Unidentified network - driving me mad

On my wired home LAN, I'm building a Vista Media Centre box based on
Ultimate. The mobo is an Asus M2NPV-VM with the NForce 430 chipset (with
onboard Gb LAN).

If I perform a fresh install of Vista (and I've now done this many times), I
select the location as 'Home', which should setup the networking zone to be
'private' as the machine is only in a workgroup. Every time I do this
though, Vista insists on setting the zone as 'public' and only enables local
access, with no Internet connectivity, and sets the network description to
'Unidentified'. The ADSL router connecting to the Internet is a Belkin
F5D7633 (UK), which also acts as a DHCP server for the LAN. I've built a
previous Vista Ultimate PC on the LAN which can access the Internet fine,
and get's a valid DHCP address from the Belkin. I've also built another
Vista Media Centre based on an Asus A8N-VM CSM motherboard, which has an
identical chipset and NIC as the M2NPV-VM, and this also worked fine, so I
know the router is not at fault. If I look at the network map, I can see the
local host, connected to the LAN, but then a red 'X' to the Internet. If I
diagnose the 'X', and try and let Vista do it's thing, it just says there is
a problem that can't be fixed.

I've rebuilt this machine loads of times now, trying various BIOS settings,
but every time, Vista sets the location to 'public' and restricts Internet
access. I can't even get a DHCP address on this setup, and Vista sets an
APIPA address instead. If I force the mode to 'private', and set a static
IP, I can ping all other LAN devices, but get no response from the Belkin
router! Vista can see other LAN clients ok, but still won't access the
Internet even with the correct gateway and DNS set (the Belkin). I even
tried an external PCI NIC just in case it was an onboard NIC fault, but this
does exactly the same thing! I disabled IPv6, ran all tests I could,
ipconfig output looks fine.

Obviously this install of Vista is detecting something on the LAN which it's
not happy with, but this 'zoning' of access to network resources is an
absolute PITA. Can this be disabled in any way? Is there a non-essential
service that can be disabled to stop this happening. Why, when other Vista
installs on the same LAN work ok, is this one causing me so many problems?

Before something get's thrown out the window, does anyone have any ideas?

The following links have many talks.

Vista: unidentified networkThe Network and Sharing center will identify the network as "unidentified network", with limited connectivity. I've checked with motherboard and chipset ...
http://www.chicagotech.net/netforum...fafa9d9fb0d00cc

Vista cannot get dynamic IP ...I just get a message "Unidentified Network" with associated "local only" message. I have reviewed all settings and attempted to allow Vista to get an IP ...
http://www.chicagotech.net/netforum...b5b22b2f3d47730



Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"tman" <tony.barrett@roke.co.uk> wrote in message news28FF91E-6233-4505-8EDE-3A49F4575108@microsoft.com...
On my wired home LAN, I'm building a Vista Media Centre box based on
Ultimate. The mobo is an Asus M2NPV-VM with the NForce 430 chipset (with
onboard Gb LAN).

If I perform a fresh install of Vista (and I've now done this many times), I
select the location as 'Home', which should setup the networking zone to be
'private' as the machine is only in a workgroup. Every time I do this
though, Vista insists on setting the zone as 'public' and only enables local
access, with no Internet connectivity, and sets the network description to
'Unidentified'. The ADSL router connecting to the Internet is a Belkin
F5D7633 (UK), which also acts as a DHCP server for the LAN. I've built a
previous Vista Ultimate PC on the LAN which can access the Internet fine,
and get's a valid DHCP address from the Belkin. I've also built another
Vista Media Centre based on an Asus A8N-VM CSM motherboard, which has an
identical chipset and NIC as the M2NPV-VM, and this also worked fine, so I
know the router is not at fault. If I look at the network map, I can see the
local host, connected to the LAN, but then a red 'X' to the Internet. If I
diagnose the 'X', and try and let Vista do it's thing, it just says there is
a problem that can't be fixed.

I've rebuilt this machine loads of times now, trying various BIOS settings,
but every time, Vista sets the location to 'public' and restricts Internet
access. I can't even get a DHCP address on this setup, and Vista sets an
APIPA address instead. If I force the mode to 'private', and set a static
IP, I can ping all other LAN devices, but get no response from the Belkin
router! Vista can see other LAN clients ok, but still won't access the
Internet even with the correct gateway and DNS set (the Belkin). I even
tried an external PCI NIC just in case it was an onboard NIC fault, but this
does exactly the same thing! I disabled IPv6, ran all tests I could,
ipconfig output looks fine.

Obviously this install of Vista is detecting something on the LAN which it's
not happy with, but this 'zoning' of access to network resources is an
absolute PITA. Can this be disabled in any way? Is there a non-essential
service that can be disabled to stop this happening. Why, when other Vista
installs on the same LAN work ok, is this one causing me so many problems?

Before something get's thrown out the window, does anyone have any ideas?

Well, after much hair pulling, the only way I can get Vista to see the
Internet has been to change the router to another vendor. Don't ask me why
(when other Vista installs worked fine). I've tried everything I possibly
could to get this working.

There is absolutely no logic to the problem at all. I even tried adding a
static ARP entry on the Vista box for the LAN IP of the router. Vista
objected with 'Error 5' and wouldn't add it.

I dropped in another router (older firmware as well!), and Vista just saw it
and connected to the Internet straight away. I don't like these types of
problems, as I can't exactly explain why it happened, but it's obviously a
confliction between Vista on this ASUS motherboard, with certain drivers and
the Belkin router. That's as much as I know.

Why does Vista not work with certain routers? Surely it's just a node on the
network that Vista uses for DHCP/DNS and the gateway out. What is Vista
trying to do with these routers when it sees one? All editions of XP/Linux
and pretty much any other O/S would just work, but obviously Vista is trying
to do something clever (or maybe not so clever!)

Grrrrrr.

"tman" <tony.barrett@roke.co.uk> wrote in message
news28FF91E-6233-4505-8EDE-3A49F4575108@microsoft.com...
> On my wired home LAN, I'm building a Vista Media Centre box based on
> Ultimate. The mobo is an Asus M2NPV-VM with the NForce 430 chipset (with
> onboard Gb LAN).
>
> If I perform a fresh install of Vista (and I've now done this many times),
> I select the location as 'Home', which should setup the networking zone to
> be 'private' as the machine is only in a workgroup. Every time I do this
> though, Vista insists on setting the zone as 'public' and only enables
> local access, with no Internet connectivity, and sets the network
> description to 'Unidentified'. The ADSL router connecting to the Internet
> is a Belkin F5D7633 (UK), which also acts as a DHCP server for the LAN.
> I've built a previous Vista Ultimate PC on the LAN which can access the
> Internet fine, and get's a valid DHCP address from the Belkin. I've also
> built another Vista Media Centre based on an Asus A8N-VM CSM motherboard,
> which has an identical chipset and NIC as the M2NPV-VM, and this also
> worked fine, so I know the router is not at fault. If I look at the
> network map, I can see the local host, connected to the LAN, but then a
> red 'X' to the Internet. If I diagnose the 'X', and try and let Vista do
> it's thing, it just says there is a problem that can't be fixed.
>
> I've rebuilt this machine loads of times now, trying various BIOS
> settings, but every time, Vista sets the location to 'public' and
> restricts Internet access. I can't even get a DHCP address on this setup,
> and Vista sets an APIPA address instead. If I force the mode to 'private',
> and set a static IP, I can ping all other LAN devices, but get no response
> from the Belkin router! Vista can see other LAN clients ok, but still
> won't access the Internet even with the correct gateway and DNS set (the
> Belkin). I even tried an external PCI NIC just in case it was an onboard
> NIC fault, but this does exactly the same thing! I disabled IPv6, ran all
> tests I could, ipconfig output looks fine.
>
> Obviously this install of Vista is detecting something on the LAN which
> it's not happy with, but this 'zoning' of access to network resources is
> an absolute PITA. Can this be disabled in any way? Is there a
> non-essential service that can be disabled to stop this happening. Why,
> when other Vista installs on the same LAN work ok, is this one causing me
> so many problems?
>
> Before something get's thrown out the window, does anyone have any ideas?

I just wanted to post on this because i have been pulling my hair out too,
but replacing hardware or static IP addresses are NOT an option.

It looks that one of the reliability patches that MS released fixes this
problem, but it does not really mention any network issues addressed in the
KB article for the patch.

Anyway, the patch that fixes this issue (at least for me, on multiple
computers) is:

http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=938979

If I install this patch, reboot, BAM, it works, uninstall it, reboot, bam,
broken again. I can do this over and over on multiple computers (although
all computers have broadcom NICS in them and are all Dell laptops).

Anyway, i'd love it if you could let me know if this also resolves yoru
problem.

Thanks

KG

"tman" wrote:

> Well, after much hair pulling, the only way I can get Vista to see the
> Internet has been to change the router to another vendor. Don't ask me why
> (when other Vista installs worked fine). I've tried everything I possibly
> could to get this working.
>
> There is absolutely no logic to the problem at all. I even tried adding a
> static ARP entry on the Vista box for the LAN IP of the router. Vista
> objected with 'Error 5' and wouldn't add it.
>
> I dropped in another router (older firmware as well!), and Vista just saw it
> and connected to the Internet straight away. I don't like these types of
> problems, as I can't exactly explain why it happened, but it's obviously a
> confliction between Vista on this ASUS motherboard, with certain drivers and
> the Belkin router. That's as much as I know.
>
> Why does Vista not work with certain routers? Surely it's just a node on the
> network that Vista uses for DHCP/DNS and the gateway out. What is Vista
> trying to do with these routers when it sees one? All editions of XP/Linux
> and pretty much any other O/S would just work, but obviously Vista is trying
> to do something clever (or maybe not so clever!)
>
> Grrrrrr.
>
> "tman" <tony.barrett@roke.co.uk> wrote in message
> news28FF91E-6233-4505-8EDE-3A49F4575108@microsoft.com...
> > On my wired home LAN, I'm building a Vista Media Centre box based on
> > Ultimate. The mobo is an Asus M2NPV-VM with the NForce 430 chipset (with
> > onboard Gb LAN).
> >
> > If I perform a fresh install of Vista (and I've now done this many times),
> > I select the location as 'Home', which should setup the networking zone to
> > be 'private' as the machine is only in a workgroup. Every time I do this
> > though, Vista insists on setting the zone as 'public' and only enables
> > local access, with no Internet connectivity, and sets the network
> > description to 'Unidentified'. The ADSL router connecting to the Internet
> > is a Belkin F5D7633 (UK), which also acts as a DHCP server for the LAN.
> > I've built a previous Vista Ultimate PC on the LAN which can access the
> > Internet fine, and get's a valid DHCP address from the Belkin. I've also
> > built another Vista Media Centre based on an Asus A8N-VM CSM motherboard,
> > which has an identical chipset and NIC as the M2NPV-VM, and this also
> > worked fine, so I know the router is not at fault. If I look at the
> > network map, I can see the local host, connected to the LAN, but then a
> > red 'X' to the Internet. If I diagnose the 'X', and try and let Vista do
> > it's thing, it just says there is a problem that can't be fixed.
> >
> > I've rebuilt this machine loads of times now, trying various BIOS
> > settings, but every time, Vista sets the location to 'public' and
> > restricts Internet access. I can't even get a DHCP address on this setup,
> > and Vista sets an APIPA address instead. If I force the mode to 'private',
> > and set a static IP, I can ping all other LAN devices, but get no response
> > from the Belkin router! Vista can see other LAN clients ok, but still
> > won't access the Internet even with the correct gateway and DNS set (the
> > Belkin). I even tried an external PCI NIC just in case it was an onboard
> > NIC fault, but this does exactly the same thing! I disabled IPv6, ran all
> > tests I could, ipconfig output looks fine.
> >
> > Obviously this install of Vista is detecting something on the LAN which
> > it's not happy with, but this 'zoning' of access to network resources is
> > an absolute PITA. Can this be disabled in any way? Is there a
> > non-essential service that can be disabled to stop this happening. Why,
> > when other Vista installs on the same LAN work ok, is this one causing me
> > so many problems?
> >
> > Before something get's thrown out the window, does anyone have any ideas?
>