MadMark
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My NIC won't work after a restart.
I'm not exactly sure what actually caused this problem, but my NIC doesn't work when I boot up. If I uninstall and restart it works again... until I shutdown my computer. I've had my computer for a few years and it's been running XP Pro for about 18 months, but didn't really use Ethernet until recently, so I guess I never noticed the problem. I'm fairly sure it worked at one point or another, maybe back when I was running Win2K?
I figured out the uninstall fix, but since I have to do it EVERY time I restart, it’s not all that great a solution. I'm running on a MSI KT4 Ultra MOBO with an onboard Broadcom 5702 NIC. The NIC shows up as fully functional in the Device Manager, but the Network Connection always comes up with little or no functionality message and definately falls into the NO category. What would cause the NIC to stop functioning once the computer restarts?
I figured out the uninstall fix, but since I have to do it EVERY time I restart, it’s not all that great a solution. I'm running on a MSI KT4 Ultra MOBO with an onboard Broadcom 5702 NIC. The NIC shows up as fully functional in the Device Manager, but the Network Connection always comes up with little or no functionality message and definately falls into the NO category. What would cause the NIC to stop functioning once the computer restarts?
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ASKER
Sorry it took me so long to get back to everybody. Here goes:
fruitloopy:
What driver version and date is this using? 6.34.0.0 2/17/2003 It’s what’s on MSI’s website.
When I first read your BIOS suggestion I thought Eureka! I remember turning it off previously when I wasn’t using it, but alas, I’d already remembered to turn it on. Besides if it was disabled would Windows even see it?
woofiedog:
Tragically, I no longer have a PCI NIC. I had one, but it was misplaced by someone else, all my PC’s now have onboard NICs. I’d be willing to buy one (they’re cheap) but it seems like this one is working all right, in fact it works perfectly… until you reboot, which sounds to me like an OS issue not a hardware one.
Sreejith:
Your suggestion sounds the most promising, except I’m not sure I’m sure what you mean. I got to the advanced tab just fine, but I’m unsure exactly what you’re suggesting I change. For one thing my properties don’t match up with everything you brought up. I don’t have anything that mentions negotiation. I don’t have any media, but I do have Ethernet@WireSpeed. I do have Speed & Duplex and it was set to Auto, as was just about every other property, unless it was enabled or disabled.
Are you suggesting I change those randomly until I can restart without losing access? Let’s say I find the two other properties you brought up, and each of them only has two other settings: we’re still talking about the possibility of eight reboots and that assumes the issue is caused by only one of the properties. It could be caused by multiple problems and it may be that I should get it working in between each test, so in theory, the number of reboots could be doubled. If you could specify exactly what you suggest, I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks all,
Mark
fruitloopy:
What driver version and date is this using? 6.34.0.0 2/17/2003 It’s what’s on MSI’s website.
When I first read your BIOS suggestion I thought Eureka! I remember turning it off previously when I wasn’t using it, but alas, I’d already remembered to turn it on. Besides if it was disabled would Windows even see it?
woofiedog:
Tragically, I no longer have a PCI NIC. I had one, but it was misplaced by someone else, all my PC’s now have onboard NICs. I’d be willing to buy one (they’re cheap) but it seems like this one is working all right, in fact it works perfectly… until you reboot, which sounds to me like an OS issue not a hardware one.
Sreejith:
Your suggestion sounds the most promising, except I’m not sure I’m sure what you mean. I got to the advanced tab just fine, but I’m unsure exactly what you’re suggesting I change. For one thing my properties don’t match up with everything you brought up. I don’t have anything that mentions negotiation. I don’t have any media, but I do have Ethernet@WireSpeed. I do have Speed & Duplex and it was set to Auto, as was just about every other property, unless it was enabled or disabled.
Are you suggesting I change those randomly until I can restart without losing access? Let’s say I find the two other properties you brought up, and each of them only has two other settings: we’re still talking about the possibility of eight reboots and that assumes the issue is caused by only one of the properties. It could be caused by multiple problems and it may be that I should get it working in between each test, so in theory, the number of reboots could be doubled. If you could specify exactly what you suggest, I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks all,
Mark
here is how to test your NIC : http://www.duxcw.com/faq/network/testnic.htm
or with the MS NDIS tool : http://www.wd-3.com/archive/NDISTest.htm
or with the MS NDIS tool : http://www.wd-3.com/archive/NDISTest.htm
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ASKER
I've never had a problem that required updating the BIOS so I'm still using 1.0. I have the FISR version of the board which doesn't list the 1.4 release; maybe I should use the 1.3 which is the highest number listed under my MOBO? Also, it's been a while since I flashed a BIOS, so I'm unsure: should I do it manually or try the MSI Live Update 3?
As I mentioned originally: "The NIC shows up as fully functional in the Device Manager" according to the OS it's enabled and has no conflicts or problems, but the Local Area Connection knows it's not functioning, so you can understand my confusion. My only thought is that the NIC is fully functional, only something is getting set up improperly by XP.
As I mentioned originally: "The NIC shows up as fully functional in the Device Manager" according to the OS it's enabled and has no conflicts or problems, but the Local Area Connection knows it's not functioning, so you can understand my confusion. My only thought is that the NIC is fully functional, only something is getting set up improperly by XP.
>> The NIC shows up as fully functional in the Device Manage << this does NOT mean the Nic is ok, and working. that is why i posted links for testing the nic and connection
Because its an onboard NIC it could be a problem with the original BIOS that shipped with the motherboard, their usually buggy to begin with. However, there are no reports that any of the BIOS updates addresses this issue. It really could be just a faulty onboard NIC, I had one on a Abit board which drove me crazy!
I would use the MSI Live Update 3 to update, then you could blame MSI if it goes wrong. There's always an element of risk involved with updating a BIOS so if your concerned about the potential damage it could cause then I would suggest you forget the problem, put it down to a faulty onboard NIC and buy a new PCI NIC to replace it.
You can get a nice reliable one by Belkin from Ebuyer for only about £6 - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/63323
If it were me, I'd be p1553d of if I couldnt solve it so I'd do the BIOS update and at least rule that out of the equation.
I would use the MSI Live Update 3 to update, then you could blame MSI if it goes wrong. There's always an element of risk involved with updating a BIOS so if your concerned about the potential damage it could cause then I would suggest you forget the problem, put it down to a faulty onboard NIC and buy a new PCI NIC to replace it.
You can get a nice reliable one by Belkin from Ebuyer for only about £6 - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/63323
If it were me, I'd be p1553d of if I couldnt solve it so I'd do the BIOS update and at least rule that out of the equation.
ASKER
nobus:
I never said the NIC was OK, I said the OS didn't see any problems with it. Anyway, I was refering to fruitloopy's question: "Does it show up in device manager with a yellow exclamation mark?"
I'm going to try and update the BIOS to version 1.3, so if you don't hear back from me this weekend, my computer's dead;>)
I never said the NIC was OK, I said the OS didn't see any problems with it. Anyway, I was refering to fruitloopy's question: "Does it show up in device manager with a yellow exclamation mark?"
I'm going to try and update the BIOS to version 1.3, so if you don't hear back from me this weekend, my computer's dead;>)
--or try another Nic card, to be sure
ASKER
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I didn't have a chance to flash my BIOS this weekend, but I'll try it over next weekend and let you know how it turns out.
woofiedog/nobus: I should have mentioned that I really don't want a new NIC since my seems to work fine, at least every other boot. I might see if I can find a cheap one at my local shop, but I'd just as soon not use a PCI Card, if I can avoid it. Worst case, I could just use it to see if the problem was with my MOBO's NIC or the OS.
Thanks to everyone who’s offered advice so far, I appreciate your time.
woofiedog/nobus: I should have mentioned that I really don't want a new NIC since my seems to work fine, at least every other boot. I might see if I can find a cheap one at my local shop, but I'd just as soon not use a PCI Card, if I can avoid it. Worst case, I could just use it to see if the problem was with my MOBO's NIC or the OS.
Thanks to everyone who’s offered advice so far, I appreciate your time.
maybe you can find one for testing from a friend
ASKER
I've updated to BIOS version 1.4, but still no luck. One thing I've noticed recently, both the NIC and my sound card are using IRQ (18), they're probably sharing it just fine, but unlike in 2000, nothing else is sharing an IRQ. I tried forcing the soundcard to another IRQ, using the BIOS, but Windows just freaked out; most likely a plug n play issue.
Also, using the system information tool that came with my MOBO, it shows 12 NetworkAdapter Devices. Most of them make sense, the NIC, IP, etc., but then there are 3 Packet Scheduler Miniports. I’m not sure if either of these pieces of information could be causing the problem, but I thought I’d mention it.
I'm unsure what to try next. I'll ask around to try and find another NIC, but I'd just as soon get my current NIC to work. If anyone has a suggestion of what to try in the interim, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks,
Mark
Also, using the system information tool that came with my MOBO, it shows 12 NetworkAdapter Devices. Most of them make sense, the NIC, IP, etc., but then there are 3 Packet Scheduler Miniports. I’m not sure if either of these pieces of information could be causing the problem, but I thought I’d mention it.
I'm unsure what to try next. I'll ask around to try and find another NIC, but I'd just as soon get my current NIC to work. If anyone has a suggestion of what to try in the interim, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks,
Mark
ASKER
Sorry I guess I sort of forgot about this. I don't have it resolved yet but I do have an update: early I mentioned that uninstalling and restarting fixed the problem, but on a whim I discovered that disabling and enable the NIC fixed the problem just as well.
So what happens when a piece of hardware gets re-enabled?
I'll try another NIC soon.
So what happens when a piece of hardware gets re-enabled?
I'll try another NIC soon.
ASKER
rindi,
I don't really care what gets done with this question, though there seem to be some good ideas in here, which might help someone else. As far as the points go, since they put in the effort, I wouldn't mind giving people some points, but I hesitate to just hand them all out, since my problem's still not fixed.
Mark
I don't really care what gets done with this question, though there seem to be some good ideas in here, which might help someone else. As far as the points go, since they put in the effort, I wouldn't mind giving people some points, but I hesitate to just hand them all out, since my problem's still not fixed.
Mark
You'll have to hand the points you put into the Q out if you are going to split the between the most valuable posts. You can award a grade "b" instead of an "a" though. You can also ask for a PAQ/Refund in the support TA like mentioned in the link I posted earlier.
i suggested another Nic card : Date: 06/28/2006 12:30AM PDT
ASKER
Alright, I tried another NIC, and it seems to work OK, but as I mentioned earlier, this is not the long term solution I'm looking for. I already have a workaround, that doesn't envolve new hardware, which is disabling and reenabling. Since I don't want any more hardware running in my PC, and what I've got works, after a few clicks, I'd be happy to give the points out to anyone who could tell me how to automate, in a script or whatever, the disabling and reenableing of the NIC. Or better yet, automate what excactly is happening while it reenables, that fixes the problem.
Is it enabled in the BIOS?