network problems.. PC experts please help...

[V]

ok im still in the dark with whats going on. Im trying to network my two comps. So far from everyone I talked to, it should be possible, i just probably wont be able to acess info on computer 1 from computer 2.
Heres the rundown.. computer 1 is my main computer running windows XP, computer 2 is running windows 98. Computer 1 has an internet connection. Both comps have ethernet cards or whatever. I am using a net gear fast ethernet switch. The cables are new. I wanna share files between the 2 comps, basically just taking files from comp 2.

I hooked everything up when i first got it. after like 5 minutes i got it to work and i was able to access the internet from computer 2(comp 1 has the main connection) but since then, i have not been able to get the 2 computers to connect again.

when it tries to connect it says "acquiring network address" then comes back saying "limited or no connectivity" Brandon helped me check one thing. i did the ipconfig command on both comps. comp 1 came back fine, but comp 2 came up with the IP address :0.0.0.0, and the same for the subnet mask. Also under details while trying to connect, comp 1 shows IP address and subnet as 0.0.0.0 "assigned by DCHP"...whatever that means.

My question is what do i do now? lol, im so lost. I have 3 hard drives in comp 2 with files on them that i want. and the modem in that comp got fried by lightning and i dont feel like replacing it a 3rd time. it also doesnt have a cd burner so all copying of files would ahve to be onto a diskette and id rather not do that either.

[Brando56894]

hmmm, the switch most likely has a web interface for it, there you can enable/disable dhcp and all that good stuff. like i said try and find that manual, but if you cant you might be able to set the IPs manually if windows feels like co-operating (dont hold your breath). i have no idea on how to set on under 98 since i havent used it in ages (try finding the network card in the control panel or something like that and going to properties) with XP ill give you the basic run down of it, some of the other guys are gonna have to clear up the stuff i screw up cuz im doing this all from memory (i havent had windows on my computer since september) ok here it goes:

right click on 'My Computer'
Click Properties and select the device manager tab
Find your ethernet card in the list, it'll be under Network devices
Click Properties and it will be under one of those tabs

now the ip addresses for both of the computers should be 192.168.1.something (anything above 2 here will work, 1 is usually the switch/router) and the subnet should be 255.255.255.0

if i was there it would ALOT easier, it would also be easier (for me to help you) if i was on a windows box but windows=teh SuX0R :lol:

justin maybe u can help him more then me, i never was really that good with network stuff... i could ask my friend/cousin brandon (im serious :lol: we found out we were cousins beginning of sr year, it was freaky) if he could help you, hes awesome with network stuff.

[GP99GT]

id be willing to bet that its Windows 98 screwing things up. every computer thats running 98 that ive tried to connect to an XP-based network has never worked for me. have you tried putting everything back to the way it was and make sure your XP computer can still access the internet?

[jims69camaro]

why not install winXP on the second computer? that would certainly solve your connectivity issues.

the only other way to access the other computer would be to disconnect it from the switch, buy a crossover cable and connect the two computers via the ethernet cards. winXP will handle that, you won't have to install winXP on the second computer and i think you can get a crossover cable for like $10.

of course, those more knowledgable on networking might have a better solution for you, but i don't think win98 will work - or it will work intermittently, kind of like when it wants to. :shrug:

[Brando56894]

why not install winXP on the second computer?

its a piece of crap, paul told me himself. old computers dont like XP, if the computer was made before say 2001 XP wont install on it.

the only other way to access the other computer would be to disconnect it from the switch, buy a crossover cable and connect the two computers via the ethernet cards. winXP will handle that, you won't have to install winXP on the second computer and i think you can get a crossover cable for like $10.

yea that could work too, or you could just make one if you had an old cable laying around and a crimper (which i doubt he has :lol: ) but even with a crossover you still have to give each pc an ip address

and im sure 99% sure that 98 is the one causing the problems since they work on different "platforms" 95-ME are more "single computer based" Oses (not meant for networking) while 2000-2003/XP pro are made to be used on a network since theyre based off of NT 4.1 (XP is also known as NT 5.0, its called that somewhere in the OS)

i think the harddrive swapping idea would most likely be the easiest, that is if windows wants to play nice with them. one of my friends old HDDs wasnt being read on his computer for some odd reason, we tried to install XP and it wouldnt take it, so we reinstalled 2000 Pro and it still wouldnt read the HDD. so i used a recovery thing to make sure everything was still there and it was. so instead of using the command line to copy all the files, i brought it home and connected it to my pc, that just screwed everything up since 1) i dont have windows installed (GRUB wouldnt load, kept giving me error 21) 2) i had a regular drive connected (Parallel ATA) and a SATA drive connected. so what im trying to say is as long as you only connect one additional drive at at time it could possibly work, youd just have to set the harddrive you're swapping in to slave. this is done by the jumpers on the back of the drive. there should be a little chart or something near the jumper that says what pins to place the jumper on to make it into a slave.

m or mstr=master (main drive)
s or slv or something liek that=slave (secondary drive)
csl=cable select (depening on where you put the drive on the IDE cable determines whether its master or slave)

and just as a side note, SATA drives dont have these designations ;)

[GP99GT]

if a crossover cable will connect a Win98 pc and an XP pc, then id say thats easiest, unless you know how to take apart a computer (swapping in the hard drive.)

[Brando56894]

agreed, but you still have to assign them ip addresses

[jims69camaro]

if the win98 computer is the only thing connected, why does it need an IP address? i would think winXP would be intelligent enough to know that if there is only one of something then that must be the something that i want. and, further, if the win98 computer is the only piece on the network, then why wouldn't win XP be able to assign it an address?

no, i've never tried it.

hardware swapping is the lowest cost involved, so that will most likely not work. ;) computers usually sense when you are trying to get over on the retail stores. seriously, i would give that a try. just unplug your secondary drive from the winXP computer and substitute one of the three drives from the win98 computer. turn it back on and transfer to your heart's content.

[Brando56894]

if the win98 computer is the only thing connected, why does it need an IP address? i would think winXP would be intelligent enough to know that if there is only one of something then that must be the something that i want. and, further, if the win98 computer is the only piece on the network, then why wouldn't win XP be able to assign it an address?

sadly, its not that easy and windows wasnt but with common sense in mind :lol: everything on the internet needs an ip address

[V]

hmmm this is all complicated. i think to get it to work, someone would actually need to come here and mess around with it.

or in the long run, i could just buy a cheap modem, throw it in again, upload the files to email and open them on my good comp.

[Brando56894]

i think the harddrive swapping would actually be the easiest if windows wants to cooperate, besides that way you dont have to spend any money :)

[jims69camaro]

that's if he feels comfortable swapping drives and has a wrist strap.

[Brando56894]

i rarely ever use a wrist strap, and the only thing i eve had die on me unexpedly was a maxtor DM+9 but thats cuz maxtor HDDs are crap...

paul go to run then type in command and then in the command window type in this: ping 127.0.0.1

and post up what it says. you dont need to post up all four of the outputs just one of them will do

[Tru2Chevy]

I dont' use a strap either....just ground myself on the case often, and don't walk around much when assembling a box. I keep everything laid out around me.

- Justin

[GP99GT]

i still have a maxtor HD from my old packard bell like 8 years ago (its a 4.3 gig)...its sitting in my closet but the last time i used it it worked, which was probably a couple years ago. Western Digital can lick my sack, they suck, ive had at least 4 of them die on me in less than 4 years. Seagate FTW

[Tru2Chevy]

I've always had good luck with WD. Do you have any type of HD cooler on them? They tend to run warm....

- Justin

[jims69camaro]

i have both WD and maxtor drives in my computer. the WD is coming up with bad sectors daily, now, but it's 8 years old already.

[Brando56894]

I've always had good luck with WD. Do you have any type of HD cooler on them? They tend to run warm....

- Justin


nah no coolers but i have been thinkin about gettin them. both of the drives run hot as hell, i remember when i had a hdd temp monitor running in windows the thing would always bitch that my maxtor drive was too hot (i think around 100 * C, prolly even warmer now since linux never lets the damn things spin down!) yea ive had my WD 800JB in my computer ever since i built it back in 01 or 02 i thought my second maxtor DM+9 was gonna crap out on me like a month or two ago cuz it would just randomly spin down (even when it was in use!) then spin back up like 30 secs to 2 mins later, i took the hint and backed up my stuff. i was suprised its actually still running...

[Tru2Chevy]

Yes, get a cooler, or even just make some ducting from one of your case fans. That's what I did with my front case fan, it blows directly up onto the bottom of my WD now. Keeps it nice and cool.

See pics here: http://home.comcast.net/~tru2chevy/He4ther.html

The page is ancient, specs need updating and all, but the pics still show the modded case fan holder in the front of the box.

- Justin

[V]

I dunno if this matters, but well the power went out last night and both my machines shut down. Today when i turned my main one back on, i looked at the Fast ethernet switch and the power light was one and only one of the port indicator lights was on. The one that was off was my good comp. as soon as i turned my good comp on, the 2nd indicator light lit up for it. But why is the other port light on then if that comp is shut off too? shouldnt it be off as well until i turn it on? If i unplug the cable from the 2nd comp, the port light goes out. I dunno if this will make any difference but i thought id mention it.

[V]

i did "ping 172.0.0.1" on both comps, this is what i got.
main comp: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
2nd comp: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128

[Brando56894]

Yes, get a cooler, or even just make some ducting from one of your case fans. That's what I did with my front case fan, it blows directly up onto the bottom of my WD now. Keeps it nice and cool.

See pics here: http://home.comcast.net/~tru2chevy/He4ther.html

The page is ancient, specs need updating and all, but the pics still show the modded case fan holder in the front of the box.

- Justin


how sweet you named your computers heather and heidi :rofl:


hmm ok, the card or anything isnt screwed up. ill ask my friend what to do next

[V]

just for ****s and giggles i tried plugging the one cable directly into the other computer. on the main comp it just said "network cable unplugged" i then plugged it bakc into the fast ethernet switch and it automatically tried conencting again.( i dunno if that means anything but i thought id share)

[V]

ok, i have a litle more info. i was messing around with the TCP settings and such and specified IP addresses, i used the same one on both comps to see what would happen. well the comps are somewhat connected, enough to tell me that there was a ip conflict now. so at least they can communicate. i treid other ip addresses but nothing worked, i dont know if i need a specific address. but anyways, when i had the same addresses, and i checked the status of the LAN about "packets" sent and recieved. this was the first time it actually recieved anythign back, soooo something is goign on. i think with the right configuration and IP addresses, subnet mask, gateway etc., it should work fine. Basically someone know know what they are doing would have to be here in person and set it up i think. Should i call Geek Squad? lol

[Brando56894]

nah the geek sqaud is right here, plus they would prolly charge you out the ass. see what the gateway address and the subnet mask are on the xp computer and copy those over to the 98 computer. the gateway should be like 192.168.1.xx or something like that. post up what they are

[Tru2Chevy]

how sweet you named your computers heather and heidi :rofl:

No no - He4ther and H3idi....D3lia isn't pictured (one of the laptops).

- Justin

[jims69camaro]

:geek:

[Brando56894]

:stupid: its official justin is the biggest geek here

[Tru2Chevy]

:stupid: its official justin is the biggest geek here


:w00t: I r teh win!!!

- Justin