Need help... WinXP and Linksys Router

[turnswitch]

Can't figure this out, has anyone else seen this?

Here's the setup:

-Cable internet into a Linksys 4-port router/switch.

-I've got two computers, one running win2k Pro, the other running winXP Home w/ a Realtek 8139/810x NIC card.

-The win2k machine is able connect to the router fine. It's on the LAN and able to surf the internet. No problem with that machine whatsoever.

-The winXP Home machine cannot connect to the router, or browse the internet.

Here's the troubleshooting done so far:

-Updated drivers and firmware for the NIC and Router

-I have checked the physical connections between each machine and the router. Any cable I use plugged into any port works fine for the win2k machine but will not work for the winXP machine.

-From the winXP machine I am able to ping (self-test?) 127.0.0.1 fine, but cannot ping the router's IP.

-swapped out the NIC with a 3com and still nothing.

-The settings on the Router are set to DHCP and have enough IP's available for all computers.

-I have set the WinXP Home machine to DHCP and turned off the firewall protection.

-When I ipconfig/all for the winXP machine, the Default Gateway is empty (does not contain the router's LAN IP) and the the Subnet Mask is not the same as the Router's.

-When I ipconfig/renew on the winXP machine, it comes back with the error message:

"An error has occured while renewing Local Area Connection: An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket"

never seen that before.
--------------------------------------

I have tried manually entering the needed IP addresses but still did not work. I am basically looking for any help from anyone who has experienced this before with WinXP.

I am willing to try any suggestions again just to double check my troubleshooting, because this is my first time configuring XP. The machine is actually my roommates, and I want to try as many things as possible before it comes down to having to repair or re-install the OS.

Thanks in advance.

[BipolarBill]

Right up your alley! :)

http://www.jsifaq.com/SUBK/tip5200/rh5241.htm

[turnswitch]

I tried it a few times yesterday and today, and no luck.

I took everything in the article for win2k and applied it to the WinXP machine. The one thing I noticed on WinXP is that I was unable to uninstall the TCP/IP protocol without having to uninstall the NIC, thus deleting the "Local Area Connection". Is that normal? I'm used to win2k, but...

I am now starting to think that both of the NIC cards I've used (which were pulled from used machines) might be bad. I am getting a new one in a couple of days, sooo...

To anyone following the thread, I'll post when I've tried the new card.

[turnswitch]

still no luck, even with a new Linksys Card. Could it be a possible Registry issue?

[BipolarBill]

Reinstall, baby. :(





This posting has been spell-checked with IESpell (http://www.iespell.com/). ;)

[Jimstep]

Have you tried running the Win XP "setting up home or small office network" from My Network Places?

[turnswitch]

I have tried using the "setup wizard", but still no luck.

In researching this issue, I have come across APIPA (automatic private IP addressing) which is what WinXP uses if there is no DHCP server available). It automatically assigns 169.254.x.y IP address and subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, which it shouldn't since (I truly believe) I have changed all settings to allow for DHCP. Apparently WinXP does not recognize the DHCP ability of my Linksys Router (?), if that is possible.

Now I'm wondering if it is a WinXP issue with my router (Linksys BEFSR41)?

Is there a way to do regedits to disable the APIPA or else change it's values?

-and to BiPolarBill- the re-install is my most dreaded choice simply because this is a friend's machine and not my own. I just want to exhaust all of my possibilities before it comes to it! :)

p.s.- If anyone has seen or experienced this issue, please chime in.

[turnswitch]

In addition...

When I manually configure the addresses for IP, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, and DNS, winXP machine is able to browse the network/workgroup fine and is able to ping the router and other machines on the LAN, but it is unable to browse with any Web Browsers.

It is odd. :(

[BipolarBill]

Can the other PCs browse the Internet? If so, download the firmware update for the Linksys:

http://www.linksys.com/download/firmware.asp?fwid=1

Use a large paperclip to reset the router (front hole). Be sure that DHCP is enabled. Be sure that you have the proper amount of DHCP Users too.

[BryanM]

Just adding in, im ganna have the same problem, one with winxp pro and 1 with 98 and the same router. Just wanted to know what DHCP stood for. And is it alomst garentied that i will have this same problem?

[BipolarBill]

Gonna? Don't assume anything. Most people have zero problem with the Linksys. turnswitch has been messing with DHCP (automatic assignment of an IP address to a network adapter from a server), which will get you trouble unless you know what you're doing.

[AllGamer]

like Bill said, i own 3 diffent model of Linksys Router

and all of them are perfect

as my network grew, i kept on adding more ;)

:t

[Jimstep]

Originally posted by turnswitch
...Now I'm wondering if it is a WinXP issue with my router (Linksys BEFSR41)?...

I have the BEFSX41 version that has a built-in firewall and it works.

[turnswitch]

-BiPolarBill- Updated the firmware, Reset the router, made sure DHCP was enabled and that enough IP addresses were available, and still couldn't get a proper IP address assigned to the WinXP Home machine. Walked through the article you had posted earlier about the Network Stack being corrupt. nothing.

to everyone--- I agree with everyone's opinion on the Linksys router, I have had zero problems with it in the year and a half since I bought it, until this WinXP Home Edition issue came up. I have had no problems configuring my home network with my Win2k pro machine, Win98SE, WinME. I would recommend this type of router to anyone.

I am stumped on this issue. The owner of the WinXP machine in question has had it about 9 months now, and might have made some changes to it that could be causing this issue.

Thanks again to everyone!

[BipolarBill]

Replace the patch cable - it's cheap enough. Next, remove the NIC and reboot.

[turnswitch]

Tried it, still nothing.

When I go to the Local Area Connection->Properties, and then the TCP/IP Protocol->Properties, it is set to Obtain IP Address automatically and Obtain the DNS automatically. Then under the Alternate Configuration Tab, the "Autommatic Private IP Addressing" is selected.

Are these settings correct?

[BipolarBill]

Originally posted by turnswitch
"Autommatic Private IP Addressing" is selected.
You don't want that!

[turnswitch]

I thought so...

When I deselect Automatic Private IP Addressing, I am forced to select "User Configured" which asks me to manually enter an IP address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway.

I am unsure of what to enter for the IP address.

[BipolarBill]

Put in 192.168.1.200 and 255.255.255.0

Make the default gateway 192.168.1.1

[turnswitch]

OK, I entered the addresses.

After the machine rebooted, I went to the command prompt. I ipconfig/all 'd andit came back with the addresses, but the Default Gateway was empty. I then ipconfig/renew 'd and it came back with:

"An error occured while renewing interface Local Area Connection....

The support for the specified socket type does not exist in this address family."

any ideas?

[BipolarBill]

Yep - get a nice D-Link DF-530TX+.

[multax]

Maybe a stupid question, but can a WinXP Home machine
connect to the internet through a LAN? I think there are some
networking restrictions to the Home version of XP, but I would
think a small LAN would be ok.

If you can ping the TCP/IP stack (127.0.0.1), your OS install
should be ok and the next step would be to ping the router
gateway (192.168.1.1). If you can't do that you'll never get
outside. Have you considered trying a fixed IP address on the
LAN side? For example setting the IP address of the machines
manually to say 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.3 for each machine
with a gateway of 192.168.1.1 (default) and a subnet of
255.255.255.0 (default as well)? Maybe DHCP on the
LAN side is causing some headaches.

I've used the BEFSR41 and BEFVP41 routers on W2k Pro, Win98,
WinXP and UNIX systems without any problems, but I don't use
automatic IP addressing on the LAN side.

[bahama llama]

A windows xp home computer can connect through a lan, I have set up three home myself.

The linksys router should be fine, I just set up a home network last night with xp home on it with no problems.

I have everything set to auto; ipaddress, dns, and automatic private ip address.

Don't know if this will help but under the advances settings for the connection under wins enabel lmhosts lookup checked and then also default under netbios.

:confused:

[turnswitch]

- Multax & Bahama - Thanks for the recommendations, I tried both ways and still nothing.

I talked to Linksys Support and they stated that the network stack/Winsock was corrupt, as BiPolarBill pointed out at the beginning, and that I should call M$ support.

Since this machine came preinstalled with WinXP HE, it seems to me that this is sounding more and more like an OS issue where it might have become corrupt. My roommate, who owns the machine, told me that he had at one point tried to install one of those AOL Mailer CD's and when it failed, he tried to uninstall it/make some configuration changes to remove it.

Bahama-I would be curious if your WinXP Home machines are self-installed or pre-installed by the computer manufacturer.

Thanks again everyone!

[Post-O-Matic]

Long Shot: Have you tried swapping the LAN Cards between the machine that works and the one that doesn't ?

If you tried to manually configure the network parameters (IP, Mask, GW) and it didn't catch, then the problem is clearly not with anything else other then that machine. I would investigate as to why it rejected that GW, and guess that it will work when you solve that.

Long Shot #2: Try to set up the machine that works (2000 was it ?) as the GW for the XP one. If that would work you'd have a temporary solution until you find out why it rejects the Linksys Router, and if not then you'd know that the XP machine is crazy.

During my mangling with XP in the never-ending LAN/Internet dance, I noticed that when I configure one XP machine as a GW, and another one as a client, giving the client nothing more then the GW's IP, the client lists the GW in the Network Properties window as "Internet Gateway" and displays a few extra details about it, like the machine name and such.

So Long Shot #3 Perhaps XP, when recieving a GW Address, tries to query that GW machine, recognize it, find out information about it or such, and for some reason XP Fails to do so on that Router.

[hellonfish]

Hello,

Say I'm having some problems with my xp home and linksys router
and two other computers running 98se.

I have three computers running on the linksys, running win98se and I upgraded my main computer to xp home.

Now xp has messed up the lan.

I have internet acces on xp and one 98 computer, the other will not get on the internet. For some reason there is a totally different ip address one that seems xp is assigning to it.

anyone have any ideas how to fix or is there a good guide out there for adding Windows xp home to a existing lan.

thanks for any input

[turnswitch]

My issue has now been resolved.

Sorry about not getting back sooner, but I have been busy...

The Fix:

I went and repaired/re-installed WinXP Home from the CD but did so through Windows.

After I put the CD in, it asked if I wanted to Upgrade, I chose Yes, and it went through the upgrade. Restarted the machine and it automatically connected to the router without making any changes.

I feel that since this machine came with the OS pre-installed from Dell, that it was "completely" installed (a guess).

Before doing the repair/re-install/upgrade, make sure you save you desktop settings as per this article ->

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q312369&FR=1

Thanks for the help everyone.

[RaRe]

Hi
I have the very same problem.
I have put it down to an issue with xp where the tcp/ip can become corrupt, there is a fix for it on the microsoft site, i beleive its a knowin problem....
I will be doing the same thing as what you have done though, the way they say how to install the tip/ip i dont quite understand..

Anyways im glad i found your post :)