My PCI Simple Communications Controller has bitten the dust.



When I start up my crusty eMachines T2682 classic desktop computer these days I get the good ol' WinXP Found New Hardware Wizard prompting me to install drivers for my "PCI Simple Communications Controller". Sadly it cannot locate said drivers, and it turns out that "PCI Simple Communications Controller" is Device Manager-speak for "WTF is this?"



As this computer has failed bit by bit I've become more adept at reading tech forums, and as usual they've dealt me a cryptic clue to this puzzle. I learned that Device Manager deals out very little info about "PCI Simple Communications Controller", but what little it gives can be used to find drivers to reactivate the ? device. The Device Instance Id is

PCI\VEN_14F1&DEV_2720&SUBSYS_200014F1&REV_00\4&29817089&0&10F0

which, I believe, details the device vendor as "14F1" and the device itself as "2720".



Vendor 14F1 is You must register in order to see the links as You must register in order to see the links, a modem chipset manufacturer. However, You must register in order to see the links. None of the pci id lists that I've read match that device with vendor 14F1.



What am I missing? What is this mysterious device?



Maybe relevant: During video playback the audio snaps in and out, at random. I have not reinstalled Windows lately. I upgraded to SP3 a few weeks ago, then immediately reverted to a restore point. One of my RAM sockets has gone bad, the computer freezes occasionally, and I think the whole mobo might be dying. Is this some extension of that growing problem, or is there a local solution?



I ask this last because, while I know I need a new computer and will be purchasing one when the wallet is ripe, I'd like to use this opportunity to learn some about how computer guts work and what to do get them to work when they don't. Percussive maintenance only goes so far.

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