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March 5th, 2010

Plea for technical help

*Warning: Dull post. Do not read if you came here to be interested or amused.*

I am aware that I ask for technical help (usually on Twitter) several times a day, but I am taking a liberty and doing so once more.

This time it is not for me and my blessed Mac, but for a family member’s PC computer which I am attempting to make work this weekend. If I can do so I will get superb numbers of brownie points and will generally be regarded as some kind of hero.

Here is a summary:

Problem: Can’t surf the internet / do e-mail.

Details:

So, what I’m wondering is (a) any thoughts what the problem might be? (b) how would I go about making a diagnosis and, all being well, fixing it?

Normally I’d do copious Googling, but I’m connecting via a dongle on a netbook and too much internetting is a bit awkward.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

17 Comments »



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17 Responses to “Plea for technical help”


  1. Aaron says:

    Step one: Purchase new computer.

    Step two: Take old computer to recycling centre.

    Step three: Have a drink.

    That’s the extent of my tech know-how.

    March 5th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
  2. Dave says:

    Aaron – you’re fairly close to the mark as far as what will happen should I fail in my quest. But it seems a shame if it is just some little tickbox that became unticked in the breeze.

    March 6th, 2010 at 12:01 am
  3. James Clayton says:

    The 105 is a bit rubbish. If you can, take your own router with you when you go, so you can test the connection on something you know works.

    March 6th, 2010 at 12:01 am
  4. Dave says:

    James – Yes, that would have been a good idea. Unfortunately I’m here now. Bother.

    March 6th, 2010 at 12:02 am
  5. Richard says:

    Maybe a bit late now, but it’s not something like the login/password details are changed or wrong. From your description of the lights it sounds like the DSL is synchronising fine, but it’s not actually making the connection.

    March 6th, 2010 at 12:22 am
  6. Tony says:

    If the ISP won’t help when you’ve got problems, ditch them for one that will (especially since they’re one of the more expensive ISPs to start with – you might expect that behaviour from the cheap ones). Also, 50p a minute is outrageous for a support line.

    It won’t help now but will help the next time it happens.

    The problem with DSL is you need someone that can do the right diagnostics and beat up BT should they prove to be the source of the problem – OTOH if you’re getting sync then it’s as likely to be a problem at the ISP end (no data presumably means no PPP, which every time that’s happened to me has either been a failure at the LNS or Radius)*.

    * OK I don’t expect you to parse that – read that as ‘it’s probably not your fault’..

    March 6th, 2010 at 12:31 am
  7. Dave says:

    Richard – It is ‘connecting’ with the username and password, its just that no data actually passes and then whatever you’re trying to do times out.

    Tony – To be fair to the ISP I’ve not actually tried to call them – that was done by a family member when they tried to sort it out. Agree that 50p a minute outrageous.

    Apologies if comments aren’t moderated for some of Saturday – may be out of reach of internet.

    March 6th, 2010 at 12:50 am
  8. Anne says:

    Dave, a couple of things. (Am in the US but assume DSL works the same both places.): Be certain nobody’s done anything to the wall jack where the modem’s plugged in; is the filter in place? Can you use your netbook to try connecting? How hard is it to get hold of a new filter? Only thing I can think of is to try known-good equipment one piece at a time.

    March 6th, 2010 at 2:00 am
  9. Scribbledfish says:

    “It is ‘connecting’ with the username and password, its just that no data actually passes and then whatever you’re trying to do times out.”

    Sorry if I’m being slow, but is the data light now on?
    If not then check router settings, do you know how to change the username / password in the router?

    March 6th, 2010 at 9:55 am
  10. Dave says:

    Anne – I think trying the router using my netbook is the thing to do. Thank you. Unfortunately getting hold of replacement equipment is difficult.

    Scribbledfish – No, data light not coming on. The little ‘two computers’ light at the bottom right lights up and a thing pops up to say you’re connected, but that is all.

    March 6th, 2010 at 10:15 am
  11. Scribbledfish says:

    I’m presuming they are the two little computers on the bottom right hand corner of your computer.

    If so this means the computer is connected to the Voyager ok. Googling the Voyager 105 shows its a standard USB modem (http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/hardware/voyager105.shtml) So from the sounds of it, you should have a icon / link somewhere that says “connect” or something similar.

    If you do, what error message comes up?

    If not then you may well need to get hold of the cd that came with the voyager :(

    March 6th, 2010 at 10:36 am
  12. Dave says:

    Will try connecting my Netbook to modem later.

    When you connect on the computer the little bubble pops up and says ‘Voyager 105 ADSL Connection is now connected’ Speed: 3.0Mbps’. Trying to bring up a webpage IE8 tries for about a minute then brings up ‘Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage’. I have noticed that the ‘Data’ light does flash at times. Clicking ‘Diagnose Connection Problems’ brings up ‘Windows could not detect any wired or wireless network cards installed on your machine’ (etc) Advises contacting ISP, making sure network card drivers are installed properly or contacting the manufacturer of my personal computer.

    I do have the Voyager 105 CD if required.

    March 6th, 2010 at 11:13 am
  13. Dave says:

    I can’t make my netbook connect to the modem, but perhaps it wouldn’t without me installing something (The drivers I imagine) via the modem disk (which I can’t do as the netbook has no disk drive). [Update: downloaded drivers via BT website. Tried to install. Error message: 'Error loading newdev.dll' and then something about requiring Administrator priviliges.]

    When the modem wire is plugged into the netbook the DSL light on the modem stays off. Plugging the wire back into the other computer brings the DSL light on again.

    March 6th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
  14. Anne says:

    Hmm. If you still want to try with your Netbook, you might try booting it up in Safe Mode with Networking. (Hold f8 key while computer is booting, select that option when prompted). I don’t know why they sell people computers where they don’t have admin privs, but they do. I’ve had a Mac for ten years now, so I’m rusty–but I do have a Netbook running XP.

    Have you tried re-installing the software from scratch on the old computer?

    DSL connections can get into trouble at a number of places: From the central office to the interface at the house; from the interface to the wall jack/filter; at the wall jack/filter; from the wall jack to the modem; inside the modem; from the modem to the PC; inside the PC. You have control over only a couple of those places–a technician needs to handle the rest of them.

    The way this is misbehaving makes me wonder about two of those places: Has the wall jack/filter/cable somehow become discombobulated? That will cause a weak signal or no signal to get to the modem. Are all the network cables OK at their end points and along their lengths? No obvious breaks, kinks, loose-looking ends? Has the owner spent the last five years rolling over one with his chair, or is one behind a radiator? Do you have a fresh one you can try swapping out in all these various places–one place at a time?

    Have you tried shutting down the cable modem and PC? Leave the cable modem off for the length of time it takes to sing a verse of the Star Spangled Banner (no kidding–about a minute), then bring it up and let it sit for that length of time again, then bring the PC up. (When I was doing technical things, that was my sure-fire one minute timer…God Save the Queen is shorter. Maybe pick a hymn. A minute is what you want.)

    Finally, a part may have failed within the PC itself, and its Windows troubleshooter is alerting you to this. You could try going out to the DOS command prompt and running winipconfig. (Don’t hold me to the spelling. I tend to forget after ten years.) See if it has an IP address and if it “sees” the modem. I’m betting it doesn’t.

    The last-ditch, kill or cure thing you could try would be to see if the modem has a reset button, or most likely a tiny recessed switch, that lets you reset it to factory defaults. At that point you have to reinstall it from scratch. I wouldn’t do that without docco and install CD in hand.

    Those are a few things that have bubbled to the surface of my brain while having my coffee. I need to go out for a bit (doctor’s) but will check back later.

    March 6th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
  15. Andy says:

    Mmmmm…

    This is sounding odd. It sounds like it is getting a data connection, but that light should be coming on…

    It would be worth while getting hold of a router to test with…

    March 6th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
  16. ER says:

    Stoopid suggestion from a non-techie:

    Is the cache on your friends computer full, or something similar, preventing any new data being downloaded?

    Feel free to disregard this as total nonsense, but please laugh quietly to yourself!

    March 6th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
  17. Dave says:

    First of all, a huge amount of thanks for the help here and the time taken to do so.

    On a previous visit I had upgraded the memory on the computer in question to the max it could take which had helped, but was only ever going to do so much – the machine was still too slow really. In the end, realising that the computer was rather old (possibly 10 years?) we decided that a new machine was the best approach.

    March 6th, 2010 at 8:05 pm