Failed Ethernet recognized by Window?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Derek Baker
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Derek Baker

My router stopped working recently. Having one of the same type fail
previously, I assumed it was the router failing and got a replacement.

However today I received the new router and found it showed exactly the same
problem. Finally I dug out an old network card; lo and behold not only the
new one, but the one now work perfectly!

The onboard Ethernet having failed never occurred to me before because it
still showed in Windows, and the OS was under the impression that it was
communicated using it.

Can something like this fail and still be recognized by Windows?

Thanks in advance.
 
Howdy!

Derek Baker said:
My router stopped working recently. Having one of the same type fail
previously, I assumed it was the router failing and got a replacement.

However today I received the new router and found it showed exactly the same
problem. Finally I dug out an old network card; lo and behold not only the
new one, but the one now work perfectly!

The onboard Ethernet having failed never occurred to me before because it
still showed in Windows, and the OS was under the impression that it was
communicated using it.

Can something like this fail and still be recognized by Windows?
Click to expand...

Sure! Windows sees the CPU side of the NIC. It has NO idea what's
happened with the drivers that connect to the cable.

So yes, it's quite often, especially after a strong electrical
storm, for the PC to think the NIC is perfect, but for it to be dead as a
doornail.

Think "VCR says it's working great! Why can't I see anything on the
TV?" type error reporting.

RwP
 
Derek Baker said:
My router stopped working recently. Having one of the same type fail
previously, I assumed it was the router failing and got a replacement.

However today I received the new router and found it showed exactly the
same problem. Finally I dug out an old network card; lo and behold not
only the new one, but the one now work perfectly!

The onboard Ethernet having failed never occurred to me before because it
still showed in Windows, and the OS was under the impression that it was
communicated using it.

Can something like this fail and still be recognized by Windows?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


Never mind, found the answer here:
http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=86574.0
Shame I've already got the second router!
 
Derek said:
The onboard Ethernet having failed never occurred to me before because it
still showed in Windows, and the OS was under the impression that it was
communicated using it.

Can something like this fail and still be recognized by Windows?
Click to expand...

Depends exactly what failed within the interface. There are several layers, and
the operating system sees things via the PCI bus. That is no guarantee that a 1
or a 0 cranked out through the bus actually makes it all the way through to the
media. A good interface listens to it's own output to make sure it makes sense,
but if the socket itself is broken, most of them do not realise.

I have an IBM Thinkpad with a stuffed RJ45 socket on the back. This atleast
prompted me to finally go WiFi with the thing, but the interface is still there,
and thinks it is working fine.

(Back in the DECnet days, you could diagnose a number of line condition problems
via network counters; to some extent you can under linux, but getting
information out of windows drivers is difficult to impossible at times, but then
a network card costs £2.99 now, and a DELQA back then, plus an external H4005
tranceiver and all that ancilliary stuff (which I still have tooling for ;-)
[1]) cost just a bit more)

Jim

[1] I even used it this year... Fun stuff yellow cable, even more fun when
running between buildings on different power grids.....
 
My router stopped working recently. Having one of the same type fail
previously, I assumed it was the router failing and got a replacement.

However today I received the new router and found it showed exactly the same
problem. Finally I dug out an old network card; lo and behold not only the
new one, but the one now work perfectly!

The onboard Ethernet having failed never occurred to me before because it
still showed in Windows, and the OS was under the impression that it was
communicated using it.

Can something like this fail and still be recognized by Windows?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Generally speaking, if the core logic (chip) is working, the
ethernet will appear in windows. However, you don't note
whether various windows tools, even the Control-Panel
Network Adapter properties showed any traffic in or out of
it... so even in windows it can depend where you look,
whether the network adapter seems ok or not.
 
Derek Baker said:
Never mind, found the answer here:
http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=86574.0
Shame I've already got the second router!
Click to expand...

My Abit Media XP card reader bay will do the same sort of thing. The
system will suddenly crash if I try to safely remove hardware, and when
I boot back up all the card reader drive icons in My Computer are
missing. Seems that the USB interface for them locks up and I have to
pull the mains plug to reset them. Took me a while to find that fix too!
 
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