Hi,
I could use some help getting my PC connected to my cable internet.
I have two PCs - one laptop and one desktop. My laptop connects fine.
My desktop does not.
I called my ISP and they were unable to help me. They do not need to
know my MAC address and I do not need to have a certain localhost name
to connect. We verified all the usual things - the connection
settings are set to autodetect, I reset the modem, unplugged it, etc.
My ethernet card shows up on the list of materials.
The connection shows a yellow triangle saying limited or nonexistant
connection. I get a generic IP address (160.XXX etc) and I can
release to get a 000.000 etc IP address. However, if I try ipconfig
/renew, the command times out and I get a message saying cannot
connect to the DHCP servers.
I have tried flashing my bios and returning to default settings. I
have run winsockfix.exe. I have tried "netsh int ip reset log.txt"
and rebooting to reset the tcp/ip stack. I have tried setting the
adaptor to 10Mbps half duplex (I have tried all 4 adaptor settings).
Nothing is working. For more details, see http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/31279.
Thank you in advance. |
Clarification of Question by
mstree-ga
on
25 Jan 2006 13:38 PST
I would like to clarify that I am looking for an answer from a tcp/ip
expert. I'm not looking for a googled answer please - I've done a ton
of searching myself. Thank you.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
25 Jan 2006 14:35 PST
mstree...
From what I've read, about the only thing you haven't tried
is going to Start -> Settings -> Network and Dialup Connections
and uninstalling and reinstalling TCP/IP. If you go to Start ->
Settings -> Network and Dialup Connections, do you have a
connection labelled Comcast (is it?)?.
If the connection isn't labelled something that sounds relevant
to your current connection, it might be an old one from your
friend's DSL connection, and might be unusable for your current
connection. Did you personally set it up and name it, or was
it already there?
If not, you might try going into Internet Explorer -> Tools ->
Internet Options -> Connections tab, and Setup a new connection,
also making sure that, when you click on the LAN button,
'Automatically Detect Settings' is checked. You could delete
the older connection if it's not one you created to work with
your cable connection.
Sorry if this is old ground for you, but it's not entirely clear
from what's already been posted.
Let me know where this takes you...
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
25 Jan 2006 14:58 PST
Oh...another possibility is to test and repair your Winsock
stack, which can be damaged when some software is uninstalled.
LSPfix is available for free, here:
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
|
Clarification of Question by
mstree-ga
on
25 Jan 2006 23:19 PST
Hi, I've got to leave for work now, but just to let you know, I will
try your suggestions this evening when I return.
I have created a new connection, labelled "Network Connection 2" with
everything set to autodetect.
My friend did have an old Wanadoo connection (DSL) and I'm trying to
use Noos. I uninstalled wanadoo but maybe that is still causing
conflicts? Anyway, more details this evening when I try the lspfix.
Thanks.
|
Clarification of Question by
mstree-ga
on
26 Jan 2006 08:11 PST
Ok, I'm off to try the suggestions.
One thing I'd like to mention is that I don't think it's the ethernet
card that's the problem, because I also tried to connect using USB and
that didn't work either.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
26 Jan 2006 09:50 PST
It's possible that USB could fail for a completely
different reason, like having 1.0 on the PC while
the modem uses 1.1. In that case, the NIC could
still be bad.
|
Clarification of Question by
mstree-ga
on
27 Jan 2006 01:03 PST
I tried everything short of getting a new network card and it is still not working.
I think a good clue might be that when I get the connection with the
yellow triangle, when I right click on the connection and select
"deactivate" I get an error message saying that either the connection
is in use by another process or it does not support plug and play and
it cannot be deactivated. I also cannot delete the connection.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
27 Jan 2006 11:53 PST
A better clue would be if you could say a little more
about where you are when you get the error message,
and an exact quote of the language.
Are you in Network Connections (or perhaps it's called
Network and Dialup Connections)? What is the name for
this connection? Is it familiar to you, as one you
created, or is it a connection left on the computer
by the former owner? When you right-click it, does
it really say "deactivate", or does it say "disable"?
What is the exact wording of the error messages you
receive? If this is a connection left over by the
previous user, and you cannot delete it, have you
tried creating a new one?
|
Clarification of Question by
mstree-ga
on
27 Jan 2006 12:52 PST
Please keep in mind that my operating system is in French. Therefore
I can either give you my best translation which will not match the
wording in the English-language version exactly, or I can give you the
exact wording in French. Sorry for the imprecision this introduces.
I get this error message when I right-click the connection icon in the
left-hand side of the taskbar. The connection is called "fafe" which
is what I happened to name it. The exact word I click on is
"désactivation". The message I get is "Il n'est pas possible
d'effectuer une déconnexion actuellement. Cette connexion utilse
peut-être un ou plusieurs protocoles qui ne prennent pas en charge
Plug-and-Play, ou elle a peut-être été initiée par un autre
utilisateur ou par le compte du système."
It is not the connection left over by the previous user. If I try to
create a new connection, I get an error message saying that "Votre
connexion large bande devrait déjà être configurée et prête à
l'utilisation"... = My connection should already be configured and
ready to use. A new connection is not created.
If I try to delete the connection "fafe", I get an error message
saying the connection is in use and cannot be deleted. But I cannot
deactivate the connection.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
27 Jan 2006 13:24 PST
Thanks for reminding me about the French language issue.
Not being able to search for exact quotes of the error
message does make it much more difficult.
At this point, what I would do is go into Device Manager
and uninstall (assuming you have the installation CD for
the drivers, or you're confident they're on the Windows
CD) the network card, or at least disable it.
Shut down and remove the network card. Boot up and try
again to delete the network connection - in Safe Mode,
if necessary.
Then shut down again and start from scratch, installing
the network card and creating a new Internet Connection.
If that doesn't work, I don't know what to tell you
except to try a newer NIC card.
Let me know where this takes you...
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
mstree-ga
on
31 Jan 2006 09:38 PST
Thank you so much, bottledair-ga!!!! I
|
Clarification of Question by
mstree-ga
on
31 Jan 2006 09:50 PST
Sorry, in my excitement I hit "enter" too soon. I was trying to say
that I am typing this note from the PC in question which is now
connected to the internet. I tried the suggestion from bottledair-ga
and it worked perfectly.
It's amazing to me that during the phone calls with the ISP that they
never mentioned that this might be a problem. They suggested that I
disconnect and reconnect my modem after 15 seconds, but never for any
longer than that.
In all this working on my PC trying to fix a problem that was actually
in the hands of the ISP, I did learn a lot about TCP/IP that I didn't
know before, so I'm thankful for that at least. And thanks a lot to
sublime1-ga for all the effort you put in, and to jebediahtbone-ga for
his suggestion also. I really appreciate all the help.
|
