Laptop still thinks connected to network when not

[perryarrow]

Has anyone ever experienced the following.
I have a laptop running NT SP6. At my desk I connect to the company's network either docking station or PCMCIA net work card. Our network uses Novel.
When I boot up I have the choice of Docked or undocked. Then I get the Novel sign on screen. If I am undocked and have no intentions of using the network I select workstaion only at the Novel sign on.
Here is the problem. I am logged in as undocked, workstaiton only.
When I open certain software, microsoft stuff particularly, I will get the software's splash screen then nothing will happen for minutes. While I am waiting for the application to finish opening I can go to other software and open or work.
To me it appears as if the software is trying to access something on the network when opened and the delay is the wait for no network connected time out.
This even happens on the simple program like Wordpad. If, after the first Wordpad finally opens, I open another Wordpad session it will open immediately. However if I wait a long time to open the second session of Wordpad it will go through the same long open routine.
The other odd thing about this is that when I first was issued this laptop this problem did not exist. It appeared to happen after about a year. I asked our IT group if they had done anything via the network and they said no. Their solution is to reload everything.
I would like to avoid reloading.
Any ideas??

 

[joegz]

I really know little about Novell networks but I will offer the same suggestions to the clients I work with on NT servers.

Are you removing the PCMCIA card from the laptop before booting up, assuming that the card is in the laptop and not just in the docking station? It is possible that the protocol is staying bound to the network adapter.

If you are using TCP/IP as the protocol you can also try releasing the IP information to see if that makes a difference. If there is still a bind to the network adapter that is another way of releasing the bind.

Just my .02 cents if it helps.

 

[perryarrow]

Thanks for the reply.
When I select docked, the docking station has a Nic card. When I select undocked, the PCMCIA card is used. I do not remove the card .
I guess I just figured that checking the workstaion only checkbox at the Novel login, the program would then set conditions that would tell the computer that a network was not connected.
We are using the TCP/IP protocols among others. When you say releasing I assume you mean unconnecting or turning off?
This is what I thought the workstation only checkbox was to take care of.
I guess I need to find out more about the Novel stuff and the significance of that checkbox.

 

[johncurtis]

You could try this:
Set up a separate hardware profile for when the laptop is undocked (Control Panel | System | Hardware Profiles). Create it by copying the current configuration, then rename it something sensible. Go into Properties and on the Network tab make the new profile network-disabled. This will stop the laptop looking for a network completely.
John

 

[perryarrow]

That almost seems too easy! I have set it up and I will verify it soon. My laptop also has a PCMCIA modem which I also use when undocked. Curious if this will be affected? It sounds like it should not.
I also have some other suggestions to try.
I will let you know.


Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[pbxman]

Johncurtis is right - hardware profiles are not setup correctly.

When the user logs in - seems to me..they are logging into the "domain", and it fails due to not having a connection. They end up using cached credentials, and the whole point of "docked/undocked" goes out the window.

You need to make sure an undocked workstation logs into the laptop LOCALLY - not to the domain. Also, any network drive mappings used when docked and on the network will slow the PC to a crawl as NT tries to establish the connections as you open software with programs stored on those network drives.

A properly configured laptop should have NO problems differentiating between an undocked-networkless environment, and a docked network client.

Get on your IT staff to correct this issue. This is basic NT networking here... This should be a virtually seamless operation from a users perspective.
Pbxman
Systems Administrator

Please let Tek-Tips members know their posts were helpful.

 

[perryarrow]

You speak truth pbx, however in the real world of understaffed an always chasing fires it is too easy not to fix the real problem but to have a blanket fix for all problems like reload everything.
So here is the scoop.
I setup a third profile for undocked unNetworked. I has gotten me closer. However when I view the Hdwprofiles under control panel Devices most of the Novel stuff is set to be activated for all three profiles. What I see is that A lot of other drivers to be configured properly per profile. However I do not know what alot of the drivers do to make a intelligent decision as to what profile they should be active in.
Logging in to Domain or Locally makes sense but again I need to learn more about.
Again I thought the Workstation only checkbox at the Novel client loggin should have taken care of networking issues. I am also trying to find out about that.
Another note. Recently the IT guys switched our network from assigned IP address to DHCP. Now I get at dialog telling me that DHCP Client could not Obtain an IP address. This dialog pops up even though I am connected to the network succesfully. I even get it when I am undocked and not connected. Even with the third profile! If I choose yes on the dialog it will continue to pop up every so often, time out. If I choose no it will not pop up again but I know that in the background it is always trying.
Again I thank you for all the suggestions!

 

[TheLad]

Have I not replied to this post on another forum???? -----------------------------------------------------
"It's true, its damn true!"
-----------------------------------------------------