G
Guest
I have taken various approaches to troubleshooting a LAN problem (ping failure) which arose between two machines previously working before I was forced to re-install XP on one of them. For details on this, please see other recent posts by Ezra (search "Ezra") on this discussion group.
The basic symptom appears to be that -
a. Windows Task Manager shows more or less normal looking send and receive traffic (unicasts/non-unicasts) on the LAN adapters on either side.
b. LAN traffic from machine "A" (not changed and presumably good) is reaching machine "B" (with total software re-install and upgrade per standard Microsoft Windows Update procedures).
c. No traffic (zero unicast/non-unicasts), at least none resulting from TCP/IP operations (ping), reaches "A" from "B."
On the surface this might appear to be a hardware or cabling problem except that -
a. The LAN appears to connect and disconnect normally with no symptom of error on either side in response to enabling/disabling the adapter on the other side;
b. LAN hardware and cabling seem solid and were not touched during the software re-install process except for momentary unplugging and replugging of the ethernet crossover cable on one end.
c. No hardware changes (other than a new hard disk) occurred but totally new (although intended as an exact duplicate) software was installed on B (which I suspect is "bad").
In pursuing the software angle I note that there were two versions of the LAN adapter driver on the rebuilt system. An early release version was supplied with the manufacturer's XP re-install disks. An upgraded version (7.1.8.0) was supplied somewhere in the Microsoft Windows Update process.
As an experiment I went to Properties of the LAN connection and then Configure / Driver / Update Driver of the LAN adapter. In the resulting Hardware Update Wizard I checked "Install software automatically" with no removable devices mounted. Guess what? It installed the original back-level driver!
So, after trying a ping (which showed the same symptoms as before), I repeated the above exactly. Guess what? It installed the current level driver!
Then I tried Roll Back Driver. This rolled me back to the back level version.
Then Update Driver once again got me back to the current level of the driver (all this with no <zero!> driver or other software on the system other than what the original re-install and Windows Update had put there).
This - especially the first Update Driver's "automatically" installing the back-level driver - leads me to suspect driver installation confusion which might well explain the symptoms I am seeing. Note that until the above procedure was performed (last night) I had never (!) touched the Driver Update or Roll Back procedures.
I will greatly appreciate any comment or suggestion anyone may have on this. In the mean time I am going to try rolling the driver again to the back level version, Uninstalling that and then Updating again. Normally I would not do that but the LAN interface can't get much less operational than it already is.
Regards to all, Ezra.
The basic symptom appears to be that -
a. Windows Task Manager shows more or less normal looking send and receive traffic (unicasts/non-unicasts) on the LAN adapters on either side.
b. LAN traffic from machine "A" (not changed and presumably good) is reaching machine "B" (with total software re-install and upgrade per standard Microsoft Windows Update procedures).
c. No traffic (zero unicast/non-unicasts), at least none resulting from TCP/IP operations (ping), reaches "A" from "B."
On the surface this might appear to be a hardware or cabling problem except that -
a. The LAN appears to connect and disconnect normally with no symptom of error on either side in response to enabling/disabling the adapter on the other side;
b. LAN hardware and cabling seem solid and were not touched during the software re-install process except for momentary unplugging and replugging of the ethernet crossover cable on one end.
c. No hardware changes (other than a new hard disk) occurred but totally new (although intended as an exact duplicate) software was installed on B (which I suspect is "bad").
In pursuing the software angle I note that there were two versions of the LAN adapter driver on the rebuilt system. An early release version was supplied with the manufacturer's XP re-install disks. An upgraded version (7.1.8.0) was supplied somewhere in the Microsoft Windows Update process.
As an experiment I went to Properties of the LAN connection and then Configure / Driver / Update Driver of the LAN adapter. In the resulting Hardware Update Wizard I checked "Install software automatically" with no removable devices mounted. Guess what? It installed the original back-level driver!
So, after trying a ping (which showed the same symptoms as before), I repeated the above exactly. Guess what? It installed the current level driver!
Then I tried Roll Back Driver. This rolled me back to the back level version.
Then Update Driver once again got me back to the current level of the driver (all this with no <zero!> driver or other software on the system other than what the original re-install and Windows Update had put there).
This - especially the first Update Driver's "automatically" installing the back-level driver - leads me to suspect driver installation confusion which might well explain the symptoms I am seeing. Note that until the above procedure was performed (last night) I had never (!) touched the Driver Update or Roll Back procedures.
I will greatly appreciate any comment or suggestion anyone may have on this. In the mean time I am going to try rolling the driver again to the back level version, Uninstalling that and then Updating again. Normally I would not do that but the LAN interface can't get much less operational than it already is.
Regards to all, Ezra.