Completely stumped by networking problems

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Guest

Help!
Picked up a used Dell Latitude cpx laptop last week. Hooked it up to my
wired network (linksys router) and was able to connect to the internet, but
not my network. I've had luck with win xp sorting these problems out in the
past, so I re-installed it, thinking there was a problem. Once the re-install
was done, I could in fact see the network and was moving files from my main
pc to the laptop. I thought it would be a good time to install SP2, so I did.
Here's where it gets weird. After the SP2, I could do nothing...no internet,
no network. I uninstalled SP2 and restored to a checkpoint prior to the
install, when everything worked. Still nothing. I did a repair install of XP,
still nothing. I have even gone so far as to restore the laptop to its
factory state with the Dell restore disk (win 98se), then installed
XP...still can't connect. I have even tried a brand new ethernet
card....nothing. (although after installing the new card, I did get a glimmer
of recognition and a brief period...30 seconds...of connectivity, according
to the 'connected' icon in the sys tray)
I've tried to repair the winsock with the available utilities.
Here's what happens. It's the standard 169.xxx.x.x ip address if I leave TCP
set to 'obtain IP' and I can't connect to anything. If I force feed it the
router ip 192.168.1.107, still nothing. There are no firewalls installed on
the pc, the cable and router port work fine on my main pc.
'Browstat status' returns
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{6F12208B-C2CC-4076-A4D5-9EAAB6D8C439} Browsing is NOT
active on domain.

I have tried most, if not ALL of the suggestions for correcting networking,
connectivity, sharing, etc, etc. problems and I don't know what to try next.
Device Manager tells me that the PCMIA adapters are working, as is the new
D-Link ethernet card I bought today. Is there any way of testing if it's an
internal problem...although I don't know what it could be?

Hoping somebody out there has some ides.
Cheers,
Phil
 
Help!
Picked up a used Dell Latitude cpx laptop last week. Hooked it up to my
wired network (linksys router) and was able to connect to the internet, but
not my network. I've had luck with win xp sorting these problems out in the
past, so I re-installed it, thinking there was a problem. Once the re-install
was done, I could in fact see the network and was moving files from my main
pc to the laptop. I thought it would be a good time to install SP2, so I did.
Here's where it gets weird. After the SP2, I could do nothing...no internet,
no network. I uninstalled SP2 and restored to a checkpoint prior to the
install, when everything worked. Still nothing. I did a repair install of XP,
still nothing. I have even gone so far as to restore the laptop to its
factory state with the Dell restore disk (win 98se), then installed
XP...still can't connect. I have even tried a brand new ethernet
card....nothing. (although after installing the new card, I did get a glimmer
of recognition and a brief period...30 seconds...of connectivity, according
to the 'connected' icon in the sys tray)
I've tried to repair the winsock with the available utilities.
Here's what happens. It's the standard 169.xxx.x.x ip address if I leave TCP
set to 'obtain IP' and I can't connect to anything. If I force feed it the
router ip 192.168.1.107, still nothing. There are no firewalls installed on
the pc, the cable and router port work fine on my main pc.
'Browstat status' returns
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{6F12208B-C2CC-4076-A4D5-9EAAB6D8C439} Browsing is NOT
active on domain.

I have tried most, if not ALL of the suggestions for correcting networking,
connectivity, sharing, etc, etc. problems and I don't know what to try next.
Device Manager tells me that the PCMIA adapters are working, as is the new
D-Link ethernet card I bought today. Is there any way of testing if it's an
internal problem...although I don't know what it could be?

Hoping somebody out there has some ides.
Cheers,
Phil
Click to expand...

Phil,

Have you posted here before, with this problem? If so, please forgive me if I
feed you the same diagnostics. You're not providing a lot of detail as to what
specifically you have and haven't tried.

Firstly, "Limited or no connectivity", accompanied by the DHCP assigned IP
address 169,254.x.x, can have any of several causes.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/limited-or-no-connectivity.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/limited-or-no-connectivity.html

The LSP / Winsock / TCP/IP corruption problem can, itself, have a number of
causes. There are 6 known LSP / Winsock / TCP/IP repairs.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/problems-with-lsp-winsock-layer-in.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/problems-with-lsp-winsock-layer-in.html

Those are the 2 issues which, IMHO, you must solve first. Please try all of the
diagnostics described in each article, in sequence. If no help yet, describe
your network in detail, and I'll try and help you devise some other diagnostics
that you may make, that use your network and its components.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html
 
Chuck,
Thanks for your response. As I said in my post, I have tried most, if not
*all* of the standard remedies for connectivity problems, etc, to no avail.
What I did find, a bit further down this group, was a posting referring to
taking the network card off 'auto' and making it full 10 mpbs. Here is that
post:


UPDATE:

As of yesterday morning I followed this tip from PracticallyNetworked.com
(linked from Chuck's web page). I took it off of automatic. First I tried
100 MB full duplex, as suggested on the site but I shortly lost the
connection as usual. I then tried 10 MB full duplex and it has worked
flawlessly so far. I don't know if it's just a coincidence, or permently
fixed the problem. 10 MB is fine for internet usage through my cable
company, which I primarily use the network for. I also left it as a static
IP address which didn't work on it's own. Since it is currenlty working
normally, I am not going to change anything else. I copied and pasted the
excerpt below incase anybody else with this type of problem would like to
give it a shot.

Specify Explicit Speed and Duplex Settings
By default, network cards are configured to automatically detect the proper
speed and duplex settings. This automatic sensing can fail, preventing the
computer from accessing the network.

In Windows XP, right click the network connection and click Properties |
Configure | Advanced. In Windows 95/98/Me, go to Control Panel | Network,
double click the network adapter, and click Advanced. The name of the
appropriate setting depends on the particular network card. Specify explicit
speed and duplex settings that work on your network. Most switches and
hardware routers use 100 Mb, full duplex. Hubs use half duplex. Here’s an
example, showing how to configure an SMC 1211TX network card that’s connected
to a switch.



Voila...that did the trick! So, after many, many hours of frustration, it
came down to what I thought it would be...one simple little tweak.
Now I have to find out why I can't access the main pc from the laptop, even
though I see it in the Network Neighbourhoodand many folders and drives are
shared and available to 'Everyone".
Thanks again,
Phil
 
As Chuck stated - not much detail provided. However an address in the 169
range is assigned by XP when DNS services are not available - and allow
communication within the network but not outside (Internet). With TCP/IP
properties set to obtain IP address automatically the router should provide
addresses in the 192 range. You stated "If I force feed it the
 
This useful thread http://tinyurl.com/cwzo3 explains in detail that apparently
"certain auto-negotiating ethernet cards (both in PCs and in Macs), when connected to
certain models of cable modem, sense the ethernet duplex setting incorrectly." The
recommended solution is to set the NIC to 10MBPS half-duplex.
 
Chuck,
Thanks for your response. As I said in my post, I have tried most, if not
*all* of the standard remedies for connectivity problems, etc, to no avail.
What I did find, a bit further down this group, was a posting referring to
taking the network card off 'auto' and making it full 10 mpbs. Here is that
post:


UPDATE:

As of yesterday morning I followed this tip from PracticallyNetworked.com
(linked from Chuck's web page). I took it off of automatic. First I tried
100 MB full duplex, as suggested on the site but I shortly lost the
connection as usual. I then tried 10 MB full duplex and it has worked
flawlessly so far. I don't know if it's just a coincidence, or permently
fixed the problem. 10 MB is fine for internet usage through my cable
company, which I primarily use the network for. I also left it as a static
IP address which didn't work on it's own. Since it is currenlty working
normally, I am not going to change anything else. I copied and pasted the
excerpt below incase anybody else with this type of problem would like to
give it a shot.

Specify Explicit Speed and Duplex Settings
By default, network cards are configured to automatically detect the proper
speed and duplex settings. This automatic sensing can fail, preventing the
computer from accessing the network.

In Windows XP, right click the network connection and click Properties |
Configure | Advanced. In Windows 95/98/Me, go to Control Panel | Network,
double click the network adapter, and click Advanced. The name of the
appropriate setting depends on the particular network card. Specify explicit
speed and duplex settings that work on your network. Most switches and
hardware routers use 100 Mb, full duplex. Hubs use half duplex. Here’s an
example, showing how to configure an SMC 1211TX network card that’s connected
to a switch.



Voila...that did the trick! So, after many, many hours of frustration, it
came down to what I thought it would be...one simple little tweak.
Now I have to find out why I can't access the main pc from the laptop, even
though I see it in the Network Neighbourhoodand many folders and drives are
shared and available to 'Everyone".
Thanks again,
Phil
Click to expand...

Phil,

The neat thing about Windows Networking in particular, and networking in
general, is that sometimes a problem, no matter how complex, comes down to just
"one simple little tweak". The un neat thing is that it doesn't always work
this way. The challenge is accepting both possibilities without tearing your
hair out (too late, I have).

So if you now have both computers connected, and at least one visible (though
not accessible) to the other, this may be a simple network neighborhood problem.
But yo will have to do some more diagnostic work.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html
 
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