Network Problems: Computers can only see themselves (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Jacobson]

I am trying to connect two computers together via a hub. One computer is running Windows XP Home, the other Windows ME.

When you browse the network on either computer, that computer can only see itself. The situation is the same with the ping command.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

 

[Robt_Moore]

Jeff:

Did you run the WinXP network Wizard?

The Workgroup names are the same?

File and printer sharing is enabled?

No viruses or spyware running?

Check the cables, carts are showing activity?

Let us know what it was.

Bob

 

[John_Berger]

Jeff, let's focus on basic connectivity here.

Does each system have a unique IP address? Do you have a DHCP server? If not, you need to assign each system a valid, unique IP address on the same subnet before you can do anything.

 

[Tekara]

make sure the IP for both computers start with the same two numbers i.e. 192.168.xxx.xxx

 

[John_Bonner]

Do you have ZoneAlarm or another software firewall that may be blocking access?

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I ran the XP Wizard on both computers, but that didn't work.

The IP address on the XP computer is 10.0.0.1 (subnet 255.0.0.0), and the ME computer is 10.0.0.2.

The workgroup names are the same (MSHOME).

I tested the cables and they are fine.

I have zonealarm on both computers, but I disabled it before I tried to do anything on the network.

I scanned for viruses and spyware, but found nothing.

 

[John_Berger]

Those are legitimate IP addresses, so you're fine there, but you're saying that you can't even ping the other? Do you have the XP firewall installed? Can you ping from one to the other but not vice versa? Until we can confirm that basic TCP/IP connectivity can be established, there's nothing else to look at.

 

[Robt_Moore]

Jeff:

The only other thing is the network cards. Can you swap out the ones you have now?

Bob

 

[harold t]

hi
to make it easy for the two to see each other
install netbeui in your network protocol.if you do a search
in the help and support it will tell you how to do.it is
easy in 98 and me but in xp you must use the xp disk.



harold t

 

[Mike Fassler]

10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2 are not correct ip addresses that is your issue other question i have for you are, does one of the pc's have 2 nics in it?

 

[John_Berger]

Smiley face not withstanding, they are completely valid Class A IP addresses and are used all of the time in companies. The entire 10 subnet is a "private" IP subnet that can be used freely by anyone, anywhere. They are not routable on the Internet, however. Anyone can use them inside the home or business any way they please as long as the addresses are translated to non-private addresses for Internet access.

 

[John_Berger]

*sigh* NetBEUI means nothing if we cannot establish a basic communication between the two systems. Telling him to install NetBEUI when we can't even get basic TCP/IP functions to work is like telling him to take a bus instead of a car in a city that has no roads.

 

[harold t]

hi
if both machines have nic's in them and they work
and they both have the same workgroup and you install netbeui they will see each other with or without ip's.
you can use a crossover cable or a hub to connect them.


harold t

 

[John_Berger]

I've been dealing professionally with UNIX and Windows networks for eight years or so. I'm fully aware that NetBEUI is a broadcast protocol that does not require unique identifiers on each system beyond the system name.

The point, however, is that if he can't even perform a successful, basic ping then NetBEUI will not be able to communicate either. He can't do a simple ping, so something is interfering with the connection. He has already verified that his IP addresses are valid, so the next step is to determine where the connection is being broken or where the network traffic is being dropped or intercepted. You can't magically make a potentially broken network connection work just by adding a protocol. And considering that TCP/IP is now the de facto standard for networking communications, even in Windows, telling him to go to NetBEUI, which is for all intents and purposes an obsolete protocol, is an unnecessary complication to the situation.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

 

[John_Berger]

That's not entirely correct. The communication is happening between the computer and the hub, not the other computer. What's happening is that your card is for whatever reason not auto-negotiating the speed and duplex with the hub. I am assuming from your statement that it's "10 times slower" that you're using a 10/100 Mb hub. If that's the case, try forcing 100 Mb half-duplex and see if it still loses its connection to the hub.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I've been getting a weird sound error occasionally on the XP computer. This problem only seems to happen when I change the network settings, so I think it is somehow related to the problem I'm having setting up a network. (I haven't tried getting the network working since January 21, 2004, which was also the last time I had this audio problem.)

No sounds will play back. If I try to play a sound, I just get the system beep from the PC Speaker, then this error message appears: