I had to set up an IBM ThinkPad A21m notebook today with Windows 98. I have downloaded all the drivers for 98 for this notebook from IBM/Lenovo's website and have tried them all. I am left with 2 devices in Device Manager that I cannot identify. They are:

- PCI Serial Controller

- Unknown Device

I am used to newer Device Managers where you can see the HwID and then search for the correct INF file to point to. I tried running PCISCAN but it does not show me these devices. I am not sure if the PCI Serial Controller is the modem or not, as there is already a modem installed under Network Adapters. Also the Serial Port is installed under Ports as COM1.

The Audio and Video work properly, and this is probably going to be enough for the guy. I may be able to get away with not installing those devices. However, what kinds of tools are out there for me to determine what these devices are? I also had tried manually installing the drivers from the drivers I downloaded but they did not work.

 Everest has always worked fine for me.

I would try with the standard "[PCMCIA socket]" for the "PCI Serial Controller", assuming you can find your way to the list of generic drivers proposed by w98.

Or any other generic controler that you can find on the internet for w98 and closer to "PCI Serial Controller" properly speaking. (Honestly I don't know if they are the same things)

For the "Unkown device", you will be hard pressed to find out what it is, since it's unkown. :?

That worked great. Unfortunately the PCI Serial device was the modem but the driver didn't work, the other one was a Power Management device that isn't compatible with Windows 98. Makes me wonder why IBM sold it with 98 then.

Poke around in the Registry at HKLM\ENUM\PCI for some info on what Windows "found". Beneath each will be the VEN_something and beneath that you will find the "culprits" (i.e. the "unknown" and the Modem). After that, google on the associated VEN_something. Has helped me find "unknowns" before.

submix8c has good ideas. You might try Craig Hart's PCI .. http://members.datafast.net.au/dft0802 If you haven't. (The unleaded version not pci32.)

Unfortunately the PCI Serial device was the modem but the driver didn't work

Did you get the driver from Lenovo?

Unfortunately the PCI Serial device was the modem but the driver didn't work

Did you get the driver from Lenovo?

Yes there was only 1 modem driver for this modem for Lucent. I am not in possession of this notebook anymore, but thanks for the help.

too late but I write anyway, if it's a modem you culd have looked at generic modem drivers.

http://www.halfdone.com/ukd/?aboutclick

Unknown Devices is a little out of date, but can be handy for identifying unknown devices.

Queue

I had to set up an IBM ThinkPad A21m notebook today with Windows 98.

Windows 98SE or FE?

Since you don't have the laptop anymore, I guess it's a moot issue now.

I might have installed WinXP on that laptop. If there is no unknown device under WinXP I then would have installed Driver Magician or Driver Genius, under both Win98SE and under WinXP, and made a complete driver backup incl. MS drivers, under WinXP and Win98. Maybe WinXP has automatically installed a driver for the device marked as Unknown under Win98, and the unknown device could be identified by comparing the 2 lists of backed up drivers, i.e. let WinXP identify the unknown device, for which one might then find a Win98SE driver at www.driverguide.com

Edited May 13, 201016 yr by Multibooter

I do not even know if our XP install would have worked on that notebook or not. I was able to read the HwIDs from Everest and just looked them up online. One of them was VEN_115D&DEV_000C which turned out to be the modem. The other thing I didn't write it down. Anyways working with that 98 notebook got me prepared to work on Shiva, which is great because I had forgotten alot about 98. It was SE on the notebook to answer your question. SE was the only CD we could find laying around, and it happened to work with the COA on the bottom of the notebook too.