# Network Card's MAC Address Is All Fs



## petenewky (Jul 27, 2005)

Greetings everyone,

I am new to this Forum and wish to introduce myself. I am a twenty year PC technician that has been around since MSDOS 3.21 and have a thorough knowledge of XP and networking, but I am currently stumped on a problem. This problem I am having is causing me to rip my hair out, I hope someone here can help.

I recently upgraded my customer from Windows 98 to Windows XP Pro SP2. (A "Dirty Install" without erasing the harddrive)

Upon completion, I had a problem with the DSL connection; I was unable to login after a reboot. After days of troubleshooting I found out the problem is the Network card upon reboot has a physical MAC address of FF:FF:FF:FF:FF, all Fs! 

If I delete the network card in Device Manager, upon reboot the card's MAC address is accurate and I am able to login to the DSL PPOE network; but of course after awhile and upon reboot it drops the connection and the only way to restore it is to delete the network card from Device Manager and reboot.

Here is the configuration:

Millineum PC
Pentium III 800 MHZ
512 MB SDRAM
Windows XP SP2, all Windows Updates
Symantec AntiVirus CE 10
MS AntiSpyware Beta
Linksys LNE100TX V4
Verizon DSL

* No Router

I thoroughly checked the Registry Run Keys for Trojans, none.
I ran a full virus and Spyware/Adware scan, found no viruses and removed Spyware/Adware.
I have tried a different network card (but same make and model) and a different PCI slot.
I have tried changing the PNP OS installed in CMOS setup from Yes to No.
I assured "Wake upon LAN" was set to disabled in CMOS.
I checked the manafacturer's website knowledgebase articles and for a more recent driver, but no articles and the XP driver is more recent.
I tried ipconfig /clear and ipconfig /flushdns.
I upgraded the Firmware on the Tyan System Board.
I disabled the Symantec Antivirus CE 10, MS AntiSpyware, and the XP SP2 Firewall, no effect.
I Googled and Yahooed the entire Internet.

I suspect it is because I upgraded (A Dirty Install) the PC from Windows 98 to Windows XP. It may be I have to format the harddrive and do a "Fresh Install". I hope not. Anybody got any ideas?

Thanks in advance!


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

Take a look at this. 
http://lists.svlug.org/pipermail/svlug/1998-July/002114.html


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## petenewky (Jul 27, 2005)

*yeah, I saw that article.*

Yeah, I saw that article too. I went into the CMOS, and saw that the "PNP OS Installed" was set to "Yes". So, I thought "Great..that's it!" and changed it to "No", but upon reboot it does the same thing.

I went to the Linksys website, and their driver is older than the one XP used during install. I upgraded the firmware on the mnafacturer's website and set it to default CMOS settings, assuring that the PNP OS is NO, no effect.

I think it has something to do with the "Broken PCI BIOSes (reportedly version "AI78" is broken)", I am going to look down that avenue. I got a firmware update from the "Millineum" website, but couldn't find one on the Tyan website. I think I will pursue that avenue.

I will update my situation later.


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## petenewky (Jul 27, 2005)

*...bump....*

...bump....

I have still not found a solution yet.

Anybody have any ideas for me? Help!!!!!!


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

*TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows XP with SP2.*

For these commands, *Start, Run, CMD* to open a command prompt.

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: *netsh winsock reset catalog*

Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. *netsh int ip reset [log_file_name]*

*Note:* the _log_file_name_ needs to be specified, e.g. *netsh int ip reset reset.log*


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## petenewky (Jul 27, 2005)

*Resolved!!*

I got it!!

I just had to put a "NetworkAddress" key in the registry, and put the MAC of the NIC in that key:

------------------------------

Make sure you have a good backup of your registry, and use at your own risk!!

Goto command prompt and type “ipconfig /all”, and record the Description of the NIC. Record the Physical Address for the NIC you want to set. Physical Address is the MAC Address. (When it is not all "Fs")

Run "regedit", and go to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Make a backup copy of this key using the "export" feauture.

Go through each subkey that starts with 0000. Click on 0000, check DriverDesc keyword on the right to see if that's the NIC you want to set the MAC address. (I looked for "LinksysLNE100TX"). Usually 0000 contains the first NIC you installed on the computer, but if you are reloading the NIC driver over and over it keeps generating a new key, 0008, 0009, and so on.

Create this new keyword in every NIC subkey, and name it "NetworkAddress", and for the value put in the MAC of the NIC. I had to enter this in all all the NIC keys.... 0000, 0001, and 0009 because I kept on reloading the NIC driver. Every key that had "LinksysLNE100TX" in it.

Reboot, and that's it!!

My problem was there was no "NetworkAddress" key, so without a MAC Windows apparently got confused and made it all Fs. Go figure.


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