Getting "cable unplugged" with xp home/xp pro using Xover cable

Hello to everyone and anyone who can help.

I am an expate currently working in the UAE and I need help networking my XP laptop and my XP pro pc together using a cross over cable. Here's the setup:

The laptop (PC #1) is in one room connected to the ADSL line (which here uses a USB modem, so I cannot use my Linksys router I brought with me...grrrr ) and I have a long crossover cable going across the hall into another room where the Desktop XP pc is (PC#2).

Brief Summery.......I have ICS setup on PC#1 w/ the adsl connection. Have Norton PF on both as well, but set the home networking settings to see the ip address of both machines. Sometimes PC#2 can connect, but most of the time PC#2 gets the little red "X" on the network icon and the evil message "Cable is unplugged" or it bounces.

one more thing, the only thing i have been able to play with that helps this sometimes is changing the link speed on both NICs from auto mode, 100tx, 10tx, etc.

If anyone can help, I am all ears. I have looked at many other posts and this is driving me and my wife CRAZY (her PC is PC#2). As far as I have seen others go is doing ipconfig/all > c:\ipconfig.txt for both machines. from there I am lost.

So here is my output from both machines. Thanks for your help.

>>>>>PC#1

Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : LAPTOP

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



PPP adapter Lucent 20A-USB Dial-Up PPP Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 217.164.246.217

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 217.164.246.217

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 195.229.241.222

213.42.20.20

NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-02-3F-8A-9F-A0

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 217.164.254.126

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 195.229.241.222

213.42.20.20

>>>>>>PC#2

Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : PC

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SiS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0D-87-C6-71-F9

okay, maybe a dumb question, but have you tried another X-over cable? I've seen that be the issue more than once.

Since you said that PC2 can connect sometimes, intermitant problems would make me think that it's one of 3 things: NIC card in PC1, NIC card in PC2 or the cable. Testing a replacement cable is the cheapest option to try first.

if that doesn't work, do you have another NIC card you can try putting in each PC, one at a time to see if that new card helps when in one of the 2 machines?

.......

Hmmm. not a dumb question at all. One I haven;t thought of. I could get a short xover cable to try out. I dont know if this will help get to the bottom of the problem or not,

but sometimes when the desktop PC (PC#2) says "cable unplugged", the Laptop (PC#1) is still showing the connection enabled. Just with no packets coming in. If I ping PC2 of course, its no response.
That was the case tonight and was the last straw for me.

It makes me think that the issue is with the laptop, but I cant figure out what. the NIC is internal, so to try another NIC would mean to buy a card. Not an option at this point. Besides if the "misses" see another bag from the computer store for another "Useless device" it will be the couch for sure.

Of course it is working NOW, but for how long is anybody's guess. So i still need a solid solution because in a few hrs or mins the connection could be down again. Will try the new xover cable and get back to you.

Thanks

another question: Does the linksys you brought with you have a built-in switch/hub too? If so, then you wouldn't really need the new crossover cable. Instead you could just use 2 striaght-through cables and connect both PCs to the router. All your using it for is the switch functionality at that point, but it works for you... and a long crossover might be kinda pricey, especially if you have a couple other "normal" cables lying around.

If you do it this way, you'll want to be sure that you have DHCP turned off on the router, since ICS is managing that for you the way you have it setup. Otherwise you may have some fun with 2 different DHCP "servers" fighting.

Thanks again.
Yes my linksys is a router/4 port switch and can be used like you said. I have thought of that option, but the problem is voltage. The voltage here is 220v, but my linksys is from the states, so it is 120v. The converter amazingly is way to expensive for some reason. and is basically why I havent gone that route. I can try a new short "test" cable to see how that works. But if you have anymore suggestions, please pass them on. I am all out of ideas at this point.

Thanks

Ugg, the voltage issue sucks. I think trying the short "test" cable as you mentioned is your best first bet. If that doesn't work, then I'm leaning back to the NIC card being an issue on one of the two ends. I don't have any other ideas at the moment.

Good luck!!