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Author Topic: Ethernet port - XP says "network cable is unplugged" when it's plugged in  (Read 8328 times)

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ossilix

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    I clean-installed Windows XP SP1 (from an OEM disk) onto a new hard disk yesterday, and immediately upgraded directly to SP3.

    I have a cable internet connection through a Netgear router. Modem connects to the router input, the computers connect to the router outputs. Other computers are connected to the router and they're working fine so I know the problem isn't with the router or connection.

    I can switch back to my old hard drive with the original installation of Windows XP SP2  (by swapping the Molex and IDE cables back to it), and the internet works fine, exactly as before, so I know the cables are functioning and the PCI card is seated correctly. It has to be something inside the new Windows installation that's causing this problem, I just don't know what or where to look.

    Once the XP installation and update to SP3 finished on the new drive, I installed drivers for my sound card and then installed Zonealarm firewall (although I hadn't connected the ethernet cable yet).

    I didn't install any of the drivers for the motherboard or chipset. So it would be using the default ones that Windows XP already has, right?

    There are two ethernet ports on my system - one on the motherboard, the other a PCI card.

    In Device Manager, the ethernet port on the motherboard is VIA PCI 10/100mb Fast Ethernet Adapter.

    The addon is D-Link DGE-530T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.

    I have always used the D-Link port. I can't remember why the people who built my computer added the D-Link card, but someone told me the VIA ethernet/audio driver has been known not to work well and that's probably why they did it.

    Both ethernet ports show up as Local Area Connections under "LAN or High Speed Internet" in "Network Connections".

    I'd rather use the D-Link adapter versus the integrated VIA one since I've used up til now and know it works.

    However, when I connect the ethernet cable to the D-Link port when booted onto the new HD with XP SP3, it lights up but Windows says "A network cable is unplugged". I updated the D-Link driver to the latest version, but that didn't fix it. (Also, the driver on the old HDD with the original XP installation, which I'm actually using to post this message, has the same older driver (v. 6.23) that the new installation had before I updated it, so it should have worked fine without needing an update.)

    When Windows prompted for the disk to install the original D-Link drivers, it said the adapter had "failed Windows logo testing". Does that matter? I know it works with Windows XP - I've been using it for years (under SP1 and SP2, not SP3). (The same thing happened when I installed my Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum drivers, but again, I've been using the SB for years, and it seems to work fine on the new installation as well.)

    There are diagnostic tests in the Properties of the D-Link; it can successfully test the cable it's connected to, but Windows still says a cable is unplugged. (The cable test also says there's a short in two of the "cable pairs" - what does that mean? I know the cable works though.) I can also run the tool that tests the linkup and it makes the light on the port flash, so I know the computer can access the port.

    The same thing happens when I plug the cable from the modem (which normally goes into the router) directly into the D-Link port--it says a cable is unplugged, but the diagnostic tool is still able to test the cable. (However, in this case it says there's an "impedance mismatch" in one of the cable pairs along with the two shorts. Again, I know the cable is functioning - I'm using it to post this message.)

    I'd rather not attempt to install any drivers from the CDs that came with my motherboard because it's an 8-year-old board and I don't want to mess it up? I'm pretty sure they're not installed on the old HDD I'm using now either (under Device Manager "System board" says "No drivers are installed for this device" ). However, the front panel USB hub that attaches to the mobo is functioning correctly, and all the other parts of it seem to be working as well, so whatever drivers Windows came with are working for the things I've tested.

    Does anyone have any advice on why the D-Link would be reporting a cable is unplugged when no cables are unplugged? Are there any specific devices in Device Manager I should be looking at? I don't see any yellow exclamation points. Should I try uninstalling SP3 and go back to SP1 and see if it makes a difference??

    When I set up the new XP installation I gave the computer a different name from what it's called on the old HD. Should that make a difference? Should I have used the same name?

    As for the VIA Ethernet port on the motherboard, it does something different. When I plug the cable into it, it takes a long time but eventually says it's successful at acquiring a Network Address. At that point, in Network Connections it says it's connected (at 100mb/s), but I can't get on the internet. Do I have to do something else to make to work? Set up an Internet Connection? Would I need to restart for it to even work? (I didn't) Or should it just work?

    Also, the VIA port is set to aquire network address automatically (just liek the D-Link is on the old installation). On the old installation, the IP address the D-Link acquires is a local one (192.168.1.5). On the new one, the VIA port it gets an address I've never seen before, which is also different from the static IP address of my modem.

    My primary concern is getting the D-Link working, but if I can get the VIA one working at least I might be able to use the internet on the new HDD and not have to switch back and forth between the drives (I'm afraid of damaging the IDE cable by repeated plugging and unplugging it).

    Please let me know if there's any other information I need to post. I may be able to take screen shots as well. And sorry this is so long, once again I just wanted to include as much info as possible.

    jason2074



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    Check first your PCI 10/100mb Fast Ethernet Adapter if its working on cable plugged to the modem/router. However i'm not sure about D-Link DGE-530T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter capabalities on the internet compared to your  PCI 10/100mb Fast Ethernet Adapter. They still both need to be plugged anyway. :) As for your OS from SP1 to SP3, it may not be an issue depending on restoring correct drivers. SP2 is much preferred.

    ossilix

      Topic Starter


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      Check first your PCI 10/100mb Fast Ethernet Adapter if its working on cable plugged to the modem/router.

      Like I said, I did connect it to the router. It eventually says "connected", but acquires the wrong IP address, and I also still can't use the internet.

      Quote
      SP2 is much preferred.

      What do you mean by that? Support for SP2 just ended, isn't it best to change to SP3?

      JJ 3000



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      I didn't install any of the drivers for the motherboard or chipset.

      I'd say thats the main problem. You need to install those drivers.

      Quote
      I'd rather not attempt to install any drivers from the CDs that came with my motherboard because it's an 8-year-old board and I don't want to mess it up

      How would that mess it up?
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      Computer_Commando



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      ...Once the XP installation and update to SP3 finished on the new drive, I installed drivers for my sound card and then installed Zonealarm firewall (although I hadn't connected the ethernet cable yet)...
      ZoneAlarm is the problem.

      joe3fl



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      It's a driver issue most likely. Why are you not afraid to install sound drivers but afraid to install chipset/ mobo drivers. They are not firmware and won't change the board itself. This explains why your other operating system on a different hard drive works and this doesn't. Install the drivers that came on the CD or d/l updated ones from the manufacturer. Also dump Zonealarm. Try using Microsoft Security Essentials combined with Comodo firewall. None of my clients have a *ware/ virus issue using those.

      ossilix

        Topic Starter


        Rookie

        I don't know, just wanted to make sure it wouldn't.  :-[

        It's a driver issue most likely. Why are you not afraid to install sound drivers but afraid to install chipset/ mobo drivers. They are not firmware and won't change the board itself. This explains why your other operating system on a different hard drive works and this doesn't. Install the drivers that came on the CD or d/l updated ones from the manufacturer. Also dump Zonealarm. Try using Microsoft Security Essentials combined with Comodo firewall. None of my clients have a *ware/ virus issue using those.

        Is there a way I can check to see if the chipset drivers are actually installed on the old HD? If they aren't then I know it's not the chipset drivers that are causing the "cable is unplugged" error.

        Under Device Manager > System Devices, it says "No drivers are installed for this device" for System Board, Numeric Data Processor, Direct Memory Access Controller, Motherboard Resources, Programmable Interrupt Controller, System Speaker, and System Timer.

        Is there another place I should be looking?

        EDIT: I just found a great program DriverMax that lets you export a list of all drivers installed. Unless I'm reading it wrong, it appears no VIA chipset driversa are installed on my old HD either. There's only one VIA driver, and it's for the onboard Ethernet port I don't use - everything else lists "Microsoft" as the company who made the driver that's being used (eg the XP default one). If that's the case, how can the lack of chipset drivers be causing the "cable is unplugged" error?
        « Last Edit: August 04, 2010, 04:30:51 PM by ossilix »

        JJ 3000



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        Why don't you want to install your chipset driver? What do you think it's gonna do?
        Save a Life!
        Adopt a homeless pet.
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        Geek-9pm


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        Why don't you want to install your chipset driver? What do you think it's gonna do?
        Maybe he thinks it promotes tooth decay.
        If that is the case, he can apply a small amount to Colgate tooth paste.

        ossilix

          Topic Starter


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          Why don't you want to install your chipset driver? What do you think it's gonna do?

          I was afraid it would do something to the motherboard that would cause my old hard drive to no longer be able to boot up for some reason.

          Furthermore, if they aren't installed on my old HD and it works fine, why should I need to install them on the new one?

          Sorry people, I don't know anything about this stuff so I'm very cautious. I've had many people tell me to do things that have turned out to be wrong after more research.

          patio

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          Quote
          Furthermore, if they aren't installed on my old HD and it works fine, why should I need to install them on the new one?

          How was this determined ? ?
          " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

          Allan

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          You MUST install the chipset driver for full and proper functionality.