"Network cable unplugged"

[Stumac]

Hi,
First of all, sorry if this has been posted before - I'm new here!
Right, to my problem...
Was surfing yesterday (live in Switzerland, have ADSL (broadband) connection with an ISP).
Left my laptop connected for 20 mins or so (idle), came back and my laptop had hibernated. When activated my laptop again, error message appeared "Local Area Connection: Network Cable Unplugged".
Now I hadn't touched my laptop AT ALL, had not touched any leads, my modem seems to be OK (both LCDs lit) - so something has gone wrong somewhere that was not of my own doing!
Any help greatly appreciated, I'm a complete know-nothing with computers!

Thanks in advance,
Stumac

 

[Ian]

Hi Stumac,

If you check your internet connection settings, as there is an option for an "auto-disconnect" if the internet connection is not used. I think the default is 20 mins of idle will disconnect.

Just find the box in your connection settings and untick it, as that is most likely the problem

Ian

 

[Caff]

yes i think ian has the buzzer on this one...

best thing to do on a laptop is change those setting to stay "always on"

post back if that didnt fix the problem

regards

Caff.

 

[suive]

Stumac,

The issue could be that your power configuration is set to turn off the network card after a certain amount of idle time - that fits in with you leaving the laptop for 20 mins. i experienced a similar problem on my lan.

Right-click "my computer", then click "properties". Click the "hardware" tab then "device manager". Find your network adapter then right-click on it and click properties. Select the "power management" tab and if the check box for "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" is ticked, clear it.

These instructions are for windows xp - 2000 should be similar. For earlier versions i don't really know if this is applicable.

Hope this helps.

 

[shalamoosha]

local area connection unplugged

On my dell laptop running windows xp, i suddenly am getting "local area connection unplugged" showing up every 3 seconds. so i can get on line, but then three seconds later have no connection. 3 seconds later i am on again. and so on. my cable company claims it is not a connection probelm but rather a hardware or computer problem. i switched ethernet cords but that didn't help. my modem light for internet is blinking, which someone at the cable co. said it should not be while someone else said it should be. anyone have any thoughts or suggestions before i get on the phone with microsoft help? If it weren't so "regular" i would assume it's my computer - e.g. the ethernet connection port or whatever that's called, but it is literally on and off every three seconds.

thanks,

 

[Gurra]

Exact same problem here

Having the exact same problem. Inspiron 5100 with Broadcom 440x on board network. XPProSP2.
As soon as Windows has booted the network interface starts dropping off every couple of seconds "A network cable is unplugged". The network works fine during the second or so it is up.
This is not a mechanical problem or cable problem.
If I boot DOS I can load the DOS network driver for the BCM440x and the disconnections do not happen.
If I run the Broadcom network card diagnostics in the Broadcom Advanced Control suite the problem goes away for the remainder of the system uptime - the network works fine - but the same old problem comes back on cold or warm boot.
There are no exclamation marks in the device manager.
It is not a DHCP lease issue
Forcing duplex/speed - no difference
Tried uninstalling the broadcom driver and installing the current Dell one - no difference
Tried the current Broadcom driver - no difference
Tried configuring the power management for always on - no difference
Set the Network card to always on with Dell Quickset and in device manager - no difference
Tried current 5100 BIOS - no difference
Moved the Brodcom network driver over the 1394 network driver - no difference

 

[shalamoosha]

network cable unplugged - issue

Hi - I think that it is my computer - maybe yours too. Mine is also a dell inspiron 1100. The ethernet cable connection is bad I think. I have been placing the ethernet cable firmly in the computer and hold it in using a stapler, and pushing the computer/stapler against the back of the desk to keep the connection tight! if the computer moves and the connection jiggles, the "network connection unplugged" bubble comes up, but just sitting and working, it works fine. I have actually just bought a new computer but haven't set it up yet, but I'm guessing you could have the part replaced where the cable plugs in the computer. Good luck!

 

[Gurra]

Nope, this problem isn't mechanical. The RJ45 network cable socket is fine.
I just have to run the diagnostics and it starts working.
I put a new HD in the system and am reinstalling XP to it in order to find out if this is caused by something in XP but at this stage I have run out of ideas.
Update: Fresh XP install on fresh HD did not resolve problem
Running Broadcom diagnostics does until next reboot
Any ideas anyone?

 

[banyan30]

I have now visited about ten different fora in which hundreds of frustrated XP users are experiencing this "network cable unplugged" problem. Thousands more have likely given up. It appears to be a massive bug in XP, but the help from the Microsoft site is less than useful. I have two computers, one running XP Home, the other Pro, both with SP and updates. The Home machine used to network quite happily to a Win98 computer, and nothing about it has changed.

I have done everything suggested:
changed cables, used both Cat 5 and Cat5e
removed all possible IRQ conflicts
changed connection speeds to manual and matched them
update all the drivers
disabled Internet Connection Sharing
disabled all possible interference from "helpful" power management
re-run the network installation wizards
changed the name of the workgroup

and more, and still it doesn't work. And no, I don't want a wireless connection. I find it scandalous that the simple matter of connecting two ethernet cards should require days of research and still fail.

Has anyone solved it?

 

[Gurra]

Had to resort to adding a cardbus GBE card to solve this. There was no way I could get the built in ethernet card working without first having to run a diagnostic on it and that is not very practical from an user point of view. The fact that the built in ethernet works fine after a diagnostic proves to me that this is not a hardware problem.
I read the BIOS update log and I understand from it that the BIOS can also update the firmware of the Broadcom chip. I might try a BIOS downgrade to see if it helps. The laptop is on the current BIOS now.

 

[Abarbarian]

I have now visited about ten different fora in which hundreds of frustrated XP users are experiencing this "network cable unplugged" problem. Thousands more have likely given up. It appears to be a massive bug in XP, but the help from the Microsoft site is less than useful. I have two computers, one running XP Home, the other Pro, both with SP and updates. The Home machine used to network quite happily to a Win98 computer, and nothing about it has changed.

I have done everything suggested:
changed cables, used both Cat 5 and Cat5e
removed all possible IRQ conflicts
changed connection speeds to manual and matched them
update all the drivers
disabled Internet Connection Sharing
disabled all possible interference from "helpful" power management
re-run the network installation wizards
changed the name of the workgroup

and more, and still it doesn't work. And no, I don't want a wireless connection. I find it scandalous that the simple matter of connecting two ethernet cards should require days of research and still fail.

Has anyone solved it?

I use Autopatcher for my Xp Home/Pro updates and this has some extras included . One of which is a "get rid of information bubbles" that should get rid of the annoying pop up .
Had trouble with connecting Home and Pro with a cable so I bought a cheap Router Box one without a modem £6 secondhand . Problem solved . Bonus is I no longer have to load any AOL software on my pc .

 

[banyan30]

Well, this is too technical for me, so I'll bow out, but thanks.

I don't know what a cardbus GBE card is and I have no time to learn. I'm not a computer specialist and, in common with about 99.9% of PC users, I would not understand what the results of diagnostic tests or a BIOS update log meant even if I knew what to run, how, and where to look. But I do know that the fast ethernet cards in both XP PCs are working just fine, as they are in the cases of most people who report this error, and that I used to be able to connect to a Win98 PC without any difficulty. I simpy need my computers to do what it says on the tin.

I think an "ordinary person" ought to be able to connect two XP computers together in less than three days, without all this fuss. I wonder if Macs have these problems?

 

[banyan30]

Thank you Abarbarian - a cheap router box could be an answer! I'll try it. I have never heard of Autopatcher and I don't know what it is - I guess it's some downloadable software? Getting rid of the information bubbles might not solve the problem if those bubbles describe a real error. According to Microsoft you can rid yourself of the bubbles by editing the Registry - something I don't feel competent to do. But MS doesn't mention the actual problem, that the computers won't connect. Tools of the Devil - ha! most surely, but I learned a long time ago never to let anything vaguely to do with AOL get anywhere near any PC I might have to work with.

 

[Abarbarian]

There are threads on this here at PC Review . Heres a link . Its just a very convenient way of getting all the Microsoft updates at once . Useful for fresh installs . the version I gave a link to worked well for me .

http://downloads.littlbuger.info/index.php?dlid=675

 

[Gurra]

Well, this is too technical for me, so I'll bow out, but thanks.

I don't know what a cardbus GBE card is and I have no time to learn. I'm not a computer specialist and, in common with about 99.9% of PC users, I would not understand what the results of diagnostic tests or a BIOS update log meant even if I knew what to run, how, and where to look. But I do know that the fast ethernet cards in both XP PCs are working just fine, as they are in the cases of most people who report this error, and that I used to be able to connect to a Win98 PC without any difficulty. I simpy need my computers to do what it says on the tin.

I think an "ordinary person" ought to be able to connect two XP computers together in less than three days, without all this fuss. I wonder if Macs have these problems?

Sorry, it is a separate PC (Gigabit Ethernet) network card for laptops. It goes in the cardbus slot on the side. Most laptops have one or two of these slots.
I had to disable the built in Ethernet.
The diagnostics for the built in broadcom ethernet got installed automatically with the driver and can be accessed from the control panel.
In your case I think it is a different problem. Can you describe to me how your PCs are connected? Do you have only two PCs connected back to back with a cross wired network cable, or are they connected via an ethernet switch or hub? Is there a cable modem or adsl modem or a router or similar on the same network?
You don't need a router box just for two PCs (with any windows version) to be able to communicate with each other on a local network.

 

[banyan30]

Problem solved!

The one thing I failed to check, because I didn't even know about it (I am not a computer geek but an ordinary person), was what is written along the side of the connecting cable! It says, amongst a million gobbledygook letters, "Patch". Apparently, this is not right, because a patch cable connects lines 1,2,3 and 4 of the socket on one network terminal to lines 4,3,2 and 1 on the socket of the other. You need 4 to connect to 4 and 1 to 1, which seems quite logical. If you don't, both computers will show balloons of "network cable unplugged" on the screen, not surprisingly. Nowhere is this mentioned in any Wizard that I could see. But of course, it's a bit obvious when you know how.

What you need is either a cable which reverses the polarity, called a "crossover" cable (marked with that on the side) or something else to reverse the polarity, like a router or network hub, or a little piece of plastic and wire called a crossover adapter, available from an eBay shop for £1 for two. Stick one of these on one end of a patch cable, hook up the two PCs directly (the little lights on the sockets light up), run the network connection wizards and it all works fine. Why this simple but essential fact isn't actually mentioned in any Microsoft Wizards is quite beyond me. That's why I think hundreds of people have been writing to fora aftertearing their hair out for days, when all they needed to know was that they didn't have the right piece of wire.

After connection, you have to go through a whole rigmarole of which computer is allowed to change what on the other, or not. I know I can manage that....

Thanks for all your help, everyone.