# VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter Problems



## Aughelmard (Nov 9, 2008)

Hi,

Recently I've been getting 'Network cable unplugged' notices, despite the cable being plugged in. The light on the ethernet port (on the PC) goes out, and the Belkin router's LED for the equivalent port flashes on and off slowly.

The issue is resolved _not_ by a simple power cycle, but by actually disconnecting the power completely, whereupon the ethernet port light flashes once, then is on continually again. It works as expected for an indeterminate length of time, then the problem reappears. I've not been able to tie the problem down to any specific event, it just happens - apparently - randomly. It can be days before it does it again.

The card is a VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter. Driver version 3.68.0.453.

I'm running Win XP Home, SP3.

Here's ipconfig /all:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\User>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Aughelmard
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-92-74-69-62
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 212.74.111.234
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 212.139.132.57


Any ideas? It's baffling me. I've tried googling for solutions, but have found nothing. At least it lead me here though!

Hope someone can shed some light on it (and that the answer is not: get a new ethernet card...!).

Many thanks in advance,

- Aug


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## Meté™ (May 29, 2008)

Well, if you are on laptop, most of the laptop disconnect the ethernet port when they use battery. Maybe thats why if ur on a laptop


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## Aughelmard (Nov 9, 2008)

Sorry, I should have said: this is a Desktop PC.

I've also unchecked 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.' in the Power Management tab of the connection properties.

- Aug


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Aughelmard said:


> Hi,
> Here's ipconfig /all:
> 
> Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
> ...


are you sure that your gateway address is correct .. most times I have seen a gateway address it's on the same network as the host and in your case it definitely isn't !! Normally, again, the ip's are all on the same network otherwise the networks don't function ..

my local address is 192.168.1.3 and my gateway is 192.168.1.254 ... this is the gateway address of the adsl router I am connected to via my switch .. please check that you haven't given a DNS address by mistake or that your DHCP may require resetting to place the correct address there .. might be having trouble accessing that adderess if it's not on your immediate network ..


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## Aughelmard (Nov 9, 2008)

That is an odd one, isn't it? On close inspection, that looks like a DNS server in the Default Gateway slot... How odd!

Anyway, I've changed the gateway to 192.168.2.1, and updated the DNS servers so they match my broadband providers.

Do you think, Done_F, that those settings would cause the strange 'outage' on the rhine II?

Many thanks for your time!

- Aug


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Yes, it could have been responsible for your problems.. although in my experience it normally it shouldn't have connected in the first place but it's also possible that it managed to find a route through to that address however I cannot understand what may have happened that you slowly lost performance once the connection had been made .. some sort of congestion perhaps .. maybe a bottleneck since you were forcing a DNS server to act as a gateway.

Do I take it that the symptoms have now gone and that you are working normally ?


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## Aughelmard (Nov 9, 2008)

Done_Fishin said:


> Do I take it that the symptoms have now gone and that you are working normally ?


As previously mentioned, the 'network cable unplugged' only happened intermittently, sometimes going for as long as a week without it happening. So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for now!

If it does happen again, I'll let you know.

Many thanks for your responses, D_F. Genuinely appreciated.

- Aug


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Welcome and look forward to hearing from you in a couple of months sayoing that all is well .. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you


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## Aughelmard (Nov 9, 2008)

Sorry to be back with bad news! Unfortunately, it did it again, this morning. Again, no obvious trigger event: just suddenly the 'network cable is unplugged' message. Light on port on back of PC has gone out. Light on router flashing on and off slowly. Powered the PC down, disconnected the power lead, plugged in back in, and the ethernet port flashed once, then worked as normal on power up.

Very odd. I'm completely guessing here, but think it must be electrical, because it takes actually disconnecting from the power completely before it 'resets'. A simple power cycle doesn't get it working again. Is it possible that it's shorting out?

Here's ipconfig /all, for what it's worth:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\User>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Aughelmard
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-92-74-69-62
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 212.74.112.66
212.74.112.67


- Aug


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Have you tried cleaning the contacts of the cable and the card connector .. carefully of course .. changing the cable for another one .. disconnecting the cable from the router rather than the PC ... swapping out the router or any switch that might be in between .. ?


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## Aughelmard (Nov 9, 2008)

All good ideas, of course.

The ethernet is part of the motherboard, so there's nothing I can do there. I have tried another cable, but not for long enough to see if the problem still happened with it. Trying another cable was what lead me to realise a complete disconnection from the power reset the ethernet. No opportunity to switch out the router, I'm afraid. And there are no other switches along the way.

I've discovered I can get a PCI ethernet card for literally pennies. Amazon has one for £0.79! Amazing, really. So I think I might try that next.

Part of the problem with another cable is that the one I use is 20m long. If I swap that out, I have to move the PC next to the router, which is a pain. If I move the PC, there's really no room to work on it, and I simply have to work on it.

What bothers me about all such experimentation is that the problem is so intermittent. I know that there are many variables here, and that even a fleck of dirt might be to blame...but it seems more...I don't know, more fundamental than that. I have swapped the port on the router too, including to a port used by another PC without any problems. Same issue.

Odd! Oh well. I'll try the new PCI card route, see what that does. Obviously that won't be put to the test for a couple of days. If that doesn't work, I'll try a new 20m cable.

Cheers D_F! Thanks for continuing to wrap your brain round this one.

- Aug


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

I sympathise with you .. but look at the bright side .. it's wired .. I have been playing with an intermittent wireless connection for a few months now .. and I know how frustrating it is to have these things play around ..

cleaning the connector on the motherboard with a bit of alcohol and a cotton bud might help you .. making sure no strands of cotton stay behind .. also make sure that the clips "clicks" into the receptacle .. I had a board that had a piece of metal in the wrong place and allowed the connector to slip out on occasions .. til I bent that bit of metal out of the way 

If you have the tools you could try running a 25 meter length of Cat5 next to the existing length .. plug a couple of RJ45's on each end and see if that helps when you swap it over .. also means you'll have an extra cable to play with should you feel like placing an extra PC in the area ..

When you place that new board in your PC you should have the option to disable the old one from BIOS or just disable the NIC from your local connections .. once you get the new one up and running you could disable the old one in BIOS .. to eliminate problems and confusion later .. although I run a similar setup with no problems .. but why waste memory with drivers for something you won't be using.


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## Aughelmard (Nov 9, 2008)

Done_Fishin said:


> I sympathise with you ..


Thanks D_F! And thank you for the other advice, too.

In return, I sympathise re: the intermittent wireless connection. That stuff is like sorcery! 

In an old house, I had a little office at the end of the kitchen, and the PC was connected via wireless. Worked fine...until the microwave was used at full power...and then it cut out. Only at full power, though; anything less didn't interrupt the connection at all. Like I say: esoteric, to say the least!

Returning to the matter in hand: the connection has been fine today. Will give you an update when I sort out the new card etc.

Cheers for now,

- Aug


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Look forward to hearing from you ..


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## R0M1 (Feb 25, 2009)

I recently swapped ISP from aol to o2. I was using a usb modem with AOL therefore never have used a network card, but now i am using a router for which an ethernet cable is to be used to connect to the network adaptor. I have two ethernet ports, one built into the motherboard and a seperate one, i got my ethernet cable plugged into the latter.

Now my problem is that when i started installing the router it didnt recognise my network adaptor for which i had to go out and buy a new one. This worked up until the point when i would either do speed test or start to download via using Azureus (Vuze). When i start a speed test (broadband) it will work fine untill it gets to the stage when it just starts to test my upload connection and then it would just freeze and crash my pc everytime.

At first i thought it maybe a problem with all the apps i had on my pc therefore i formatted it the other day. Restarted my PC and yet i have the same the issue. Then i thought it maybe the two network adapters conflicting with one another. (my drivers are upto date) So yesterday i removed my new network card from my pc and inserted the ethernet cable into the built in (motherboard) ethernet port and this time i never had a problem. 

But the funny thing is that when i rebooted my pc i couldn't connect to the internet. So i used the diagnostic tool from o2 to see where the problem lies. It asked to reconfigure my network settings but that didnt fix the problem. So i put the o2 installion CD in and when it was testing my specs it wouldn't recognise my network adaptor, lol!!! 

Now i was really confused as earlier i connected to the same ethernet port (built in motherboard) fixed the problem i was having but since rebooting my PC it can't detect my ethernet adaptor????

Is there a issue with having 2 network adaptors in a pc, does it conflict with one another and is there a way to disable my onboard (built in) network card???

Anyone plz help me, i've been trying to fix this problem for the last 2 weeks up untill 4am every morning (as i work mainly late shifts) baffling my brains so anyone with expertise please be kind.ray:ray:ray:


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Please open a new thread and not jump in on an old thread. That can cause major confusion and you won't get individual attention.


@ Aughelmard if you need to reopen this thread please get in contact, that you have been very quiet either means your problems are solved or that you are unable to post .. hopefully the former.


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