P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

[pfrcom]

Acquired this motherboard as dead / stopped working one day - got it going by reflashing its BIOS chip

Everything seems to be working, except on-board Atheros L2 network

Testing with XP, tried all drivers from Asus download

Also tried what I believe is very latest driver for XP, v2.5.7.16 from an ECS download - same version number as letting Windows update do its thing

Problem is IP address will be allocated by some modems, but cannot Ping gateway address, much less connect to it with browser

By some modems, I mean I've tried four different modems - some will not even assign IP address

Modem I settled on for testing is Thomson TG782T updated with latest firmware

Also cannot Ping if I assign IP address to Atheros, taking DHCP out of equation

Have tried plugging in PCI SMC EtherEZ network card, making two network connections available - and if LAN cable plugged into SMC, no problems

Also tried different LAN cables

Finally tried downgrading BIOS to oldest available version for download, seeing third latest version mentions a fix for PXE problems

Before giving up on Atheros, tried board with Windows 7

Surprised to find it worked perfectly - also worked perfectly with Linux Mint 17.1

- what's with XP and Atheros L2 ?

Anyone have any insights ?

[pfrcom]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

FWIW, I tried it with Vista, which also does not have Atheros L2 support built-in

Used the same ECS driver Zip as above, and Vista worked perfectly too

Pity XP won't accept, or be forced to accept, the NDIS 6.0 driver applicable to Vista

Seems to me there's a fundamental problem with the NDIS 5.1 driver applicable to XP

Does anyone have an Atheros L2 NIC working with XP ?

[Pentium4]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

I've had this issue with this board. There is nothing wrong with your OS. What did you update the BIOS to, 413? I had this same issue until I updated the BIOS. I had to use a floppy disk to update the BIOS since the BIOS update utility was not working for me.

[mockingbird]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

As Pentium 4 said, use the latest BIOS 0413. It has Atheros OROM 1.0.20.20.

The latest one is 1.0.20.22, but I couldn't replace it, because Asus used some sort of shrunken down version for this BIOS, and there isn't enough room for the stock OROM from Atheros.

If you really want 1.0.20.22, I can replace it, but the only way to get it to fit is by removing some old microcodes.

[pfrcom]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

I started this saga with BIOS 0413, which is what I used to recover the board in the first place

Then downgraded to 0207 after encountering LAN problems with XP

I update BIOS from a USB key booting with DOS

[pfrcom]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems



Figures doesn't it - Attansic (Atheros) was a majority owned subsidiary of ASUSTek Computer

What gets me is all the drivers I've tried are WHQL certified - what's necessary to get certified, pay M$ a fee ?

[stj]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

blame M$ for using the bios, it should contain whatever it needs like linux does.

[mockingbird]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

Here you go. Try this combination of BIOS and driver, option rom 1.0.20.22 and Driver 2.6.7.17 (XP x86). Both are included in the zip.

[pfrcom]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

Try this combination of BIOS and driver

Thanks for your effort

Unfortunately no change with XP Pro - even did a clean install, to be 100% sure

Vista still works though

[Calchaqui]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

pfrcom. What do you think was the cause of the first owner bad bios chip? , a mistake bad-flash or bios just got corrupted?
What kind of mounting has the Athero chip? BGA?

[pfrcom]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

pfrcom. What do you think was the cause of the first owner bad bios chip? , a mistake bad-flash or bios just got corrupted

I believe it just didn't work one day, so, BIOS just got corrupted - original owner gave me the board after buying a replacement P5B from me

What kind of mounting has the Athero chip? BGA?

Not BGA, the older type with fine leads from all four sides of the chip

[mockingbird]

Re: P5GC-MX/1333's Atheros L2 network weird problems

That's called a quad flat pack or QFP...

I'll see if I can replace it with an even newer Atheros OROM. IIRC, Atheors L2 can take the newer OROMs, unlike Atheros L1, which is a legacy PCI chip.