A7N8X Delixe HELP....NO ETHERNET working

[Arty178]

OK...don't know if anyone has seen my other threads, but REAL quick...had an Athlon 2200 on an Epox 8RDA+ with 1GB Crucial PC2700 RAM, a Western Digi 120 GB HD, and a GeForce Ti4200...great budget system that has been my pc workstation/gaming rig for a little over a year.....

Mobo went south last week or so. Got the new mobo today, an Asus A7N8X Deluxe from Newegg refurb department, and it has TWO ethernet ports (never seen a mobo with two built in ethernets...but that's just me) and NEITHER port is working.?

The Asus came barebones in a white box, no cables, install CD, no nothing lol...so I went to asus.com and got their nforce2 unified driver. My ex-Epox computer is rebuilt and working fine with the Asus mobo now, but the ethernet controller has the big yellow exclamation point in the device manager, and I can't connect to the net of course....sigh...I've installed the nforce2 "all-in'one" driver two times now, and have also downloaded the "3COM PCI ethernet controller" from asus' website as well, installed that...and still nothing...

I'm on another computer that has a wireless adaptor connected to my router, but this computer I'm on now is really old and is really only used to surf the web. My photoshop/gaming rig though can't see the net and I'm going a bit crazy spending so much time on getting this thing back up and running. I have my own business as a graphic designer and use macs mostly, but this pc is used quite a bit for various digi-cam needs, web checks for sites I build, etc etc...

Anyone have an idea on a better driver to try? Links to that driver? Other suggestions? Anything man....I'm dying over here!

Grasping at straws, gasping at my computer,

Arty

 

[johnjkr1]

First, go into the bios and turn off the 3com. Next, download the nforce drivers from asus....and extract the zip file. Go into device manager, delete both nic's, reboot. Now, it will find the nforce controller only, browse to the folder you unzipped, there is an XP folder, then the ethernet folder. Install those drivers.

 

[mechBgon]

A couple of additional things:

1) the nVidia MAC is connected to the lower jack, the one by the audio jacks.

2) it's possible that you're up against a networking problem where the DHCP server on your LAN has no free IP addresses to give to the mobo even if the mobo is 100% operational and ready to rumble. Want to describe your network setup and ISP for us?

 

[Arty178]

Ok, give me a minute....

I have downloaded the nforce drivers from asus but don't remember seeing a seperate ethernet folder in the XP folder.

I'll go delete the two nics and try your suggestions...thanks for the quick post and I'll be right back with news of how it worked...stay tuned if you're still in this forum..I really need some help

For the other suggestion of "no IP address": not really an issue. I'm running a few computers behind a wireless router is all, less than four, and it's never been a problem....unless I'm missing something you're implying that I don't see?

Thanks you two.....be right back.

Arty

 

[Arty178]

Still no go...here's what I did...

Disabled 3COM in BIOS no problem...thanks for that tip, I missed seeing the 3COM when I looked at BIOS myself.

Then I restarted, uninstalled the network adaptors like you said, and restarted again.

Now...I have the XP folder, and it has an ETHERNET folder...but there's no executable, setup, install file or anything that I can double click in there...? and oh yeah...ARRGHHH lol

I went to the nvidia site, and got there nforce 3.13 driver (which is supposedly for nforce, nforce2, and nforce3 boards all wrapped up into one), and I installed that...still no go. I've checked both ends of my ethernet cable, everything is plugged in firmly, and I know this cable is fine. Under network settings though, I see "packets sent" at some number, but "packet received" is zero. I'm on cox cable, which is autosensing, so it's gotta be the on-board NIC...what is wrong?

Can someone tell me more on how to install JUST the ethernet portion of nvidia nforce2 drivers? Am I not using the right driver? This is just bugging me nutty. lol Great, I'm so frustrated now I sound like a street rapper on crack. I'm buggin' yo..!

Thanks in advance for any help,

Arty

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Arty178
Still no go...here's what I did...

Disabled 3COM in BIOS no problem...thanks for that tip, I missed seeing the 3COM when I looked at BIOS myself.

Then I restarted, uninstalled the network adaptors like you said, and restarted again.

Now...I have the XP folder, and it has an ETHERNET folder...but there's no executable, setup, install file or anything that I can double click in there...? and oh yeah...ARRGHHH lol

I went to the nvidia site, and got there nforce 3.13 driver (which is supposedly for nforce, nforce2, and nforce3 boards all wrapped up into one), and I installed that...still no go. I've checked both ends of my ethernet cable, everything is plugged in firmly, and I know this cable is fine. Under network settings though, I see "packets sent" at some number, but "packet received" is zero. I'm on cox cable, which is autosensing, so it's gotta be the on-board NIC...what is wrong?

Can someone tell me more on how to install JUST the ethernet portion of nvidia nforce2 drivers? Am I not using the right driver? This is just bugging me nutty. lol Great, I'm so frustrated now I sound like a street rapper on crack. I'm buggin' yo..!

Thanks in advance for any help,

Arty

You're on Cox Cable, eh? They probably give your cable modem precisely one IP address to hand out to your computer, and it's currently "taken" by the now-defunct EPoX. If you could spoof the MAC address of the EPoX's onboard NIC, I bet you'd find that it suddenly began working like a champ. Try completely powering down your cable modem for about a minute (I mean, unplugged from the wall, not just switched off) and then see if it works. Your NIC port's link light does come on, yes?

I have an A7N8X Deluxe myself, and the nVidia 3.13's are fine. I think you're up against a network issue, not a motherboard issue.

 

[Arty178]

Thanks for the follow up post.

By the way, great signature. I accepted Christ about six years ago, and have been in love with Him ever since. lol...now I'm singing "Oh what a Savior....Oh Hallelluja..." in my head... heh

Ok..back to my problem. I DO have the NIC light lit, and I just tried a twenty second refresh on both the modem and the router, but I'll try a long minute and see if that helps. What you say makes sense...I remember talking to the cox rep about this in idle chit chat when he first installed it long ago. I'm no expert on IP stuff though, would love to get the basics down cold actually, but have'nt run across a link that explains it yet. (nor have I really LOOKED for one that hard ...lol...but hey, God provides according to need and I just haven't had the need yet. He led me to you though... anyway..I'm rambling from being WEARY of this time-consuming mess. heh

Any other thoughts? I guess I'll just have to call cox in the morning?

I know Asus is a superb company, and am glad my computer is working again, but I can't help but have a small fear about the ethernet controller since it's a refurb unit.?

Thanks again for your help,

Arty

 

[johnjkr1]

Ok, if you have a yellow exclamation point in dev manager, it has nothing to do with your cable, cox, or anything else. You do not have a driver installed. On my motherboard, you have to MANUALLY install the nvidia nic. This means there is no setup. Simply go into device manger, find the nvidia nic, and right click and bring up properties. Then, you go to the driver tab, then you click "update driver", then you install from a specific location, then you point it to the ethernet folder of the xp folder. Problem solved.

 

[mechBgon]

Good to hear, Arty178! :sun:

IP leases expire eventually (usually), so if my theory was correct, it would eventually expire and then your A7N8X Deluxe could lay claim to it. When was the EPoX last on the network?

Regarding drivers... on my A7N8X Deluxe, installing the nVidia 3.13's will get the nVidia NIC's driver installed, and the one with the yellow ! is the 3Com. You could disable the 3Com or leave it with no driver, and the nVidia NIC will still run fine. If you have a listing in Device Manager for the nVidia NIC, and have the cable plugged into it, and it even says it's sent packets, then we have to ask why it gets no replies. That's not to say that you can't install the drivers for the 3Com to make it stop plagueing you with the yellow !, but it would only be a problem if you were using the 3Com's jack, the upper one. Granted, I use Win2000 Pro and not WinXP, but methinks this still applies.

What precisely is the other end of the cable plugged into... the cable modem, or a router, or ??? Could it be plugged into an uplink port by mistake? On my Linksys BEFSR41, there are two ports which are mutually exclusive, for example... you can plug a computer into one of them, or uplink to another piece of network equipment with the other, but plug devices into both ports and NEITHER of them will do anything So double-check your ports if you think this could be a possibility.

 

[Arty178]

You're right about the 3.13 driver(s)...it does install the Nvidia NIC driver, and the yellow exclamation is only on the 3COM, which I've just deleted from device manager and disabled in the BIOS. No worries there.

The cable is plugged into a router, port #2, with no chance of being in an uplink port.

I"m going to call cox cable after my bible study (headed into it in five minutes), and then I'll report back if they can solve it somehow. I assume they can "expire" the IP address or whatever at their terminal?

Thanks for all the help thus far, I think I'm close, but my head does still hurt..lol

Hmmm...maybe basket weaving is as fun as Rainbow Six 3.....no computers in basketweaving....hmmmmmm...

Arty

 

[Arty178]

In case I wasn't clear in my last post, I DO have the Nvidia nic driver installed just fine...but oddly no matter what I do it always is listed as "Nvidia Nic #2" when there are NO duplicate drivers installed...?

Is this a problem? And if so, how do I fix that? (other than the Home Depot Power Sledge Hammer solution)

Arty

 

[Arty178]

stupid computer is still smarter than I am...heh...still no go.

Cox said that a simple reset of the cable modem and router is all that's needed to clear out "old expectations" (my term) from the old NIC onboard the Epox mobo.

Reset modem and router twice in proper order for over 45 seconds each, and rebooted after the reset...still no progress.

I'm really thinking it's the Asus refurb mobo. Tried calling Asus and they take your name and number and will call YOU back within one day later....sigh...NOT what I call good customer service.

Talked to a friend as well about this issue (he build computers on the side for friends, family, and customers), and he told me for his own computer he went through FIVE Asus boards in a row before he got a good one, and he had to pay shipping each time. Not too good.

Anybody have suggestions on what could possibly fix this situation?

Arty

 

[MrScott81]

is this the same driver info you have?

http://www.socomusic.com/driverinfo.jpg

I have the same mobo as you and ethernet works fine here.

 

[Arty178]

No...I'm using the Nvidia MCP network adaptor....

I'd love to try the 3com port but I can't find a driver...where did you get yours?

I did download the 3COM PCI driver that is on Asus' website, but it didn't do a thing...

Arty

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Sounds like your unique mac ID is wrong, I'm not familiar with that board so you may have to download a bios that provides access to the mac address if the option isn't already available in the bios. You need to take the unique ID number which is usually on a sticker on 1 of the ports such as the PS2 or parallel and input it. The bios entries should be something like

Machine MAC(NV) address *this should be on auto or enabled*
xMAC(NV) address input *this is where you put in the number on the sticker*