tcp/ip stack in win98se

[Maetryx]

Maetryx here,

I have been troubleshooting my internet settings under Win98SE for several days, and I am on the verge of actual shooting of my computer.

Anyway, it boils down to what a local techie referred to as a "broken tcp/ip stack". The symptoms are thus:

Everything was fine
suddenly IE and Outlook Express don't internet
Tribes doesn't connect
but under Linux (dual boot) no problems
Even under Win98SE I can ping my nearest router

Now I've done everything imaginable to this system. Different NIC, different OS (linux), different cables, old NIC works in other system with same IP as non-working system, ad nauseum. So the problem has been logically narrowed down to Windows 98.

So pretend with me that my ip stack is broken. What the hell does that mean and how do I fix it? Thanks in advance.

--Maetryx

 

[Ladi]

If a new NIC has been installed properly, chances are that your tcp/ip stack *has* been rebuilt. What NIC are you using? What ISP (cable/dsl/home network)? Give these a shot anyways:

First, can you ping IP numbers as opposed to domain names? Try pinging yahoo.com, then try pinging 216.115.108.245. If you can't resolve yahoo.com and can't ping it, but you can ping the numeric IP, check that your DNS info is correct. If you can't ping either, move on:

Remove EVERYTHING under control panel>network (or right-click Network Neighborhood>properties). Adapters, protocols, etc. Shut down. Remove NIC. Boot, then shut down again.

Physically reinstall NIC, but don't restart. Go back to network properties and make sure TCP/IP is installed and bound to the NIC (<protocol icon>TCP/IP -> <name of NIC>). Check that the most updated and correct drivers for your NIC are installed (update drivers). Verify that you're getting a link light (green light on your NIC). Set your IP as needed (static/dhcp as your network requires) and if using a cable/dsl modem, turn it off and on to reset it. Reboot.

Check again that you're getting a link light, then try pinging again as above.

~Ladi

 

[Maetryx]

Okay, I'm checking back it. Thanks for the reply. My connection is to an RJ-45 jack on the wall. I live at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and they provide me with an ethernet/LAN connection to the internet.

The NIC is an older (5+ years) ISA NE2000 compatible card by BocaLAN. I know it is working because I have no problems at all when I use Linux.

At a DOS prompt, I can ping 137.229.65.1 (a router that serves my apartment complex) and I can ping mosquitonet.com (a Fairbanks, Alaska ISP where I have an email account). So my DNS settings seem to work. BUT, oddly, I can't ping everything. For example, two short hops away from my router is the main UAF student email server called aurora.uaf.edu and I have NO access to that whatsoever. No telnet, no ping. Again, under Linux: no problems.

So, it is just behaving weird.

Remember, this problem has manifested under two completely different NICs (the first one I took out and placed in a Windows 95 OSR 2.5 machine and it works just fine). So I guess I'm going to follow your advice and remove all networking from the Windows 98 and then add it back in and see if the problem gets cleared up. I'm half thinking that a FORMAT C: command is in order. A little move I like to call a digital enema.

--Maetryx

 

[Maetryx]

Maetryx here,

In case anyone was following this thread, I thought I would add the following:

A reinstallation OVER my current installation did NOT solve the problem. But it was interesting that I could, in fact, install Win98SE over my current Win98SE and everything came out working as good (or bad) as it did before. I didn't lose my programs or anything.

Well, it did overwrite the Master Boot Record and nixed LILO, something I could have avoided by saying NO when my BIOS warned me that the MBR was about to be written to, but I thought &quot;Microsoft wouldn't REALLY nix LILO; that is below even them.&quot; So I let the Win98SE installation routine write to the MBR where it promptly olbiterated LILO.:Q

So I formatted my C: partition and installed Win98SE fresh, and sure enough: the digital enema works every time.

--Maetryx

 

[bubba]

You can re-install lilo by booting off the linux boot disk you created at install and then typing /sbin/lilo as root.

 

[Diatomic]

Do you set your IP, DNS, Gateway etc or is it assigned by DHCP? The reason I ask is that I had the same problem once and it turned out that more than one computer was using the same IP. Like your situation things would be working fine. I could surf, I could check email and then all of the sudden I couldn't, but this would only occur in win95. Under linux things worked perfectly. At the time the University had everyone enter in their own IP, DNS, Domain, Gateway and Wins and it turns out that another person in my dorm were using the same IP. Apparently linux doesn't have a problem handling this situation, but windows did. The techs found the person that was using my IP and all worked well after that.

-Diatomic

 

[Maetryx]

Maetryx here,

The university where I live *does* let everyone type in their own IP, DNS, and Netmask info, so that is very interesting. If my format c: followed by a fresh install of Win98SE didn't work, I would have thought your assessment would be correct. Since it did clear up the problem, I don't think that could be it.

Plus, I have seen this happen with a neighbor before, where someone else in the apartment was using the same IP as them. The error message that Windows gave revealed explicitly that someone was using the same IP address as the neighbor's computer. I never got a message like that in my case. Hell, I've even assigned the same IP address to two computers at work, and again, Windows was at least smart enough to point out that error correctly.

It worked out. I *like* to format my c: drive about 3 times a year anyway.

--Maetryx

P.S. Thanks to the member that told me the /sbin/lilo trick. I'll do that tonight.

 

[Shadow07]

The only problem that I have seen that would cause this is what is called GHOST DEVICES. By chance, did you change out your NIC before you encountered this problem? If so, I would've removed the NIC from SAFE MODE. With the way Windows 9x enumerates (find PnP devices), it has a problem when you either replace the device or install a new one in it's place. This is most common with NIC's as opposed to anything else.