LAN Adapter woes

gerald · Jul 18, 2000

I recently setup a Win2k Server here at home to experiment with so I dont have to do it our live web server at the office. I am having a major issue in getting a network card to work in this machine. I have a cable modem also that I am hooking up to the computer using the Kingston network adapter that came with it. The Kingston adapter seems to work fine. I can access the internet with it, and if I plug it into the LAN I can see all of the other computers that I have on my LAN. However, I have a stack of network adapters, some claim to work on Windows 2000 that are giving me grief. They install properly, and I can ping the IP number that is automatically configured for it, and I can set the IP number manually and ping it. However, I cannot ping any of the other computers on the network. I know that I am access the network somehow, because if I set the IP number of this card to the same IP number of one of the other machines, it will give an warning on that machine that another machine is attempting to use that IP address. But trying to ping anything else gives destination host unreachable. Im about to start plucking my hair out by the handful, so please give me a pointer or two if you can.

I should mention that I have tried running these cards by themselves and with the Kingston in at the same time and the same results. The other thing that might be relevant is that the Kingston was the first adapter installed on the machine, so it has the label Local Area Connection, while the card I am trying now has the label Local Area Connection 8. (yes I have tried 7 other network cards and none of them work.) I would just give up and buy another Kingston card, except that nobody sells them around here. Some places do sell the Intel card that has the same chipset, but Im reluctant to buy a $119 network card and find that it doesnt help. Any ideas would be super appreciated Thanks, Gerald

gerald · Jul 18, 2000

k I just reinstalled Windows 2000 with just my Netgear adapter and it is still doing the same thing. The other thing that I should probably mention is that when I first boot up the computer it assigns a 169.254.x.x number to the adapter, but if I do ipconfig /renew it gives me the error 'DHCP Server unavailable'

Guest_imported · Jul 19, 2000

Hey Gerald What kind of Main Board are you using... I have seen this problem in Windows 2000 Server and Pro. I only use 3com Nic's and if I do use another brand and run into this problem I switch the PCI Slot in which I have the Card. Sometimes Win2k will share the IRQ with another device and I have seen it do that with NIC's

gerald · Jul 19, 2000

It is a Soyo mainboard Im not sure what the model is right now (Im at work), but it is a 5 something or other. heh I have tried it in different PCI slots but it doesnt seem to help. Now another question, (Im new to the whole NT/2000 thing). In Win98, if I go into device manager and double click on the Computer icon, it will give me a list of the IRQ's on the system and what devices are using them. I could not find this same thing on Win2K. Where would I find this information?? I have a feeling it might have something to do with this.

Warcorp · Jul 19, 2000

Under device manager, in the menu, there is action and view.  Go to view and select either resource by type or resource by connection.  The interrupt/memory address info is there.

gerald · Jul 19, 2000

Thanks alot I will check that out when I get home. I really appreciate the help. Thanks, Gerald

dxd · Jul 21, 2000

First point of a matter - Do you actually have a DHCP server set up? Under Windows 2000 if no DHCP server is found it will assign the adapter an IP address in the range of 169.254.x.x so that the adapter and protocol will initialize without errors. Since I am sure your current IP structure does not use this range, when you try to ping you will get Host Unreachable. Also, verify the subnet mask you are using for the adapter is the same as the other computers on the network. Although, from your details I would assume this to be the case since you can get the Kingston adapter to work. (sorry if that suggestion was too trivial). Do you know if these adapters actually will work outside of Windows 2000 on your network?.. Windows 9x or NT? Do you have access to the switch/hub these adapters connect to. If so, verify you get a link light on the port for the adapter. Also see if the port is jabbering/broadcasting...a symptom of this would be the link light constantly flashing? You may want to try "fixing" some of the auto settings for the adapter. Like, change the speed from Auto to 10 or 100mbs depending on your network. Also, change the duplex from Auto to Half and the media/connector/cable type option from Auto to UTP/RJ-45. Doug <a href=mailto:dxd_2000@yahoo.com>dxd_2000@yahoo.com</a> <a href= > </a>

gerald · Jul 21, 2000

At this time I dont have a DHCP server functioning. I have one setup in Win2000, with no scope set. It tells me that it cant initialize DHCP because my network adapter does not have a static IP. I then added a scope (192.168.1.2-192.168.1.254) and set the network adapter to 192.168.1.1 and tried rebooting the other ocmputers to see if they would find the DHCP server there, but they were assigned some different numbers. (In the 169.254.x.x range) And that appears to be the range that my other computers are running in. (They are both Win98 machines setup to configure IP automatically.) I do get a link light on the hub when I plug the cable into the network adapter. I do not see it constantly flashing, but it is not in the same room as the Win2k machine so I cant see if there is any activity when i try to ping another machine. I guess that would be relevant information. RIght now I am starting to believe that something is going wrong with my motherboard. I had all of this working in Windows98 before I installed Win2000 on there as a dual boot. Then I couldnt get it to work in 2000, now I cant get it to work in 98 either. If I try to boot up with the Kingston and any other card in, it shuts the computer off as soon as it tries to access the network. If I take the Kingston out it will boot, but it will not access the network either and if I try to do ipconfig it tells me that it cannot find IP configuration or something like that. I guess at this point I am going to go and buy a new motherboard, processor and hard drive (Probably some more ram too) this weekend (I really need it anyways... I plan on experimenting with some high volume transation systems pretty soon... and this 400Mhz with 192MB is great for Win98 but leaves alot to be desired with Win2000 Server. ) And try it all again with a PIII. heh. I will just make my 400 into another Linux box or something. Anyways, thanks again for your input. Gerald

vitrader · Jul 22, 2000

I use only 3 COM NICS.   After using several models  I finally settled for the 3C980C-TXM.  This is working flawlessly.  The driver is also compatible with Win2000 server. Hopefully by now  your  problem has been resolved. AL Al Odlum <a href=mailto:vitrader@alphonso-odlum.com>vitrader@alphonso-odlum.com</a> <a href=

http://www.alphonso-odlum.com>Al's

Computer Service</a>

gerald · Jul 22, 2000

Yes I finally got the problem resolved. I got upset at the computer and dissected it. heh. just took it all apart cleaned everything put it back together, cleared the bios and spent about an hour getting all of the cards to grab their own IRQ's, and reinstalled windows 98 and 2000 and it works like a charm on both now. Very odd. So now Im a happy camper.

I have my Win2k server online and now I can get into the good stuff. Heh. My web server/site should be up in a few days at 2k.geefunk.com . Unfortunately my cable modem has a hideous uplink speed so it might be a rather painful experience to browse it. heh Until I hit the lotto and get a house with redundant OC3's

axslinger · Jul 24, 2000

When I recently did my first Win2k Server install I had all sorts of problems with regard to connecting to the server.  Everything appeared to be configured correctly. The one thing that 'appeared' to get things working was when I enabled the Remote Access and Routing Service.  I know it makes absolutely no sense.  But until I did that, my workstations kept reporting no domain controller found.  I know the problem isn't exact, but it's similar.  Once it was working that way, I disabled that service and everything kept working. On another note, if I were having your problem, I would unplug the server from the switch or hub, and concentrate on just the workstations.  Turn off the

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LAN Adapter woes

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