Fast Ethernet Adapter Not Recognized in Win98

I'm trying to install a Zonet PCI 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet Adapter (model ZEN3200, serial DA59Q001516) for an older computer but for some reason the manufacturer's installer doesn't find it. I made the sure the card is securely in the PCI slot. The light on the card comes on when I plug in an ethernet cable. Here are the specs for the computer:

Dell Optiplex GX110 Desktop
Windows 98 Second Edition
Genuine Intel Pentium III CPU at 667MHz (x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 3)
191MB of RAM

For some reason the onboard ethernet adapter can't ping other (old; Win98/2000) computers on the network. I get "Destination Host Unreachable". As far as I know there's a hub connecting the computers, not a router. The network card comes with a driver floppy disk. I ran Rset8139.exe on the floppy and pressed space, but the installer said there's no card installed. I checked the PheonixBIOS CMOS settings and didn't find anything on it.

I have no idea why this isn't working, it should be pretty straightforward. I'm guessing either the motherboard or the OS isn't compatible with the card. Does anyone know what could be causing this?

 

If there's no router then you need to manually assign an IP address to the network adapter.

If you haven't had to do that in the past, then there HAS to be a router in the network somewhere.

Frankly, I'm a little confused because you appear to be combining two separate problems into your thread. What I get out of your post is:

1)Can't install new network adapter
2)Existing network adapter isn't working

I suggest that you troubleshoot these problems one at a time.

Do you have one network adapter or two? Did either of them ever work?

 

The card doesn't show up in Device Manager so that tells me it's not installed. I know the drivers didn't set up because the installer didn't find the card. I'm trying to successfully install the drivers first so I can use it, assign an IP, etc.

Apparently I forgot to mention that the 4 other computers connected to the hub are all using external NICs. They all have integrated network devices on the motherboard but they're not being used. Ipconfig told me both devices are enabled but the onboard device has a blank ip address and subnet mask. I'm assuming the onboard ports and external card aren't compatible which is responsible for the ping error. That's why I'm installing a network card.

 

I'm not sure about the Realtek chip, but I tried a driver download package from the Zonet site and it gave me the same error.

I suppose the card isn't supported on Win98. Thanks for the tips guys.