Networking/LAN issues

[3ssence]

I thought i would ask advice on a problem i am having with trying to get my home network/lan working, as many of you have a far greater knowledge than i do on this kind of stuff.



Basically, i want to be able share files and to play LAN games with my brother over the network. I know this should be fairly simple, as in my previous house i was able to do this with my other brother, except this time round everything is not going to plan.

In order to eliminate the possibility of it being the method by which the computers were connecting, i have created the network using wireless, wired connections to the router and a crossover cable between the 2 computers, and neither of these have made any difference.

So, to the problem itself. When creating a home network, i.e. file sharing etc, upon clicking on view workgroup computers on my brothers computer, it seemingly freezes for a while and can't see my pc on the network. Also, it doesn't have any network places, even it's own shared folder doesn't appear under my network places (i think that's correct).

On the gaming front, when i try and create a css server on either his or my pc, the pc will pause at the last stage of the loading and will not progress, unless the network cable/connection is removed, at which point it will complete the loading.

All of the above has been tried with all firewalls etc diabled and enabled and it makes no difference.

I wondered whether it might be an issue with one of the pcs itself, so i added my old xp laptop to the network, and found that my computer and the laptop were able share files just fine, and were able to view the whole workgroup, whilst my brothers computer was not and was not able to share files with the laptop either. Which leads me to believe that it is a specific issue with his computer.

So my question is, within the font of knowledge that is halflife2.net, does anyone have any idea what could be causing this, and in what way may i be able to remedy it ?

Thank you for your time

 

[3ssence]

Not a single person with any advice ?

 

[Dekstar]

I think my mate has the same problem with his Mesh and his new Laptop.

Check the Driver manager to see if your onboard networking drivers are installed. That's all I can think of really. Couldn't get his to work either.

 

[Asus]

Do both of your machines have Windows XP?

On both of your machines right-click on Network Places ->properties then right-click Local Area Connection ->properties. Write down or remember what services are listed under the General tab. Example, Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Print Sharing for MS Networks, NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS etc.

Also go to start->run and type CMD. The command prompt window should be up. Type ipconfig. Your IP Address for both PCs should be under the same IP with the last one different. Such as 192.168.254.10 and 192.168.254.20
You could typing in the command prompt window on your brothers PC ipconfig /release (clears the IP) then type ipconfig /renew (gets a new IP).

If you are behind a router (has a firewall) then you could try disabling the windows XP firewall. But if File and Print sharing was setup correctly on that machine Windows XP Firewall would allow it.

FYI using the crossover cable is probably the best way to test your network atm since it is direct. Removes any network setup variables besides the 2 PCs.

 

[3ssence]

Yah, both pc's have Windows XP.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give the cmd prompt a go and see what i come up with. Have been using a crossover cable, as you say it's the best way to test.

 

[3ssence]

Tried the ipconfig command in the cmd prompt on my pc, but all it said was "windows ip configuration service" or something like that, and nothing else but another cmd prompt.... having said, the 2 pc's weren't attached via crossover at the time, would that make a difference ?

 

[Asus]

Shouldn't make a difference. Did you type it here?
I'm not sure why it wouldn't display the ip and such. Do you have the net drivers installed? Make sure there are no devices that have missing drivers (my computer/ properties/ hardware/ device manager). They would have a yellow icon next to them.

 

[3ssence]

Connected both pc's via crossover cable last night. Bought up the cmd prompt and typed ipconfig, gave me the ip addresses of both pc's, which are completely different, i.e. the first three parts of the ip don't match.

Also tried ipconfig /release which then brought up clear values for the ip, subnet mask etc, then ipconfig /renew, which after a while returned the comment "unable to contact DHCP server, request timed out", or something along those lines. TCP/IP is configured on both pc's to allow automatic ip configuration, so both pc's are DHCP enabled afaik.

Also tried manually configuring the ip's, using the current autoconfigured ip on my pc, and then the same first 3 parts of the ip on my brothers with a different final number, but to no avail.

Quite frustrating

 

[Asus]

What are the first 3 numbers on your brothers PC? Also check to make sure none of the PCs are forcing an IP. If there are forced IPs then i'd write them down so you can put them back in if you need. Right-Click on My Network Places ->Properties then right-click on Local Area Connection ->Properties and highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the list and click the properties button. Most home setups use "Obtain an IP address automatically". Same with DNS. That way the router would be assigning similar IPs to the machines.

 

[3ssence]

Yeah, i've checked those properties, and both pc's are set to obtain ip address automatically. There is no router at present as i'm using the crossover cable between the two pc's. I'm wondering whether i'm going to have to backup and format and re-install windows on his pc.

I'll give all the device drivers a check when i get home to make sure that nothing is missing, and i'll note down the ip of his pc at present.

Thanks for all the help btw

 

[3ssence]

Checked all of the device drivers and there appears to be nothing wrong in that respect.

Also received my details from my new isp prior to the activation of my new connection and setup the router and pcs. Under attached devices it shows both pcs with their ips, with the name of my pc displayed and unknown displayed for my brothers. So i don't know if that helps in anyway to distinguish the problem. Even configuring the ips, subnet mask etc myself (static ips from my isp) the same problem is still present.

I've previously uninstalled and re-installed tcp/ip, windows networking clients etc and that made no difference. I may uninstall and reinstall the networking drivers for my brothers motherboard, but i'd be surprised if that was the problem. Starting to look like a fresh installation is required.

 

[Asus]

Maybe try installing a new network card in there? My brother's setup at one point could connect to the net but wouldn't let us share files. I could see all the PCs on the network but he couldn't. When he bought his new PC he could share just fine. So in that case it was either the setup or the NIC.

 

[3ssence]

Would the network card affect the wireless network as well though ? Because these problems occur regardless of wether i use crossover cable, wired with router, or wireless ? Does sound like a similiar situation to your brothers.