Network Connection Keeps Dying

D

David E. Ross

Brian said:
With the very limited info provided, Don't Know!!! Try adding a bit
more detail such as the connection type, protocols/components, hardware,
software(if used), etc., etc.

It's an ethernet connection using IP/TCP (part of Windows network
applications). Two PCs are connected, one runnng Win98SE and the other
WinXP(SP2).

While the two PCs are only about 20ft apart, I have a 75ft ethernet
cable. It's that long so that some day I can run it through the attic
instead of draping it over door frames.

I can establish the connection and transfer files between PCs. Through
the connection, my wife can print on my printer from her PC. But the
connection dies while transferring large files (200 MB or more), not
consistently but often. When it dies, I must reboot one or both PCs to
re-establish it.

--

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
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B

Bob I

Try turn off power management on the NIC

Look in Device manager, network adapter, properties, power management tab.
 
D

David E. Ross

Bob said:
Try turn off power management on the NIC

Look in Device manager, network adapter, properties, power management tab.

I did as you suggested. Then, I lost the connection to my wife's PC in
the middle of transferring a 400 MB file.

--

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
into your E-mail? Use PGP.
See my <http://www.rossde.com/PGP/>
 
M

Malke

David said:
I did as you suggested. Then, I lost the connection to my wife's PC
in the middle of transferring a 400 MB file.

Use a shorter cable. You can always keep the longer one for when you
want to run it through the attic. If you made this cable yourself and
aren't expert at cable-making, chances are the cable is at fault.

If the problems disappear when using a shorter cable, then you know. If
the problems don't disappear when using a shorter cable, then swap out
the NIC in your older computer for a known-working one.

Malke
 
B

Bob I

David said:
I did as you suggested. Then, I lost the connection to my wife's PC in
the middle of transferring a 400 MB file.

Then it shouldn't be the NIC going off line. As Malke suggests, you
likely have a hardware connection problem, cable or otherwise.
 
D

David E. Ross

David said:
My PC (WinXP) has an eithernet connection to my wife's PC (Win98SE).
This connection keeps dying while copying files across it. How can I
fix this?

(Now, I'm asking this question somewhat differently. See my earlier
postings in this same thread.)

Is there a limit to the size of a single file that I can transfer from
one PC to another over an ethernet connection? The connection dies
while trying to transfer a 2.35 GB file but seems to handle that same
file when it's broken into 15 pieces of 160 MB each, even if I transfer
5 pieces (800 MB) at a time.

To transfer, I open the folder on my PC containing the file or
file-pieces and the remote folder on my wife's PC (which is shared for
read-write). Then I copy the file on my PC and paste it into the folder
on my wife's PC. Or I mark 5 pieces, copy them in a single operation,
and paste them also in a single operation, repeating twice more to do
all 15 pieces. No, I have not tried doing all 15 pieces in a single
operation.

The large file is a total (normal) backup of my C-drive excluding
Windows. I use MaxSplitter to break it into equal-sized pieces;
MaxSplitter also generates a .bat file that, when executed, reassembles
the pieces. I do an integrity check by generating a SHA1 hash of the
original file on my PC and then verifying the assembled file on my
wife's PC against that hash. (When attempting to transfer the entire
file without breaking it into pieces, the result will often have the
correct size; but the hash fails to verify.)

--

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
into your E-mail? Use PGP.
See my <http://www.rossde.com/PGP/>
 
B

Bob I

Just a thought but is the problem only happen transferring to the 98 but
ok going the other way? 2.35 GB is an awful big file for Win98.
 
D

David E. Ross

Bob said:
Just a thought but is the problem only happen transferring to the 98 but
ok going the other way? 2.35 GB is an awful big file for Win98.

My wife's PC has a 40 GB hard drive, which is less than half full.

So far, I've only tried going WinXP to Win98SE.

--

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
into your E-mail? Use PGP.
See my <http://www.rossde.com/PGP/>
 
B

Bob I

Not so much the space available as the internal handling of the
temporary file and such. The HD has just got to be tossing stuff all
over the place accommodating that big of a transfer. :-0 Another method,
have you tried "pulling" it instead of sending?
 
D

David E. Ross

Bob said:
Not so much the space available as the internal handling of the
temporary file and such. The HD has just got to be tossing stuff all
over the place accommodating that big of a transfer. :-0 Another method,
have you tried "pulling" it instead of sending?

Today, I did backups on both my wife's PC and my own.

Transferring files from my PC (WinXP) to my wife's (Win98SE) showed the
following:

Pushing from WinXP to Win98SE could not be done with files larger than
100 MB. Pulling from WinXP to Win98SE could be done with files larger
than 200 MB and less than 400 MB; files larger than 400 MB could not be
pulled. Note that I was able to sit at my wife's PC, open a window on
my PC, and split a 2.77 GB on my PC with MaxSplitter into 10 equal-sized
files, having that application write the files directly to my wife's PC.

Pushing from Win98SE to WinXP could be done with files as large as 478 MB.

When the network connection died while trying to transfer a very large
file, I could re-establish the connection only by rebooting both PCs.
Rebooting one (either one) had no corrective effect.

--

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
into your E-mail? Use PGP.
See my <http://www.rossde.com/PGP/>
 
B

Bob I

David said:
Today, I did backups on both my wife's PC and my own.

Transferring files from my PC (WinXP) to my wife's (Win98SE) showed the
following:

Pushing from WinXP to Win98SE could not be done with files larger than
100 MB. Pulling from WinXP to Win98SE could be done with files larger
than 200 MB and less than 400 MB; files larger than 400 MB could not be
pulled. Note that I was able to sit at my wife's PC, open a window on
my PC, and split a 2.77 GB on my PC with MaxSplitter into 10 equal-sized
files, having that application write the files directly to my wife's PC.

Pushing from Win98SE to WinXP could be done with files as large as 478 MB.

When the network connection died while trying to transfer a very large
file, I could re-establish the connection only by rebooting both PCs.
Rebooting one (either one) had no corrective effect.

That is an interesting set of data points. Is there anything in the XP's
event viewer that would point to where the problem is(Start, Run,
eventvwr. Any error messages at all on either end? Here is a link to a
general troubleshooting guide, too.

How to troubleshoot network connectivity problems
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325487/en-us
 
D

David E. Ross

Bob said:
That is an interesting set of data points. Is there anything in the XP's
event viewer that would point to where the problem is(Start, Run,
eventvwr. Any error messages at all on either end? Here is a link to a
general troubleshooting guide, too.

How to troubleshoot network connectivity problems
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325487/en-us

The Event Viewer shows no relevant errors in either Application,
Security, or System during the period when these problems occurred. The
only errors reported (in Application) related to me terminating
RealPlayer from the Task Manager.

Aside from error popups indicating that the folder or file could not be
accessed (expected if the connection died), the only other errors were
something about the depth of the path was too long. I don't remember
the exact wording.

--

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
into your E-mail? Use PGP.
See my <http://www.rossde.com/PGP/>
 
B

Bob I

David said:
The Event Viewer shows no relevant errors in either Application,
Security, or System during the period when these problems occurred. The
only errors reported (in Application) related to me terminating
RealPlayer from the Task Manager.

Aside from error popups indicating that the folder or file could not be
accessed (expected if the connection died), the only other errors were
something about the depth of the path was too long. I don't remember
the exact wording.

My feeling is there is some memory capability problem(for lack of a
better term) on the Windows 98 end of the connection and that it's going
out to lunch, leaving the XP end of the connection waiting for a
response that will never come from the "crashed" 98 box.
 

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