BleepingComputer.com: Ethernet connection/No connectivity

Hi - I have been struggling getting one of my machines online.

Back story - All worked fine. No connectivity issues two days ago. ISP (Charter Comm) had some network issues on our node, as a result very slow connection speeds or no connection at all. When my service was back, I could connect all devices except my Dell 8300. ISP still confirms that signal strength into the area is problematic and will address but why only one computer offline? Seems it is a hardware/driver issue.

Specs: Dell 8300 computer (all original except HD replaced with a Blue Caviar and added more RAM)
Mobo Dell's variation of Intel D875PBZ board
CPU Intel P4 3.0GHz
4GB Ram
XP Home SPK3
Intel Pro/100 VE Network (mobo)
Dynex Gigabit PCI card

So far I have attempted:
Cables - all good, verified with good connection on another machine
Modem - All good, verified ports as well. Can connect another machine with all ports
Uninstalled and installed drivers. Used latest driver set from Dell.
Installed new Ethernet card (Dynex) to rule out possibility port on motherboard was bad. Same connectivity issue.
Uninstalled and re-installed Dynex card to make sure. Computer recognizes card and on board port along with drivers.
I have tried static and dynamic IP, no connection on either.

When I connect, I only get trying to acquire signal. I cannot get into modem from machine, which leads me to believe
the issues is Hardware/Driver.

Suggestions?

Which manner are you trying to connect? Cabled or wireless?

The trying trying to acquire signal is wireless message.

But you mention attempting new\different cables. On XP if there is a wireless NIC available then it defaults to it.

I am trying to connect via Ethernet card, wired. There is no wireless card installed on my desktop.

Thanks for any suggestions you could offer.

Then I do`t understand why you are getting the trying to acquire signal. That is coming from a wireless device. Disable it and see if you are then able to connect by cable.

I apologize for the mistake in a word. "Acquiring network address" is the statement, the normal verbiage that it gives when you hook up a wired connection and is seeking out an IP. I have the TCP/IP set to Obtain automatically. I also tried setting a static IP, but still had no luck. I try to ping the modem, and it fails as well.

Like I said, it is a wired connection, no wireless devices in the machine, so that cannot be turned off/disabled.

try pinging the address 127.0.0.1 to see if you get a response. That is the default loopback address.

Tried the loop back, and yes I do get a consistent reply with both ports/cards on my machine. I have tried to ping the modem, or reach the modem with the machine and get failures.

A little more info:
With the Dynex card, it has two lights to denote signal (100 or 1000) blinking lights mean packets being transfered and steady means good connection. I have a fairly steady 100Mbps light with the occasional flash. I have never been one to trust these lights, but they are there. When I monitor packets, none have been sent or received.

kkremer212, on 19 February 2011 - 05:00 PM, said:

Can I ask you how you are connecting several computers to the same modem?

This is an important question, because most modems have one output and in order to add other computers you would need a ROUTER in line so each computer has its own unique IP address.

Bruce.

Bruce - Thanks for jumping into the thread. I have a cable modem gateway that can connect 4 wired devices and up to an additional 12 wireless SID's.

I have also investigated to make sure that the modem is allowing enough IP addresses. No limits are set to the IP addresses allowed or the number of MAC addresses allowed to connect from what I can tell. I can literally unplug the Ethernet cable from my connected machine, and move it to the problem one and it won't connect.

It really is a weird situation. I know there has to be a simple answer somewhere, but for the life of me I can't put my finger on it. That's why I reached out to the forums to help trigger something or a suggestion for something I have not tried yet. It is funny that my ISP was here and the tech saw what was going on, but as far as he was concerned, there was a signal so it was the machine hardware/software causing the issue. I tend to agree, but it is always nice to have a tech sitting at your computer and basically say; "that sucks, bye."

Any suggestions you can offer would be very appreciative!

Kurt

If you bring up a command window and do an ipconfig /all what do you get?

I get:

Host name = my computers name, Primary DNS suffix = blank, node type = unknown, IP routing enabled = NO, Wins Proxy enabled = NO

My Ethernet card manufacturer name, it's MAC address, DHCP enabled = Yes, Auto configure enabled = Yes, A default IP and Subnet are listed but no default gateway.

I compared to my working wired connected machine and with the exception of listings for IPv6 because it is Windows 7, the only major difference I can tell (other than having a working IP and gateway) is with the Node Type = hybrid on my working machine.

Suggestions? Ideas?

Thank you again!

Does the IP address begin with a 169. or another prefix?

Added; What security program(s) are you running? Any possibility of two firewalls running. Perhaps a third party one as well as the native Windows one?

This post has been edited by ThunderZ: 21 February 2011 - 01:45 AM

Thanks for your reply kkremer212, I feel ThunderZ is doing a great job of assisting you, I just wanted to jump in there and ask you the above question just in case you were using an Ethernet switch.

You should post the make and model number of the modem, there are usually copies of the user and set up manuals available on the Internet for these devices and that may shed some light on how the firmware in the modem is designed.

Stick with ThunderZ's advice above my post here, he's going in the right direction with the questions he has asked you.

Bruce.

@ThunderZ - I usually run Comodo, Avira, and WinPatrol with no conflict issues. Like I said, it was working fine and then just poof, it stopped working. I have since stopped all programs (firewalls, anti-malware, antivirus) with the exception of my Avira antivirus. I also double checked the Windows Firewall/Security settings to make sure they are still off. I know that firewalls and/or antivirus conflict can cause issues so that was part of my initial troubleshooting.

When I pull my IP it is giving me, it starts out 0.0.0.0 while trying to acquire an address and then when it gives up and gives me the default "you have limited or no connection" statement it gives me a default 169.254.x.x address with both cards being tried independently from each other. I know this is the default standard IP convention when no IP can be assigned to the device from the dhcp.

@MrBruce1959 - It is a Motorola SBG941.
http://www.motorola.com/Video-Solutions/US-EN/Products-and-Services/Voice-and-Data-Consumer-Premise-Equipment/DOCSIS-Modems-Gateways-and-eMTAs/Wireless-Cable-Modem-Gateways/SBG941_US-EN?localeId=33

Have tried different ports on modem.
Different cables.
2 different NICS.
Updated drivers on both NICS.
Disabled firewalls.
Loop back works.
Attempted static IP assignment.

Just thinking out loud Kkremer212.

You say you can not access the Web interface of the modem from just the one machine(?). You are able to from others(?).
The other devices are all Dynamic? If all other devices are turned off disconnected from the modem can the one problem PC connect?