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Thread ID: 16420	2002-03-08 09:03:00	The case of the reluctant ethernet connection	Guest (0)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
38305	2002-03-08 09:03:00	Hi Team I'm scratching my head on this one so here's the sorry tale. No 1 son has a PIII 733, 256MB running Win2K on a PCChips M758LMR MB with onboard LAN (SiSoft Sandra reports it as an SiS 900 PCI fast ethernet adapter). The box is part of a home network of three Win2K boxes and one Win98. All has been well for many months with internet access via the network hub and a Nokia Ni500 router. I do a weekly NAV update on Friday night and for the last week this particular box refuses to talk to the network or the router. It is one of a closely matched pair of boxes, the only difference being that the other (for No 1 daughter)is a Celeron 700 and the MB is a PCChips M756LMRT. Both of these used to show up on the hub as a live connection even when switched off, but for a week or so the faulty one was flashing its LED on the hub from time to time. Now it has gone out completely. The other box is still showing as a live connection as I type though the box is switched off. On checking the status of the ethernet connection at first I got a disconnected cable message at boot up but that has now gone and everything looks ok except that it refuses to talk to the network. As best I can tell, it is sending but not receiving, as the send light in the system tray winks whenever I try to ping the router, and when I check connection properties there are bytes (bits?) sent but zero received. All parameters check out ok and device manager reports everything in order etc. The LAN is enabled ok in BIOS. The cable connections are ok but just to be sure I ran a long lead to another known working outlet and it was still the same. The only thing I haven't done is uninstall the drivers and reinstall but before I did that I thought I'd put up a post and see if I'd missed the obvious. Any and all comments welcome! Cheers Billy 8-{(	Guest (0)
38306	2002-03-08 09:44:00	Try pinging the network card itself (127.0.0.1). I've had many instances where the network card itself goes faulty. If it is an onboard LAN, try installing a new NIC and disable the onboard LAN which is usually done by a jumper on the mobo!	Guest (0)
38307	2002-03-08 09:47:00	Can't think of anything obvious...does your daughters computer use the some type of network adapter as your sons?? Do you have a spare card you could try in your son's computer, bit of a pain in the rear to try..... What are you using for a firewall....it hasn't decided to start blocking some communications...happens here every so often. I had the file sharing drop off on one of the computers here the other day....it could still access other computers but they couldn't access it because there was no sharing enabled on it. Otherwise age old try reinstalling all the network setting and see what happens from there...... Probably didn't but I hope it helps :-) Remember be nice to your computer because one day they will probably be running the country!!!	Guest (0)
38308	2002-03-08 15:51:00	Could it be the hub has had it? Why does it still show that the LED is on when the box is switched off? Whenever I turn off the computer my hub's LED for that computer goes off as well as it's showing there's no connection between the two anymore. Even the LED on my NIC goes off. Part of the hub may still work try switching the cables between the different ports on the hub.	Guest (0)
38309	2002-03-08 22:01:00	Thanks guys Just covering the bases so far, the hub tests ok on all ports; the LEDs light because the MB has a 'LAN power on' feature and the NIC stays awake waiting for a power up call (disabled in bios at present); both NICs are identical on-board features with PCChips MBs; all network settings are OK; the IRQ is not shared so that eliminates conflicts; self-ping times out; firewall is Zone Alarm Pro (the paid for version) but shutting it off doesn't help; all Win reports say it's going ok. I do have a spare D-Link DE-220 NIC available, it's not PNP but I assume Win2K can find a driver for it somewhere or use a generic driver. I can try that if all else fails. The only obvious difference between the two boxes is that the faulty one has an extra entry in device manager called 'PCI Simple Communications Controller'. It is currently disabled but I have no idea what it is there for and perhaps removing it might clear some obscure glitch on the PCI bus that's blocking the PCI NIC. I suppose I should uninstall the present SiS drivers and allow the computer to reinstall first before plugging in the D-Link card. The drivers should be on the MB CD somewhere if Win2K doesn't have them but it sounds more and more like a duff NIC to me. I'm trying to avoid getting too deep today as I have some anti-divorce painting to do and if I get caught on Press F1 I'll be in deep guano! Have I missed anything stupid? Cheers Billy 8-{(	Guest (0)
38310	2004-02-28 22:34:00	After going through the search section, I found that the problem I am having is very similar to this one.Sorry about dragging up the past Billy,but I was wondering if you can remember how you resolved this, as it may help me. Thanks A. ps. What I did notice in my search,was the crisp, clear help offered,and obvious use of a spellchecker.	albatross (343)
38311	2004-02-28 22:49:00	Not entirely sure on this but... that "simple communications controller" usually means that Windows is missing the drivers for that particular device - ie your network card. Right clicking on the "simple comm..." and selecting "update driver" from the list with your driver CD in the drive or wherever - and go from there. If it can't find the drivers it wants, you might have to donwload them from the internet.	Stormwarden (388)
38312	2004-02-29 03:20:00	I have the SIS900 ethernet adaptor buiilt in to the MB. The driver is on the Motherboard CD. Have you given each adaptor a different IP for the Router to avoid conflict? eg. 192.168.1.3 and 192.168.1.4 The Gateway for my router is 192.168.1.2 Have you reinstalled the OS recently? The sis900 will have gone. USB's etc can be supported by windows.	Mzee (158)
38313	2004-02-29 15:02:00	Hey albatross, I have to agree with Stormwarden, Since Simple Communications Controller, network/modem card has been detected it really needs the drivers installed to it. You may have already installed the drivers for your card and it's showing up in device manager, the problem is, it should not work because it's a double up of the same device. Remove that installed device and update the drivers for the simple communications controller (meaning right click on it and choose update drivers, not the initial downloading of drivers from the internet) with the driver disc and install the drivers off that. Cheers, Noel Nosivad.	Noel Nosivad (389)
38314	2004-02-29 15:02:00	Hey albatross, I have to agree with Stormwarden, Since Simple Communications Controller, network/modem card has been detected it really needs the drivers installed to it. You may have already installed the drivers for your card and it's showing up in device manager, the problem is, it should not work because it's a double up of the same device. Remove that installed device and update the drivers for the simple communications controller (meaning right click on it and choose update drivers, not the initial downloading of drivers from the internet) with the driver disc and install the drivers off that. Cheers, Noel Nosivad.	Noel Nosivad (389)
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