NIC question.....

[thecelt]

Hey guys,<br><br>Try this one:<br><br>I have a PC running on my network with a 3COM&nbsp;&nbsp;Etherlink III ISA NIC.<br><br>I was checking availability of static IP addresses and noticed that this computer had a static address assigned rather than set to &quot;obtain an address automatically&quot; via DHCP. I changed the configuration, and rebooted -- and the computer does not join the network. I then updated the NIC's driver, rebooted and I still ad the same curious result. So I &quot;blew out&quot; the setting altogether, rebooted and let Window detect the card on start up. I reinstalled the drivers etc, and STILL the same result.<br><br>For some reason, this one PC does not join the network via DHCP -- only when it has an address statically assigned. -- Does anyone have any ideas as to why? I thoght maybe it had something to do with the card, but we have the same model card in some other machines and they operate correctly.....<br><br>(The person who originally set these stations up did so in a very &quot;erratic&quot; manner -- some stations had static addresses -- others didn't -- all the other machines were reconfigured to use DHCP without incident -- this is the only one acting this way..... <br><br>Thanks guys.....

 

[dxd]

Is it getting an IP address assigned via DHCP? If so, try to do a shutdown log on as new user to see if it can contact the domain controller.<br><br>Try putting the domain controller IP address in the Lmhosts file...ie- 192.168.0.1&nbsp;&nbsp;myserver #pre #dom:mydomain<br>to see if that helps.<br><br>If the shutdown and logon or Lmhosts works the issue probably relates to timing with the Nic, driver, and switch.<br>If this same adapter works on a similar unit connected to the same switch then we must determine what is different between the machines..processor speed, OS updates, ndis.vxd versions.<br>

 

[thecelt]

Thanks for taking the time dxd.<br><br>Actually, this network is currently set up as a peer to peer, with a DSL connection. The DSL router provides DHCP using NAT, so there is no domain controller to log into first.<br><br>Each workstation is configured to use DHCP for WINS resolution, so Netbios is not enabled. This being the case, would an LMHOST file help? (The router providing DHCP does not have a computer name assigned -- only an IP address.....)<br><br>I checked for lmhost files on other networked PC's and found none -- just the sample file provided by MS..... (PC's are running WIN 98)

 

[dxd]

Is an Ipaddress being assigned to the adapter?<br>Can you ping anything inside or outside the router?<br>Do you actually have a Wins server?<br>Is the issue that you cannot connect to anything at all or is it anything on the other side of the router?<br>The Lmhost file would not be necessary in your implementation. One of the major reasons to use it is to allow the client to quickly locate the Domain Controller when it resides outside the subnet.<br>

 

[thecelt]

There is no address being assigned to the adapter dynamically -- I have to specify an address to get it to function correctly. (Otherwise it will not connect to anything.....) <br>When booted using DHCP, the PC connects to nothing -- I can't ping anything inside or outside the router -- nothing shows up on Network Neighborhood.....<br>We aren't using a WINS server and all computers are on the same network -- there are no subnets.....<br><br>

 

[dxd]

The unit in question here isn't by chance a 500mhz or higher processor is it???<br><br>I had a weird issue, although only with a Dos boot disk, where an Intel Pro/100+ adapter would only work with a Static IP and would fail when trying to use DHCP. This same card worked fine on a different unit, however the unit was 400mhz. I considered it an Intel NDIS2 driver issue, hoewever since I was using a laptop I had the ability to modify the Power Mgmt settings to drop the processor speed to 250mhz to get my boot disk to work. I had the same issue with a 3Com 3C589 adapter, but 3Com was kind enough to provide me with an updated driver.<br><br>I have seen other issues where timing is everything. In those cases it was necessary to fix as many settings as possible on the adapter. For example, set the duplex, speed, and media to fixed values rather than Auto.<br><br>Hope this may help, that's about all I've ever seen<br><br>doug

 

[tschuy]

Try running a ping test 127.0.0.1 and see if the NIC is acually working. You should see the results of<br>&quot;Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes+32 time&lt;10ms TTL=128&quot;<br>Or something very similar to it. If that is okay then try booting your PC in safe mode and check the system devices for the posibility&nbsp;&nbsp;with another NIC configuration causing some problems within the registry.<br><br>Tim <br>

 

[thecelt]

The computer in question is running a PII 233, and the loopback address works correctly.....<br><br>As for safe mode, the problem still exists.....<br>I've assigned a static adress to the PC and all is well -- <br><br>I think this one can only be the result of &quot;gremlins.....&quot;<br><br>Thanks for your thoughts though guys.....<br><br>Pat

 

[tpark]

How many other computers do you have running on this same network?

 

[thecelt]

22 workstations and 3 printers.....

 

[handle13]

does your dhcp server have a reservation for the nic?

 

[bdux]

does the DHCP server have a limited range of IP addresses to issue out and has no more to issue to this P.C workstation ? . just a possible cause .

 

[tricia]

i had a similar problem with win98 and dhcp - had to edit the registry so BE CAREFUL!&nbsp;&nbsp;but, it did work.&nbsp;&nbsp;got the following from technet.<br>good luck!________________________________________<br>WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Windows 95. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.<br>&nbsp;<br>NOTE: For information about how to edit the registry, view the Changing Keys And Values online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe). Note that you should make a backup copy of the registry files (System.dat and User.dat) before you edit the registry.<br>&nbsp;<br>Use Registry Editor to remove all the keys except for the Dhcpinfo00 key from the following registry key:<br>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\DHCP<br>&nbsp;<br>After removing the keys, restart the computer.<br>&nbsp;<br>MORE INFORMATION<br>================<br>&nbsp;<br>Windows stores the MAC addresses for each individual network adapter under the DHCP key in the registry. The key for the MAC address (and other information) is stored in a key in the following registry key:<br>&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\DHCP<br>&nbsp;<br>When eight of these keys have been created (DhcpInfo00-DhcpInfo07), Windows 95 does not create a new key and does not send a DHCP Request packet to obtain an IP address from the DHCP server. This problem primarily affects laptop computers that are routinely plugged into different docking stations with network adapters.<br>

 

[thecelt]

That did the trick Tricia -- thanks!<br><br>(sorry for the length of time between responses)