[Bayfront Benny]

I CAN NOT GET THE ONBOARD LAN TO WORK. CAN ANYONE SUGGEST ANYTHING?

I HAVE TRIED THE FOLLOWING

Resetting Bios
Upgrading Bios
Starting without PCI cards
Reinstalling Windows XP PRO SP1 (3 times)
Flashing BIOS
Erasing CMOS and removing battery.
Insulating motherboard on all sides of mounting screws. Both on the brass
and screw side.
Removing ram from blue slots
Removing ram from black slots
Installing ram in all slots (512 X 4)
Adding PCI LAN card (yes it does work - but not the onboard one).
Enabling disabling just about everything in BIOS.
Searching for hardware in windows hardware wiz.


I never run problem devices on my machine. Device manager has no yellow or
red icons. No "other devices category" is present.

My power is 400W - adequate.

Does the LAN have any physical jumper that I might have missed?
Can I download anything anywhere that might help?
Am I maybe looking in the wrong place for this device. I would think network
devices, but maybe with this it is somewhere else - again I have scoured
Device Manager and do not see it.

MY MAIN CONFIGURATION IS AS FOLLOWS:

PROCESSOR: INTEL P4 3.0 GHZ
MEMORY: KINGSTON 2 GB (512/SLOT)
WINDOWS XP PRO SP1 (MASTER)
HP DVD WRITER 200i on IDE 2 (MASTER)
SEAGATE 160 GB SATA BARRACUDA on IDE 3 (MASTER - C: DRIVE)
WD 120 GB 7200 RMP on IDE 1
VIDEO: ASUS V9280TD
ONLY THINGS IN THE SLOTS ARE A MODEM AND REALTEK LAN CARD THEY ARE WORN FROM
BEING MOVED AROUND.

TIA

 

[jraydann]

Have you tried to install the driver for the LAN that is on the ASUS CD-ROM that comes with the board?

 

[Guest]

Welcome to TSF Bayfront Benny

Is your bios set up like this?

 

[Bayfront Benny]

Thank you both for your reply.

Yes but the drivers that are available are just that: drivers. You have to have something to drive. Nothing appears in device manager but the LAN I installed later and the onboard 1394 Firewire.

Yes that is the way my BIOS looks, although I have made it look like just about everything.

I am beginning to think that somehow the LAN is damaged. I am tempted to take out the motherboard and see if there is anything underneath that I can spot solder. Maybe there is a crack in one of the solder joints.

 

[Guest]

Well it appears that you have tried just about everything.

So now you need to make a decision! If it's a new board that you just got I would return it. Or you can use the PCI NIC in there. But if it is indeed a faulty board my choice would be to return it.

Have you checked to make sure you don't have an extra standoff hitting the motherboard underneath and grounding it out?

 

[Bayfront Benny]

Yes fairly sure. Took the motherboard out once to place the red washers on the brass standoffs,

I am stuck though. It would be easy enough if my location were different. I live in Costa Rica and returning / shipping is a real pain, not to mention down time. I might as well buy another board and return it once I am running for future use.

Bummer. I would like to blame ASUS quality control, as the box showed no sign of having been crushed, dropped, no wrinkled corners, etc.

 

[clintfan]

You already said your Onboard LAN is enabled in your BIOS.
Here's a bunch of other ideas and steps to look at, some of it might help...

Have you installed the latest drivers for your onboard LAN, downloaded from the Asus "downloads" web site (over dialup or your other LAN card)?

Do any LED's come on at the LAN port when you plug in your LAN cable?

With your add-on Realtek LAN card removed... when you then go into Control Panel- System- Device Manager, do you see "Network Adapters" with some sort of LAN Connection underneath it? (I'm not talking about a "1394 Net Adapter", it has to be some sort of 10/100 etc. LAN network adapter).

If you go into Control Panel- Network Connections, do you see something called "Local Area Connection", and is it "Enabled"?
Are all the other connections "Disabled"? (if not, right-click on them and choose "Disable").

If you right-click on your "Local Area Connection" there, then choose "Status", a Local Area Connection Status window comes up. Does it show the network is "Connected"?

If from there you choose "Properties", do you now see "Client for Microsoft Networks", "File and Print Sharing", and "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" listed in the middle? (If you have "QOS" there also, you could probably select and uninstall it, but I doubt it would prevent you from working.)

If you click on "Configuration" at the top, then click on "Resources", does it say "No conflicts"?

Is there also an "Advanced" tab? If you click on that, do you have a place for something like "Link Speed and Duplex"? If so, it absolutely must be set to match your building's LAN network port, the one that your system's LAN cable plugs into. This may be difficult to determine for sure, but a couple settings are common:

o All legacy LAN's were 10Mbps/Half Duplex. That should be the first thing you try, especially since you're in Costa Rica. If you're using a DSL or Cable modem, it'd most like be this setting.

o Usually don't set to "Auto" unless you're sure the building/modem network port supports Auto-negotiation, and also has it enabled. At the consumer level, something like a newer Linksys router works this way by default, in fact you can't change it. If you really can't tell what you've got then go ahead and try "Auto".

Now, close that window and you're back in the same Status window again. Click on "Properties" again.

Now click on TCP/IP. Then click "Properties" there. Another window will open up. Do you have selected both, "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically"? If not then maybe you have what's known as a static IP address. (Then you will need to go through all these tabs and screens here, and make sure all the stuff is set up for your specific system and Internet Service Provider. It's not very hard, but there are many details... like, don't forget to visit the System- Computer Name- Change- More to set your DNS suffix, and TCP- Advanced to set your WINS servers. XP has really buried stuff this time).

Click a bunch of OK's to get out of all these windows.
Do you have any LED's on your LAN port now, with the LAN plugged in?
XP allows many network changes to be made without a restart, but just in case...
If you shut down then power-cycle your system (you need to actually pull out the power plug and wait 10-15 seconds), do you then get LED's when the LAN is plugged in?
If there is a network device there (like a modem, router, etc.) can you powercycle that, and do you then get LED's?

If so, click on Start, then Run. Type "ping www.yahoo.com" without the quote marks. Hit Enter.
Do you get reponses from some IP address? If so, your LAN is working, hit control-C to quit.

Otherwise, that's about all the ideas I've got for right now.
Hope this helps,

-clintfan

 

[Kester]

Have you got the BIOS for the right board? I was having the same problem as you; the LAN wasn't even being detected by Windows. After a bit of fiddling, I realised I had the latest P4C800 Deluxe (no E!) BIOS, rather than the correct P4C800-E Deluxe, which was my actual board. Once I had the correct BIOS, it all worked fine.
If this helps, great, if not then sorry, I got no other ideas.

 

[Bayfront Benny]

Thank you Kester and Clintfan.

Here is where I stand now.

No have not installed drivers for lan because you have to see it to install them. In other words there is no setup program provided so you have to have the actual gadget show up device manager.

Will check on the LAN LED's.

With card removed no other adapters present except for the 1394 onboard.

Yes local area connection enabled. Again relating the the add on realtek.

Yes (realtek) connected. Problem again the device does not show anywhere, Now according to Asus this is a 3 com gadget. However there seems to be a lot of talk of intel 10/100. Sysoft Sandra shows an onboard intel 10/100, but this does not appear anywhere else (device manager) also it just appears as "onboard" but not under LAN.

I am running a Cable Modem through a Linksys 4 Port/ Wireless Router. The setting have not changed in this respect. Half Duplex does not apply.

I will try the Auto setting although I probably have already.

The TCP/IP settings are all auto as per the linksys setup. 5 Other computers (2 wired 3 wireless) all running OK.

 

[Bayfront Benny]

Checked the light: It is off.

 

[clintfan]

Maybe your cable is weird-- not CAT 5 grade, pairs twisted wrong, etc. Maybe works for the Realtek but not the onboard.

I was never sure exactly which mobo you have, the P4C800-E or the P4C800. Which is it?

If it's the -E, I'm remembering now that the LAN initially showed up as a strange device name and in a strange place. But that's to be expected since the -E hooks its LAN to the Northbridge. It might have been called a PCI bridge.? I took a chance and pointed to that and hit Update Driver using the Intel Pro-100 LAN driver, and it took it. The name changed after I did the install, so now I can't recall what XP named it before that, but it definitely wasn't called LAN. Point is, maybe you CAN see the device, you just don't recognize it. If you still want to pursue this, go into your device manager and tell me the exact names of all the yellow "?" problem devices that you see, maybe I can sort it out for you.

On my -E, no LAN jumpers exist that I can find. The nearest jumper is for USB. There is a setting in the BIOS Setup... Advanced-- Onboard Devices Configuration-- Onboard LAN. Are you sure this is set to "Enabled"? If so, then maybe I'm out of ideas.

Over the years I've found that any time I find myself beating my head against the wall on something like this, it's almost always bad hardware. Like, one time I had, what was it, 4 bad cards in a row! Which to me would mean your LAN port is blown out.

-clintfan

 

[Bayfront Benny]

The one I have is the P4C 800 Deluxe. Not the E.

I agree in that it is probably bad hardware. I pretty much have chosen to keep it as it is limited to the LAN which is something that can be inexpensively fixed by adding a card. I just hope that it does not become some kind of cancer.

I am showing one weird thing which is the asus probe is showing that my + 3.3 V is actually + 2.73 V - which is slightly out of range.

I have not switched power but I do have another 400 W. I might try it just to see if this has anything to do with it.

 

[clintfan]

OK, the non-E, so you have the "3COM 3C940 10/100/1000 PCI" onboard LAN. Thanks.

??Still waiting for the names of all your (?)yellow unknown devices from Device Manager.

Yeah, try the supply. A LAN probably has a minimum voltage spec that must be met, below which it won't allow itself to turn on its signalling, and confuse the hub. You may have something there-- though older LAN chips typically used the +5V your 3C940 is indeed a 3.3V chip!

If you still feel like debugging, look carefully into your RJ45 jack. You should see 8 tiny gold contacts, all nicely lined up. I've seen it sometimes where one gets stuck in a "retracted" position, or gets "crossed" with another contact. A toothpick can help get them right again.

-clintfan

 

[Bayfront Benny]

OK I'll turn the thing around again and see what there is inside. Maybe something. Looking at the LAN superficially nothing seems wrong.

No questions or yellow or red for that matter in DM. I never get past that when I install Windows. Always make sure the hardware is set up before I put any other programs in.

Funny the LAN light wont come on.

I did try the different power supply and it comes up to 3.3 V so I decided to leave it in. They were both new. Computer hardware business is much like the old image of the sheister selling used cars; lemons everywhere. That is probably why someone decided to invent forums like this one... So we could figure that out.

 

[clintfan]

Sorry, I know you've basically given up, but ideas just keep trickling in here. See, I've written at least two LAN drivers since 1995, so you're problem's got me intrigued. We could be beating a dead horse --er, mobo-- though...

You have to have something to drive. Nothing appears in device manager but the LAN I installed later and the onboard 1394 Firewire.... No have not installed drivers for lan because you have to see it to install them. In other words there is no setup program provided so you have to have the actual gadget show up device manager... No questions or yellow or red for that matter in DM....With card removed no other adapters present except for the 1394 onboard. Yes local area connection enabled.

This just really bothers me. If your LAN device is not visible, I'm afraid that's your whole problem! Switch the DM View to Devices By Connection. Click on (+)s until you traverse down onto your PCI bus. There may be a bridge, this is inside the ICH5 Southbridge chip. On the other side of that bridge there should be your VIA VT6307 firewire 1394 chip, plus any add-on cards you have, and also some sort of device which ought to be your onboard 3Com LAN. (Of course, I can't see this myself to be sure, since I have the -E mobo. Wish I could somehow "see" your whole expanded device-manager tree.) Maybe you can go back to Control Panel-- Network Connections, and "Install" a Local Area connection, choosing your 3Com from a list? Maybe that would find it on the PCI.

Now according to Asus this is a 3 com gadget. However there seems to be a lot of talk of intel 10/100. Sysoft Sandra shows an onboard intel 10/100, but this does not appear anywhere else (device manager) also it just appears as "onboard" but not under LAN.

I don't know what Sandra is talking about. The Southbridge has some 10/100 LAN features, but this mobo doesn't wire them up, far as I know. Easy enough to tell for sure. Look at your mobo. Over by the LAN port there should be a large square chip. It's supposed to be between the AGP port and the edge of the mobo. If it's labelled 3Com, or something like 3C940, that's what you've got. Tell us what name & numbers your chip has on it.


More ideas:
Have you tried a different port on your data hub? Pull a working LAN line from one of your other 2 working wired computers, and plug it into your mobo port. I'm sure you must have tried this already.

Visually check your LAN cable. Most likely it should be a "patch" cable. If you hold the two plugs side by side in the same orientation, a patch cable will have the exact same wire-color order on each plug. One color-pair goes between pins 1&2, another between 4&5, and a third between 7&8. Pins 3&6 take the fourth pair, even though their pins are not adjacent in the plug. That's the spec. If you have a cable that's not wired this way, it might work in some LAN's but not in others.

If any colors don't match up, pin-for-pin, end-to-end, then you probably have a "crossover" cable, which is the wrong kind to use with the Linksys. Maybe if you have the wrong kind of cable, your Realtek might still be able to compensate, but your 3Com can't; some LAN chips are smarter than others. It's just another thought.

-clintfan

 

[dmaljunk]

I had the same problem. The LAN was enabled in BIOS but not visible in Device Manager. You need to install Intel drivers provided on the MOBO support CD, choose Wired over Wireless and just run the installation program. What will happen is that Windows will recognize the new device and install the drivers for it. You don't need to have the deive visible to install the drivers for it. Hope this helps

 

[clintfan]

Thanks dmaljunk, and something like that may eventually be what works. But it won't probably be with Intel drivers, since Benny's got the plain P4C800 board (with 3COM Lan on PCI), while you and I have the P4C800-E (with Intel Lan on CSA).

Benny, is there a similar utility (but for 3COM) on your P4C800 install CD?

-clintfan

 

[Bayfront Benny]

No. I have seen pictures of a setup screen that shows "lan driver"
install or something to that effect, but the screen I get when I pop in the CD does not have any setup whatsoever. I have even scoured the 3 Com site but can find nothing useful. Again the weird thing is no lights when I plug in the Lan cable. I unplugged everything air cleaned the LAN port - nothing. During one of my XP installations I think I ran the setups for everything on the disk but again nothing appeared.

Outside of that the board works without flaw.

Yes I have just about given up. Dissapointed in ASUS. I would probably go with the Gigabyte g8knxp if I had to do this over. I do not see much fussing about that board. In the end, why do you get a new MOBO if not to upgrade and enjoy the new stuff? It is a real bummer to buy something on the internet - the way most of us do and have the thing arrive damaged. It should not ship that way! Their quality control should catch this. If not then maybe they are cranking out too many and not worring about Quality. I mean surely they know what a pain it is to return something like this. Just contacting them is very difficult. Sorry I could just go on about this forever - frustrating.

 

[clintfan]

BTW, I just looked at the Asus downloads website, and it's warning you that "P4C800 Deluxe BIOS file is not applicable to P4C800." We already know the -E couldn't be used on the non-E, but this Deluxe/non-Deluxe was a surprise to me. Again, be sure you installed the proper BIOS.

And just before I sign off here... for your LAN driver you did download the "3com Gigabit LOM (3C940) WHQL Driver V1.00.00.0044", filename 044_3c940.zip, right?

Before I got my P4C800-E (which I'm happy with, BTW) I was looking at 12 other mobo's. An early first choice was the GA-8KNXP Ultra. Things I liked about this board that differ from the Asus were the 6 DIMM ports, onboard dual SCSI, dual BIOS, and 2 com ports. Drawbacks were the ridiculous high price, minimal testing by adapter card vendors, and lack of any firewire.

Cheers,

-clintfan

 

[Bayfront Benny]

HI
Right BIOS
Yes same driver.
Now the knxp ultra does not have firewire but the knxp (without the ultra) does.
Also same amount of memory slots (6)
The only notorious difference between the two is that the ultra has a SCSI controller which the non does not.
If however, you have already made the choice to go with SATA that is not so important. Firewire is though - I agree with that. Anyone with a new camcorder would need that - which does not work as well with a PCI card. I have an a7m266 with the firewire (Western Digital) added and it sometimes gets knocked out due to IRQ conflicts.