[gilley]

I know this isn't as important as a dead or infected pc, but I still need a resolution. My original post was back in early November. My oldest daughter is in area where dial-up is the only viable option for her. She currently has my youngest daughter's pc but both want theirs back.

This is a Compaq Presario V5000 with XP SP2. The modem is a Conexant AC97 Soft Data Fax Modem w/SmartCP. The HD was reformatted and all the software was re-installed using the recovery partition. The Device Manager shows everything is working with no conflicts. The modem shows it's enabled. The drivers have been updated. I've run chkdsk /r which found several "problems" but none of the "repairs" affected the modem. When I query the modem I get: "The port the modem is attached could not be opened. This may be due to a hardware conflict. Check the device manager etc." I've contacted HP tech support and they're useless.

All of this worked at one time and no hardware/software changes have been made, so to me it should still work unless the modem itself has died. But if that's the case, some kind of error (other than the one I'm getting) should show up somewhere shouldn't it?

Thanks.

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But if that's the case, some kind of error (other than the one I'm getting) should show up somewhere shouldn't it?

not necessarily...errors come when some monitorable function of the hardware is broken...if it's something much more physical (i.e. dead pins or something) then it may not report as broken..

since you've posted this before (i remember seeing the old thread) a probable quick solution would be to get a PCI data/fax modem (which are really cheap these days) and install it and see if that works...$25 max investment to save what seems to be a lot of headaches

[dsenette]

But if that's the case, some kind of error (other than the one I'm getting) should show up somewhere shouldn't it?

not necessarily...errors come when some monitorable function of the hardware is broken...if it's something much more physical (i.e. dead pins or something) then it may not report as broken..

since you've posted this before (i remember seeing the old thread) a probable quick solution would be to get a PCI data/fax modem (which are really cheap these days) and install it and see if that works...$25 max investment to save what seems to be a lot of headaches

[gilley]

Thanks. I'm not sure if the modem is wired as part of the mobo or a plug-in. There isn't much room in a laptop for plug-in cards so I'm guessing it's hard wired. If so, it may not be replaceable.

[dsenette]

that's my fault....sorry for that, i didn't realize it's a laptop

[gilley]

No biggy. A bad modem is still a possibility. Any other suggestions? Is there any way to force the port open? Crowbar, jackhammer, anything like that?

[dsenette]

well...there are USB or PCMCIA (assuming the laptop has a PCMCIA slot) data/fax modems...

[gilley]

I hadn't considered that. I'll check around tomorrow and see what I can find. We have a Staple's here but they don't seem to have anything like that (been in there to look). There are a few computer repair/re-sale shops here I can try. Thanks for the help. I'll let you know how it turns out. If you think of anything else that might work, let me know.