Broadcom 57xx Ethernet driver failure on Dell PC

October 30, 2007 4:46 AM

Cannot install/update Broadcom 57xx Ethernet driver on Optiplex 740 - now I have no access to the internet or the rest of my network!

I acquired my Optiplex 740 in April 2007 - Spec as follows:

OptiPlex 740 MT - AMD X2 5000
2.0GB 667MHz NON-ECC DDRII Memory(4*512MB)
160GB (7,200rpm) SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
ATI Radeon X1300 Pro PCIe 256MB, DVI (Full Height)
13 in 1 Media Card Reader
Windows XP Professional SP2

This week, I downloaded the updated driver for the Broadcom 57XX Gigabit Integrated Controller from the Dell website (R161008, released 17/10/2007). When I ran the download, the files extracted to the dell/drivers directory, and the installation program started. At the end of the installation, a dialog box popped up stating that "The installation could not be completed. Please attempt to run the installation again later" (or something very similar - I'm not in front of the PC whilst writing this, so cannot replicate the error).

From that point on, my network card stopped working and I have no access to the internet or the other PC's on my network. I have tried:

* Rolling the driver back (no driver could be found)

* Re-installing the original driver from the Drivers/Programs CD that came with my Optiplex (produced same error as the updated driver - installation could not be completed)

* Installing the drivers using the Add Hardware applet in Control Panel (it can recognise the driver as correct for the hardware, but I get an 'Access Denied' error when trying to install)

* Deleting the network card from Device manager and rebooting (it sees the card upon reboot, but says there is a problem when trying to install the driver).


I've tried everything I could think of, and Google turned up no answers. Please help - it's driving me mad! System restore has been turned off the PC, so rolling back to a restore point is out of the question.

I cannot currently be in front of the offending PC at the times the support desk is open, and need to get this PC back on my network.

posted by monkeyforest to computers & internet (3 comments total)

Does the Dell drivers that get extract have the driver files you can install manually? Try going to device manager and installing the driver by pointing to that folder.

Also are you logged in under admin? Thats the only reason I can think of why you are receiving "Access Denied"
posted by mphuie at 9:07 AM on October 30, 2007

I have a feeling I've seen something like this, but I can't think of what I did about it.. Probably involved a PCI network card though..

When you check out the status of the network adapter in Device Manager, make sure to select View -> Show Hidden Devices. I'm not promising anything, but it might give you a hint about what is going wrong.

A repair install will probably solve the problem, but it is a bit drastic.
posted by Chuckles at 8:28 PM on October 30, 2007

Mphuie, I tried installing the driver using Device Manager when logged in as Administrator but still got the "Access Denied" message.

After spending another evening trying to sort this, I'm going to admit defeat, scrub the machine and reinstall XP tonight, although may try as Chuckles advises and do a repair reinstall first. I did find a couple of comments via Google that suggest the problem could be caused by something done in the original Dell image which is used to clone the HDD's going into the machines (hardly reassuring).

All files have been backed up to removable HDD, and backups for critical software have been tested. Just need to make secondary DVD backups then I'm ready to go...
posted by monkeyforest at 5:31 AM on October 31, 2007