Member Avatar for katman104

Need some help....Reloaded windows XP home edition on Dell 2400 PC. All seems to be working great except under Device Manager, (Other Devices) I have a Yellow question mark by Ethernet Controller
"which I disabled" and a yellow ? by SM Bus Controller which I do not have an idea what this is. Any help would be appreciated.
Scanned the computer from Dell web site and did not show any hardware conflicts.You can click on properties and it states that it is PCI Bus1, device 9, function 2. (Code 28) I installed the Drivers from the Resource CD that was received when I purchased the PC.
Also I know that it has an Intel chipset 845G, I/O Controller 82801DB(ICH4), Intergrated Graphics-Intel (R) 82845G Graphics controller.
Anyone know how to get rid of this conflict please advise.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 291 Views
  • 2 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by katman104

Dani AI

Generated

Thanks to and for the quick fixes — useful for anyone who lands here after a fresh XP reinstall on an older Dell.

A short post-install checklist to avoid the yellow-question-mark surprises:

  • Install chipset drivers first (this usually provides the SM‑Bus/INF entries).
  • Reboot, then install video, audio and other device drivers.
  • Install network drivers next so NICs register correctly.
  • Finish with device-specific utilities and Windows Update.
    Reboot after the chipset and video installs; they often change how Windows enumerates everything else.

If an unknown device reappears or you want to track down any remaining “Code 28” items, use Device Manager -> Properties -> Details -> Hardware Ids. The ID looks like PCI\VEN_xxxx&DEV_yyyy. Note the VEN and DEV values and search for those on the manufacturer site or in the vendor driver catalog to find the exact INF/driver you need. After installing, confirm success by checking Driver Provider, Date and Version in the driver properties.

A few practical tips: disable a hardware feature in BIOS if you never intend to use it so Windows won’t keep showing the device; always match drivers to your exact OS (XP Home vs XP Professional, 32‑bit vs 64‑bit) and keep a backup of working drivers before making changes. If problems persist, re-install the chipset/INF package and then re-check Device Manager.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for alc6379

If you disabled your Ethernet controller, it will still show a ? by it because you didn't install the driver. If you're really not interested in using the NIC on the machine, then just disable it in the BIOS.

Member Avatar for katman104

gemini 4 I loaded the chipset driver from the resource Cd and that cured my SM controller conflict. Thank you so much for you quick response
alc6379 I did as you suggested I did not need the ethernet feature so I turned it off in the Bios and everything is ok now.
I have no more hardware conflicts. Thanks a million to the both of you.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.