Did ECS K8M800M2's onboard network die?

Some things to check. First, is whatever goes on the _other_ end of the cable OK? Second, inspect the connector on the machine with a good light and a magnifier and make sure that nothing has gotten lodged in it or bent. Third, look inside the machine with that same magnifier and good light and make sure nothing metal has fallen on the circuit traces--check the entire board, not just near the network connector. Also blow it out with canned air and turn the machine so that the motherboard is facing down and slap the back a few times and see if anything dislodges. While you've got the machine open, plug a cable into the network port and make sure that there is continuity from the traces on the motherboard to the contacts at the other end of the cable--I've seen the wires in the jack get bent just enough that they don't line up with the grooves in the plug and so don't make contact with the cable, or there might be a bad solder joint. If none of those reveal any problems then odds are that the port has died.

I will have to check later.

The motherboard isn't that old so no dust to blow out yet. :)

OK. Will look at those too.

Noise? Not that I know of. I have an APC UPS and didn't hear any beeps. I assume it can detect those noises. Thunderstorms? Nope. Static electricity, maybe -- how can I determine that?

Yes. The network light between the EPS motherboard and the router: The router's light for that cable was not on. However, I did notice the green light on the motherboard near the network jack. It is ALWAYS on regardless if cable is connected or disconnected. Maybe a clue?

It is quite possible your port died :( but they usually don't do that without reason. (MS-Windows is not viewed by all as sufficient reason :) Was there any electrical noise going on at the time? A nearby thunderstorm? Static electricity from dry carpet?

Does the router port still work with that Powerbook? Router ports are also known to die. How are the link-lights on both ends?

-- Robert

I meant blow out the connector but I see I wasn't clear.

Thinking about it further, I meant blow out both the connector and the board, the board because if there's a screw or nut or wire end or little snipped of tinfoil or anything shorting a couple of traces it may be hard to see, but blowing it out may dislodge it.

Do you throw sparks indoors? Could you or someone else have thrown one near your network?

If that router port works for other equipment, but not the PC even though it once did, I'd say your PC port died.

-- Robert

Someone suggested this in a MS newsgroup

"I had this happen a few times. The fix for me was to shut down and unplug the main power cord to take all power from the computer for about 10 sec. Boot up and works fine. I thought my on board was shot too but that got it going. Had to do it maybe 2 times in the last year."

I do turn the system off when I don't use it for hours, but do not remove the power from plug. That probably explains why I still see a green light on my network card when the system is off as well.

I tried that idea for 30 seconds. I even turned off with the PSU switch. I powered the system back on, and it worked!! Woah! What the heck? Why did this work?

snipped-for-privacy@zimage.com wrote:

sudden Windows XP

onboard network

and they had no

Ethernet Adapter

them helped or

wireless USB network

powered the system

Because the drivers are poorly written, and do not fully initialize the network chip. Some bit is set to zero on power-up, when it gets set to one the chip doesn't work, and the driver doesn't bother to clear it. Therefore it won't work till it gets a full power cycle. Happens all the time in these days of careless programming, limited testing, and "time-to-market" trumping all else.

Glad you got it sorted out!

powered the system

Intereting. I might had spoke too soon. After 30 minutes of usage, the network device lost the cable connection. Had to repeat. Right now, I am trying low speed (10BaseT Half Duplex). So far, it seems to be working after two hours. We'll see... All I have to say VIA network sucks!

(snip)

issues, then they

cause problems.

Mispaired cables will often work at 10baseT speed and fail at 100baseTX.

It MUST be that pins 1 and 2 are a twisted pair and pins 3 and 6 another twisted pair. If you didn't wire them that way, such as by using one of the standard pinouts then it is likely that they are wrong.

-- glen

Perhaps. Is your cabling good Cat5 factory crimps?

-- Robert

Umm, no. They're homemade (add jacks, cut cables and wires, etc). If they had issues, then they wouldn't work on other computers' network cards. Beside I tried multiple cables.

So far, lower speed seems to be holding my cable. I wonder why faster speed cause problems.

had issues, then they

cause problems.

My previous motherboards and other computers had and have no problems with these cables. So, I highly doubt it is cable problems. I think network interface just sucks. :(

powered the system

device lost the

Half Duplex). So far,

network sucks!

OK. This is ONE crazy network card. I had another disconnection while playing World of Warcraft, BUT it wasn't an unplugged network cable error like before. It seems to have forgotten how to connect. That was like after 10 hours of no problems.

I still had an IP address, but couldn't ping anyone including my router. ipconfig /release resulted saying my network card wasn't there. Repair didn't work either. Disabling and re-enabling network card didn't fix it. And what's funny is that it was at 100 Mb/sec speed even though I told it to use 10 Mb/sec. I set 100 Mb/sec, it said 10 Mb/sec! Ehhh, weird.

I had to use the damn PSU power off and on method to make it work. Piece of crap. I need to get get a NIC. Ugh. Do VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapters suck or something?

I powered the system

network device lost the

Half Duplex). So far,

network sucks!

World of Warcraft,

forgotten how to

ipconfig /release

Mb/sec speed even

crap. I need to get

FYI.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 5:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-5B-FD-68-B5 Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.123 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 209.244.0.3 207.217.77.4

E:\\>ipconfig /release

Windows IP Configuration

The operation failed as no adapter is in the state permissible for this operation.

E:\\>ipconfig /renew

Windows IP Configuration

The operation failed as no adapter is in the state permissible for this operation.

Only way to fix this was shut down the computer and turn off the PSU.

Which way are you wiring, T-568A or -B?

Work is a relative term with split pairs. They fail in funny [non-predictible] ways. A stronger/better transceiver will tolerate/reject more of the noise they get.

Two words: split pairs. Electrons may well be color blind, but they know who their dance [twist] partners are!

-- Robert

No idea. I didn't make them -- my friend did. In case you missed it, turning off computer competely with the power cord disconnected/PSU off and turning back on, will make the network work again. I think the onboard network is locking up and not resetting. I never had this problem with any computers and laptops.

So ask him/her. Either they know about T-568A & -B or they almost certainly did it wrong, splitting a pair. The correct wiring is counter-intuitive. The two intuitive patterns (side-by-side and USOC) both result in splitting a two pairs, one of which is used by 10baseT/100baseTX.

Split pairs on short cables can definitely cause these types of marginal/intermittant faults. As can wrong plugs or movement of plugs crimpled on solid cable. Correctly crimping plugs is an advanced art, but the failures aren't always immediate.

Look carefully through the plastic plug at the individual wires. What order are the colors in? But it can be extremely hard to tell the blue/white from the green/white, which is the usual DIY error.

-- Robert