This is either a bad modem or a bad mother board. I have had this problem
twice and both times it was the motherboard ..... if it is the board things
will just get worse as you  troubleshoot it. Can you try another modem ? If
it installs correctly then suspect your modem but if you continue to have
problems your motherboard may have a  problem.

First try loading defaults in your BIOS . If possible put something that
isn't plug and play on the com port...a non PNP modem or a mouse and see if
Win 98 successfully sets up COM 1 and COM 2.If 98 still comes up with Com 4
or 5 or some other odd combination It has been my experience that when Win
98 behaves like this with a PNP modem it is because it is attempting to
work around a serial port conflict in the BIOS. If you still have problems
after swapping modems and loading BIOS defaults then the next thing you can
try is to flash your BIOS to the newest version. If your BIOS won't flash
it has probably become corrupted which would account for your serial port
problem and the question becomes .....what corrupted it ? At this point it
is probably time to collect on your warranty.

m


>I have just built up a new computer which has gone really well except for
>the modem installation.
>The modem is a Speedcom 56k ISA slot model.
>The modem is preconfigured for com2, irq3. In setting the modem up I
>disabled the onboard serial port 2 which is what I have done for every
>modem I've set up in the past.
>If it helps the box has this sentence on it "PC-XT slot or Plug n
>Play(option)". Does this mean the modem is Plug and Play or non plug and play?
>The first time I booted up after installing I went to the control panel and
>tried to find the modem under "Modem". On this attempt I received the
>message that the modem wasnt connected, that basically the computer could
>not communicate with the modem. After trying this several times and getting
>the same message I put the modem into another ISA Slot. It didnt work there
>either, so I tried the third ISA slot and lo and behold it found the modem.
>I turn the computer off and go back to it an hour later and the modem
>cannot be communicated with again.
>Now heres where it gets real weird. I went into the BIOS and changed the
>2nd onboard serial port to another i/o range but stayed with IRQ3. Suddenly
>I find the modem and it stays through reboot after reboot. But, at the same
>time Win98 installs a com4 as well as a com2. It installs the modem on com2
>and nothing on com4!!!. I tried another setting in I/0 range in the bios
>which didnt work so when I return to the setting that kept the modem in
>place it wont install.
>What on earth is going on here??

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