Networking Help

Since it is hard to tell from your message exactly what you have done, I can only offer the following suggestions.  Are the link lights on both network adapters lit up?  If not, then you don't have connectivity and the first thing to suspect is the network cable.  Until there is connectivity between the computers and both link lights are lit up, you will not be able to ping.  How are you assigning the IP addresses?  I assume you are doing it manually unless you are running internet connection sharing which dynamically assigns the IP addresses.

Steve

Thanks for your reply Steve. Yes, both lights at the end of the cables are on, and the cable is a brand new one, so I guess that should be working.

I initially let the IP addresses assign automatically, and I have checked that they seem OK- they are 169.254.37.39 on the XP and then 169.254.29.53 on the Win 98. Both have the subnet 255.255.0.0

After reading the troubleshooting notes on one of the websites, I tried manually assigning the IP's, but used the same numbers. Can I do something different there?

I have been through all the steps on most of the help sites, and keep getting stuck at the fact that the XP wont ping its own IP address, but I dont know what to do to fix that. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the network adapter, its drivers etc, but to no avail.

Am I stupid, or is this not as easy as it is supposed to be!

Tracey

 

Thanks Steve. I have assigned the IP addresses suggested, and still the same problem persists. The Win 98 computer can ping itself, but cannot ping the XP.

Is there any way I can be certain it is the network card? It is a brand new computer, and when I look at the network connection properties, the device says it is connected properly.

Your help is very much appreciated

Tracey

 

Until you can ping one from the other nothing is going to work.  Try assigning the IP addresses as 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.  If one of the network cards is bad for some reason, of course, then it won't work.  The cable could be new, but that doesn't guarantee that it is good, although the fact that the link lights come on suggest that it is not a bad cable. 

Steve

The network card in the Win 98 is a brand new d-link pci adapter. It has never connected to any network before. Could that side be the problem, even though it seems to be able to ping itself? I thought that meant that one was working OK. Could I try uninstalling and reinstalling that pci adapter, kind of starting back at the very beginning?

Incidentally, I did have some problems initially getting that up and running, so perhaps I need to go back to that.

Thanks ever so much for this continuing help. It is much appreciated.

 

It's very difficult to say which network card is faulty without connecting to something else.  Is the card in the Windows 98 computer a PCI card?  Has it ever sucessfully connected to any ethernet network, cable or dsl modem, or other computer?  A simple troubleshooting step would be to buy a cheap network card (less than $15 at places like Circuit City, CompUSA, OfficeMax, BestBuy, etc.), install it, and give it a try.

Steve

Is the firewall set on for the XP connection? Later versions of XP set the firewall on automatically, though you should still be able to ping your own address. Does ipconfig at the command prompt show the address that you entered?

I have a deep distrust of crossover cables.  Can you borrow a hub and a couple of cables and try that set up?

Message Edited by ostell on 08-20-2004 08:24 PM

Ostell, thanks for your reply. Originally, XP had set the firewall, although I turned it off to see if that helped, and it didnt.

IPCONFIG at the command prompt does show the IP address I entered.

I guess the crossover cable is a possible problem, but the lights are on on both ends of the connection, if that means anything positive. Maybe I will have to try a hub and cables instead.

Dell support have sent me some suggestions, including running diagnostics on the network card, and that all came up clear.

This is driving me crazy trying to pinpoint the problem.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Tracey

 

In theory a crossover cable should work but over the years I've found assorted problems when this cable has been used that have been resolved when it has been replaced by a hub.

It could be because of incompatibilities between different makes of NIC cards. Don't have a definite answer but it's worth a try.