On board NIC issues

[Kooldino]

On my Asus A8R-MVP, I'm using the on board network card, which is apparently the
"Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI gigabit ethernet controller".

I'm having major issues here.

While I'm using it, it will randomly drop my connection until I disable the connection under Networks, and re-enable it.

I'm running DHCP, and an ipconfig /release will release it, but it will never renew unless i do the disable and re-enable under Networks.

The device is not allowed to be turned off to save power.

It is forced into Full duplex 100Mbps mode.

Help!

[The PIT]

presumed you've updated the drivers

[Kooldino]

presumed you've updated the drivers

Well, i do have the latest driver, but I just reinstalled it for grins. There was a choice of whether to install it as a PCI driver or a chipset driver, so I chose the latter (i must have chose the former last time accidentally). We'll see if it helps.

[schmosef]

You get the driver from Asus or Marvell? Asus usually lags in driver updates so it's better if you get it from Marvell. Also, make sure that you have the latest mobo chipset drivers installed (also from the manufacturer, not Asus).

[Mehen]

ive never had to install a nic driver since windows 9x nor had any problems with em

might be something other than the driver, what though, i have no idea

[Kooldino]

What I did earlier didn't do jack. Still happens.

Using the driver listed here:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

edit - got Yukon GigE Windows XP Windows XP 3/23/06 8.51.5.3 from their site, so hopefully this resolves it.

[Claymonkey]

The other thing to try is updating your computer's bios. The firmware for the NIC is tied into that. At this point it can't hurt right

[schmosef]

What I did earlier didn't do jack. Still happens.

Using the driver listed here:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

edit - got Yukon GigE Windows XP Windows XP 3/23/06 8.51.5.3 from their site, so hopefully this resolves it.

Download the driver from Marvell.com

[Kooldino]

Download the driver from Marvell.com

I did, that's the one I posted about last. So far, so good...but we'll see.

@Clay - I'm on the newest BIOS.

[schmosef]

There has been enormous progress made with NIC driver development over the last 2 years.

The bittorrent protocol has really demonstrated the weakness of many drivers and most modern NIC manufacturers have released updates that both significantly reduce CPU overhead and significantly increase reliability.

In general, anyone who uses drivers supplied by the motherboard manufacturer (without checking the component OEMs for updates) is just asking for trouble.

Would you even consider using the drivers that shipped with your Matrox cards?

[Nowhere]

Hmmm...so I guess Realteks are turning out to be even bigger POS than they were known to be?

BTW, what about other PCI NICs? Intel and 3com still top class, even when taking into account bittorent? (hmmm...there're no drivers other than from Win2k3 for my 3com 905...)

[Kooldino]

On the latest drivers...so far so good.

[Kooldino]

I spoke too soon. Happened again.

[schmosef]

Ok, so, what do you mean by randomly? are you running bittorrent traffic or some other p2p app/client? If so, you probably need to throttle your max peer connections.

I meant to ask before but didn't get around to it... why is your NIC forced to Full duplex 100Mb? Why does it need to be forced? Is your switch router really good enough to handle that throughput? What network functions are you doing that require full duplex? Is your cabling up to spec? Maybe you should get a gigabit switch and/or router to better match your rig?

Anyway, in my experience forcing full duplex is never good. Lot of weird network problems just go away when you leave the NIC on auto.

btw, I've also been meaning to offer my sympathies. It seems like you've had a lot of trouble with this machine.

[Kooldino]

Ok, so, what do you mean by randomly? are you running bittorrent traffic or some other p2p app/client? If so, you probably need to throttle your max peer connections.

Yes, I am, I guess I'll get Netlimiter and try that.

But it only seems to drop the connection WHILE I'm using the machine.

I meant to ask before but didn't get around to it... why is your NIC forced to Full duplex 100Mb? Why does it need to be forced?

I just wanted to be sure it was running in full speed. It used to be in Auto, and forcing it to the above mode was something I did for diagnostic purposes.

Is your switch router really good enough to handle that throughput? What network functions are you doing that require full duplex?

Streaming from other machines in the house.

Is your cabling up to spec?

Cat 5.

Maybe you should get a gigabit switch and/or router to better match your rig?

But I have nothing else gig in my house.

Anyway, in my experience forcing full duplex is never good. Lot of weird network problems just go away when you leave the NIC on auto.

btw, I've also been meaning to offer my sympathies. It seems like you've had a lot of trouble with this machine.

LOL, yeah, so far this and the crazy DOA ATi video card.

And for some reason my TV Tuner (that worked in my last machine) doesn't display a sound or a picture, but I'm not even ready to tackle that just yet.