Crossover problems

lukin

Does anyone else have the problem of suddenly not being able to access the other machine when having two machines connected with a crossover cable?
It is fine when you first boot up but suddenly the connection goes down for no reason and you can't see the computer in Workgroup or else you can see it but can't connect to it (" Desktop is not accessible.You might not have permission to use this resource etc.").
It happens all the time to me with my laptop and desktop and is most annoying. Is it something to do with the quality of the crossover cable?

merkuree

check duplex and speed setting....also test another crossover cable

jetsonx

cross over cables are a joke - too unreliable.

A router is the way to go - even if it is just two computers.

monkey tennis

jetsonx wrote: »

cross over cables are a joke - too unreliable.

A router is the way to go - even if it is just two computers.

This is just ridiculous. A properly made (or purchased) crossover cable has far less that can go wrong with it than a router.

OP: I'm betting it's a firewalling issue (bear in mind that modern antivirus software can have firewall-like behaviour). Make sure you have connectivity on layers 1 through 3 first - ping each computer from the other. If you don't get a ping response, check your ARP cache (arp -a from a command prompt) to make sure you're getting a MAC address corresponding to the other PC's IP. If not, then you should check the physical cable.

If you're at least getting ARP responses, then check firewalls and AV software to make sure you're not blocking the connection.

degsie

jetsonx wrote: »

cross over cables are a joke - too unreliable.

A router is the way to go - even if it is just two computers.

That's awful advise :eek: Rather than using one cable you are suggesting using TWO cables and introducing electronics in between!

Check the link lights on your nics and then as the other poster suggests go up the chain.

lukin

I tried a switch like the poster said;no improvement. I can access the desktop on My Network Places on the lappie but from My Network Places on the desktop I can only see the lappie. When I double-click on it it says " Lappie is not accessible.You might not have permission to use this resource etc.").
I don't have a NIC on the desktop, just the LAN adapter that is on the m'board so that's waht I plug the UTP cable into.
I have a NIC on an older machine that I am not using, I spose I could stick that in the desktop and use it instead of the LAN adapter but I don't see what good that will do.

kaimera

Guest account might be disabled so you won't be able to access the machine over the network. It's a security feature in XP.

Create a new account and add it to the guest user group. The allow it to access your shared folders.

FusionNet

degsie wrote: »

That's awful advise :eek: Rather than using one cable you are suggesting using TWO cables and introducing electronics in between!

Check the link lights on your nics and then as the other poster suggests go up the chain.

Being a bit harsh arent we guys..? Dont forget this whole world revolves around bits of cable and electronics in between. I would personally and I mean personally always prefer a switch and proper patch cords between 2 pc's as it gives you the option to jack in a laptop with out even having to think about it, it also gives you multiple broadband connections if you have the right router uplinked. But I see your point too. Im not a fan of homemade cables, obviously factory crimped crossovers are good just make sure they dont get mixed up with the regular patch cords as that can cause a bit of trouble!!!

Eoghan Fla
Fusion Networks

rmacm

lukin wrote: »

I tried a switch like the poster said;no improvement. I can access the desktop on My Network Places on the lappie but from My Network Places on the desktop I can only see the lappie. When I double-click on it it says " Lappie is not accessible.You might not have permission to use this resource etc.").
I don't have a NIC on the desktop, just the LAN adapter that is on the m'board so that's waht I plug the UTP cable into.
I have a NIC on an older machine that I am not using, I spose I could stick that in the desktop and use it instead of the LAN adapter but I don't see what good that will do.

As monkey tennis suggested try pinging both machines from the other i.e. ping the laptop from the desktop and vice versa. I presume you're statically assigning IP addresses because you haven't mentioned anything about DHCP. Make sure the addresses you've assigned are correct and both machines have the same subnet mask under the IP settings.

It sounds to me like a firewall problem. Have you installed any firewall software recently? Make sure you also allow access to the laptop from the network i.e. File & Print sharing enabled and either use the guest account or another account to share out folders.

Cheers
Rory

lukin

They can ping each other fine, I'm using static IP addresses and subnet mask is the same on both. I have McAfee Security Centre and I have added the IP Addresses to the "allowed" list in the firewall settings.
Guest account is on on both machines and file and print sharing is enabled on both too.
I am the only one who uses the two so don't have accounts on them.
It's actually OK now as under "Guest" in "User accounts" in the control panel it was set to "on" as I previously mentioned but when I double-clicked on it it said it was password protected so I turned that off.
I can access both now from My Network Places but I still don't trust it as when I turn it on next it could be back to the same as before again.

degsie

lukin wrote: »

I can access both now from My Network Places but I still don't trust it as when I turn it on next it could be back to the same as before again.

Welcome to the world of networking

Stephen

Could be some kind of power saving shenanigans going on on one or both machines. Make sure neither of them it set to turn off the nic when idle to save power.

Also I find the easiest way to work around security related problems in a windows workgroup is to set up an account with the same username and password on both machines you should have permissions to access both over the network.

degsie

FusionNet wrote: »

Being a bit harsh arent we guys..? Dont forget this whole world revolves around bits of cable and electronics in between.

Dunno what world you live in, but mine revolves around the Sun. The internet infrastructure does have the other stuff mind

Anyway my advise still stands, keep it simple.....

mastermind2005

Make sure you have connectivity on layers 1 through 3 first - WTF?

FruitLover

mastermind2005 wrote: »

Make sure you have connectivity on layers 1 through 3 first - WTF?

Have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model

This is pretty basic networking knowledge.

mastermind2005

Make sure ?

rmacm

Can we keep the thread on topic....OP has the problem been solved to your satisfaction? Time for me to go drinking now.

lukin

rmacm wrote: »

Can we keep the thread on topic....OP has the problem been solved to your satisfaction? Time for me to go drinking now.

Eh, well it's hard to say, I don't use the crossover that often. When I turned off that password protection thing in "Guest" in "User accounts" in the control panel it seemed to be OK then but it could be "famous last words".

mastermind2005

I agree keep it on topic, none of this rubbish about layers.... OP if you worried about your layers not working just ping 127.0.0.1


See a single crossover cable is less likley to give you issues considering the fact you would need to use 2 straight trough cables with your router :rolleyes:...

lukin

Totally bizarre.
I have skyDSL on the desktop which allows me to use satellite to dial-up to the internet. There is a way of configuring it so another machine can connect to it by proxy (connect a crossover cable between the laptop and the desktop and then enter the proxy address under "Tools-Internet Options-Connections-Lan Settings-proxy server" in IE on the laptop).]
This works but I can't get into either of them in My Network Places. I can see the icons but double-clicking gives me "you do not have access etc."

Webmonkey

lukin wrote: »

Totally bizarre.
I have skyDSL on the desktop which allows me to use satellite to dial-up to the internet. There is a way of configuring it so another machine can connect to it by proxy (connect a crossover cable between the laptop and the desktop and then enter the proxy address under "Tools-Internet Options-Connections-Lan Settings-proxy server" in IE on the laptop).]
This works but I can't get into either of them in My Network Places. I can see the icons but double-clicking gives me "you do not have access etc."

Not that bizarre,

You've set up proxy so this opens port to your PC, simple once you can communicate with the PC you can use this proxy provided firewalls dont' get in the way.
This proves that you have connectivity now at least.

Next problem is to do with windows and file sharing.
Instead of going through network places, type this into the address bar of any folder:
\\192.168.0.2 {where 192.168.0.2 is the IP address of the PC you are trying to connect to}.

If this doesn't work goto:
http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/winxpnetworking/ht/winxpsfs.htm

and make sure File Sharing is enable. Havn't read that article but i'm guessing it will give you the details you need to know.


And telling someone 'Verify Layers 1 - 3' is not basic networking knowledge for the average user. Of course it is extremly basic to anyone that specialises in networks.

Jackz

Are they in the same WORKGROUP?

lukin

Jackz wrote: »

Are they in the same WORKGROUP?

Yep, that was the first thing I checked. Like I said, I don't use the crossover that often but it's a problem I've come across before numerous times and if you google it you'll see a lot of other people have had it too.