Odd NIC Issues

And when I say odd, I do mean odd. I am not a hardware guru, nor do I claim to be one, let that be said. (All IPs in this post are fictional to avoid issues with my own network security) Here's the config of my home network. I have ADSL btw. So I have a router/modem -> Speedtouch 510 which is hooked up to a switch (US Robotics 8 port switch) from the switch, it goes to my comp (internal IP statically set to 10.0.0.150) and then to an ancient laptop for mom (static IP 10.0.0.151). Gateways are set to the internal IP of my router, DNS is manually entered to be the DNS servers of my ISP on both computers. The Router runs a DHCP server, for some ODD reason, I don't really know the use of it though. And apparently the router also is a DNS server (can someone explain to me how to go about to set up the router for the optmized results?) This setup works like a charm the way it is, I can log in through CLI on the router, web based interface and through FTP. I read somewhere I can set it up as firewall, but I don't know if it is possible - I do have NAPT enabled and PnP.

Now here's the issue. It has happened twice and restored itself on its own, all it requires me to do is shut down the comp, and let it sit for a few and then boot up (after meddling in the NIC config).

It just happens to change the IP assigned to the NIC on it's own, only on MY comp not the laptop. So all settings are erased, when I then try to change the settings back to what they were when working, the NIC interface (properties in win) freezes up, when I then try to kill the process, explorer.exe dies on me. Just changing options works, but the applying (closing the properties windows) doesn't work and the app freezes. You'd say broken NIC, right? But then why does it fix itself? Because it happened again tonight, and I was offline with this comp for 3 hrs. And now it's working fine again.

This issue completely baffles me, confuses me. I have done everything I know but reformat, which I will do as soon as I get my new HardDrive (250GB 16MB buffer Maxtor Sata drive )

Does anyone have any idea what causes this?

Oh, it's the NIC embedded on the motherboard, MSI K8N Neo Platinum, so it's an Nvidia nForce 3 250Gb Chipset

 

 

 

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

I'm not realy a network guru, but try changing the DNS server setting to the one of your router (that's how it's here at home and it works like a charm ).

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

That's the thing, I couldn't change any settings without freezing up the interface to change it :| It's rather annoying. LOL. Though I am considering doing that.

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

Have you had any viruses or spyware?

Sometimes they can affect your network connections, in which the only way would be to reinstall the component that is failing.

Could uninstall your network card, and reboot and have it reinstalled.

Also, onboard NICs do fail easily, you'd be surprised by the number of them that do fail. Even though it may work sometimes, it's probably just showing it's last legs before something major happens.

Also which drivers are you using, probably in this case I would go with the vendor's latest drivers from their website, and if it still continues, switch to MS generic ones.

Since it freezes while trying to configure it, I'm thinking it's something with a windows component not working correctly, but that's just my hunch, there's other things that may seem unrelated like the power supply etc that can also cause problems.


Cheers,


MC

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

have you tried with a different NIC?

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)

Haven't tried a different NIC, I was going to get one, but then this one started working again - so I didn't bother. Also my comp is scanned every other day for virusses, trojans, spyware etc. I am kinda anal about that. So that's all ok. My drivers have recently been updated, my bios should be up to date even. So I don't know.

Adding to this :

I have the latest BIOS 2.10, all drivers are up to date as can be. But I found that many others have suffered the same faith and that the issue *is* Chipset related.

Chipset : nVidia nForce 3 250Gb -

The solution could be a) entering your MAC address statically into your BIOS (should be located on a sticker near the ethernet outlet - but then on the inside of the case) or clear yous CMOS, by using or the clear CMOS button on the motherboard or setting the jumper JBAT1 to clear (you will find how to do this and where JBAT1 is located in your manual that came with your motherboard)

 

 

 

Comment/Reply (w/o sign-up)