Having trouble installing network on this mobo

[thewhiteboy]

Hi guys, I need some help once again.

I recently purchased an MSI Neo2-V because our old s478 board is discontinued. Main reason I got this one is because is has the same chipset (north&south), plus it was only one of two available from NewEgg. Anyway...

So I put the bad boy together and get through XP install, but my network doesn't work. I've loaded the drivers from the CD, doesn't work... I downloaded drivers straight from MSI & Realtek both and tried them, they don't work either. It always says my network connection 'has a cable unplugged,' but the cable is good, I just used the same cable & the same connection on a different board earlier today.

The only difference between this install and installing on the old board (ASUS P4P800-SE, btw) is: on the MSI board when XP is installing, it asks to install Networking, typical or custom. This didn't happen on the ASUS board; on the ASUS after first boot, I'd install the network drivers (Gigabit) and that'd be all. On this MSI board, I'm thinking it has something to do with installing network during XP setup... I don't know, networking never really was my strong point

Does anybody have any ideas? I've been all over the web but can't find any resolution to this.. I'm lost

 

[bruceb]

First ... Is it an Onboard LAN Port ? ?

Second, if so is it Enabled in the BIOS ? ? ?

Third, Did you load the Drivers in the correct order ? ? ?
Motherboard Chipset first, then the LAN Driver

Make sure the Intel INF Drivers are loaded
and be sure you downloaded the correct LAN Driver
for your os .. they have one for 32 bit XP & one for 64 bit XP

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/d.../dvr/spt_dvr_detail.php?UID=612&kind=1

 

[thewhiteboy]

1) Yes, it is onboard LAN.
2) Yes it is, already thought of that and triple-checked it.
3) Yep.. chipset drivers first, then rebooted, then loaded LAN driver.

But like I said before, w/the MSI board, on the first boot into windows (before I even had a chance to load chipset drivers), the little 'network not connected' icon w/the big red X was already in the tray. This never happened on the other ASUS board...

 

[JackMDS]

In General you can debug the Network Setting of the computer following these steps.

Step One. Check the Network parameters in the Computer?s Device Manager. Make sure that the drivers are installed correctly; there is No IRQ conflict, and No Ghost installation. http://www.ezlan.net/faq#ghost

Step Two.Verify Basic network setting in the OS: http://www.ezlan.net/Installing#verify
If the above two Steps indicates that every thing looks good but functionally it does not work.

Step Three. Check (and repair if necessary) the Socket Layers, Winsock, and or refresh the TCP/IP Stack. http://www.ezlan.net/clean#refreshnet

:sun:

 

[thewhiteboy]

It's not a driver problem... everything is functional in Device Manager w/no conflicts.

 

[Lemon law]

How is your network set up---it may be an oddball speculation--but could you need a crossover cable---that maybe your old network card could autosense around and use a straight through cable, but your new network card can't use a patch cable.

Not saying I am right, but in some cases, it might be the problem.

 

[bruceb]

Just an odd thought .. Is your BIOS Set to Boot From LAN ? ?
If so DIsable it

 

[thewhiteboy]

Originally posted by: bruceb
Just an odd thought .. Is your BIOS Set to Boot From LAN ? ?
If so DIsable it

I think I saw it in the BIOS somewhere, I'll turn it off and see if that works.

On another thought, the old ASUS board used Gigabit onboard LAN, but this MSI uses onboard Realtek. Don't know if that would make a difference or not, I was thinking as long as the proper drivers are loaded it wouldn't affect anything.

 

[thewhiteboy]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
How is your network set up---it may be an oddball speculation--but could you need a crossover cable---that maybe your old network card could autosense around and use a straight through cable, but your new network card can't use a patch cable.

I'm installing the hardware in the warehouse and I convinced them to give me an internet connection back there. By that, we plugged in a hub to someone else's connection and ran a cable to my station

I've thought it might be the cables too, but they're good... I've tested them with other computers and other connections and they work every time.

 

[bruceb]

You should not be using a Hub .. if anything, you need to put a small Ethenet Switch
where you tappd off ... run the existing cable into the Switch, then the Switch Ouputs
one to each computer ... make sure your computer is set to get an ip address automatically
.. you need to reboot each computer after you install the switch .. also check the distance
of your cat 5 cable ... about 100 meters or so is the max before it will start to degrade the signal

Did you try your PC at the point where you tapped off the other computer ? ?
If it works there, then it is definitely either bad cabling or a bad hub

 

[thewhiteboy]

I highly doubt its bad cabling/bad hub; I've been using this connection w/the same hub and cables before I was using this MSI board, and it's never given me problems. I just tried to bring the computer to my desk and use the connection here in the office, and it's still not working.

I'm starting to dislike this board :thumbsdown:

 

[spidey07]

you can never say a cable is good with "it works on something else". It needs to be scanned with a very expensive tester.

Are you getting link lights on both ends? "cable unplugged" normally means you don't have link. also make sure the network card is set to "autodetect" speed and duplex.

 

[bruceb]

If as Spidey says, you do not have a network cable tester, then your only other
option is bring another pc to the new location and see if that works ok .. if it does
your cabling and hub are likely ok

Did you crimp your own cable ends on the new cat 5 or on the cable between the
wall plate and the pc ? ? ? Are you sure they are ok ? ? Wired per 568B Standard
and can you see the wire ends at the plug end ? ? (that will tell if they are seated ok)
Test your crimps .. if you tug wire and it pulls out .. it was not good ... redo it and if
possible use a Ratchet Full Cycle Crimper

Also is this XP 32 bit or XP 64 bit ? ? Did you use the correct driver ? ?
Try a PCI Slot NIC ... if that works then onboard NIC is Defective

 

[thewhiteboy]

I get lights on the hub, but not from the onboard network port.

 

[thewhiteboy]

Originally posted by: bruceb
If as Spidey says, you do not have a network cable tester, then your only other
option is bring another pc to the new location and see if that works ok .. if it does
your cabling and hub are likely ok

Did you crimp your own cable ends on the new cat 5 or on the cable between the
wall plate and the pc ? ? ? Are you sure they are ok ? ? Wired per 568B Standard
and can you see the wire ends at the plug end ? ? (that will tell if they are seated ok)
Test your crimps .. if you tug wire and it pulls out .. it was not good ... redo it and if
possible use a Ratchet Full Cycle Crimper

Also is this XP 32 bit or XP 64 bit ? ? Did you use the correct driver ? ?
Try a PCI Slot NIC ... if that works then onboard NIC is Defective

XP Home SP2 32 bit... using an PCI NIC was my next try. Don't know if I'll get to it today, I have to do end of month inventory

 

[thewhiteboy]

I figured out what the problem was. It wasn't the software or the drivers -- it was the cabling setup.

The guy who set up the connection in the warehouse didn't have a cable that was long enough to reach my station, so he used one of those single-port boxes (these things) to connect two cables together. After some more trying, I finally brought the PC up to my desk in the front and connected the ethernet cable from the PC at my desk into this test PC, and it instantly connected.

But now, this leads me to another question regarding the cabling setup -- why did it work on the ASUS board w/Gigabit onboard ethernet, but not on this MSI board w/Realtek onboard ethernet?

 

[spidey07]

some nics have non-standard features to detect faulty wiring. Like crossover or no crossover, tip and ring reversed, etc.

heh, check my post earlier. It's always the cabling.

 

[bruceb]

Some of those cable joiners swap some wires in them making
a regular cable into a crossover .. the only way to tell for sure
is to check the packing before you buy it .. or test it with a
LAN Cable tester .. it will tell you if it is a Straight Thru Coupler
or a Cross Over Coupler .. for most computers, you always
want a straight thru 568B wired cable