"Network cable unplugged"

T

TheSpoon

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 6, 2004
Messages
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I have an MSI K8N Neo, trying to use nforce3's gigabit lan.

WinXP just says network cable is unplugged and that's it, even though it's plugged in. I was using the same cable with a 10mbit nic two days before. I've installed the latest forceware drivers, updated bios as well. The NIC is detected and all, just says "network cable unplugged". I've tried enabling/disabling the NIC, also tried forcing 100mbit operation...didn't work.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
 
TheSpoon said:
I have an MSI K8N Neo, trying to use nforce3's gigabit lan.

WinXP just says network cable is unplugged and that's it, even though it's plugged in. I was using the same cable with a 10mbit nic two days before. I've installed the latest forceware drivers, updated bios as well. The NIC is detected and all, just says "network cable unplugged". I've tried enabling/disabling the NIC, also tried forcing 100mbit operation...didn't work.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
Click to expand...

does the msi k8n neo have dual lan? If so, does the other lan work?

Any chance it could be the hub / router?

has the gigabit lan ever work for you or is this your first time trying it?

Also, any big changes in your system (install sp2 or something?)
 
DiZASTiX said:
does the msi k8n neo have dual lan? If so, does the other lan work?

Any chance it could be the hub / router?

has the gigabit lan ever work for you or is this your first time trying it?

Also, any big changes in your system (install sp2 or something?)
Click to expand...

the k8n only has 1 nic

the router is fine, i'm writing from another computer connected to the router right now

it is my first time trying the gigabit lan

i'm in a fresh install of winxp
 
TheSpoon said:
i've just put a 100mbit nic in the system, it works with the same cable.
Click to expand...

hmm, when you goto "View Network Connections" in windows does it say 1394 Connection?
 
no, i've intentionally left the firewire disabled in the bios because i don't need it right now.
 
TheSpoon said:
no, i've intentionally left the firewire disabled in the bios because i don't need it right now.
Click to expand...

so what does it say for the network connection?
 
the "type" is "LAN or High-Speed Internet", and the "device name" is "Nvidia nForce Networking Controller"
 
TheSpoon said:
the "type" is "LAN or High-Speed Internet", and the "device name" is "Nvidia nForce Networking Controller"
Click to expand...

thats the same one I am using. Do you get the status lights near the connection when you plug the cable in? Or any lights?
 
where should the light be? there's no light near the plug (nor is there a bulb there, as far as i can tell). the corresponding light in the router does not turn on, btw, when i plug the cable in.
 
TheSpoon said:
where should the light be? there's no light near the plug (nor is there a bulb there, as far as i can tell). the corresponding light in the router does not turn on, btw, when i plug the cable in.
Click to expand...

It should have an orange LED, I think it actually changes colors if somethings going wrong, anyways, you should see the place where the LED should be at the top right of the port if you are looking at your motherboard from the back while it is in the case standing up.

I really want to say that the lan is broken and you should RMA but I don't want to jump to conclusions so soon. I can't think of anything else right now that could be causing the problem but I will be sure to post if I do...

Any [H]ardware or networking gurus out there have any ideas? Im stumped right now... :confused:
 
yeah i know what you mean about the orange LED, i'm typing from another computer that has that orange LED in the back.

anyway, thanks for your help

i don't have another very long cable that i can try (my modem/router is in another room), but i will move the modem to the comp and try a shorter cable.
 
well, tried the other cable with the nforce nic, and surprise surprise, it worked.

gah!

any idea why the old (long) cat5 cable would work with a 100mbit nic but not with the 1gbit nic?
 
Is the cable a Cat5 or a Cat5E?
The minimum standard for a Cat5 is 4 wires.
The minimum standard for a Cat5E is 8wires

In a 100mbps network the other 4 wires are redundant in case the primary 4 fails.
But in a 1000mbit network all 8 wires are utilitzed.

If that cable you have is only 4 wire. Then the onboard lan might have some difficulty working with it. It might be trying to use the other 4 wires that the normal cat5 cable lacks.

See if you can see if the cable in your room and the cable further away and which has 4/8 wires in it. You can tell by lookin in the clear plastic end. In the 4 wire obviously it will look as it is missing a few wires.

A tip for anyone that is going to hook up a network for their house. Don't skimp on the cabling money. It might cost about 20$ more for a 1000ft reel of Cat5e but its definately worth it in the long run because of the gigabit compatibility.

Hope this helps you out.
 
TheSpoon said:
well, tried the other cable with the nforce nic, and surprise surprise, it worked.

gah!

any idea why the old (long) cat5 cable would work with a 100mbit nic but not with the 1gbit nic?
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it is working :)

Jeff said:
Is the cable a Cat5 or a Cat5E?
The minimum standard for a Cat5 is 4 wires.
The minimum standard for a Cat5E is 8wires

In a 100mbps network the other 4 wires are redundant in case the primary 4 fails.
But in a 1000mbit network all 8 wires are utilitzed.

If that cable you have is only 4 wire. Then the onboard lan might have some difficulty working with it. It might be trying to use the other 4 wires that the normal cat5 cable lacks.

See if you can see if the cable in your room and the cable further away and which has 4/8 wires in it. You can tell by lookin in the clear plastic end. In the 4 wire obviously it will look as it is missing a few wires.

A tip for anyone that is going to hook up a network for their house. Don't skimp on the cabling money. It might cost about 20$ more for a 1000ft reel of Cat5e but its definately worth it in the long run because of the gigabit compatibility.

Hope this helps you out.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info, very interesting, never knew that.
 
Yep that's good info Jeff.

Neither of the cables I had was explicitly labelled "CAT5E", but both had 8 wires. Anyway, I picked up a nice long CAT5E cable today and it's working fine. Thanks for your help DiZASTiX and Jeff.
 
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