Conference noted::windows95

    re: CADSYS::GROSS
    
    There was really no need to go out and buy a hub just for hooking up 2
    10baseT machines.  A cross-over cable will do nicely.
    
    How come you messed with your daughter's machine?  It was working fine
    at school, correct?
    
    On your family machine, you just have to make sure you are using the
    correct resources for the ethernet card.  Some cards use jumpers for
    resource selection, some are soft programmed, and yet others are plug
    and play.  Which is yours?  For the first two types, you must select
    the correct resources when installing the drivers under Win95 or the
    cards will not work.  You may also have to change the card's resource
    usage to avoid conflicts with other cards.  You must also select the
    appropriate connection type, if more than just 10baseT is available on
    the card.
    
    Cheers,
    
    Bill

I don't know what I did to mess up my daughter's computer.
I did notice that during a boot I see the message: "Invalid
configuration data. Run the configuration utility." flash by.
I have no idea what the "configuration data" is nor where to
find the suggested utility, nor what the proper commands to
such a utility would be. I assume it's a DOS thing. I found a
file called config.sys, which a rational person would assume
is relevant, but it has nothing but REM lines in it.

I asked at Comp USA and they never mentioned a cross-over cable :-(.

The adapter on the family computer is plug-and-play in a pci slot.
The card seems to sense which connector is in use because the
instruction booklet that came with it mentions no selectable
options. (I'm pleased to notice it uses an ethernet chip from Digital.)

Dave

    For protocols, keep it simple and use NetBEUI.  For your intended use 
    TCP/IP is overkill and will complicate the setup.  Make sure both systems 
    have it...  I'm sure your daughter's system uses either IP or SPX, but
    it may not have been setup with NetBEUI...
    
    -Tom

    You might try to delete the ethernet device, reboot and let the system
    discover the "new" device.  Then reconfigure the network.  This is a
    major drag, and will obliterate all the network settings that were
    required for the system to work at school...
    
    Make sure you look at ALL the network properties and write down the
    values before deleting any adapter or protocols.  Otherwise,
    chances are good the system will not work on the school's network!
    
    

    re: .2 by CADSYS::GROSS
    
    > during a boot I see the message: "Invalid configuration data. Run the
    > configuration utility." flash by.
    
    That sounds like plug and play information stored by the system has a
    mismatch with what the system detects during boot.  CMOS setup should
    have an option to clear that configuration information.
    
    An empty config.sys is quite normal on a Win95 machine.  That's where
    one would load legacy DOS drivers if Win95 did not support a particular
    option card.
    
    > I asked at Comp USA and they never mentioned a cross-over cable :-(.
    
    If it is worth your time and money, you might try to return the hub.  I
    *have* seen cross-over cables at the Nashua store. On the other hand,
    the 10baseT hubs aren't that expensive and you may decide to expand
    your home network after you get this 2-node configuration and wonder
    how you ever got along without a network! ;-)
    
    I think the suggestions in .-1 and .-2 are good ones.  When in doubt,
    remove knowledge of the card from the Win95 configuration and let it
    redetect.
    
    Cheers,
    
    /Bill
    
    

Re: .3

I got that one right. I turned on NetBEUI on my daughter's computer
and removed the other protocols. We aren't using the dial-up adapter
on that machine so I made sure it is gone too. On this machine, under
networking I see only the ethernet adapter, NetBEUI, MS client for
networks, and MS client for file sharing. NetBEUI was already enabled
on the family machine.

As a clue to what might be wrong: I started seeing the yellow "!"
when my kids friends brought over a null modem. We tried connecting
the two machines via the serial ports on COM1 and the null modem --
they wanted to try Duke Nukem on two machines. The kids got it working
through DOS but I could not complete a direct wire connection in W95.
I added W95 drivers for the direct-wire connection and, for all I
know, the drivers are still there and cause conflicts(?).

There is a problem on the family machine and I suspect it has the
same cause as above. In W95, sometimes the computer will pause
(maybe some driver has decided to poll its port) and then continue.
Its only a problem (ahem :-) playing a game that depends on timing.

Dave

    My experience with W95 networking has shown that you can't track down
    and identify everything that goes wrong, and correct it.  You just have
    to do stupid things like delete the device and re-add it and all the
    protocols, and things will usually start to work again...  Remember,
    MS doesn't make REAL operating systems...
    
    If I remember correctly, Duke Nukem uses the IPX/SPX protocol...
    
    Regards,
    Tom

Any advice on how to track down the cause of the "yellow exclaimation"
mark would be appreciated.

Dave

I got the LAN to work just fine. I can share disks and printers in
both directions. The problem remains that whenever I reboot my
daughter's computer it claims the (3com) Ethernet adapter isn't
working. If I turn the right handsprings I can remove the adapter,
reboot, W95 finds the adapter and reloads the driver, and it works
fine until the next reboot.

I noticed the same boot message mentioned over in the DECSTATION conference.
("Invalid system configuration data - run the configuration utility")
There, the solution was to get into the BIOS setup and select the option to
reset the configuration data. I'm willing to try this if someone will
confirm that I won't be causing major problems by doing so.

Dave

    I could easily be wrong, but this scenario sounds like Win95 is
    changing the resource settings for the NIC, but after cycling the
    power, the system PnP bios is changing it back again.
    
    If your bios supports it, you might try to set it to "non-PnP" and see
    if this problem disappears...

    I agree with .10.  Clearing the BIOS configuration data sounds scary,
    but all it does is force your PC to re-discover all of your hardware
    options.  I did it once without without any problems.  I can't remember
    if it will ask for software distribution diskette/CDs for the options
    it discovers...I suspect it will.  If you don't have them, no problem
    simply point to your current C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM
    directories.  It will use the files it finds there...
    
    Regards,
    Tom
    

I've been away for a few days so I haven't tried setting the NIC
to non-PNP. I did try resetting the configuration data and it
was most innocuous. The only effect I noticed was that the
troubling error message concerning system configuration data went away.

There is one more item I should look at: at college my daughter
installed something to set the pc's clock from some kind of time
server whenever the pc is booted. I suspect the time-setter-upper
is changing the settings on the NIC. I would stop the time-setter
thingy if I could find it, but I can't. I looked in all the .ini
files I could find and in config.sys/autoexec.bat. Nothing relevant.
The message "Setting system clock" is the last "black-screen"
message. What file(s) did I miss?

Dave

    Hullo,
    
    Possibly the 'StartUp Folder'?
    
    Start->Programs->StartUp
    
    hth,
    
    H