Alright... connecting 2 PCs together should not require a HUB, just a cross-over cable, correct? That's what all the info I've found points to; so why am I not getting any connectivity between my two computers that are connected with a cross-over cable?

Both are fully network ready, as far as I am aware, but I Can't get them to talk to eachother. "Limited or no Connectivity" is all I'm being told.

Any help?

You SURE you have a cross-over lead, and not a patch lead?

Yep, yellow tipped and all. Everything is plugged in where it's supposed to go, too.

Checked you've got the relevant hardware setup in device manager and if it's an onboard LAN connection it might be disabled in BIOS.

Urgh connecting 2 computers is always so crude.

You have to set up each computers IP addresses manually IIRC.

tbh DHCP ftw!

Hardware:
marvell yukon 88e8001/8003/8010 pci gigabit ethernet controller in one computer, Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet in the other. Both are enabled, and according to windows, working properly.

Quote from pb32000 :

Urgh connecting 2 computers is always so crude.

You have to set up each computers IP addresses manually IIRC.

AFAIK you just plug in a LAN cable to each computer and on 2000/XP it just creates a network for you, that's what my friends do at least. AFIAK it's either not possible or straight forward to create a wireless network between two computers on XP, it can be done on Mac though.

It's not a wireless, it is a wired connection with a proper cross-over cable. There is a LAN connection created, but windows is saying it has limited or no connectivity.

Quote from MAGGOT :

Hardware:
marvell yukon 88e8001/8003/8010 pci gigabit ethernet controller in one computer, Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet in the other. Both are enabled, and according to windows, working properly.

Have you looked in Network connections check that they're enabled in there? Are there any other networks these computers are already on/how do you connect to the net?

Not sure if going from SP1 to an SP2 computer may cause a problem because IIRC you've got one on each and M$ is really keen to force us to upgrade to SP2.

Yep, both enabled. I'm actually not sure if I have SP2 on my new comp or not. I'd imagine I do as XP comes packaged with it now, and it uses a brand new copy of XP.

Quote from MAGGOT :

Yep, both enabled. I'm actually not sure if I have SP2 on my new comp or not. I'd imagine I do as XP comes packaged with it now, and it uses a brand new copy of XP.

Seems odd then are these adapters onboard or seperate? Maybe updating drivers would help? And if they're seperate adapters in an expansion slot you sure you're not putting the LAN cable onto the wrong slot (maybe your motherboard has onboard LAN)?

Both are on-board. On both PCs, there is only one port for an ethernet cable or cross-over cable so no chance of a wrong slot; unless i'm blind. hehe

What IPs are you trying to use?
Is the cable known to be good?

i havent mucked with any ip settings at all.

Laptop: 169.254.36.147
Desktop: 169.254.84.161

The cable is brand new, but I suppose there could be a factory defect with it...

Quote from MAGGOT :

Both are on-board. On both PCs, there is only one port for an ethernet cable or cross-over cable so no chance of a wrong slot; unless i'm blind. hehe

How do you connect to the internet, if it's via a wireless connection it may be worth trying disabling it, although it seems you're offline so maybe you've thought of that already

I had tried disabling it, and it didn't seem to affect the direct LAN at all

Quote from MAGGOT :

i havent mucked with any ip settings at all.

Laptop: 169.254.36.147
Desktop: 169.254.84.161

The cable is brand new, but I suppose there could be a factory defect with it...

Does pinging each other do anything? Other than that try using another cable or other computers if you can find or borrow any.

what do you mean by pinging eachother?

Type "ping 169.254.36.147" from the command prompt on the desktop PC and see if you get any replies. If you do the network is up and running (but windows fire sharing might not be), if not the network is down (or a firewall is blocking the packets).

If that gives you no luck you could try "ping 127.0.0.1" which will at least verify that your network card is working.

command prompt on the desktop?

Quote from MAGGOT :

what do you mean by pinging eachother?

Go start > run > type 'cmd' then type ping *IP of the other computer* and it should send 5 packets of data to the other PC it will then tell you the time it took to send these. If there's no connection to the other computer it will give a time out message.

sent 4 and recieved 4, 0ms. 0% lost.


[EDIT] Alright, I setup shared folders on both computers. Both folders are visible on both computers, and files are transferable. So, it appears the connection is working fine. NOW, should I be able to get internet on the other computer, through the network from the wireless?

In simpler terms: The laptop is on a wireless internet connection. The Desktop is connected to the laptop via a LAN connection. Should I get an internet connection on the desktop as well?

Quote from MAGGOT :

sent 4 and recieved 4, 0ms. 0% lost.


[EDIT] Alright, I setup shared folders on both computers. Both folders are visible on both computers, and files are transferable. So, it appears the connection is working fine. NOW, should I be able to get internet on the other computer, through the network from the wireless?

In simpler terms: The laptop is on a wireless internet connection. The Desktop is connected to the laptop via a LAN connection. Should I get an internet connection on the desktop as well?

So you've got a working LAN cable and network adapters the problem is a software one. Have you got any firewalls running and have you disabled any windows services?

Quote from MAGGOT :

In simpler terms: The laptop is on a wireless internet connection. The Desktop is connected to the laptop via a LAN connection. Should I get an internet connection on the desktop as well?

I don't think so it may be possible but not straight forwardly because your laptop will be treating it as two seperate networks. I think you can bridge networks, don't know if that would do it but the simpilist option would just be to pick another wireless adapter up for your desktop.

Hmm... I really only need the internet on the desktop for the purposes of unlocking LFS and rFactor. Eventually, once I get the dang thing designed, we will be building a cockpit. The cockpit will be in the basement, along with the computer, so it will be directly connected to the router. In the meantime, I just wanna unlock them :P

I was looking at a few sites and I'm sure they said that the internet connection should be on both computers.

[EDIT] I tried bridging the connection, but the wireless connection would not connect. After removing the bridge, it connected again.