I just recently bought a Asus P4C800 Deluxe motherboard with an
onboard 3C940 Gigabit card. I installed XP Pro, all the appropriate
drivers, and when I connected my network cable, the lights on the
onboard NIC come on, but they both (Activity and Link) stay on and
don't blink, just steady lights. I checked in my network connections,
and it still says "Network Cable Unplugged". I have checked to make
sure that my onboard NIC is enabled in the BIOS, and that Auto Selct
is selected for Media Type and Speed, but still nothing. Any help or
advise will be greatly appreciated.

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) (Phil) wrote:
>I just recently bought a Asus P4C800 Deluxe motherboard with an
>onboard 3C940 Gigabit card. I installed XP Pro, all the appropriate
>drivers, and when I connected my network cable, the lights on the
>onboard NIC come on, but they both (Activity and Link) stay on and
>don't blink, just steady lights. I checked in my network connections,
>and it still says "Network Cable Unplugged". I have checked to make
>sure that my onboard NIC is enabled in the BIOS, and that Auto Selct
>is selected for Media Type and Speed, but still nothing. Any help or
>advise will be greatly appreciated.

Don't take that message literally. It really means that XP can't
detect a live link to another device, such as a computer, hub, switch,
or router. That could be for any of these reasons:

1. The network cable really is unplugged.

2. The network cable is defective.

3. It's plugged in, but there's nothing connected to the other end.

4. It's plugged in and connected on both ends, but the device on the
other end isn't turned on.

5. The cable is the wrong type. Connecting two computers directly,
without a hub, switch, or router, requires a crossover cable. A
regular cable won't work.

6. The cable is connected to the uplink port on a hub, switch, or
router, instead of a regular port.

7. Some hubs, switches, and routers disable the port next to the
uplink port when the uplink port is in use.

8. The network card driver program isn't working right. Download and
install the latest XP-compatible driver from the manufacturer's web
site.

9. The network card is configured to automatically sense speed and
duplex settings but isn't doing it correctly. Set those options
manually, as shown here:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...etworkcard.htm

10. The operating system is turning off the network card to save
power. Disable the power saving option in the network card's
properties.

11. You're using a phone line network adapter and there isn't a second
computer, with a similar adapter, running and connected to the same
phone line.

12. You've disabled the radio on a wireless network adapter.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

[shari7]

I had 3Com Gigabit LOM (3C940) network adaptor, for 8 years I got disconnected from the internet with a message saying “cable unplugged” see below for the temp. fixes that helped me get by.
I replaced the 3Com with a TRENDnet Gigabit PCI Adapter Card TEG-PCITXR for $14.15 (Free Standard Shipping) at Amazon. It can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o00_s00_i01
I am not good with hardware so I was nervous about doing this, but I was only risking $14. It turned out to be easy to install, and you just leave the 3COM alone, physically. (you just go to network connections, right click on the 3COM and disable it).

The TRENDnet just snaps into place. It automatically installs itself when you restart the computer, and it is ready to go. I have not had one “cable unplugged” message since, and I have not been disconnected from the internet since I installed the TRENDnet last Feb. 2012-no matter how large of a file I am downloading! It is now Aug 2012. I am almost in heaven!

Temporary fixes:
To “replug” this nonexistent cable, I would open my network place, click on View Network Connections, right click on the unplugged connection, chose “disable,” then right click on it again, and chose “enable” then I would get my connection back.

To mickeymouse a fix, I went to 3Com Gigabit LOM (3C940) network adaptor properties (my computer/manage/device manager/ network adaptor/ 3COM and chose properties, go to Advanced tab, Media type) and change media type from 100 full duplex to 100 half duplex. This should lesson the amount to disconnect when downloading, although your downloads will be slower. If this doesn’t help, try 10 half duplex, this should help but your downloads will be very slow.