networking anomalie

I would just like to eliminate a few things here. Firstly, we know it is not the router as your other machines can transfer the files. Do the other puters have win98 on them as well? Are there any error messages? I am suspecting it has to do with the stack size on the win98 box where the file is supposed to go to. I have read a similar article in the MS knowledge base regarding DEC routers and how a machine was missing a parameter in the tcp/ip settings in the registry but win98 does not have this setting. For the record though it is article Q128797.
Please provide a bit more detail if you can...ie....size of file.
Thanks and good luck

Mike

One possible workaround for you is to use a download manager, like getright (www.getright.com).

It might be a hardware related problem.
Ping your pc from one of the others with a large buffer size (the -l switch) put it in a loop (-t or -n) andsee if you get errors. If you do, then it might lead you to your problem. Cable, NIC etc. At the command line type ping /? for a list of ping options.
Good luck

Has it always been this way or did it just start? I have seen this happen on many instances most of the time it will have something to do with that they call the MTU.

Short for Maximum Transmission Unit, the largest physical packet size, measured in bytes, that a network can transmit. Any messages larger than the MTU are divided into smaller packets before being sent.

Every network has a different MTU, which is set by the network administrator. On Windows 95, you can also set the MTUof your machine. This defines the maximum size of the packets sent from your computer onto the network. Ideally, you want the MTU to be the same as the smallest MTU of all the networks between your machine and a message's final destination. Otherwise, if your messages are larger than one of the intervening MTUs, they will get broken up (fragmented), which slows down transmission speeds.

Trial and error is the only sure way of finding the optimal MTU, but there are some guidelines that can help. For example, the MTU of many PPP connections is 576, so if you connect to the Internet via PPP, you might want to set your machine's MTU to 576 too. Most Ethernet networks, on the other hand, have an MTU of 1500, which is the default MTU settingfor Windows 95.

Have you made the recommended changes to your PC by going through the tweak test on www.dslreports.com . Once you use the utilities on this site it should resolve your problem. If you have any further questions please contact me.

This appears to be a copy of a previously answered question.
The answer was replace the NIC card.

I agree with DKlippert. Try installing a new NIC. Those can indeed act strange when they start to fail.

Maxwell

I third the motion for trying a new card. My guess is your card is going bad. I've run into this numerous times but in only two situations.

1) the original card is an el-cheapo like a linksys or d-link 10/100 card and is just starting to die or 2) your card was electrically damaged and is dying (i.e. power surge without UPS to handle the spike or working on your system without properly grounding yourself.)

Before replacing the NIC I would go with software solutions. First 98SE with PPoE needs this patch http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q243/1/99.ASP
Second if you still have problems.
Is your MaxMTU set to 1492 or less (1460 is ideal and 1500 with PPoE will drop lots of packets)? HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetTrans\0000,0001 etc.
You can download a utility to alter these settings. http://www.dslreports.com/front/drtcp.html
Try setting TCP Receive Window (RWIN) to 32767 or 65535. Reboot for changes to take effect.

Change the NIC?

I have to agree with the majority of the answers. I too have had a NIC card fail when transmitting large types of files in a network environment. Do you have any software for the NIC card that will test it. If you do not try the manufactures site to find one. I would go ahead and replace the NIC card in the machine.

I am running substantially the same system (change Linksys to Netgear) and I had the same problem. In the course of troubleshooting I removed the nic and all drivers. then reinstalled with default settings. Problem gone! Exactly why I don't know, I don't keep as good of records on my tweaks as I should. Obviously one of my performance "enhancements" must have been the culprit.

Replace the NIC, if you don't have the money, try removing card. Reboot computer then shut back down. This clears the drivers. Then reinstall the nic card with lates drivers. If it still acts funky, put nic under shoe and buy another NIC.

I agree with all of those who point to the NIC, but the cable to the NIC is also suspect as are poorly-made connections. I once found a 40-foot section of cable on a 1000-foot roll that was poorly twisted and thus noise sensitive (flourescent lights, stereo systems, etc.) I have had the same problem with long un-twisted leads at the RJ45 connector. Thus I carry a known-good patch cable in my bag to try before swapping the NIC. General rule of diagnostics is to try the simplest fixes first.

I agree with the NIC answers and the cable too. First swap out the cable...test. If that fails go back to the old cable. Then remove NIC and reinstall...test. If that fails try another NIC (If you don't have an extra use one from another machinebefore you buy one, if your like me you hate to spend money unless the solution is golden)...and test.

I have had a very similar problem on several occasions. It was never solved by any amount of software tweaking. On one occasion it was the NIC, on another the cable installer had draped over a twin fluorescent fitting, another was caused by poor connections in the wall box and lastly a poorly crimped cable

I have come across this problem when there was not enough disk space on the C: to hold the file. Even if you have selected another drive to hold the data, Windows will create a temp file on the C: until it is completely transfered. Without the space, the download will fail, hang or corrupt the file.

You may also want to check how many MAC address the Linksys will hold. It my be that it wll only hold two at any given time. I have seen this Erratic behavior, it may seem trivial but it?s worth a look

Regards

Hello, Let's hit the vital point first then verify the behavior. 1- check space on your hard drives. 2 make sure that you did not activate the firewall file size option on your LinkSys setup, 3 verify that the firewall options did not stop the HTTP/UDP on the port 80. I can asure you that this problem is not a related to you windows or your computer. for a fact just try to copy a large file form one of the computers. It is not your NIC card because it is not at the low level communications that you are having a problem.
Now that we suspect the setting of your LinkSys. Try to review the setting else it will be due to your provider. Why I m saying that! very simple. On your 3 computer try to dowload the same XMB file if it passes on 1 it will pass on all. else it will fail on all. What is the common thing between these computer the file the connection. which means this is the source of the problem. So find a new big file and download it. it won't on the 3. then I m right it is the connection.
I have been in your shoes for quit some time. I can not transfer files using my msn. and I have solved it by reviewing my firewall setup.
good luck

I recently had an Intel Pro100 NIC with very similar problem. I downloaded a flash update for the card and it cured the problem. I would agree that you have a NIC issue.

If your NIC's are the same on the 3 different PC's, you can uninstall two, swap them, then reinstall. If the problem crops up on the original NIC in the other PC, then you're sure it's the NIC.

I doubt it's the cable unless it's crimped or running along EMF routes, otherwise you would have problems connecting as well as being disconnected.

One other thing to check to get it working (until you ideally replace the NIC) is if the card is dual speed, change from auto-negotiate to what ever speed the other two PC's are running at. I have seen this on several NIC's, different brands.

Please post a comment or reply letting us know the solution that worked for you.

If using IE check TOOLS -> Internet Options -> General -> (Temporary Internet Files) Settings, You may not have enough disk space allocated with current temporary internet files to create a file over 500K. Also with Win 98 may have exceeded Maximumnumber of files in a directory, causing system degradation slow file access times for the last entry in the directory. Clean out the Temp Folder and/or increase disk space allocation.

Hi,

If the other PC's do not have download problems I suggest you take a closer look at the NIC drivers on the PC that is giving problems. Remove all NIC drivers, run all SP's again, reboot the PC and be sure that all network related stuff is removed after that put in another NIC and reinstall you NIC drivers.

This same question was posted on May 17,thread_id 845288,which was accepted,by following the suggestion to change the - NIC card

So,the question is did this not work or a repost to find a solution?

The question is worded exactly as May 17th

This question should be closed.

On the affected computer take out all of the settings in the "Network Configuration" screen and reload and reconfigure them.

Does the problem occur when you *send* files from the PC in question as well?

I would approach this by using a packet sniffer. You can get a GREAT free one at www.ethereal.com

Install it on your machine and watch the data when downloading. Look for dropped packets, crc errors, etc. It will show you what's "on the wire". From here you can narrow down the problem - most likely as the others have said - being a defective network card. There are other possibilites though...flow control settings, duplex settings etc. So review your software and hardware settings, watch what happens when the error occurs (with a packet sniffer) then take the appropriate action from there. You may want to check out www.packet-level.com if you aren't familiar with network analysis. They have great books, white papers, guides, etc.

Good luck!

Before changing anything, this is a NIC problem alright, however perhaps there is no need to change it. Do my a favor and look for recent drivers for the card. I've had this problem many times before and it was always because of a bad driver. Eitherre-install the driver or download a more recent version of it. If that doesn't work then by all means please replace the NIC.

Giacomo

Replace the NIC, reinstall the OS (formating the disk), and reinstall the network services. It can't fail!

Jose P Mir
jpm@jpmir.net

It appears that this question was answered in the "nic" of time. How about closing it with a second nic.

Here a nic, there a nic.....everywhere a nic nic....

nic nacks are really a pain in the nick, aren't they?

look at all the NIC-romanicas here..

I'd say I'm more of a NIC-romancer. (I love networking)

;)

nic
cable
port on switch

Wonder if this question will be closed before old Saint Nic visits....bringing networking hardware to all the good system admins?

Time to throw my 2 cents in.

Have you checked the cache and virtual memory settings on the W98 box?

It is possible that the drive is too full to deal with large files.
You need at least 2X the file size as free space.

Chas

a

My guess is that the problem relates to MTU. I think that W98 MTU is optimised for LAN connections but not dialup/broadband. My suggetion is to find out the MTU for your DSL connection and optimise W98 to this. Theres plenty of free tools that will allow you adjust you MTU without manually editing the registry.