System May Not Boot After Installing Intel Ether Express

• Microsoft Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1, 3.11

SYMPTOMS

Some revisions of the Intel Ether Express 16 may conflict with Trident or TSENG Labs video cards. This may prevent the system from booting or may cause it to boot without video capability.

CAUSE

Intel has confirmed that this hardware conflict occurs when its network card and a VGA card, both of which have a capacitor on the reset line, are used on motherboards that cannot manage multiple capacitors on the reset line. Intel has removed the capacitor from its cards to eliminate this problem.

MORE INFORMATION

To identify the Intel cards that may cause this problem, look at the last five digits of the serial number for the card. This eleven-digit number can be found on the box or on the bar code label on the card itself.

The last five digits of the serial number are in the format WWYSS, where "WW" indicates the work week number, "Y" indicates the year, and "SS" indicates the manufacturing site number.

The following cards have a capacitor on the reset line and may cause the above behavior:

   If YSS=207, then WW must be less than 20.
   If YSS=213, then WW must be less than 25.
   If YSS=212, then WW must be less than 21.