Ping, Amiga<>PC LAN, dual Ethernet cards, filesharing probs & fixes

[ChaosLord]

I had a perfectly working LAN between my PC with WindowsXP SP2 using builtin ethernet port and my A1200T OS 3.9 with Samba (Mediator PCI Ethernet card)

Then I got DSL so I had to disconnect the LAN cable so that I could connect the DSL modem.

Ever since that day, no matter what I do, I can't get my LAN reconnected  :bigcry:

I currently have 2 ethernet ports in my PC.  1 is the built in one.  The other is a new PCI Ethernet card.  They both work perfectly.  I know because I have been online thru both ports.

So I figure there must be some secret setting in XP that flipped itself and I need to flip it back?

The Amiga was not moved or tampered with in any way.

Anything I should check?

[ChaosLord]

Of course they are in the same workgroup!
How else would my LAN have worked all that Time? :crazy:

I am not using DHCP.
Each computer has its own static IP address.  Just as it always has.

I am not using a router.

The 2 machines are connected Directly together via a crossed Ethernet Cable which is still new.  I just bought it a few months ago.

As I said; it was working perfectly, now it is not.

The only thing that changed was ... I setup for DSL which uses a stupid PPPoE connection thing... so in the process of setting that up I think maybe something in XP got turned off.  I have noticed that XP changes settings without my permission sometimes.

Any ideas?

[ChaosLord]

Piru wrote:

@ChaosLord

Of course they are in the same workgroup!
How else would my LAN have worked all that Time?

Just fine.

The only thing that wouldn't work would be the samba connection. Ping, and every other network connection between the computers would still work.

Anyway, regarding the problem: One possibility is that the XP firewall has for some reason figured that your system must be blocked. Try temporarily disabling the firewall and see if you can ping then.

My Windows XP firewall has never been on.  I don't trust it.

When you say 'disable' do you mean clicking the OFF button?
(it always has been off)

I do use Kerio Personal Firewall... ok I disabled it.  I still can not ping.  BTW it is excessively dangerous to turn off the firewall while online with Verizon DSL.

[ChaosLord]

Piru wrote:
Anyway, you should try isolating the problem a bit. Try connecting the amiga to some other system or the DSL directly (if only possible), and see if that works. It helps if you can rule out some hardware from the equation...

Yes good idea!

...

but one small problem...

Verizon DSL sux and requires PPPoE.  So I would need a PPPoE client for Amiga. (preferably for Miami)

I had my A1200T on DSL in my old Apartment since 2000 but that was using SBC DSL which is super ez to connect to.  Just plug it in and go.  I never should have switched to Verizon.

[ChaosLord]

Piru wrote:
@ChaosLord

Alternatively if you have some 2nd pc you could try replacing the amiga with it and see if that works (just remember to config the static ip to one used in amiga 1st).

hmmm.... interesting idea!!!!!!!

It just so happens that Santa Claus dropped a brand new Linspire PC in my closet. :-D

Is it easy to config Linspire TCP/IP settings?

[ChaosLord]

My gateway is 192.168.1.2
That setting is the same on all Ethernet cards including Miami.

Is it ok to use that address?

[ChaosLord]

Ok I hotswapped the DSL Modem cable out of the PC and plugged it into my A1200T.  Then I pinged the modem.  It works!

This proves that my Amiga+Mediator+PCI Ethernet card all work great!

So the trouble is either:
A: Windows XP is blocking pings and all other communication to/from my Amiga.

B: My brand new crossed ethernet cable has suddenly gone bad.

 :-?

[ChaosLord]

uncharted wrote:
I know you said you weren't using it, but check your Windows firewall settings anyway.  I've found that occasionally Windows likes to reconfigure itself.

I have checked it many times over the last few days.
It always says it is in the "OFF (Not Recommended)" position.

[ChaosLord]

orange wrote:
have you tried "route print" to check it?
there was a registry hack to enable xp to function as a router, but I'm not sure you would need that..
the problem is probably in gateway, test that..

How do I test my gateway?!?!

I thought it was just some made up IP# that didn't really exist?

I donno what a gateway is.  I have heard it has something to do with cows that go 'moo'.  :-D

[ChaosLord]

Zac67 wrote:
What's the setup, really? You say, you pinged your modem - a DSL modem usually has no IP; sounds more like a router.

It is a DSL Modem with a router secretly built-in to screw up P2P networks.  So I went in and disabled the routing.  It is now a pure DSL Modem.

Does the modem/router have only one LAN port or more than one?

It has only 1 Ethernet port.

How do you connect Amy, PC and 'Modem'? Is there some Hub/Switch in between?

No hubs and no switches.

The DSL Modem is irrelevant since it is not involved in my Amiga<->PC LAN but since you asked :-)

The current setup is:
DSL Modem connects to PC via an Ethernet cable to a PCI EThernet card in slot 2.

Amiga and PC are connected via a crossed Ethernet cable from the Amiga's PCI Ethernet card to the PC's builtin Ethernet connector.

Its a direct connection so that nothing can go wrong, it can't be hacked and is 100% secure.

A crossover cable is only good for connecting exactly two NICs, if you've got more devices you need a hub/switch. The port LEDs must light up when something's hooked up.

 They do light up perfectly and they connect at the correct speed.

Forget about routing for a minute, if the hosts can't ping each other everything else is in vain.

That is why I don't have a router :-)

Something like:
Router: 192.168.0.1, mask 255.255.255.0
Amy: 192.168.0.2, mask 255.255.255.0
PC: 192.168.0.3, mask 255.255.255.0
should work.

My setup is very similar.  But I have no router.

If you can't ping the PC, ping Amy from Windoze. Look at the ARP table to see if the IP could be resolved to the physical MAC address ('arp -c').

C:\Documents and Settings\James>arp -a 192.168.1.101
No ARP Entries Found

No matter what I do it says "No ARP Entries Found"

[ChaosLord]

I do not want to share the internet connection.

I have no need for that.

I just want my LAN to work.  That is all.

[ChaosLord]

Zac67 wrote:
Hmm,

could be a problem in the NWAY negotiation - manually configuring both sides to exactly the same parameters (e.g. 10 Mbps full duplex) should take care of that. Have you swapped the cable? Little chance, but they do break at times.

Not yet, I must buy new ones first.

Are the connect LEDs lit on both sides?

Yes

Is there any activity on the opposite side when you try to ping?

No.  None.

[ChaosLord]

Amiga - 192.168.1.101
PC =    192.168.1.102

Those numbers have worked since around 2000

[ChaosLord]

AmiGR wrote:

It is a DSL Modem with a router secretly built-in to screw up P2P networks. So I went in and disabled the routing. It is now a pure DSL Modem.

A router is never "secretly built-in to screw up P2P networks", it's there so that you can hook up more than one machine to the internet. You need to configure it, to use P2P networks.

1. You have obviously never dealt with Verizon.

2. YES it IS secretly a router.
  A. They did not tell me it is a router.
  B. It has only 1 Ethernet connector so it looks just like a normal modem.
  C. Their tech support hung up on me rather than tell me if the modem secretly had a router or not.

3. Absolutely nothing worked on it at first.  Not ftp, not irc /dcc send/get/recv, not p2p games, everything was broken except for viewing the web.  That is because it is a router and was hiding me behind a FAKE IP# so nothing could work!

4. Verizon is owned by some big media corp. (read movie studios) and they hate p2p ppl sharing movies.

5. Their router "accidentally" crashes when using p2p networks!  In other words it analyzes packets and when it thinks you are using p2p filesharing, it just "crashes" and corrupts data.

6. Verizon gives each user a CD and DEMANDS that the user install it.  The CD contains spyware and bogware (crap that bogs your computer down).

7. In an effort to coerce and intimidate the user into installing the CD, the connection won't work unless you install the CD!!  WTF?!  Every other DSL connection I ever had worked instantly by plugging the modem into the phone jack, no software or configuring needed.
I found a troublesome way to work around installing the CD after a few days.  But average people don't know about this!


p.s. None of this message has anything to do with my LAN not working, which is still a mystery. :-?

[ChaosLord]

[color=ff00ff]Zac67 Rulez the Scene!![/color][/b]

Thank you! :banana:  :love:  :thanks:

Woohoo!!!!!!!  The ping works now!!!!!!!

But the LAN is still not quite working again  :-?

When I select "View workgroup computers" in windoze XP it sits there for a while then gives an error that it can't access that info, maybe I don't have permission, blah blah.

So I still can't actually share files between the 2 machines like I used to.

 YES they both have the same workgroup name I am 100% sure of this.


What should I do?



p.s. About Verizon:
1. Nobody told me about their user hostile policies before I signed up.  I just assumed it would be the same as SBC DSL.

2. Verizon is forcing me because they tricked me into a 1 year contract before I had any idea how crap they were.

3. In fairness, my upload connection speed is good.