HP 9680C Win98: Ethernet light on D-Link is Yellow (Amber) " 10MBPS Device" ??

I use my Dell laptop for my tasks but was given a HP9680C (Yr ~2000 Win
98). My wife will be using this one on our desk for day to day
computer/internet tasks, replacing an older HP which has no NIC and is only
connected to the router via USB adapter and crashes at least once per
session..

When my Dell wireless is connected to the Netgear WGT624 (SuperG), all the
lights on the display of the WGT624 are green. This indicates (they say)
that my laptop is a 100MBPS device, however, when I take a port from the
WGT624 and connect the 9680 with a cable, it shows a YELLOW (amber) light.

According to the paperwork, this indicates that the (8 yr old ) 9680 is a
"10MBPS Device". Subsequent downloadsconnections etc to the 9680 seem much
slower than to my 5 yr old DELL.

The DELL has a P4 chip and is running WinXP Sp2 w/ 384 RAM.
The 9680 has an Intel PIII 866 and is running Win98 w/ 256 RAM.

I have searched this FORUM, yielding nothing and also GOOGLED the "yellow
light" deal, yielding YELLOW= 10MBPS device.
Beyond that, I'm lost. I'm not positive that the 9680 has all the original
hardware in it ***(See BELOW)..the 128 RAM was upgraded to 384 and a new
Video card replaced the buggy one that was in there. The computer itself
seems to run fine.

SO, what I'm wondering is: How do I get the 9680 to give me a GREEN
light..ie, set it up to run as a "100MBPS device" VS "10 MBPS" ?

Does this refer to the broadband connection/card in the 9680 ?

Searching SYSTEM/Hardware, I get: Network adapter in the 9680 is-

LINKSYS- Ether16 LAN card (PnP) "Driver Type: Enhanced Mode(32 bit
& 16 bit) NDIS driver"
"Hardware Version 1.0.00 Driver: LINKSYS 9-16-1997"

On the front of the 9680, there is a "features" sticker that among other
things says: ***(see ABOVE) 10/100 Base-T NIC
BUT: This may or may not be the original network connection inside the
9680.

Anyway..I don't know where to go from here..do I need to replace the
NIC..(does the YELLOW show that its not the original OEM 10/100 base T NIC?)
If so, what should I look for in a REPLACEMENT ? There is a local
charitable outfit that takes in "donations" of computers and they dismantle
them.. I can get nearly anything I need there to upgrade an 8 yr old 9680 a
generation or two, IF I know what I'm looking for.

Any HELP appreciated

Rudy

> The DELL has a P4 chip and is running WinXP Sp2 w/ 384 RAM.
> The HP9680 has an Intel PIII 866 and is running Win98 w/ 256 RAM.

OOPS..the DELL has 256 MB, the HP has 384

Rudy wrote:

> I use my Dell laptop for my tasks but was given a HP9680C (Yr ~2000 Win
> 98). My wife will be using this one on our desk for day to day
> computer/internet tasks, replacing an older HP which has no NIC and is
> only connected to the router via USB adapter and crashes at least once per
> session..
>
> When my Dell wireless is connected to the Netgear WGT624 (SuperG), all the
> lights on the display of the WGT624 are green. This indicates (they say)
> that my laptop is a 100MBPS device, however, when I take a port from the
> WGT624 and connect the 9680 with a cable, it shows a YELLOW (amber) light.
>
> According to the paperwork, this indicates that the (8 yr old ) 9680 is a
> "10MBPS Device". Subsequent downloadsconnections etc to the 9680 seem much
> slower than to my 5 yr old DELL.
>
> The DELL has a P4 chip and is running WinXP Sp2 w/ 384 RAM.
> The 9680 has an Intel PIII 866 and is running Win98 w/ 256 RAM.
>
> I have searched this FORUM, yielding nothing and also GOOGLED the "yellow
> light" deal, yielding YELLOW= 10MBPS device.
> Beyond that, I'm lost. I'm not positive that the 9680 has all the original
> hardware in it ***(See BELOW)..the 128 RAM was upgraded to 384 and a new
> Video card replaced the buggy one that was in there. The computer itself
> seems to run fine.
>
> SO, what I'm wondering is: How do I get the 9680 to give me a GREEN
> light..ie, set it up to run as a "100MBPS device" VS "10 MBPS" ?
>
> Does this refer to the broadband connection/card in the 9680 ?
>
> Searching SYSTEM/Hardware, I get: Network adapter in the 9680 is-
>
> LINKSYS- Ether16 LAN card (PnP) "Driver Type: Enhanced Mode(32
> bit & 16 bit) NDIS driver"
> "Hardware Version 1.0.00 Driver: LINKSYS 9-16-1997"
>
> On the front of the 9680, there is a "features" sticker that among other
> things says: ***(see ABOVE) 10/100 Base-T NIC
> BUT: This may or may not be the original network connection inside the
> 9680.
>
> Anyway..I don't know where to go from here..do I need to replace the
> NIC..(does the YELLOW show that its not the original OEM 10/100 base T
> NIC?)
> If so, what should I look for in a REPLACEMENT ? There is a local
> charitable outfit that takes in "donations" of computers and they
> dismantle
> them.. I can get nearly anything I need there to upgrade an 8 yr old 9680
> a generation or two, IF I know what I'm looking for.
>
> Any HELP appreciated
>
> Rudy


Rudy,

If you use google to look up the Linksys LAN card, or go to the Linksys
website, you'll find that the card is limited to 10 Mbps.

You'll have to look in your machine to see if there are any free PCI slots.
If there is, then buy a PCI network card that has Win 98 drivers. (A card
without Win 98 drivers will not be very useful.)

If there are no free PCI slots, then you need to find an ISA card.

You may have to find a card and then search the internet for suitable
drivers.

As far as being slower, there may be many things that contribute to that.

According to the HP web site, the Ethernet card in the 9680C is capable of
100Mbps speeds, but that assumes the card is original. Because the computer
seems to work OK connected to the internet, albeit slowly, I would check the
settings for the network card in Device Manager. It is possible that the card
is configured to operate only at the slower speed. It is also possible that a
newer driver, if any, direct from Linksys would do the trick.

I would think that the yellow light on the WGT624 indicates that the COMPUTER is
running at 10Mbps, not the internet connection.

However, before running out and getting hardware to "improve" performance, keep
a couple of facts in mind:

1. If you can somehow configure a network card to run at 100Mbps, you will see
little or no improvement in the internet speeds, because your 10Mbps connection
is faster than whatever broadband internet you have. So the broadband
connection is the bottleneck, not the wire from the 9680C to the Netgear router.

2. If you make any hardware changes at all, you also need to have a Windows 98
install CD and possibly a supplemental driver diskette or CD for whatever you
install.

3. Windows 98 is VERY antiquated and quirky when it comes to hardware changes.
If often asks for the install CD and often requires a reboot for even the
smallest change. You may already know this by now.

4. Finally, your Dell is a couple of generations newer, so its graphics, hard
drive and CPU all contribute to snappier response compared to the HP. Your
Dell would run even better if it had more memory in it. Windows XP runs better
with more memory, and uses the paging file a lot less, so wear and tear on the
hard drive is reduced. Go for at least 512MB, but 1GB is even better..

....Ben Myers

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:10:08 -0700, "Rudy" <> wrote:

>I use my Dell laptop for my tasks but was given a HP9680C (Yr ~2000 Win
>98). My wife will be using this one on our desk for day to day
>computer/internet tasks, replacing an older HP which has no NIC and is only
>connected to the router via USB adapter and crashes at least once per
>session..
>
>When my Dell wireless is connected to the Netgear WGT624 (SuperG), all the
>lights on the display of the WGT624 are green. This indicates (they say)
>that my laptop is a 100MBPS device, however, when I take a port from the
>WGT624 and connect the 9680 with a cable, it shows a YELLOW (amber) light.
>
>According to the paperwork, this indicates that the (8 yr old ) 9680 is a
>"10MBPS Device". Subsequent downloadsconnections etc to the 9680 seem much
>slower than to my 5 yr old DELL.
>
>The DELL has a P4 chip and is running WinXP Sp2 w/ 384 RAM.
>The 9680 has an Intel PIII 866 and is running Win98 w/ 256 RAM.
>
>I have searched this FORUM, yielding nothing and also GOOGLED the "yellow
>light" deal, yielding YELLOW= 10MBPS device.
>Beyond that, I'm lost. I'm not positive that the 9680 has all the original
>hardware in it ***(See BELOW)..the 128 RAM was upgraded to 384 and a new
>Video card replaced the buggy one that was in there. The computer itself
>seems to run fine.
>
>SO, what I'm wondering is: How do I get the 9680 to give me a GREEN
>light..ie, set it up to run as a "100MBPS device" VS "10 MBPS" ?
>
>Does this refer to the broadband connection/card in the 9680 ?
>
>Searching SYSTEM/Hardware, I get: Network adapter in the 9680 is-
>
>LINKSYS- Ether16 LAN card (PnP) "Driver Type: Enhanced Mode(32 bit
>& 16 bit) NDIS driver"
>"Hardware Version 1.0.00 Driver: LINKSYS 9-16-1997"
>
>On the front of the 9680, there is a "features" sticker that among other
>things says: ***(see ABOVE) 10/100 Base-T NIC
>BUT: This may or may not be the original network connection inside the
>9680.
>
>Anyway..I don't know where to go from here..do I need to replace the
>NIC..(does the YELLOW show that its not the original OEM 10/100 base T NIC?)
>If so, what should I look for in a REPLACEMENT ? There is a local
>charitable outfit that takes in "donations" of computers and they dismantle
>them.. I can get nearly anything I need there to upgrade an 8 yr old 9680 a
>generation or two, IF I know what I'm looking for.
>
>Any HELP appreciated
>
>Rudy
>
>

Joe replied:

>> According to the paperwork, this indicates that the (8 yr old ) 9680 is a
>> "10MBPS Device".
> If you use google to look up the Linksys LAN card, or go to the Linksys
> website, you'll find that the card is limited to 10 Mbps.
> You'll have to look in your machine to see if there are any free PCI
> slots.
> If there is, then buy a PCI network card that has Win 98 drivers. (A card
> without Win 98 drivers will not be very useful.)

Ok Joe, I pulled the card and found the Model # (Linksys LNE200T)

You were right, its an ISA card and the spec sheet from Linksys says it WAS
'state of the art' when released about 10 years ago:
" ready to run with WIN95" "10Mbps transfer with 16Kb buffer"

I don't know what happened to the original (spec'd) 3COM PCI NIC that was
supposed to have been inside.

Yes, there are two empty PCI slots..

Do you think its worthwhile to pickup a newER PCI card and try it out. I
can get it (used) pretty cheap I thnk.
Hopefully I could DL the Win98 drivers for it off the Mfg website if its not
TOO Old
What would the benefit be (other than having the 10 Mbps yellow light go
"Green" 100 Mbps) ?

BTW, my wireless router&adapter in my laptop shows 108MBPS although my
provider (COX) has me on a 1.5MB cable line anyway.

best
Rudy

"Ben Myers" <> wrote

> I would think that the yellow light on the WGT624 indicates that the
> COMPUTER is running at 10Mbps, not the internet connection.
> However, before running out and getting hardware to "improve" performance,
> keep a couple of facts in mind:
>
> 1. If you can somehow configure a network card to run at 100Mbps, you will
> see
> little or no improvement in the internet speeds, because your 10Mbps
> connection
> is faster than whatever broadband internet you have.

Ok Ben, thanks

> So the broadband connection is the bottleneck, not the wire from the
> 9680C to the Netgear router.
> 2. If you make any hardware changes at all, you also need to have a
> Windows 98
> install CD and possibly a supplemental driver diskette or CD for whatever
> you
> install.

Got it right here
>
> 3. Windows 98 is VERY antiquated and quirky when it comes to hardware
> changes.
> If often asks for the install CD and often requires a reboot for even the
> smallest change. You may already know this by now.

Yep. will muddle thru. I think I'll try a PCI NIC if I can find one that
will work well with WIN98.
A local charitable outfit rips down older computers and sells the cards etc.
I'll give it a 'go.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, "Someone" said

Thanks
Rudy

Rudy wrote:

>
> Joe replied:
>
>>> According to the paperwork, this indicates that the (8 yr old ) 9680 is
>>> a "10MBPS Device".
>> If you use google to look up the Linksys LAN card, or go to the Linksys
>> website, you'll find that the card is limited to 10 Mbps.
>> You'll have to look in your machine to see if there are any free PCI
>> slots.
>> If there is, then buy a PCI network card that has Win 98 drivers. (A card
>> without Win 98 drivers will not be very useful.)
>
> Ok Joe, I pulled the card and found the Model # (Linksys LNE200T)
>
> You were right, its an ISA card and the spec sheet from Linksys says it
> WAS 'state of the art' when released about 10 years ago:
> " ready to run with WIN95" "10Mbps transfer with 16Kb buffer"
>
> I don't know what happened to the original (spec'd) 3COM PCI NIC that
> was supposed to have been inside.
>
> Yes, there are two empty PCI slots..
>
> Do you think its worthwhile to pickup a newER PCI card and try it out. I
> can get it (used) pretty cheap I thnk.
> Hopefully I could DL the Win98 drivers for it off the Mfg website if its
> not TOO Old
> What would the benefit be (other than having the 10 Mbps yellow light go
> "Green" 100 Mbps) ?
>
> BTW, my wireless router&adapter in my laptop shows 108MBPS although my
> provider (COX) has me on a 1.5MB cable line anyway.
>
> best
> Rudy

You are on a 1.5 Mbps line. That limits how fast you get things from the
internet. You laptop shows 108 Mbps as the is the speed between the laptop
and the wireless router.

Unless you are moving large files between one PC (the 9680C) and another on
your network, a faster NIC is probably not worth the bother.

Getting a faster card will allow you to get a green light on the router, but
again, the download speed will be limited by your 1.5 Mbps connection.

Get hold of an Intel 10/100 Ethernet card. They are really good, and the
supporting diagnostics excellent. My next choice would probably be a Linksys
10/100, because Win 98 drivers are readily available. After that, it's a crap
shoot. 3COM cards were once very good, but 3COM is long out of the NIC
business... Ben Myers

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:23:01 -0700, "Rudy" <> wrote:

>
>"Ben Myers" <> wrote
>
>> I would think that the yellow light on the WGT624 indicates that the
>> COMPUTER is running at 10Mbps, not the internet connection.
>> However, before running out and getting hardware to "improve" performance,
>> keep a couple of facts in mind:
>>
>> 1. If you can somehow configure a network card to run at 100Mbps, you will
>> see
>> little or no improvement in the internet speeds, because your 10Mbps
>> connection
>> is faster than whatever broadband internet you have.
>
>Ok Ben, thanks
>
>> So the broadband connection is the bottleneck, not the wire from the
>> 9680C to the Netgear router.
>> 2. If you make any hardware changes at all, you also need to have a
>> Windows 98
>> install CD and possibly a supplemental driver diskette or CD for whatever
>> you
>> install.
>
>Got it right here
>>
>> 3. Windows 98 is VERY antiquated and quirky when it comes to hardware
>> changes.
>> If often asks for the install CD and often requires a reboot for even the
>> smallest change. You may already know this by now.
>
>Yep. will muddle thru. I think I'll try a PCI NIC if I can find one that
>will work well with WIN98.
>A local charitable outfit rips down older computers and sells the cards etc.
>I'll give it a 'go.
>Nothing ventured, nothing gained, "Someone" said
>
>Thanks
>Rudy
>

> You are on a 1.5 Mbps line. That limits how fast you get things from the
> internet. You laptop shows 108 Mbps as the is the speed between the laptop
> and the wireless router.

Thats right Joe
>
> Unless you are moving large files between one PC (the 9680C) and another
> on
> your network, a faster NIC is probably not worth the bother.

Right again
>
> Getting a faster card will allow you to get a green light on the router,
> but
> again, the download speed will be limited by your 1.5 Mbps connection.

Thats what I figured..the slow DL of a simple picture file must be caused by
something else

Thanks
R

> Get hold of an Intel 10/100 Ethernet card. They are really good, and the
> supporting diagnostics excellent. My next choice would probably be a
> Linksys
> 10/100, because Win 98 drivers are readily available. After that, it's a
> crap
> shoot. 3COM cards were once very good, but 3COM is long out of the NIC
> business... Ben Myers

Thanks Ben, will see what they have over there

R