Network Cable Problem, Help!

Lazarus · Post by **Lazarus** » 2007-03-29 04:41pm

I have less than 12 hours before my student film has to be given in on a DVD, and the only way I can burn one is by transferring the film to this computer from my laptop. I have a male/male network cable, but when I connect the two the laptop gives an error stating:

'Adapter Problem: The wireless adapter is disabled'

I have no idea where anything wireless comes into this, but the wireless network connection is indeed disabled if that is what this refers to, and won't enable. Attempts to 'repair' the connection result in a 'the connection has limited or no connectivity' message. It seems to get stuck on 'Acquiring network address'.

Can anyone help?

DaveJB · Post by **DaveJB** » 2007-03-29 04:51pm

Is it a crossover cable? If it's just a normal patch cable, I don't think that'll work (though why it's throwing up THAT error message is beyond me).

Lazarus · Post by **Lazarus** » 2007-03-29 04:54pm

The box says its a Belkin Crossover Patch cable

DaveJB · Post by **DaveJB** » 2007-03-29 05:03pm

Do you know whether both ports are gigabit ones? Because if they are, you'll need one designed for gigabit ports, as ones designed for 10/100 megabit ports don't have all the necessary connectors hooked up properly.

And, silly as it sounds, are you sure both computers have their ethernet ports enabled?

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-03-29 05:14pm

The problem seems to be that there's nothing telling your computers what IP address they should use.

I'm not personally experienced with setting up crossover links between two computers but here's an excerpt from a guide I found on the subject, which basically walks you through manually setting an IP address for both computers.

Assuming that I have two computers: a desktop and a laptop, here are the steps to connect them and configure them into a network:

1. Connect the crossover cable to the network connectors of both computers. You should see a tiny light coming up on the connector when the cable is well connected.

2. On the laptop, go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Local Area Connection.

3. Right mouse click on "Local Area Connection", and select "Properties". The "Local Area Connection Properties" dialog box shows up.

4. Select "Internet Protocol(TCP/IP)" and make it checked.

5. Select "Internet Protocol(TCP/IP)" and click the Properties button. The "Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) Properties" dialog box shows up.

6. Select "Use the following IP address" and make it checked. Enter "192.168.0.1" in the IP address field. Enter "255.255.255.0" in the subnet mask field.

7. Click the OK button to close the "Local Area Connection Properties" dialog box.

8. Click the Close button to close the "Local Area Connection Properties" dialog box.

9. On the desktop, repeat step 2 to step 8 the same way as on the laptop except that entering "192.168.0.2" in the IP address field and entering "255.255.255.0" in the subnet mask field.

DaveJB wrote:Do you know whether both ports are gigabit ones? Because if they are, you'll need one designed for gigabit ports, as ones designed for 10/100 megabit ports don't have all the necessary connectors hooked up properly.

And, silly as it sounds, are you sure both computers have their ethernet ports enabled?

Cat5e cables are fully 10/100/1000 compatible.

Further, even if the cable couldn't handle gigabit ethernet, the network cards on either laptop would be able to set themselves to a lower speed.

Lazarus · Post by **Lazarus** » 2007-03-29 05:28pm

That guide seemed to help, the laptop now reads as connected, although the LAN icon has dissappeared from the taskbar. The desktop, however, is stuck on 'acquiring network address'.

Fortunately, a genius moment bestowed me with the realisation that laptops are, in fact, rather portable devices, and so as a last resort I can simply take the laptop to college with me, film and all, and present it to my tutor...