I assigned a NIC an IP manually, but it keeps saying "acquiring network address"

[TheInternal]

Greetings.

At this point, I'd be happy to have one of my NICs on my main computer for internet, and the other for an offline LAN, forget about the whole using Monolith as a router.

When I assign a manual IP to my Marvel Yukon NIC, it still keeps on bouncing between "a network cable is unplugged" and "acquiring network address".

When I ping it, it first shows the OTHER nic (the nforce 4)'s IP as the ping attempt, shows it as failing, then ping the IP I actually told it to.

This is baffling the heck out of me, and I could use some serious industry insider suggestions. Here's a linky to my previous post:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=36&threadid=1942277

I actually managed to get a solid link light INSIDE of windows XP for one or two boot ups on a different partition, but that quickly ceased to be the case. The link light is still solid on boot up and when not in Windows.

On my MAIN windows XP partition, I can no longer uninstall the Marvell Yukon driver, nor will it let me install a new one. It will even sometimes say "no device driver present" and still tell me "the best driver is already installed" when I try to install or update it.

Considering it took over 12 hours and at least as many reformats and reinstalls to get past all sorts of Windows IRQ rubbish, I REALLY hope I can avoid nuking my partition.

 

[RebateMonger]

I'm surprised you are having problems with IRQs. I haven't seen those since Windows XP came out.

Frankly, I'd probably go to the store and buy a $5 Realtek-chipset 8139 PCI NIC and see if THAT works. Turn off the other built-in NICs in the BIOS, just in case. The drivers for the 8139 are built into XP. If the Realtek works, then at least you have a working PC and you know that the whole TCP/IP stack isn't borked. Obviously, be certain that your network cable and the switch or router port that it's plugged into is "good", too.

There are, according to various posts in these Forums, known issues with some versions of the Nforce4 network drivers, as well as with the built-in Nvidia "firewall". Be sure the firewall is disabled.

Note that I've seen alternating "a network cable is unplugged" and never-ending "acquiring network addresses" when a defective (home-made) network patch cable was being used.

 

[TheInternal]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I never had IRQ problems with Windows XP until I slapped a dual core processor in (and yes, my BIOS revision is the latest). The hauppauge PVR-500 dual tv tuner also was quite a headache in Windows XP, even after sending it off to Hauppauge to have them replace some chip on it due to a "known issue".

One of my two onboard NICs works, but due to the IRQ wierdness, I doubt slapping anything in my last open PCI slot would be a good thing.

I've tried different cables and know that's not the issue. I've also heard folks had some problems with the nforce firewall, and already tried killing that. Ironically, the nforce NIC is the one that's not giving me any problems... it's the Marvell Yukon NIC that's been acting up.

I've never heard of anyone else having quite the same issues with a NIC that I have... namely the physical link light being solid when not in windows, then crapping out once it's driver is installed. I know the Marvell NIC may have failed, but I'm still leaning towards Windows being the culprit. My next step will probably be another long painful reinstall. Perhaps I'll remove the two PCI cards from the machine until everything else installed... maybe I'll get lucky and avoid IRQ issues that way.

Any first hand experience with a case like this or alternative suggestions would be greatly apprectiated.

 

[Lemon law]

Even if you have disabled the nforce firewall---there is still the SP2 firewall to worry about if you have SP2 installed---I have a sygate firewall which the SP2 firewall does not recognise,
and anytime I change anything the damn SP2 firewall pops up to save the day---and I have to go into the security center to turn it off again by selecting I have a firewall solution I will monitor myself.----on all computers on the network.----but after you get things working right---get two way software firewalls on all computers that will play nice with your network.

But Rebate Monger may well be right---its may be a defective NIC--well worth a $5.00 gamble---and when you remove the marvel NIC---put the replacement NIC into that other open slot which may force the computer to assign another IRQ to it.---or for that matter--moving the marvel NIC to the other slot may do the same thing for no money---either way you will still have the one remaining open slot on the mobo.

But I had that network cable plugging and unplugging with a homemade cable---and it was caused by a bad NIC---not a bad cable.---but right now it seems like the first step is almost screaming at you----which is replacing the marvel NIC---which may not be able to hold onto any network address assigned for more than a few seconds.

 

[Crassus]

Lemon Law, I think unless he's taking a screwdriver and tries to pry the chip off the mainboard, there is no way to remove the Marvell NIC. I would certainly try to disable it in the BIOS and sacrifice a PCI slot to a cheap-'n'-chearful Realtek NIC. The one's I had were the most painless add-in cards I ever used.
If you want to try a new windows installation though, I wonder if installing it without any of the add-in cards present would make a difference, i.e. does the issue still occur if you have a barebones system and try to activate the Marvell chip as the first thing? You may want throw in an old HDD just for a basic (dignostic) windows XP install, thus avoiding any damage to your main XP partition.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: TheInternal
My next step will probably be another long painful reinstall. Perhaps I'll remove the two PCI cards from the machine until everything else installed... maybe I'll get lucky and avoid IRQ issues that way.

If you do re-install XP from scratch, it certainly wouldn't hurt to remove all possible add-in devices and add them one-by-one after you've got Windows XP stable and fully patched.

 

[Lemon law]

I guess I missed that---both NIC's are on the mobo--in which case TheInternal might try setting up a static client address for the other offline lan using the marvel chip---and see if thats stable---before he uses the other NIC at home to try internet access. But having a static client address is how I solved my intermittent NIC problem---but that NIC was intermittent maybe once an hour or so---if the marvel chip is intermittent at a once every few seconds or greater rate---I see little hope for the marvel NIC--its defective---end of story---replace or don't use.

But if there is some sort of IRQ or similar problem---Rebate Mongers solution of adding cards and enabling devices one by one could smoke out if the marvel NIC is defective---or just conflicting with something else---have you checked system info to see if there is forced hardware?

It may well be possible to do this check without reinstalling XP---just remove some card or device---reboot---and see if things change---and if you put something on a USB port--or disable un-needed ports---like a serial or parallel---you might get over that hump.

But step one seems to be finding out if that Marvel NIC is just plain bad---or if its just conflicting with something else.

 

[TheInternal]

I've been using a static IP on the marvell... but that doesn't stop windows from switching between "acquiring a network address" and "network cable unplugged".

I'm not trying to get on the internet using the marvell NIC. I'm just trying to connect to a switch so I can share files between Monolith and Stubby (my two computers). The OTHER NIC on Monolith (the nforce 4 one) is what I use to connect to the internet.

I don't have any current IRQ problems that I know of. to get to that point took over 12 full reinstalls due to windows automatically assigning IRQs, then assigning ones that wouldn't allow me to boot once I installed the last device. It generally didn't matter what the last device was... once I installed the last device, windows almost always decided to no longer get past the load screen.

I honestly am thinking the number one issue with the Marvell card is just some stupid windows software glitch that is poorly documented. Number two guess is a conflict... last guess would be my NIC gave out for no obvious reason.

In the past, I'd used the Marvell as my main NIC with no issue. I've done little to cause it to stop working, other than a few rounds of reinstalls.

quick update:
I guess in the mean time, I can try chunking my old barely used D-link 10/100 NIC in my last PCI slot to see what happens. I'm still leaning towards windows XP being the culprit on this one, and that there's some magic fix out there that's buried on a floppy in timbuktuu.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: TheInternal
I've been using a static IP on the marvell... but that doesn't stop windows from switching between "acquiring a network address" and "network cable unplugged".

I'm not trying to get on the internet using the marvell NIC. I'm just trying to connect to a switch so I can share files between Monolith and Stubby (my two computers). The OTHER NIC on Monolith (the nforce 4 one) is what I use to connect to the internet.

I don't have any current IRQ problems that I know of. to get to that point took over 12 full reinstalls due to windows automatically assigning IRQs, then assigning ones that wouldn't allow me to boot once I installed the last device. It generally didn't matter what the last device was... once I installed the last device, windows almost always decided to no longer get past the load screen.

I honestly am thinking the number one issue with the Marvell card is just some stupid windows software glitch that is poorly documented. Number two guess is a conflict... last guess would be my NIC gave out for no obvious reason.

In the past, I'd used the Marvell as my main NIC with no issue. I've done little to cause it to stop working, other than a few rounds of reinstalls.

quick update:
I guess in the mean time, I can try chunking my old barely used D-link 10/100 NIC in my last PCI slot to see what happens. I'm still leaning towards windows XP being the culprit on this one, and that there's some magic fix out there that's buried on a floppy in timbuktuu.

tbh, this sounds like hardware problems...

can't remove drivers, windows won't always boot, etc. You shouldn't have to do 12 installs of windows to get IRQ's right...I have NEVER EVER seen this in my experience. I think it might be time to start testing hardware...I would start with running Memtest for a few hours, and maybe an Ubuntu liveCD (does the NIC work in there?)

 

[TheInternal]

already ran extended memtests and HotCPU Professional. Both passed just fine. The graphics cards are new, but I did have issues with my old 6800 ultra, which I RMAd. My only guess is something screwy on the motherboard, but no real good tests to confirm or deny that... at least, not that I've ever worked with professionally or on a personal level. I currently don't have a copy of any good NIC diags... nor do I have a loopback tester.

I did go ahead and slap an old 10/100 nic in the last PCI slot, and am now able to easily set up a bridge on Monolith for Stubby to connect to the internet on. The Marvell NIC, last I tried, still wouldn't work like I wanted it to, so I did lob an email to MSI's tech department in hopes of there being some magic fix. I don't have a working 3.5" to do another reformat now anywho... (I friggin HATE using technology as old as I am to install a current OS... darn RAID drivers :/)

 

[nweaver]

have you tried a LiveCD? Like Ubuntu? I THINK that the marvel drivers should be in the 6.06 stuff...that might give you a better idea of the problem (sw/hw)