Driver Reset Tool
Category TechnicalThe other day I opined regarding the dichotomy of my feelings towards Dell; based on a meme triggered by Joel Spolsky. Today I'm going to expand on this by pointing out something really, really cool.
I fired up my main workstation this morning (a Dell Dimension 8400); only to discover that I had no network connectivity. A quick glance at the network gigabit switch confirmed this: the status indicator LED for this workstation was dark. I checked the cable connection on the back of the switch; it was just fine. I then checked the cable connection at the back of the computer. The cable was plugged in, but there the LED on the NIC was dark also.
"Well that sucks." I said to myself. Then I did my best Pooh impersonation.
Think...think....think...- Workstation, other than network, is operational..........check.
- Other computers on the network..........check.
- Network Connection properties (Start | Control Panel | Network Connections).......missing!
Well now, at least that's something. For some reason the computer doesn't "see" the NIC. I tried restarting (full cold-boot) the workstation; but it came back up with the same results. I checked the Event Log (Start | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Event Viewer) to see if I could find anything there.
A-HAH!! There is the problem. More to the point, there is a symptom. From the event log details:
Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller: This driver does not support this device. Upgrade to the latest driver.
"Hmmm," I thought to myself, "The driver has apparently changed somehow, and no longer supports my NIC. I should probably try to upgrade to the latest driver". (My powers of deductive reasoning surpass those of Mr. Holmes.)Considering the fact that my NIC (a Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller) came factory installed on my Dell, I figured the best place to grab the driver would be from Dell's support site. So I fired up my laptop, launched Firefox and navigated to said site.
Now one of the things I really like about Dell is that every machine they ship has a unique Service Tag. This Service Tag uniquely identifies the Dell machine; and can be used on their support site to do things like determine which download(s) is/are pertinent to the machine. The only problem with the Service Tag is that it is usually affixed to the back of the machine. This means that I would have to crawl under the desk with a flashlight in order to read it -had Dell not provided a cool utility program to pull up the Service Tag and Express Service Code.
Remembering this,I began to launch the utility (Start | All Programs | Dell | Accessories...) when I noticed a heretofore unknown shortcut: the Driver Reset Tool. "Hullo, what's this?" I thought to myself. After a bare moment of indecision; I decided "What the heck." and gave it a solid click!
And then one of those rare and beautiful events in "computer life" occurred: the program just worked. No Fuss, no fancy UI, no confusing decisions to make. It simply informed me (through a standard dialog box) that the driver for the Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller was corrupted; and queried whether or not to attempt a repair. (I answered yes). Moments later the O/S (Windows XP Pro) informed me that it had detected a new device (the afformentioned Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller); and a few moments after that my workstation was back on the network.
I love it when things just work.
Granted, the initial problem has not been solved. What caused the driver corruption in the first place? I can play the what changed game all day long; however I choose not to do so. I'm going to run a few diagnostics on the workstation and leave it at that. If they don't find the cause I'm not going to worry myself too much. This is, after all, a development machine. I load/unload drivers, software, utilities, etc to it all the time. I expect it to screw up every once in a while. The thing that I didn't expect; and therefore the reason for this post; was what a cool and useful utility that is the Dell Driver Reset Tool.
PS: (Yes, I'm well aware of how tongue-twistingly painful the opening line to this entry is. I'm also aware that the preceding sentence is not grammatically correct. You know what? I don't care.)
-Devin
The Pridelands
Chris Byrne
Show n' Tell Thursdays
Maddox
Comments
Posted by Dee At 08:30:36 PM On 12/31/2006 | - Website - |
Why not spend the same energy you used defending the incorrect sentences (with further sentences) rewriting them instead? That would have been a more worthy use of your time, and set a better example to others less eloquent than yourself, than deliberately leaving the faulty grammar there, and, by defending it, sending the message that it's somehow "cool" to be a lazy communicator, or to force your audience to work harder to understand you.
I like the post, and I don't know you personally, but this ending comes across as a pointless display of egotism, when the only thing actually required was a little bit more care.
Posted by Bob Wenger At 04:38:23 PM On 06/01/2007 | - Website - |
Hey there Bob.
When I first read your comment, I started to get defensive and began to formulate a smart-alec response. After a few minutes however, I realized you are correct in your criticism. I have corrected the original posting.
Thanks for your comments,
-DevinPosted by Devin Olson At 10:23:10 PM On 06/01/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by kolijah At 02:45:48 AM On 06/05/2007 | - Website - |