HARDWARE Error 31 Capture Cards

[evangelina]

Hi there,

I am at the end of my rope and hope someone here will have some fresh ideas or maybe (!!!) even a solution. VideoHelp has gotten to be one of my primary resources for this sort of thing, but this is the first time I haven't been able to find an FAQ or something to help.

Ok -- I recently reformatted my hard drive, and have been unable to get my video card to work since. I installed the same OS (Win2000 Pro) and all the service packs and updates (including SP4), as well as all the drivers and so forth for my motherboard, internal video card, sound card, etc. In other words, everything is exactly the same now as it was before -- and yet I am getting a Code 31. [This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)]

I've done all the standard fixes, including:
1. Upgraded my USB 2.0 drivers
2. Uninstalled and reinstalled the video converter (a Plextor AV100 -- in fact, I got so frustrated, I decided to get a Kworld DVD Maker PCI card -- but I have the exact same error). The card is seated properly; I even tried a different PCI slot.
3. Made sure I have nothing else in the Device Manager that's
conflicting with the AV100U
4. Made sure all of my cables are properly connected to the right places.
5. Did a manual install
6. Sacrificed a goat and four doves to the Computer gods.
7. Attached the card to a VCR
8. Made sure I had all the Windows2000 updates, including SP4.
9. Removed the Upperfilters and Lowerfilters from
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control Class
{4D36E965-E325 -11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and those from the preceding key as described in http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q270008&ID=KB;EN-US;Q270008 (I actually emailed Plextor's tech sup and that's where they sent me; unfortunately, I'd already done that. They didn't have any more ideas for me after that. )
10. I haven't been able to uninstall my secondary IDE drivers yet (I get an error that says the "descendents" refused because they're necessary to boot the computer), but I'll try it in safe mode.

I would really love any other thoughts on the problem. It's driving me mad, and I'm one of those dogged types that can't stand to be beaten by a machine.

Finally, I'm running an Asus A7N8X motherboard (I built the computer, so it's not a "brand"); I have 512MB RAM and the BIOS is the same as it was before I reformatted (when the video cap worked).
HD 80GB Seagate ATA HD
all other peripherals (USB, firewire, PCI, and even a SCSI) work fine
AMD® Athlon™XP/ Athlon™/ Duron™ CPU 400/333 MHz FSB
Audio Realtek ALC650 6CH

Thanks in advance for your help,
Eva

[Capmaster]

THis thread might do better in the Computer forum ..

[evangelina]

Thank you, Capmaster.

-----

And I did try uninstalling & reinstalling my secondary IDE controllers in safe mode. Didn't help.

So really -- suggestions would be great!

Thanks, all
Eva

[Capmaster]

My pleasure And welcome to Videohelp

[ViRaL1]

In step 6, was it a male goat or a female?

[evangelina]

Female. And I made sure it was a virgin.

[ViRaL1]

Well, that was my one shot. Are you using the original drivers or the latest version for your capture device?

[Capmaster]

That's your problem Eva. You sacrificed one goat (a virgin), and four doves. Because of Service Pack 2 of version 2.2 of The Computer Gods SOP, the new requirement is not only a virgin goat, but one that is younger than two years old. And it must be an albino. Plus ...six doves, all snow white, are required to complete the appeasement of the digital deities. Please make a note of it for future issues

That said ...wow! You are thorough and I wish I could have spotted something you hadn't thought of and tried already. Very nice, systematic approach

The one thing that comes to mind is a bad trace on the motherboard. I've had problems as annoying as yours, and twice it has turned out to be the MB. With the competitive nature of the MB business, QC often suffers to keep costs down. They have a certain line fallout rate, and what doesn't fail ...ships. Problem is they don't inspect solder joints or traces for cleanliness like flux residue. Often the flux will encourage growth of organics on the board in a humid climate. Other issues like cold solder joints often slip past QC.

I don't have a strong feeling this is the case, but it fits with your symptoms, and nothing else comes to mind at the moment.

[ViRaL1]

I think it was just a virgin goat. That's the one thing I hate about computers, minimum requirements are ever increasing.

[Capmaster]

Viral1 - Well exc-ewes me. Wait ...that's a sheep. Never mind

[ViRaL1]

You've gotta be kid-ding.

EDIT: Still curious about driver versions myself.

[Capmaster]

You've gotta be kid-ding.

EDIT: Still curious about driver versions myself.

Yes. That bothers me too. The fact that it worked once. And now it doesn't

[evangelina]

the new requirement is not only a virgin goat, but one that is younger than two years old. And it must be an albino. Plus ...six doves, all snow white

Wow, the deities are getting greedy, aren't they? Now that we're all addicted to the machinery.

Alas, I only had one goat, and I used everything in my piggy bank to get her. If it were legal, I'd try one of the neighborhood children.

That said ...wow! You are thorough

Thank you!

I will say it's frustrating to get to the point where you know you've done more than a company's technical support will even think of.

The one thing that comes to mind is a bad trace on the motherboard. I've had problems as annoying as yours, and twice it has turned out to be the MB.

Like I think you mentioned before, the thing that gets me about that is -- the freaking thing worked before I reformatted.

(Incidentally, the reason I reformatted is that it's hard to find a vid-cap program that doesn't crash, so there was a lot of installing and uninstalling before I figured out that IfoEdit or one of the other freebies was actually my best bet. But by then the computer was flaking out on me.)

I've thought about another clean install but...well, that's a lot of work, and the problems started in a clean system. (So I can see why you come up with the MB thought--though I swear I didn't use my motherboard as a party serving tray at any time since I decided to reformat. )

Are you using the original drivers or the latest version for your capture device?

I installed the original drivers for the Plextor, and then went to the website to check for updates. Nada.

I don't think I really went into this before, so one more piece of information: I started out with a Plextor AU100, and got that Code 31. The Plextor is USB 2.0 hardware. I wasted a day doing most of the things I mentioned above, even trying technical support. When that failed, I defaulted to: Time to just get another piece of hardware.

So I got a KWorld Expert DVD Maker, which is an internal PCI card. I installed it in one slot, then tried it in another, just to rule out any possibilities there.

Alas...the Code 31 remains.

I also checked for driver or firmware updates with KWorld, but again -- nothing. Interestingly, the installation tool hangs when I try to reinstall drivers. (It worked fine initially.) I thought "bad disc," but I successfully copied the whole disc to my HD. So I went to KWorld's website to DL the drivers...and the link doesn't work. So I sent KWorld's tech sup a little note on that.

When I uninstalled & reinstalled my Secondary IDE Channel, I noticed that there was an error message --I don't recall what, Code 12 maybe-- but there wasn't one of the yellow circle/exclamation point thingies in the front, so I'd never have thought to look. I've thought about going through all of my resources to make sure they're all working.

And...there are exclamation points in front of the IEEE 1394 Host Controller (which is because there's nothing plugged into the board there :P ) and another in front of Game Port for Creative. But -- those were also there before my fresh install. (I did completely reformat, re-partition, and reinstall, so it was a completely clean install.)

Any other thoughts, deeply appreciated. (If nothing else, now I don't feel so alone. )

(Truly, I have angered some computer god somewhere. If only I knew how...)

[evangelina]

Just a followup. I installed a dual-boot system so I wouldn't have to reformat again (ok, I was trying to reinstall over my old install and ended up with a dual-boot system -- same effect, in the end).

And on the secondary system, I can run the cap card. Guess it's a software blip after all. At some point I will have to reformat the whole thing again and see if I can get all working correctly.

In any case, I wanted to let you who listened know that I got it worked out, albeit in a novel way.