Trouble with XP PCs connected by crossover

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Guest

Hi, I am having a lot of trouble connecting two PCs in my house. It appears
there is no help in Windows XP for setting up a network by crossover
connection. I have 2 computers, I have run the network setup wizard, but
neither of the computers seem to be able to see each other. The cable is
wired correctly, the pairs are in the correct positions, and all my hardware
works. It is just the software that isn't playing ball.

I think it is the IP configuration that is causing difficulties, but the
auto IP configuration feature just gives me 0.0.0.0 on both PCs. Currently I
have 192.168.0.1 on the host, and 169.254.99.16 on the client PC. Neither PCs
have a default gateway, and there is no information anywhere telling me how
to set up the IPs, the subnet mask, or the gateway.

I don't understand why they can't see each other, and why the wizard can't
simply set up the whole thing without any hassle. The network adapters match,
they are both built in nForce adapters, both on different variations of the
Asus A7N8X motherboard (one -Deluxe, one -X).

I don't know where to look to tell Windows which IP to connect to.

Please can someone give me a step by step guide of how to manually configure
all IPs, all network settings and everything I need to get the PCs talking to
each other.

Thanks for all the help.
 
Hi, I am having a lot of trouble connecting two PCs in my house. It appears
there is no help in Windows XP for setting up a network by crossover
connection. I have 2 computers, I have run the network setup wizard, but
neither of the computers seem to be able to see each other. The cable is
wired correctly, the pairs are in the correct positions, and all my hardware
works. It is just the software that isn't playing ball.

I think it is the IP configuration that is causing difficulties, but the
auto IP configuration feature just gives me 0.0.0.0 on both PCs. Currently I
have 192.168.0.1 on the host, and 169.254.99.16 on the client PC. Neither PCs
have a default gateway, and there is no information anywhere telling me how
to set up the IPs, the subnet mask, or the gateway.

I don't understand why they can't see each other, and why the wizard can't
simply set up the whole thing without any hassle. The network adapters match,
they are both built in nForce adapters, both on different variations of the
Asus A7N8X motherboard (one -Deluxe, one -X).

I don't know where to look to tell Windows which IP to connect to.

Please can someone give me a step by step guide of how to manually configure
all IPs, all network settings and everything I need to get the PCs talking to
each other.

Thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...

Generally, if you have "Obtain ip address automatically" selected, and your
computer is connected to just a working cable, APIPA should auto-assign an
address in the 169.254/16 subnet. A "0.0.0.0" address generally comes from a
defective NIC, or no cable.

Can you test this cable somewhere else? With all due respect to your visual
examination, it sounds like it's no good.

Are the NICs set for auto-negotiate on both ends? Try forcing them to 10M /
half, and see if that makes a difference.

Do you have the proper (current) drivers for the NICs?

Cross-over cables are not always a solution, sometimes they're more trouble than
they're worth. Do the NICs have lights? Do the lights go on?

Consider getting a hub (or router), and cables. Much better solution.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
 
Every now and then when I try something, one end or the other manages to
recieve one or two packets. I am going to ask my communications technology
tutor about the cable on monday, and see what I get.

I do have the latest ethernet drivers on one PC but not on the other, so I
will try installing the latest motherboard drivers on this PC.

The only problem with getting a router or a hub is that it is more expensive
to do so, and I have a USB modem, so I would have to get an ethernet modem or
a router with one built in, which would cost even more money. The cost is why
we haven't made an attempt at a WLAN.

All I want is information about how to manually set up the network, instead
of having Windows do it automatically.

If you could walk me through that, I would be very grateful.
 
I set both PCs to get automatically assigned private IP addresses, and both
came up with 169.254.x.x, but only the host PC had IP routing enabled. The
results are below;

Host:


Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : familypc

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce MCP Networking
Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-2F-95-6A-AD

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.78.254

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :



PPP adapter BT Broadband:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 217.42.218.115

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 217.42.218.115

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 194.74.65.69

194.72.9.38


Client:


Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : FireFly

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking
Controller

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-6E-7D-65-91

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.99.16

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

I would really like to get this running today, because I want to try some
stuff out.

Again, thanks for any help you can give me.
 
I set both PCs to get automatically assigned private IP addresses, and both
came up with 169.254.x.x, but only the host PC had IP routing enabled. The
results are below;

Host:


Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : familypc

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce MCP Networking
Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-2F-95-6A-AD

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.78.254

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :



PPP adapter BT Broadband:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 217.42.218.115

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 217.42.218.115

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 194.74.65.69

194.72.9.38


Client:


Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : FireFly

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking
Controller

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-6E-7D-65-91

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.99.16

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

I would really like to get this running today, because I want to try some
stuff out.

Again, thanks for any help you can give me.
Click to expand...

Those are good addresses. Should be good to connect the two pcs. Sorry to hear
about your USB modem.

Do the lights on the NICs light up?

From each computer, test connectivity and name resolution:
1) Ping 169.254.78.254.
2) Ping 169.254.99.16.
3) Ping 127.0.0.1.
Report success / exact error displayed in each test (6 tests total).

This was a bloody long day - no power before I got up til about an hour ago,
which interfered with my internet access.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
 
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