NIC Misbehaving

[activethistle]

OK this is what I've got:

I have an existing home network with three machines all using Davicom 9102 onboards. No probs.. (IP addresses 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.3 - Subnet 255.255.255.0) Using Microsoft ICS for Internet and ZoneAlarm as Firewall.

I'm introducing a new machine to the network with a PCI Realtek RTL8139 Card. This installed fine under W98SE. No conflicts etc... The green card light comes on. The green hub light also comes on - but the machine does not show up on any network neighborhoods neither do any other machines show up on its.

Ping to new machine (192.168.0.4) fails from other machines, but succeeds from new machine. Ping 127.0.0.1 succeeds. All gateway and DNS settings the same as other machines on network.

I am certainly no network guru, but do manage to get things going in the end. This ones got me foxed!! Any ideas anyone?

TVMIA

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[Accessdabbler]

First, a simple thing: try plugging the problem PC into another port on the hub (preferably a known good one).

Next, I'd blame the firewall. Disconnect from the internet then completely shut down the firewall(s). See if it works now.

 

[activethistle]

Tried what you said. Only change now is that the new machine shows up on its own NetNeighborhood. Pings still dont work. Any further ideas?

Tx

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[Accessdabbler]

What is the OS for all the systems?

Do all systems have the same Workgroup name?

I have one of these cards. In the properties for the card, is it set for Full Mode, Half Mode (10 or 100) or Auto? It should be set to Auto.

I'm not aware of a way to disable the ICMP Echo Reply from the Win98SE machine unless ZA can be configured to do this.

Can you connect directly to another machine by typing:

\\ComputerName\DriveShareName

 

[activethistle]

OS is Win98SE on all machines.
Workgroup name is "home" on all machines.
LinkSpeed/DuplexMode is Auto.
(Incidentally Network Address under Properties is set to "not present" - is this a problem?)
Pinging is still timing out.
Cannot connect to remote machine by typing
\\server\c

Thanks so far...

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[Accessdabbler]

Can the new machine ping 192.168.0.4?

 

[activethistle]

Yep - all packets returned!

 

[Accessdabbler]

OK, so let me get this straight:

192.168.0.4 can ping 192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.0.3.

192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.0.3 can all ping each other but they cannot ping 192.168.0.4.

If this is correct then I'd try replacing the NIC.

 

[activethistle]

Nearly - but not quite... - Sorry if I confused matters

(192.168.0.4 is the machine with the offending NIC.)

192.168.0.4 can ping 192.168.0.4 but not 192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.0.3.

192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.0.3 can all ping each other but they cannot ping 192.168.0.4

Any hope other than a new NIC?

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[Accessdabbler]

Well, that makes more sense.

Recheck your cables and triple check your IP addressing numbers. Wouldn't hurt to use a different cable.

 

[activethistle]

double checked ip addresses, changed cable, hub ports AND NIC. Still same problem...

Any ideas?

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[Accessdabbler]

Well, the green lights are on at both ends of the cable, you've tried a known working cable, you've checked the IP addressing information.

We're back to 1 of 2 things that I can think of:

1. Bad NIC

2. Firewall

Turning off ZoneAlarm can be tricky. Assuming it is on all your computers, try completely uninstalling it from one computer and the bad computer. Then try pinging the two computers. If this still doesn't work, it has to be the NIC.

 

[LloydSev]

ZoneAlarm blocks networks, not systems typically, unless you change the default settings...

Try shutting down ZoneAlarm completely, if you still can not ping the other machines, then replace the NIC Card, it's a hard choice deciding if it's bad or not, but in situations like those, I've found most of the time it is the NIC card causing the problem.