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Windows 95 Network configuration on 486

jonnymacuser

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Aug 4, 2011
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california
I am attempting to connect a 486 running win95 to the internet.*

The network adapter is a Novel/Anthem NE2000 compatible (from the auto-detect hardware wizard); I'm using the provided Microsoft TCP/IP protocol, and Client for Microsoft Networks.


My Network config. panel looks like:

Client for Microsoft Networks.........set to Quick logon

NE2000 Compatible.....................Enhanced mode 32 & 16 bit NDIS driver
....................Bindings: TCP/IP,
.................IRQ: 5, I/O address 300-31F (no conflicts)

TCP/IP.................IP Address: 192.168.1.95
.................Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
.................Gateway: 192.168.1.254
.................Bindings: Client for Microsoft Networks


Primary Network Logon: Windows


Ping, telnet, ftp .... neither or these work. Neither does Internet Explorer. (however, I can load the crynwr NE2000.COM driver successfully from the command line, and see my Ethernet Address).


Running the Internet Setup Wizard (msie20.exe from ftp.micrsoft.com) doesnt help either.



Any ideas on getting the computer connected?





*because Windows 95 is an awesome and a hugely underrated operating system ;)**


**but not including the part where you have to restart your computer dozens and dozens of times as you troubleshoot/reconfgure settings in the control panel.
 
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I don't see any name servers there. If that's all you're missing, then you should be able to ping the gateway (192.168.1.254) but not anything past that unless you use numbers for that as well.

You're probably on top of it, but is your router set up correctly? :)
 
I don't see any name servers there. If that's all you're missing, then you should be able to ping the gateway (192.168.1.254) but not anything past that unless you use numbers for that as well.

You're probably on top of it, but is your router set up correctly? :)

I've got DNS set to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 for google.

My router? Like what should I look out for?
 
I've got DNS set to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 for google.

My router? Like what should I look out for?

I don't know what to "look for", but it too should have an IP for the next router (your ISP) and be set up similar to your computer so it, in turn, can connect. So, can you ping 192.168.1.254?
 
I guess I should have said exactly what the router should have. I'm assuming you use DHCP to get the info from your ISP, so things should look something like this?

Connection Type DHCP
IP Address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
DNS xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
MTU 1500
 
How are you trying to connect to the internet ? Cable, DSL, Phone, what ?
What else do you have that's connected to the internet ?
What are you trying to ping ?
Like Ole Juul suggested, try pinging your gateway, but also try pinging yourself, and try pining 127.0.0.1
These last two should tell you if there's anything odd going on with your stack.
patscc
 
I think that the first thing is to try to connect to your router, usually routers are in 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.0.2, open internet explorer, and try. Also, enable drive sharing, and do as patscc said, try to enter in 127.0.0.1, you should see your computer.
 
So, can you ping 192.168.1.254?

Nope.

When I try to ping the 2WIRE router:

C:\...ping 192.168.1.254

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.


I'll try pinging myself and report back here.

I've checked the cable (which goes from the computer > hub > router via ethernet cable) and it works fine for other machines.

Under "TCP/IP Properties", when I set it to "Obtain an IP address from a DHCP server" -- an error message pops up, "The DHCP client was unable to obtain an IP address ...." Hence the static IP configuration I mentioned above.

This is embarrassing. :confused:
 
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Do you have another computer hooked up to the hub ? If yes, see what it reports for it's configuration. You should at least be able to see if you've got the correct gateway.
patscc
 
Double-check the IRQ--I've been tripped up by that on occasion. Windows will swear that everything is wonderful, yet the NIC operates as if it were made from clay. You should at least be able to ping your router--but remove the "Gateway" IP address first.

Also, W95 is extremely stupid about NIC auto-detect. What is the actual card that you have and do you have the configuration utility for it?
 
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Double-check the IRQ--I've been tripped up by that on occasion. Windows will swear that everything is wonderful, yet the NIC operates as if it were made from clay. You should at least be able to ping your router--but remove the "Gateway" IP address first.

Also, W95 is extremely stupid about NIC auto-detect. What is the actual card that you have and do you have the configuration utility for it?

The IRQ gets set to 3 after auto-detect & add new hardware.

However, the IRQ is shown as *3, meaning there is a conflict with COM2. So I've set it to 5 via the control panel.

The actual card? I wish I knew. The computer is a unisys cwd 486. Is there a way to see by examining the motherboard (I believe the card is integrated into the motherboard).
 
There is also the possibility your NIC isn't making a proper link to your switch/hub/router, there are a number of early 10BaseT cards that don't link properly with modern 10/100/1000mbps switches/hubs/routers, I typically run all my vintage gear off its own older 10BaseT network hub.

I have an old Mac (with Asante NIC) and and old XT clone (with 3com 8-bit NIC) that will just not work (despite link lights) on my gigabit network gear, but works just fine hanging off an old 3com 10BaseT hub (which is connected to my gigabit network).

Not sure if this is your particular problem or not, but its worth mentioning.
 
Ok, so I can ping the machine itself, when I do:

C:\...ping 127.0.0.1

Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=32
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=32
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=32
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=32


And I do have an old 10BaseT hub in there between the computer and the 2WIRE gateway/router.


If I can successfully ping myself, does this mean that the problem is with the computer and the router talking to each other?
 
Out of curiosity have you set the computer to DHCP rather than trying to set it static to see if it grabs an IP? If it cant pull a DHCP address its, in my experience, probably not TCP stack configuration, I would look to IRQ/IO configuration (try a free IRQ maybe?) or hardware link causes (bad cable, broken RJ45 plug on NIC?)

I was fighting a Dell laptop the other day that would not link up, took me like 4 hours of screwing with it to find out that the pins in the dang jack were bent out of place :stupid:
 
The reason I keep asking if there's another computer( and what it is ) on the network is so that we can check it's IP configuration and make sure we're all on the same page regarding gateway, dhcp, etc.
patscc
 
Is there an IRQ selection on your motherboard's BIOS setup menu?

Can you give us an inventory of the large chips on your motherboard? Finding a specific driver for your networking chip might yield some results.
 
RWallmow said:
Out of curiosity have you set the computer to DHCP rather than trying to set it static to see if it grabs an IP?

Yes. It throws an error message, "The DHCP client was unable to obtain an IP address ...."

RWallmow said:
If it cant pull a DHCP address its, in my experience, probably not TCP stack configuration, I would look to IRQ/IO configuration (try a free IRQ maybe?) or hardware link causes (bad cable, broken RJ45 plug on NIC?)

The cable is tested/good. I bet it is the IRQ/IO. When the auto-detect add new hardware wizard runs, it sets the IRQ to 3 and I/O address 300-31F. However, the IRQ is shown as *3, meaning there is a conflict with COM2, so I've set it to 5 via the control panel.

patscc said:
The reason I keep asking if there's another computer( and what it is ) on the network is so that we can check it's IP configuration and make sure we're all on the same page regarding gateway, dhcp, etc.

Yes the gateway and subnet are known good. I've setup static IP's on other machines fine.

Chuck(G) said:
Is there an IRQ selection on your motherboard's BIOS setup menu?

Can you give us an inventory of the large chips on your motherboard? Finding a specific driver for your networking chip might yield some results.

Yes there are some IRQ selections on the mobo for IRQ 5, 7 & 9, see this image:

cwd.jpg
 
jonnymacuser said
however, I can load the crynwr NE2000.COM driver successfully from the command line, and see my Ethernet Address
Have you tried setting up the ip stack in dos and seeing if you can ping your gateway ?
patscc
 
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