New sytem problems HELP!!

[neilt]

I hope this is the correct forum to ask these questions.
I had built a new PC a few weeks ago. Everything was going fine until today. First, the power supply (500W Earthwatts that comes with Sonata 3) went from being nice and quiet to roaring like a jet engine. It's maxed out, trying to do some serious cooling. I ignored it, and did what I planned to do today; install a PCI card with a parallel port (I forgot the printer was from the last Millenium). Everything seemed to be fine (other than the jet engine), when I noticed the LAN port was dead. I tried reinstalling drivers, but it's totally dead. Windows Device manager doesn't even show there is one. Then, I removed the case cover, and noticed a bright red LED on the motherboard (Asus P5K) indicating the PCI device is not properly installed. So I tried another slot. Same deal. :mad: I tossed the card back into it's box, and re-booted. The LAN is gone. A million thank-you's to anyone who can help with this!

Neil

[ch91woo]

so if I'm understanding this right, meaning that you maxed out the power supply, then the system should currently be pretty unstable and wouldn't be able to give anymore power to additional components. That means the PCI card won't work...

[Sylvander]

1. "install a PCI card"
Whenever you CHANGE the arrangement of connected PCI hardware, it may be necessary to "Force Update the ESCD".
See...
Extended System Configuration Data (ESCD) (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/res/pnpESCD-c.html)
ESCD (Extended System Configuration Data) (http://www.dewassoc.com/support/bios/escd.htm)
To do this you normally go into the BIOS Setup, to say PnP/PCI Configuration and Reset Configuration Data : Enabled, then Save & Exit Setup.
This forces the BIOS to re-detect all connected [PnP?] PCI hardware, make non-conflicting resource allocations consistent with the needs of the hardware [as specified in their internal read-only memory], and reset the ESCD to suit.
Then it auto-resets Reset Configuration Data : Disabled.
Depending on how your BIOS works, you may need to do this every time you make any change to the PCI hardware arrangement.

2. "I noticed the LAN port was dead. I tried reinstalling drivers, but it's totally dead. Windows Device manager doesn't even show there is one"
Sounds like an unresolved conflict in the allocation of resources, and the LAN card has ended up disabled, but by what; the BIOS or Windows?
If the BIOS disabled it, it wouldn't be seen by Windows, which would explain its disappearance.
Give 1 above a try and see what happens.