[clasys]

I am a newcomer to this forum, but not a newbie. Hopefully I can add some value to the general discussion.

I have some specific issues and a problem. Hopefully others have been there and done that so I can the problem solved. At least I can make others aware of the problem's existence.

The problem has been around since before SP2, but since SP2, XP has become broken with respect to the EHCI driver. While USUALLY fixable, I am stuck in a situation where I don't know what/how to do a fix.

First, the problem:

Despite the fact that your system appears to totally work [or at least System Device Manager APPEARS to be OK], there is actually a problem:

If you look in the Driver File Details, you will see only a stack of five files. This indicates a problem!

The problem is that there is missing a SIXTH file named:

\WINDOWS\system32\Drivers\vulfnth.sys

The lack of this file makes the USB 2.0 work flaky depending on what you hook up to the machine. Sometimes you would swear you have a marginal hardware error. Fixing the driver makes the entire problem go away.

Back before SP2, the then-prevailing VIA drivers [usually on CDs from the mobo manufacturer] solved the problem; they were usually known as "XP SP1" drivers, etc.

However, when SP2 came out, I checked in great detail what was provided. In essence it was two distinct collections, both wrong:

If you installed or slipstreamed SP2 you got one broken collection. When the RTM release came out, it was specifically different, but equally broken.

In essence, the old problem reappeared, namely that the vulfnth.sys file was yet again among the missing, etc.

Fortunately, more recent releases from VIA have fixed this, so if you install same, you are in great shape!

I have read some posts here that some people believe they have solved their driver problem by getting XP/SP2 to install the built-in driver. I would respectfully dispute this in light of the above. Can anyone confirm that they were able to get XP SP2 to actually provide a driver stack that includes the sixth file? If so, I would be really interested in an example of it setup correctly. And if not, i.e., they only have the five files, the VIA package [270 or perhaps 260] should fix it. Towards that end, if I have helped anyone get their USB 2.0drivers into better shape, I am glad to help.

Now to my specific problem:

I had a system based on 8235 [six USB ports] on a KT400-based mobo, and all of the above applied, totally working, etc. The problem is that the system got dinged so badly that it would no longer boot. A repair install was attempted, with a lot of problems solved I won't bring up here; suffice to say I got all of the REST of the problems solved.

But, yet again, that pesky problem is back! However, I cannot get the 270 package to solve it. In essence, it is ignoring my attempt to install [or uninstall] the messed-up state apparently caused by installing over a system that had it right, but partially forced back to the SP2 level. [Repair installs wipe out all drivers and system hotfixes, etc.]

So here I am with the same problem haunting me, but can this be fixed, or am I doomed to having to totally reinstall for the want of this nail?

Any help appreciated; will try anything short of a re-install [which wouldn't have this problem, etc.]

cjl [veteran of over 100 VIA-based boards]