No Internet connection on a laptop
in [Home Built PC]
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From: jinxy on 13 Jan 2010 19:16 Hello all, I am in need of some help with a connection problem. A very good friend asked me to ask you good people about this. His daughter has an LG R405 laptop which will not connect to the internet, wirelessly or via cable. The system is an Intel Core 2 duo, T5550 @1.83ghz with 3gb of ram and Windows home premium sp2 (32bit). This laptop is approx. 3 yrs. old. The device manager shows no conficts, all adapters and the ethernet controller claim to be working properly. The ethernet controller is listed as a Marvell Yukon 88E8039 PCI-E Fast. It will find and connect to a wireless network and declare "connected" but when you try to go online you get an "internet explorer cannot display the webpage" message. Next we click on " diagnose connection problem" and are told "windows did not find any problems with this computers network connection". What gives? I have tried turning off any firewalls to see if it would help, but still no joy.This has me stumped. He is trying to get in touch with his daughter at school to see if she made any recovery disks when she first bought the unit, if we have to we will reformat but would rather not. If you have any ideas or can offer any possible solution(s) we are all ears. Thanks in advance for your time and efforts. -J
From: Paul on 13 Jan 2010 19:46 jinxy wrote: > Hello all, I am in need of some help with a connection problem. A very > good friend asked me to ask you good people about this. His daughter > has an LG R405 laptop which will not connect to the internet, > wirelessly or via cable. The system is an Intel Core 2 duo, T5550 > @1.83ghz with 3gb of ram and Windows home premium sp2 (32bit). This > laptop is approx. 3 yrs. old. The device manager shows no conficts, > all adapters and the ethernet controller claim to be working properly. > The ethernet controller is listed as a Marvell Yukon 88E8039 PCI-E > Fast. It will find and connect to a wireless network and declare > "connected" but when you try to go online you get an "internet > explorer cannot display the webpage" message. Next we click on " > diagnose connection problem" and are told "windows did not find any > problems with this computers network connection". What gives? I have > tried turning off any firewalls to see if it would help, but still no > joy.This has me stumped. He is trying to get in touch with his > daughter at school to see if she made any recovery disks when she > first bought the unit, if we have to we will reformat but would rather > not. If you have any ideas or can offer any possible solution(s) we > are all ears. Thanks in advance for your time and efforts. > -J Does a "ping" command work in a DOS Command Prompt window ? Does "nslookup www.altavista.com" work ? That is a test that proves DNS translation is working. And something like "ipconfig" gives details about the current IP address, net mask and gateway. If a funny address is in usage, it could indicate a failure od DHCP to acquire a "real" IP address. In addition, you can load a Wireshark installer onto removable media, and install that on the laptop. That allows you to watch packets leave and arrive on the wired interface. In fact, I was even using it to monitor my dialup session last night (my ADSL went out, and for fun, I set up the dialup modem for a couple hours of usage). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireshark When Wireshark is running, go to View : Name Resolution and make sure all three options are ticked. That will give symbolic names rather than IP numbers, when such a translation is available. (Your private IP addresses, like 192.168.1.1 can't be translated.) You use "Capture : Interfaces" to bring up a menu of network devices to monitor. Select the one you're debugging and start a capture. Then try a few things, such as the examples of commands above, and see what happens. With my router, the first thing that happens on boot, is the computer uses DHCP to reach the router, and get things like the address of the DNS server. When I go to a web browser and enter "www.altavista.com", the DNS server will be consulted, to make a numeric IP address from the name. That is the same sort of thing that happens when you do "nslookup". If DNS is working, then the web browser uses the numeric address to contact the actual server. And then you see your web page appearing. Paul
From: jinxy on 13 Jan 2010 20:16 On Jan 13, 7:46 pm, Paul <nos...(a)needed.com> wrote: > jinxy wrote: > > Hello all, I am in need of some help with a connection problem. A very > > good friend asked me to ask you good people about this. His daughter > > has an LG R405 laptop which will not connect to the internet, > > wirelessly or via cable. The system is an Intel Core 2 duo, T5550 > > @1.83ghz with 3gb of ram and Windows home premium sp2 (32bit). This > > laptop is approx. 3 yrs. old. The device manager shows no conficts, > > all adapters and the ethernet controller claim to be working properly. > > The ethernet controller is listed as a Marvell Yukon 88E8039 PCI-E > > Fast. It will find and connect to a wireless network and declare > > "connected" but when you try to go online you get an "internet > > explorer cannot display the webpage" message. Next we click on " > > diagnose connection problem" and are told "windows did not find any > > problems with this computers network connection". What gives? I have > > tried turning off any firewalls to see if it would help, but still no > > joy.This has me stumped. He is trying to get in touch with his > > daughter at school to see if she made any recovery disks when she > > first bought the unit, if we have to we will reformat but would rather > > not. If you have any ideas or can offer any possible solution(s) we > > are all ears. Thanks in advance for your time and efforts. > > -J > > Does a "ping" command work in a DOS Command Prompt window ? > > Does "nslookupwww.altavista.com" work ? That is a test that > proves DNS translation is working. > > And something like "ipconfig" gives details about the current > IP address, net mask and gateway. If a funny address is in > usage, it could indicate a failure od DHCP to acquire a "real" > IP address. > > In addition, you can load a Wireshark installer onto removable > media, and install that on the laptop. That allows you to watch > packets leave and arrive on the wired interface. In fact, I was > even using it to monitor my dialup session last night (my ADSL > went out, and for fun, I set up the dialup modem for a > couple hours of usage). > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireshark > > When Wireshark is running, go to View : Name Resolution and make > sure all three options are ticked. That will give symbolic names > rather than IP numbers, when such a translation is available. > (Your private IP addresses, like 192.168.1.1 can't be translated.) > > You use "Capture : Interfaces" to bring up a menu of network devices > to monitor. Select the one you're debugging and start a capture. Then > try a few things, such as the examples of commands above, and see > what happens. > > With my router, the first thing that happens on boot, is the computer > uses DHCP to reach the router, and get things like the address of > the DNS server. When I go to a web browser and enter "www.altavista.com", > the DNS server will be consulted, to make a numeric IP address from > the name. That is the same sort of thing that happens when you > do "nslookup". If DNS is working, then the web browser uses the > numeric address to contact the actual server. And then you see your > web page appearing. > > Paul- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - I just received and installed a windows update. Does that mean that it outbound that is screwy? Could it be a settings problem? He had the same trouble at his home in Bancroft Ont. Different router brands , same problem. I guess the DNS is not working. How do I get it to work again? In lay terms if you would, this is getting a bit deep for me. Just a rookie when it comes to this stuff. Thanks for your patience. -J
From: Paul on 13 Jan 2010 21:36 jinxy wrote: > On Jan 13, 7:46 pm, Paul <nos...(a)needed.com> wrote: >> jinxy wrote: >>> Hello all, I am in need of some help with a connection problem. A very >>> good friend asked me to ask you good people about this. His daughter >>> has an LG R405 laptop which will not connect to the internet, >>> wirelessly or via cable. The system is an Intel Core 2 duo, T5550 >>> @1.83ghz with 3gb of ram and Windows home premium sp2 (32bit). This >>> laptop is approx. 3 yrs. old. The device manager shows no conficts, >>> all adapters and the ethernet controller claim to be working properly. >>> The ethernet controller is listed as a Marvell Yukon 88E8039 PCI-E >>> Fast. It will find and connect to a wireless network and declare >>> "connected" but when you try to go online you get an "internet >>> explorer cannot display the webpage" message. Next we click on " >>> diagnose connection problem" and are told "windows did not find any >>> problems with this computers network connection". What gives? I have >>> tried turning off any firewalls to see if it would help, but still no >>> joy.This has me stumped. He is trying to get in touch with his >>> daughter at school to see if she made any recovery disks when she >>> first bought the unit, if we have to we will reformat but would rather >>> not. If you have any ideas or can offer any possible solution(s) we >>> are all ears. Thanks in advance for your time and efforts. >>> -J >> Does a "ping" command work in a DOS Command Prompt window ? >> >> Does "nslookupwww.altavista.com" work ? That is a test that >> proves DNS translation is working. >> >> And something like "ipconfig" gives details about the current >> IP address, net mask and gateway. If a funny address is in >> usage, it could indicate a failure od DHCP to acquire a "real" >> IP address. >> >> In addition, you can load a Wireshark installer onto removable >> media, and install that on the laptop. That allows you to watch >> packets leave and arrive on the wired interface. In fact, I was >> even using it to monitor my dialup session last night (my ADSL >> went out, and for fun, I set up the dialup modem for a >> couple hours of usage). >> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireshark >> >> When Wireshark is running, go to View : Name Resolution and make >> sure all three options are ticked. That will give symbolic names >> rather than IP numbers, when such a translation is available. >> (Your private IP addresses, like 192.168.1.1 can't be translated.) >> >> You use "Capture : Interfaces" to bring up a menu of network devices >> to monitor. Select the one you're debugging and start a capture. Then >> try a few things, such as the examples of commands above, and see >> what happens. >> >> With my router, the first thing that happens on boot, is the computer >> uses DHCP to reach the router, and get things like the address of >> the DNS server. When I go to a web browser and enter "www.altavista.com", >> the DNS server will be consulted, to make a numeric IP address from >> the name. That is the same sort of thing that happens when you >> do "nslookup". If DNS is working, then the web browser uses the >> numeric address to contact the actual server. And then you see your >> web page appearing. >> >> Paul- Hide quoted text - >> >> - Show quoted text - > > I just received and installed a windows update. Does that mean that it > outbound that is screwy? Could it be a settings problem? He had the > same trouble at his home in Bancroft Ont. Different router brands , > same problem. I guess the DNS is not working. How do I get it to work > again? In lay terms if you would, this is getting a bit deep for me. > Just a rookie when it comes to this stuff. Thanks for your patience. > -J I would prefer you to work through some of the symptoms first, rather than just "bailing and cheating" :-) You really should restore the automated settings, as otherwise, you'll be forever fixing this over and over again. (I know, because I've tried to use static settings before, and every time the ISP burps, I end up fixing something. It sucks as a way to run an Internet connection. And less technical people may not appreciate having to go through a complicated procedure just to make their networking work every second day. DHCP automation is there for a reason.) ******* If you go to the Control Panels, then Network Connections, you'll see icons for various networking options. I have one called "Local Area Connection" and that one connects to my router and ADSL modem. I have a second called "Dialup Networking" which I added just yesterday, and that one is less interesting to me right now, as my ADSL is working today. If I right click on the one I'm using at the moment, then do "Properties", I can see a number of protocol stack items. The top one is "Client for Microsoft Networks". The bottom one is "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and that is the one you want. Click it and use the "Properties" button just below it. If you're using DHCP, the panel will say "Obtain an IP address automatically", as well as "Obtain DNS server address automatically". Those pieces of info come from my router via DHCP (the router gets them via DHCP from the ISP). I can also manually enter the information, which would result in a static private address for my computer. For the DNS address, any DNS server would do. For example, Google offers a DNS server. One address is 8.8.8.8. You could enter that as the "DNS Server". http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/ http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using.html But as I indicated earlier, I first would want to start with symptoms. For example, if I do nslookup on my own machine, this is what it shows. ******* C:\Documents and Settings\John Doe> nslookup www.altavista.com *** Can't find server name for address 192.168.1.1: Non-existent domain *** Default servers are not available Server: UnKnown Address: 192.168.1.1 Non-authoritative answer: Name: avatw.search.a00.yahoodns.net Address: 72.30.186.25 Aliases: www.altavista.com ******* The reason that happens, is my computer uses my four port router to resolve (translate) the address. The router address of 192.168.1.1 is private and can't be translated. It ends up as "UnKnown". Then, the translation process still works. If you set it up statically, like by plugging in 8.8.8.8 as the DNS server in the Networking setup, then the "Server" field might mention Google. The fact I can translate an address, the "72.30.186.25" tells you the DNS translation succeeded. So in this case, I know my DNS path, no matter how tortured it is, is working. If the "nslookup" command fails to produce a translation, then the DNS servers could be down. That happens on my ISP occasionally. But I notice they're getting better at it. At one time, they'd kill *both* of the DNS servers offered, within the same five minutes, while doing maintenance on them. They could be disabling one of the two servers as I'm typing this, and I wouldn't notice. It is only when all DNS servers passed down by the ISP have disappeared, that there would be translation trouble. If I were to permanently use 8.8.8.8 Google translation, if Google ever had an outage, I'd have to find another server to use. And when you can't do web browsing because the DNS is busted, it is pretty hard to come up with another server. So if you're going to meddle manually with the network setup, at least set aside some known DNS server alternatives that will be working when your primary choice is not. If you choose to set up a static IP address, it should be from the same subnet as the ones coming from your DHCP server setup. For example, if I set my router to deal 192.168.1.100 through 103 as local DHCP addresses, I could always try 192.168.1.104 as a static address for the computer that is no longer using DHCP. That is a private address (192.168.x.x is private), but the value chosen won't bump into any other of my computers connected to the same router. ******* If you're in the Command Prompt (DOS) window, and do ipconfig /? you'll see there are some other options under your control. For example, "ipconfig /flushdns" would presumably get rid of any cached DNS translations held within your computer. (Of course, you'd get the same effect by rebooting.) The /release and /renew are for "DHCP leases". When you connect through the DHCP chain, the length of your tenure is limited by the lease period, which is probably measured in days. If you ever suspect a DHCP problem, you could try "ipconfig /release" followed by "ipconfig /renew" and what could result from that, is a renewal of your DHCP settings if they happened to be screwed up. I haven't had to use that in some time now, so can't remember a set of symptoms to look for. I turn off my equipment often enough, to not run into any limits. Paul
From: jinxy on 14 Jan 2010 19:44
On Jan 13, 9:36 pm, Paul <nos...(a)needed.com> wrote: > jinxy wrote: > > On Jan 13, 7:46 pm, Paul <nos...(a)needed.com> wrote: > >> jinxy wrote: > >>> Hello all, I am in need of some help with a connection problem. A very > >>> good friend asked me to ask you good people about this. His daughter > >>> has an LG R405 laptop which will not connect to the internet, > >>> wirelessly or via cable. The system is an Intel Core 2 duo, T5550 > >>> @1.83ghz with 3gb of ram and Windows home premium sp2 (32bit). This > >>> laptop is approx. 3 yrs. old. The device manager shows no conficts, > >>> all adapters and the ethernet controller claim to be working properly.. > >>> The ethernet controller is listed as a Marvell Yukon 88E8039 PCI-E > >>> Fast. It will find and connect to a wireless network and declare > >>> "connected" but when you try to go online you get an "internet > >>> explorer cannot display the webpage" message. Next we click on " > >>> diagnose connection problem" and are told "windows did not find any > >>> problems with this computers network connection". What gives? I have > >>> tried turning off any firewalls to see if it would help, but still no > >>> joy.This has me stumped. He is trying to get in touch with his > >>> daughter at school to see if she made any recovery disks when she > >>> first bought the unit, if we have to we will reformat but would rather > >>> not. If you have any ideas or can offer any possible solution(s) we > >>> are all ears. Thanks in advance for your time and efforts. > >>> -J > >> Does a "ping" command work in a DOS Command Prompt window ? > > >> Does "nslookupwww.altavista.com" work ? That is a test that > >> proves DNS translation is working. > > >> And something like "ipconfig" gives details about the current > >> IP address, net mask and gateway. If a funny address is in > >> usage, it could indicate a failure od DHCP to acquire a "real" > >> IP address. > > >> In addition, you can load a Wireshark installer onto removable > >> media, and install that on the laptop. That allows you to watch > >> packets leave and arrive on the wired interface. In fact, I was > >> even using it to monitor my dialup session last night (my ADSL > >> went out, and for fun, I set up the dialup modem for a > >> couple hours of usage). > > >>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireshark > > >> When Wireshark is running, go to View : Name Resolution and make > >> sure all three options are ticked. That will give symbolic names > >> rather than IP numbers, when such a translation is available. > >> (Your private IP addresses, like 192.168.1.1 can't be translated.) > > >> You use "Capture : Interfaces" to bring up a menu of network devices > >> to monitor. Select the one you're debugging and start a capture. Then > >> try a few things, such as the examples of commands above, and see > >> what happens. > > >> With my router, the first thing that happens on boot, is the computer > >> uses DHCP to reach the router, and get things like the address of > >> the DNS server. When I go to a web browser and enter "www.altavista.com", > >> the DNS server will be consulted, to make a numeric IP address from > >> the name. That is the same sort of thing that happens when you > >> do "nslookup". If DNS is working, then the web browser uses the > >> numeric address to contact the actual server. And then you see your > >> web page appearing. > > >> Paul- Hide quoted text - > > >> - Show quoted text - > > > I just received and installed a windows update. Does that mean that it > > outbound that is screwy? Could it be a settings problem? He had the > > same trouble at his home in Bancroft Ont. Different router brands , > > same problem. I guess the DNS is not working. How do I get it to work > > again? In lay terms if you would, this is getting a bit deep for me. > > Just a rookie when it comes to this stuff. Thanks for your patience. > > -J > > I would prefer you to work through some of the symptoms first, rather > than just "bailing and cheating" :-) You really should restore the > automated settings, as otherwise, you'll be forever fixing this > over and over again. (I know, because I've tried to use static > settings before, and every time the ISP burps, I end up fixing > something. It sucks as a way to run an Internet connection. And less > technical people may not appreciate having to go through a complicated > procedure just to make their networking work every second day. DHCP > automation is there for a reason.) > > ******* > > If you go to the Control Panels, then Network Connections, you'll see > icons for various networking options. I have one called "Local Area Connection" > and that one connects to my router and ADSL modem. I have a second > called "Dialup Networking" which I added just yesterday, and that > one is less interesting to me right now, as my ADSL is working > today. > > If I right click on the one I'm using at the moment, then do > "Properties", I can see a number of protocol stack items. The top one > is "Client for Microsoft Networks". The bottom one is "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" > and that is the one you want. Click it and use the "Properties" button > just below it. > > If you're using DHCP, the panel will say "Obtain an IP address automatically", > as well as "Obtain DNS server address automatically". Those pieces of info > come from my router via DHCP (the router gets them via DHCP from the ISP).. > I can also manually enter the information, which would result in a static > private address for my computer. For the DNS address, any DNS server would do. > > For example, Google offers a DNS server. One address is 8.8.8.8. You > could enter that as the "DNS Server". > > http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/ > > http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using.html > > But as I indicated earlier, I first would want to start with symptoms. > For example, if I do nslookup on my own machine, this is what it shows. > > ******* > > C:\Documents and Settings\John Doe> nslookupwww.altavista.com > > *** Can't find server name for address 192.168.1.1: Non-existent domain > *** Default servers are not available > Server: UnKnown > Address: 192.168.1.1 > > Non-authoritative answer: > Name: avatw.search.a00.yahoodns.net > Address: 72.30.186.25 > Aliases: www.altavista.com > > ******* > > The reason that happens, is my computer uses my four port router to > resolve (translate) the address. The router address of 192.168.1.1 is > private and can't be translated. It ends up as "UnKnown". Then, the > translation process still works. If you set it up statically, like > by plugging in 8.8.8.8 as the DNS server in the Networking setup, > then the "Server" field might mention Google. > > The fact I can translate an address, the "72.30.186.25" tells you the > DNS translation succeeded. So in this case, I know my DNS path, no matter > how tortured it is, is working. If the "nslookup" command fails > to produce a translation, then the DNS servers could be down. That > happens on my ISP occasionally. But I notice they're getting better > at it. At one time, they'd kill *both* of the DNS servers offered, > within the same five minutes, while doing maintenance on them. They > could be disabling one of the two servers as I'm typing this, and > I wouldn't notice. It is only when all DNS servers passed down by > the ISP have disappeared, that there would be translation trouble. > > If I were to permanently use 8.8.8.8 Google translation, if Google > ever had an outage, I'd have to find another server to use. And when > you can't do web browsing because the DNS is busted, it is pretty > hard to come up with another server. So if you're going to > meddle manually with the network setup, at least set aside some known > DNS server alternatives that will be working when your primary choice > is not. > > If you choose to set up a static IP address, it should be from the > same subnet as the ones coming from your DHCP server setup. For > example, if I set my router to deal 192.168.1.100 through 103 as > local DHCP addresses, I could always try 192.168.1.104 as a static address > for the computer that is no longer using DHCP. That is a private > address (192.168.x.x is private), but the value chosen won't bump into > any other of my computers connected to the same router. > > ******* > > If you're in the Command Prompt (DOS) window, and do > > ipconfig /? > > you'll see there are some other options under your control. > For example, "ipconfig /flushdns" would presumably get rid of > any cached DNS translations held within your computer. (Of course, > you'd get the same effect by rebooting.) The /release and > /renew are for "DHCP leases". When you connect through the DHCP > chain, the length of your tenure is limited by the lease period, > which is probably measured in days. If you ever suspect a DHCP > problem, you could try "ipconfig /release" followed by > "ipconfig /renew" and what could result from that, is > a renewal of your DHCP settings if they happened to be > screwed up. I haven't had to use that in some time now, > so can't remember a set of symptoms to look for. I turn off > my equipment often enough, to not run into any limits. > > Paul- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - OK. The laptop is now in my home. They were correct when they told me that there were no yellow exclamation masks anywhere in the device manager, but there is a faint blue question mark next to the network controller under "other devices." When I click on it for info I am told that "there is no driver installed for this device" I am currently unable to figure out how to get a driver for it. There is no manufacturers name or info. Is there a generic driver for this? Did try the ipconfig/release and /renew, was told can't do this when media is diconnected. I will try for a couple of more days , and then he may have to seek professional help, I may have to seek help also for different reasons. Just kidding, I don't like to lose so I will keep on hammering away until I get it. Thanks for your ongoing help. -J |