Problems with network card

did u make sure your  using the  correct  cable  when  connecting to the  hub?
server  to hub  =  straight  through
server to  win98 = crossover

I definately used the right cable in both cases.
The Win98 PC looks fine when I connect it to the hub (light on hub, light on network card) but if I use the same cable between the server and the hub I get the problem described above.

bukko

check for any firewall software installad on  either machine that could be blocking the ping.

It's a 10baseT hub; does that mean it only supports 10mb?

bukko

It's a 10baseT hub; does that mean it only supports 10mb
yes

did u test the crossover cable in another PC ?
all this crossover cable is working all the while ?

try to replace the server netowrk card or maybe u can plug in another Network card for testing ....

maybe u also can try to load the NDIS driver and try again....

Hi!

I would say half/full duplex.

Make sure the server is using half duplex and not full duplex.

The problems you are experiencing sounds like full/half duplex related.

Go into network choose NIC, choose properties.

Somewhere in there you'll find full/half duplex setting.

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

what type of nic is on the server?  if it's only a hundred it can't negotiate a connect with the hub.  if it's 10/100 i would set the NIC to 10mb half duplex first then if that works try full, if full doesn't work go back to 10.  i would think about upgrading your hub.  with a hub it's shared bandwidth.  so your sharing 10mb through however many ports.  i would up grade to 100mb or a switch.  hope this helps

Hi!

A hub can't handle full-duplex only half.
If you want to use full-duplex you need to buy a switch.

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

I the server behaves erraticaly when plugged into the hub, you may have a bad network card or bad hub.

the led may flash either because it is loosing link, or the NIC sees activity on the network, best to check with the NIC documentation as to what the lights are suposed to do.

Once you figure out what that LED is supposed to do you can go from there.

if the led is for activity, and it stays lit when connected to win98, then you got a cable problem or nic problem.

if its for link and you hook up to hub, and it flashes, you got a cable or nic or hub problem.

Ok,

The NIC was set to 100mb - I've changed it to 10mb and now it seems ok when I connect to the hub, but I still can't ping the Win98 PC or see it when I browse the network.
This is the same if I use the hub or the crossover.
I don't think there is a fault in either the hub or the crossover. What else should I check on the server/Win98 PC?

bukko

when you browse the network do you see the server?  also do you have the same workgroups?  what type of network is this?

when you browse the network do you see the server?  also do you have the same workgroups?  what type of network is this?

Hi!

What OS are the server running ?
If you are using w2k on the server, you might just forget it.

There are som serious issues between 98 and w2k if you don't run correct w98.

Thoose issues are network related.

Also make sure both computers belong to same workgroup.

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

The server is running Win2K.
The Win98 PC is Win98 SE.
The two worked ok together before, though.
The workgroup is the same on both PCs, but even if it wasn't, I should still be able to ping one from the other.

Assuming this is because of the Win98 thing, what do I need to do to correct it?

Thanks

bukko

Hi!

Well you should still be able to ping the computers.

The issues is only with print and file sharing.

If you can't even ping one of the NIC is wasted.

The TP port maybe burnt. You can't be sure of this unless tryong another NIC.

This happened to me on a Linux box after a thunderstorm.
Everything worked, lights on card lit and blinked.
Drivers loaded. I could ping the NIC itself when setting IP on it from Linux box, but noone else could and I couldn't get out on the LAN either.

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

I'll try connecting another PC to the hub and see which I can or can't ping. I'll let you know the result.

bukko

I connected a third PC (Win98) to the hub and from there I can ping the server but not the first Win98 PC. I'm beginning to think that maybe the NIC in the Win98 PC is fried, even though it looks ok, windows says it is ok, the hub looks correct when I plug it in, etc.
I'll try another NIC in the PC .

Regards

bukko

try another NIC or you can swap the cable first to see if that's the problem!!  before you take the PC apart!!

ericc76
Thanks, but I tried that a long time ago!

Nearly there!
I've replaced the network card, updated the IP address etc., but when I run IPCONFIG I get the following:

Windows 98 IP Configuration

0 Ethernet adapter :

        IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . :

Consequently I still can't ping anything.
I also noticed that the network address for the NIC is blank (I assume this is meant to be the MAC address). I updated this manually but still no joy.

Any ideas?

Thanks

bukko

did win98 detect and load the driver okay?  

Is there a light at the back of the NIC card ?
Double check on the hub, which port are u connected to... ?
can u try to swap the working condition NIC to the PC win98 that's having problem ?

Check on device manager as well ...

All,

The card was detected on boot-up, the driver was loaded correctly (there were no errors reported, anyway!).
The light on the back of the NIC is lit, and so is the led on the hub.
I've tried different ports on the hub, including those I know work.
All appears fine in the Device Manager.

Regards (and thanks for your continued help!)

bukko

Hi!

You need to reboot Win98 after changing NIC.

You also need to set IP, Gateway, DNS and all that all over again.

I would do like this:
1. Take a NIC that has worked in another computer.
2. Delete the NIC in device manager in 98.
3. Shutdown computer.
4. Remove NIC from 98.
5. Boot 98.
6. Shutdown 98.
7. Insert NIC that you know work, preferably also putting it into a PCI slot you know is working. Put it where GFX card is now and move GFX card.
8. Boot 98.
9. Install Network and possible video drivers since if you swap PCI for video it might have to redetect it.
Also install file and printer sharing. If you do this later you will need to reboot again.
10. Reboot computer.
11. Go into network, make sure IP settings are correct if not, set them to correct values.
12. If IP was set reboot again.
13. Go into w98 and be sure you login, don't press cancel since that disables network.
14. Ping any remote computer on same subnet.

If this dosen't work I say upgrade os to XP.

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

>I also noticed that the network address for the NIC is blank (I assume this is meant to be the MAC address). I updated this manually but still no joy.
no, the MAC address is a hard coded address, coded in by the mfg and will look something like this
Physical Address. . . . . . : 00-50-BA-38-13-5C
Are you using dhcp? try setting a static ip address for the card
ip 192.168.0.12
mask 255.255.255.0
default gateway 192.168.0.1
once we can get it to ping the server then we can get internet access, if desired

The NIC I have just fitted is new so is most probably ok, and I don't really want to take the NIC out of a PC which I know is working, as this may suddenly stop.
I did reboot the PC after fitting the card AND after installing the driver AND after updating the settings.

I know the MAC address is a hard coded address. Previously the Network Address field (Network Card/Properties/Advanced) was populated with what appeared to be the MAC address without hyphens.
I'm not using DHCP, WINS or DNS, just a hosts file and static IP addresses.
Is the gateway address necessary? It doesn't seem to make any difference.

bukko

Hi!

No, gateway is not necessary in order to connect to a local LAN.

Are you really login into win98 ?

When booting you'll get a login prompt if you don't network might not work.

If you press cancel at login prompt you'll get into win98 allrighth, but network won't start so then you would have no ip and such.

With new NIC did you install the drivers that came with the NIC, not anything that win98 found itself ?

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

Hola Bukko!

have you run out of IRQ's or have a conflict? (sys manager)? If you use HOSTS you won't need to use DNS or a gateway on the Win98 PC.

Hi!

HOSTS has nothing at all to do with gateway, only with name resolution.

I you want to get out of your own subnet that can't be accomplished with hosts file.

You could however replace DNS with hosts file if you want but it would really be a big pain maintaining a hosts file for anything else but a local LAN.

With windows and local LAN the windows machines will automatically find each other by their computer name without both HOSTS and DNS.

Only thing you might want to put into hosts files if you don't want to run DNS are printservers, scanner server or anything else like that.

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

Hi!

Have you tried my #7 tip in my previus post:
7. Insert NIC that you know work, preferably also putting it into a PCI slot you know is working. Put it where GFX card is now and move GFX card.


That is, switch PCI slot for NIC with the graphic card or any other card that you know are working in the computer.

I had a computer where one of the PCI slots were non functional.

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

Hey Mark, how're you doing?

Heskyttburg,
All I'm worried about is my own LAN, however...

I removed ALL network components (drivers, clients, protocols)
Restarted the PC
Re-installed the network driver
Restarted the PC again
Modified the IP config
Restarted <pain>AGAIN</pain>
Re-added dial-up device & protocol
(Guess what I did then? You got it!)
Then, the IP bit worked!
Except the dial-up bit didn't.
After a LOT of faffing around with bindings to the dial-up component, I got that working as well!

So it's all working at last.

I'm going to split the points between techi03 and heskyttburg as these are the guys who really put me on the right track, but I would like to say thanks to everyone who helped.
And fair play to all you network techies! WHAT A PAVLOVA! I'll stick to software.

Thanks again,

bukko

bukko has requested a points split. I have refunded the points to 250.

bukko,

please select an expert's comment as an answer and then create another question for the other expert with the title "points for <expertname>" and place the link to the new question in this question so the expert knows where to collect their points.

Thank You

DigitalXtreme
CS Moderator

Umm... just one more thing.
Of course, I'll award the points as proposed, but when I re-added the dial-up networking I lost my IP setings!!!
B*GGER!!!
If anyone can help me further there's another 500 points in it for them!!!

Yours DESPERATELY

bukko

p.s. heskyttburg, please see here:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20535012/Points-for-heskyttburg.html

Thanks guys.

There's just one more thing...
I didn't notice at the time, but when I re-added the dial-up adapter my NIC stopped working!!! The settings in control panel still show the correct IP address and subnet mask, but IPCONFIG shows them as 0.0.0.0, like before.
Removing the dial-up adapter fixes the problem, but obviously adds a new one.
<desperate plea>If anyone can help me with this, there's another 500 points available</desperate plea>

Thanks again,

bukko

p.s. heskyttberg, please see here:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20535012/Points-for-heskyttburg.html

Hi!

Are you using a winmodem ?

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

I'm using a standard external 56kb modem.
It's made by ADDTEL, if it makes a difference.

bukko

Hi!

I'm truly sorry, I have no idea what the reason for such a thing might be.

Does this problem persist even if you reinstall win98 from scratch letting it detect both modem and NIC ?

Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg

I was kind of hoping to avoid that!

bukko