NICs not connecting on XP

[PETER IVERS]

A couple of weeks ago, my motherboard NIC, a 3COM 3C920 stopped working, it
would show "Acquiring network address", but never connect. This was about a
month after loading SP2 for XP. Assuming a hardware problem, I borrowed a
3COM Etherlink XL 10/100 PCI card which worked fine. I then purchased a
Linksys LNE100TX Fast Ethernet card as a permanent replacement, however I
was surprised to find that it too had the Acquiring Network Address error.
The settings are the same on all three NICs, (automatic IP & DNS), but only
one works when I switch the patch cable into them. Any ideas to try?
- Pete

 

[Sebastián Ariel Maceda]

Look i've got the same problem a time ago, but i tried and tried, until i
reinstall the adapter a few times and all works again. I don't know why but
when it happens to me, i install a w98 to test the onboard nic because it
was new, and i find that the problem is generated by SP2, if you insist you
will make ir run but is a problem that me and some friends are having.
My advice is to test the nic with other OS like a boot CD from SUSE or
something else.
I hope you find that the NIC works fine.
Sebastian.

 

[Andrei338]

Peter,

I had the same problem on two different computers after loading XP
SP2. This is clearly related to SP2; my SP1 computers didn't have
this problem on the same network. It seems to happen if you have the
following:

Windows XP SP2
WPA or WEP encryption turned on
SSID broadcast turned off
DHCP server on the router turned on

I couldn't find anything on Microsoft's site to address this issue.

The only way I was able to get around this issue as follows:

Turn on SSID broadcast on the router
Assign static IP address to the NIC.

I was also able to get it working by turning off WPA or WEP encryption
and leaving dynamic IP address, but I didn't want to leave the network
unprotected.

HTH

Andre Galitsky