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kingston_toon
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March 21st, 2006 09:00
New Dimension 9150 - Network card hardware problems
Hi there, this is my first post so please be gentle!
I've just purchased a new Dimension 9150 from Dell which arrived last night. Excitedly(!) I set everything up and powered on the machine around 9pm. Everything seemed great until I plugged in my network cable....
What happens is the "network connected at xxx speed" bubble appears in the system tray for around 2 or 3 seconds before changing to the "disconnected, a network cable has been unplugged" bubble for another 2 or 3 seconds, then back to the first... repeat ad nauseum... on... off... on... off.... etc You get the picture.
I've tried pinging our house hub and get around 25-50% packet loss. The internet won't connect at all.
I like to think I'm reasonably good with computers but have exhausted all the possible software issues I can think of, and concede this must be a hardware problem. Having a look inside, it seems the network card is integrated into the motherboard (Intel Pro/1000) so just "pushing in the card" isn't an option. In the end, I removed the PCI network card from my old machine and popped it into the 9150, and it works like a dream, so I know the cable and my network settings are fine.
Anyone had this kind of thing before, and any ideas what the solution might be? I rang Tech Support but as I'm at work they can't help - I need to be by the PC. I fear they'll just do the same troubleshooting techniques I've already done, before telling me to send back the PC for a replacement motherboard, which I also fear will take ages (and require 2 days off work to wait for the couriers). My old PC will need its network card back too as I'm selling it on.
Any help very much appreciated!
Cheers
Steve
kingston_toon
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Posted March 21st, 2006 11:00
Hi,
Ethernet cable is fine (I did try another just in case) as it works with the PCI network card I put in temporarily. The hub thingy is, well, there are 5 of us in my house with PCs and we all connect through one router/hub/server (my housemate set it up). We "pinged" the IP of this but received a lot of packet loss, as I mentioned, because the network kept connecting and disconnecting every few seconds.
Further, I noticed every connection and disconnection appeared in the Event Log.... 3 events for each occurence. The one I remember was Event ID 4201, plus two others.
Cheers
Steve
Not only a different cable but also plugging (sequentially) into each of the (four or five) ports of the switch/hub/server as well (suggest troubleshooting). On a switch, particularly, one port can "go bad" while all the others continue to work fine. What happens when someone else's connection takes the port yours has been in?
How great is the distance covered by the Ethernet cable (length)? I hope not 100 feet
kingston_toon
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Posted March 21st, 2006 14:00
Hi guys thanks for the replies so far....The cable length is well under 100 feet... max of 25 feet. The router/hub thing is all configured correctly as I've put my old PCI network card into my new machine and it works fine... the cable is definitely OK too as it worked with my old PC, and now the old PCI card in my new 9150.It MAY be something to do with the advanced settings on the network adapter, but I'll need to post those from home later as I'm not familiar with them. Failing that, new motherboard beckons :(CheersStevekingston_toon
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Posted March 21st, 2006 15:00
It's a new PC - only turned on twice! - so sending it back to Dell for a new MOBO would be the last resort. I'll try what you suggest though jmwills... Assuming the board is open later when I get home I'll post the event log of what happens when it connects/disconnects and full hardware spec.CheersSteveI was having a similar problem and apparently the problem has been resolved.
Try to remove the driver from the card (System Properties-Hardware) and then remove the card by the same method. When you reboot the card would be recognized and then install the driver. Make sure Norton is not blocking access to the router, or maybe the windows Firewall.
Good Luck!
jmwills
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Posted March 21st, 2006 11:00