[XP Pro] Keep getting on again off again 'Local Area Connection- Network cable unplugged' icon notices!

[StattlichPassat]

Just installed Windows XP Pro early this morning and am just as impressed as all the other installs I've done with XP. However, I've got a nagging little problem with the network connection status icon in the toolbar. Every other minute or less, I get a little popup from the toolbar saying, 'Local Area Connection- Network cable unplugged', then 2 seconds later every time, it automatically restores back to OK status. Occasionally, audio streams are briefly interrupted for a second or so, but otherwise everything stays connected and chugs along without a hitch. It's just annoying visually! It obviously isn't imparing me too much- is there a way to turn that popup off? TIA!

 

[Adul]

my moms did that, turnded out the NIC card was bad

 

[MedicBob]

Were you having problems before?

I believe you can "hide" the notification. Right click the task bar, properties, then customize. I think, i don't have an XP box near me right now.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Originally posted by: Adul
my moms did that, turnded out the NIC card was bad

The network card (brand new retail Linksys LNE100TX) works great and the Device Manager says everything is cool... but still you think?

 

[StattlichPassat]

Thanks MedicBob- I hid that toolbar icon 'Always'... we'll see if that does it. Your instructions for doing so were correct.

EDIT: Nope, still doing it.

 

[Buz2b]

Try the same thing I do/did with the ".net passport thing". Click "OK" for a couple of screens, in other words, accept the "default, without giving any info and then click on "Cancel". It has worked for the last three systems I have built and done away with the "nagging" passport thing. Give it a shot!

 

[StattlichPassat]

There's no 'OK' or 'Cancel' box... it's a little yellow popup from the tool bar with only an 'x' to close it... nothing really to do with .NET either.

 

[Buz2b]

it's a little yellow popup from the tool bar with only an 'x' to close it... nothing really to do with .NET either.

Actually, I don't think I'm going to solve your problem here but we will give them some grief anyway. When that "Pop Up Box" comes up, click lower in that box to make the "dialogue" box come up. That's the one we want to see. Do that and see what options you have from there.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: NightFlyerGTI

Originally posted by: Adul
my moms did that, turnded out the NIC card was bad

The network card (brand new retail Linksys LNE100TX) works great and the Device Manager says everything is cool... but still you think?

I've read about various issues with W2K and XP "dropping" network connections under heavy loads, but I don't think that is what is happening here. (The solution there is to manually disable and then re-enable the network connection/NIC, to bring the "dead" connection back up.)

I've also heard about issues with Realtek RTL8139-based cards (many LinkSys 10/100 PCI are), and driver/hardware issues with dropping the connection. I try to avoid Realtek-based cards for my own systems, but they are pretty cheap and (generally) work ok.

I *do* get that problem on one of my W2K systems, but I know why that is... I'm using a Cat5 patch cable I built myself, and one (or more) of the wires is flaky. I could fix it, but I just haven't bothered making another one yet. 2' patch cables aren't too common to buy.

 

[ScottMac]

Have you tried replacing the cable? You have a ~70% + chance that the cable is bad/flakey.

If you're using a switch/hub, try moving the connection to another port.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[StattlichPassat]

Thanks for the added help, guys- I'll look into those factors. For the record, it's just plugged straight into a Cicso DSL modem.

 

[Jafo12571]

I have seen this on alot of systems that are running ACPI, I think it might have something to do with the behind the scenes IRQ shifting. On the systems that I install, ACPI is usually skipped because I am not a big fan of it.... seeing this problem before made me go nutz one night so I did a couple of reinstalls of different images some ACPI some Standard PC. It was when I used the Standard PC installations that the problem would not repeat itself. Just a thought ...

 

[StattlichPassat]

Thanks, Jafro.

UPDATE: I took out this new retail 2002 Linksys NIC and put in a 1999 D-Link NIC... and all is well (native drivers too- cool)! I was originally going to put the D-Link card into a Duron 700 Win98 box I'm building for my 14 year old sister, but it looks like the Linksys will serve this duty now. I don't think Win98 is going to give me these network adaptor status updates from the toolbar on her box, so it'll work fine, since the card itself checks out perfectly in the device manager and works fine. Hmmph.

Well there you go guys- quirky network card. And I'm surprised to see this coming from a Linksys card.

 

[karna]

I had an issue like this with my NetGear Wireless "NIC". However, NetGear was aware of it and had new drivers clearly available on their site.

My conclusion is that there is a problem with the drivers that are currently installed for your NIC.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Well in that case, maybe I ought to actually install the Linksys drivers instead of going off the naitive ones... hmm...

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: MedicBob
Were you having problems before?

I believe you can "hide" the notification. Right click the task bar, properties, then customize. I think, i don't have an XP box near me right now.

start -> run -> "ping servername -t"

that, after a few seconds, makes it work for me. leave it running and see what happens. I *think* my 98se server is the machine that is crapping out though, since it usually happens a few hours before the server locks up.