networking XP pro.. need help... not sure what to do

[Smokey0066]

okay.. i'll try to give you guys all the info i can the first time around cuz i know it doesnt help if i only give half the story.

two boxes, laptop n desktop, runnin xp pro with a linksys switch (dunno model off hand) cat5 is good and works (lights up switch)

so the first problem is regarding my desktop. it keeps flashing cable disconnected and then it'll reconnect itself.. then it does it again.. i've swapped cables... no go. should i swap slots where the card is sitting?

next problem (main problem) dunno how to network them together. the following is what i've tried after talking to a buddy:

added users of either computer to the other one. so user on desktop is also on laptop and vice versa.
shared the drives on each computer.
have tcp/ip and ipx installed.
allowed remote access to desktop or something like that in the system folder (i think thats the folder).


now what i'm left with:

laptop can see the desktop but it says that the computer(desktop) isnt available or i dont have permissions. desktop can only see itself. just to be clear, when i say see i mean they dont show up on the computers in your workgroup screen.


i think i've given you all that i've done and the problem i'm having. what am i doing wrong and what do i need to do to complete my network. this will really help once i understand whats going wrong. i can then network another computer to the network to store files.

thanks for anyhelp you can give. i'm soo confused and frustrated. i didnt want to bug you guys with this but after a couple hrs of switching settings n back n fourth i gave up..

smokey

 

[jfunk]

Make sure you have NETBIOS enabled.

Have you changed the name of the desktop since initially setting up? That could cause the laptop to give the "cna't find" or "no permission" errors.

Check to see if you are able to ping by IP address.

None of this, by the way, should have anything to do with your card dropping the connection intermitently. Try another port on the switch or a new NIC mabye....


j

 

[Smokey0066]

okay since last post heres what i've done.

i've swapped slots the nic is sitting in, dunno why this would help but i'm at the end of the rope here.. its almost hair pulling time.
tried pinging both computers ip in cmd window..
also tried assigning IPs and pinging those as well
tried MS home-network setup crap
i guess i could head out tomorrow and pick up another nic

i have changed names around on both machines.. but it doesnt seem to be the problem. heres why, i pulled everything off the switch and rebooted both systems. after both machines were up i opened up network window. the laptop no longer showed the desktop but after i plugged in both to the switch the desktop again appeared on the laptops window. i have also tried many combos of the ports on the switches.

is netbios checked by default? i didnt touch that, didnt know i had to, but i will look into it in a sec.. its getting late so i'll probably try that and then let you know how that turned out.. otherwise i'm pretty much lost as to where to go from here.

 

[Eltano1]

OK, lets start from the beggining. First (and the easy way) run the network wizard in both pcs and remember that you MUST have the same WORKGROUP name in both pcs, then share the HDD or folder/s in both pcs, by doing this you will be able to accessthe other pc, since the wizard is pretty straight forward.
If you think that is a hardware problem, ping your nic with 127.0.0.1, if you get a reply then is not your nic, also look that your wires are ok and they are NOT croosover cables.

Best regards

Eltano

 

[Smokey0066]

i already tried running that network setup thingy from ms.

i tried pinging the other pc and heres what happened.. it tries like 4 pings right? and of the 4, usually 1 gets through so it says theres like a 75% loss or something... does this give anyone a clue?? so in case it might be my cables.. what order should the colors be on the plug? i can make some cables and try those instead of the ones i already have.

ugh.. the bad news is that i think i broke my pcmcia nic today.. i cracked the plastic casing on it... notebook slipped while resting on its side and landed on the end of the nic that was sticking out which happens to be plastic and happened to crack.. it still lights up.. but i dunno.. just another variable to add to the equation.. i'm gonna go pick up a nic tomorrow and test it out to see if it helps..

thanks for the help so far..

 

[DaveK]

Sounds like it could be a cable problem. Here's the order I use to make cables...

1. green-white
2. green
3. orange-white
4. blue
5. blue-white
6. orange
7. brown-white
8. brown

DaveK