A7N8X-Deluxe Networking Problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter Scarletdown
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Scarletdown

Has anyone else here managed to get peer to peer networking to
function with an A7N8X-Deluxe? I've been trying for the past week or
two to get this system to see the rest of the LAN (through the on-
board 3COM NIC).

I'm running Windows-98SE on this as well as the other two systems on
the network. All three systems are connected to an old AT&T StarLAN
10 hub.

The diagnostics for the NIC show that everything is good
hardwarewise, but I can't ping any of the other systems (the other
two can see ping other though, but not the one I am troubleshooting).

Here is the network configuration info:

First System:

IP - 192.168.0.1
NM - 255.255.255.0
No Gateway set as she connects via the USB port to a cable modem

Second System:

IP - 192.168.0.4
NM - 255.255.255.0
GW - 192.168.0.1 (For Internet Connection Sharing)

Third System (the one being the problem child):

IP - 192.168.0.5
NM - 255.255.255.0
GW - 192.168.0.1

File sharing is configured on all three systems, and Client for MS
Networks is set as the login type.

Just as a quick test to see if it was a Windows-specific issue, I
stuck in an old 3GB hard drive and set up a quickie Red Hat Linux 9
installation. That was not the problem either, as I was still unable
to ping any of the other systems. I've also noticed that the light
over the port on the hub that this one is connected to is red. Yet I
know that there is nothing wrong with either the hub or the cable, as
I have used them recently on an old P200 that I keep around as a
hardware-testing platform (and backup Win98 Workstation).

I'm starting to suspect that the problem is some sort of hardware
setting in the Control Panel or Adapter Properties in Network
Neighborhood. I have the NIC configured for 10BaseT, Full Duplex,
which is what the other systems are set at as well. I noticed that
Adapter Properties has a ton of settings that I can try, but I have
no clue what ones would be the most likely to mess around with; and I
don't want to just start changing stuff at random.

Lastly, I had this same problem a couple months ago with an identical
board that I was setting up for my roommate. Since I needed to get
him back up and running fast, I just simply disabled the onboard NICs
in the system BIOS and installed a 3Com Fast EtherLink NIC. That is
working fine for him, and I could do the same for my system.
However, the on-board NICs were one of the major factors in my
decision to get this MB, and I want to use them instead of throw in
another NIC, which to me, would be a waste of resources.

So in summary... HHHHEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPP!!!

Thanks.

(Spamfoil in place. Lift MYTAILFEATHERS to reply via email.)
 
Scarletdown said:
Has anyone else here managed to get peer to peer networking to
function with an A7N8X-Deluxe? I've been trying for the past week or
two to get this system to see the rest of the LAN (through the on-
board 3COM NIC).

I'm running Windows-98SE on this as well as the other two systems on
the network. All three systems are connected to an old AT&T StarLAN
10 hub.

The diagnostics for the NIC show that everything is good
hardwarewise, but I can't ping any of the other systems (the other
two can see ping other though, but not the one I am troubleshooting).

Here is the network configuration info:

First System:

IP - 192.168.0.1
NM - 255.255.255.0
No Gateway set as she connects via the USB port to a cable modem

Second System:

IP - 192.168.0.4
NM - 255.255.255.0
GW - 192.168.0.1 (For Internet Connection Sharing)

Third System (the one being the problem child):

IP - 192.168.0.5
NM - 255.255.255.0
GW - 192.168.0.1

File sharing is configured on all three systems, and Client for MS
Networks is set as the login type.

Just as a quick test to see if it was a Windows-specific issue, I
stuck in an old 3GB hard drive and set up a quickie Red Hat Linux 9
installation. That was not the problem either, as I was still unable
to ping any of the other systems. I've also noticed that the light
over the port on the hub that this one is connected to is red. Yet I
know that there is nothing wrong with either the hub or the cable, as
I have used them recently on an old P200 that I keep around as a
hardware-testing platform (and backup Win98 Workstation).

I'm starting to suspect that the problem is some sort of hardware
setting in the Control Panel or Adapter Properties in Network
Neighborhood. I have the NIC configured for 10BaseT, Full Duplex,
which is what the other systems are set at as well. I noticed that
Adapter Properties has a ton of settings that I can try, but I have
no clue what ones would be the most likely to mess around with; and I
don't want to just start changing stuff at random.

Lastly, I had this same problem a couple months ago with an identical
board that I was setting up for my roommate. Since I needed to get
him back up and running fast, I just simply disabled the onboard NICs
in the system BIOS and installed a 3Com Fast EtherLink NIC. That is
working fine for him, and I could do the same for my system.
However, the on-board NICs were one of the major factors in my
decision to get this MB, and I want to use them instead of throw in
another NIC, which to me, would be a waste of resources.

So in summary... HHHHEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLPPPPP!!!

Thanks.

(Spamfoil in place. Lift MYTAILFEATHERS to reply via email.)
Click to expand...

You set the cards for full duplex, but can that old hub handle full
duplex? Have you tried with either auto sensing or half-duplex? If
possible use a crossed over cable between the machines to rule out the hub.
 
You set the cards for full duplex, but can that old hub handle
full duplex? Have you tried with either auto sensing or
half-duplex? If possible use a crossed over cable between the
machines to rule out the hub.
Click to expand...

Okay. Looks like I was wrong about them being set to Full Duplex, as
this is a 10BaseT network. So, they are all at Half Duplex afterall.
I can't find my crossover cables right now, so I can't perform that
system to system test. However, I did connect the NIC directly to
the ethernet port on the cable modem. The Ethernet light on the
modem came on and the 3Com NIC Doctor program showed that packets
have both been sent and received.

I am now convinced that the problem does indeed lie with the hub. I
did a little Googling and learned a bit about something called Link-
Beat, which is a link integrity check. Apparently, at least
according to a document found on 3Com's site, the StarLAN-10 hub
doesn't support Link Beat:

http://support.3com.com/infodeli/inotes/techtran/4692_5ea.htm

The above document gives instructions on how to disable Link Beat on
a 3c5x9 NIC. I gave those a try and discovered that that technique
does not work with the 3c902b.

So, is there any other possible way to disable Link Beat on the
3c902b? If not, then it looks like I will have to put in a 3Com Fast
EtherLink NIC to keep me going until I can get a more modern hub.
 
So, is there any other possible way to disable Link Beat on the
3c902b? If not, then it looks like I will have to put in a 3Com
Fast EtherLink NIC to keep me going until I can get a more
modern hub.
Click to expand...

Problem solved for now. I went ahead and disabled the 3Com NIC in
the system BIOS and switched to the Nvidia NIC instead. The drivers
loaded properly off the nForce CD, and all is well. This system is
now live on the network and Internet capable. :D
 
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