Hub does not recognise LAN cable

[BMorey]

Scenario: I've been using ICS to succesfully connect an XP and a Win98SE PC. I acquired a second-hand Hub: Intel InBusiness 16-port 10/100 hub, new in 1997. I though I would use this to connect 4 PCs at home, but wanted to get it going replacing ICS in the first instance.

Problem: on the hub the indicator lamp for the client PC line is not lit. Obviously that line is inactive (can't ping between PCs). The hub's host PC lamp is lit.

Now, why might that be? Prior to interposing the hub between the two PCs, that same cable joined the PCs and worked perfectly with ICS (that is, the cable that is showing as inactive works if ICS connects the PCs directly, ie it is not a cable fault). Why should the cable appear to stop working when plugged into the hub instead of the host PC's NIC?

 

[dilettante]

You didn't say which end (XP or 98) isn't working, but I can tell you what I've encountered with XP.

Bear with me here...

I'm using some legacy USB hardware on an XP box that doesn't have a legit. XP driver. I have gotten it to work using an NT4 driver, but there is one anomoly: I need to manually shut the USB device down before shutting down XP. This is done using a tray applet for hot-plug devices that appears when I plug in the USB device (looks like a PCMCIA card with a green arrow above it).

If I DO NOT do this manual device shutdown prior to shutting off XP things get weird and lock up. Windows never completes shutdown.

Under Win2K I get a bluescreen in the same situation.

But...

After I shut the machine down, the PCI NIC in this XP box doesn't want to come back up!

It has been "turned off" through power management or something.

The fix?

I unplug the power cord of the computer, wait at least 5 seconds (try 10 to be sure), plug it back in, power up the machine.

In my case I not only don't see the light at the hub, I don't get the light on the NIC either (many/most have their own LED near the RJ45 connector).

Something to try anyhow - maybe your NIC got "shut off" somehow.

 

[BMorey]

Thanks -- tried your suggestion but no joy. BTW, the 'dud' end is Win98SE and the 'good' end (and internet host) is Win XP.

 

[BMorey]

I got a tip from a local forum -- problem was the client/hub cable was, unbeknowns to be, a cross-over cable. This, of course, doesn't matter with a direct connection. I restored full connectivity by plugging this cable into the uplink port of the hub. Can now ping host/client/host but can't ping the internet. Doh. Keep trying.

 

[red54]

If you were running this cable between two computer nic cards and it was working (without a hub) then it is a crossover cable. xmit on one end terms in rcv on the other. You need a straight thru to the hub, so you need to get another cable to work.

 

[dilettante]

Sorry! I missed the obvious.

Yes, your crossover should work fine plugged into a hub port configured as "uplink."

The ol' "Two crosses make a straight" trick.