufacturing or possibly your machine was produced at the time of a design change so they used a different MB.

You should be able to install the new BIOS using the utility that did not work for you or the equivalent DOS utility. I see that one of the options is to save the existing BIOS which you should do first, but your problem is that you may have a different MB (the update utility certainly thinks so). If you try to force an update with the wrong BIOS, then you may not be able to recover the motherboard.

I think your best way forward is to get ASUS to verify your machine ID from the info that Belarc provides.

Sorry that I can't be of more help.

Opt,

I am coming to the conclusion to leave well alone now.

The machine talks to the bits of kit that are essential. My wife's camera and the Satnav work with my studio PC and probably work with the Samsung Q1 Ultra that I'd take on hols if I needed a travel computer.

There's too big a chance that I mess up the Asus and it's far from critical that it has this oddity.

Thanks for your interest and help - but now's the time to quit methinks.

Have a good weekend.

TP

Hi TP,

OK, download both files below and unzip them to separate directories. The first file is the actual bios, the second is the flashing program. Install the flashing program by running the setup.exe file.

Once you've done that, try and disable things like antivirus and other programs running in the background (usually these are things with icons in the bottom right tray area) and close any open programs like Internet Explorer. Don't worry too much if this isn't possible or a bit tricky, as long as you haven't got loads of other programs interferring in things.

Now run Winflash (the flashing program), there should be a start menu or desktop link created, and then you will probably be asked where the bios file is. Point it to the file 0213a.s5n bios file that you unzipped from S5N0213A.zip and follow the program's instructions. Flashing should take a minute or two, so don't touch anything. You'll probably be asked to shut down, poweroff or reboot when the program has finished. Then after your laptop has restarted try and identify the bios version and you should find it's been updated to 213A, 2.13A or whatever.

Bios file http://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/S5N/S5N0213A.zip

Bios Flash Program http://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/S5N/WinFlash_XP_2K_041228.zip

As long as you're sure of your laptop model, you should be OK. A lot of these identification utilities are inaccurate and laptop motherboards are often OEM ones eg made by Intel especially for Asus which confuses a lot of these programs.

The bios update for the S5N is the same for the S5NP anyway and if it's the wrong model the flasher usually refuses to run. If you are worried then double check your laptop model. Usually it's printed on the bottom of your laptop and go with that instead of Belarc. It's unlikely in the extreme to be a manufacturing error.

miner,

You are very kind but if you look at the few messages between myself and Optimist we came to the conclusion that the machine might not have an Asus motherboard. The serial number on the bottom of the machine is not the same as that found by Belarc.

It would be a total disaster if this exercise to make connection with a couple of non essential devices screwed up the whole machine.

Do take a look at that Belarc and Sandra report thread by all means and tell me what you think it is saying. I am no computer wizz but I can't see why I have an Asus board and an American Megatrends bios - but at least most of the computer works and I am inclined to let things be....

But thanks yet again. I have had more help from this thread in the last couple of days than in two weeks spent with other forums connected with cameras and GPS.

TP

TP there are only two major writers of BIOS programs, AMI is one of them and for instance my Asus desktop uses AMI BIOS. The BIOS may be tailored to a particular manufacturer but it is not written by them.

When you downloaded Asusupdate, did you download a version specifically for your laptop? I expect that its error messages are simply saying that it is finding a motherboard and BIOS that it does not recognise, not that they are not made by Asus. BTW I have never got Asusupdate to work properly downloading straight from the internet.

Since the information from Sandra appears correct (after all it gives your laptop model numbers) I would not think it would be dangerous to use miner's links since they are obviously specific to your laptop.