Performance and Troubleshooting

This section contains the following topics:


Common Problems and Solutions

In addition to the table below, review the product release notes.

Problem

Solution

Your computer can't find the adapter

  • Make sure the adapter is seated firmly in the slot.

  • Download the latest drivers from the Intel support web site: http://www.intel.com/network

  • Try a different PCI bus master slot. See your computer's documentation to identify bus master slots.

  • Check to see if your motherboard has the latest BIOS.

  • Make sure your PCI slots are v2.2 compatible. 

  • Try rebooting the computer.

  • Try a different Intel adapter.

  • If you add an adapter with a bridge chip (such as a dual-port adapter), uninstall and then reinstall all of the drivers for all installed adapters.

Diagnostics pass but the connection fails

  • Check the responding link partner.

  • Make sure the cable is securely attached, is the proper type and does not exceed the recommended lengths. 

  • Try another cable.

  • Try running the Sender-Responder diagnostic Test.

  • Make sure the duplex mode and speed setting on the adapter matches the setting on the switch.

  • For NetWare*, make sure you specify the correct frame type in your AUTOEXEC.NCF file.

Another adapter stopped working after you installed the Intel PRO/100 adapter

  • Make sure the cable is connected.

  • Make sure your PCI BIOS is current. See PCI Installation Tips.

  • Check for interrupt conflicts and sharing problems. Make sure the other adapter supports shared interrupts. Also, make sure your operating system supports shared interrupts.

  • Unload all PCI device drivers, then reload all drivers.

  • Try reseating all adapters.

The adapter stopped working without apparent cause

  • The network driver files may be damaged or deleted. Reinstall the drivers.

  • Try reseating the adapter in its slot or different slot, if necessary.

  • Try rebooting the computer.

  • Try another cable.

  • Try a different adapter.

  • Run diagnostics.

The Link indicator light is off

  • Run the adapter and network tests described in Test the Adapter.

  • Make sure you've loaded the adapter driver.

  • Check all connections at the adapter and the switch.

  • Try another port on the switch.

  • Try another cable.

  • Make sure that the link partner is configured to auto-negotiate (or forced to match adapter).

The link light is on, but communications are not properly established
  • Make sure the proper (and latest) driver is loaded. 

  • Both the adapter and its link partner must be set to either auto-negotiate or manually set to the same speed and duplex settings.  

The adapter's link indicator light may be on even if communications between the adapter and its link partner have not been properly established. Technically, the link indicator light represents the presence of a carrier signal but not necessarily the ability to properly communicate with a link partner.  This is expected behavior and is consistent with IEEE's specification for physical layer operation.

The link light is on, but the tray icon indicates the cable is not attached If you install the Intel® PRO/100 VE desktop adapter into a CNR (Communications and Network Riser) slot while the power cord is still attached to the computer, you may create a condition in which the adapter cannot communicate with the network. The link light will light if a network connection is active and the adapter will appear to be fully functional to the system, but you will not be able to send or receive packets. In Windows* 2000, if you position the mouse over the network icon in the tray, it will indicate that no cable is attached. 

You should not install any expansion adapter into a computer while a live power cord is plugged in. However, if you have inadvertently done so and created this symptom, you can resolve it by following this procedure. 

Shut down the computer and remove the power cord, then remove the PRO/100 VE from the CNR slot. Then plug the power cord back into the computer for several seconds. Remove the cord again, wait several seconds, then reinstall the PRO/100 VE. Re-insert the power cord and power the machine back on.

RX or TX light is off
  • Make sure you've loaded the network drivers.

  • Network may be idle; try creating traffic while monitoring the lights.

  • Try another adapter.

The diagnostic utility reports the adapter is "Not enabled by BIOS"
The computer hangs when the drivers are loaded
The ACT light is off
  • Make sure you've loaded the correct network drivers.

  • The network may be idle. Try accessing a server.

  • Try another adapter.

  • Try another cable.

Event viewer message: A device attached to the system is not functioning
  • In Windows NT* and NetWare, if there is a BIOS setting for "Plug and Play OS", make sure it is set to NO. For Windows 98 SE and ME, this should be set to "YES". 

Windows 2000 or XP: Unable to remove Intel® PROSet in SAFE mode If you experience computer hangs (blue screens) after configuring network adapters with the Intel PROSet utility, try the following:
  1. Start Windows in Safe mode

  2. Go to the Device Manger, and disable the network adapters and teams.

  3. Restart the computer.

  4. Windows should be operating normally if the problem was caused by the disabled adapters.

To uninstall Intel PROSet, perform the following steps:

  1. Start Windows in Safe mode.

  2. Use the Device Manager to disable all teaming instances.

  3. Restart the computer in Normal mode.

  4. Using Intel PROSet, remove all teams and VLANs shown.

  5. Go to the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Programs.

  6. Uninstall Intel PROSet.

An adapter doesn't work after installing an adapter driver from Windows Me
  • If you use the drivers that come with Windows Me, during an installation of Windows Me, the adapter may not function correctly. After Windows Me installs the default driver, you'll need to update all Intel adapters with the newer driver on the Intel CD. See install the Network Drivers for instructions.
  • If you use multiple adapters with Windows Me, you must upgrade all Intel adapters for any to function properly.
Windows 98 is unable to update device driver files If you're using Windows 98 and have updated or added an adapter, you may experience a problem with device driver update files not being copied. (This is a known problem, for which Microsoft has published a Knowledge Base article, Q242150.) To resolve this problem:
  1. Reboot the computer.
  2. Remove the adapter via Device Manager and reboot the computer again.
  3. When prompted for the adapter driver, choose the option "Display a
    list of all the drivers...". Then choose the adapter from the list
    and click Have Disk to update the drivers from the Intel CD.
  4. Reboot the computer.
Install prompting for Prodd.vxd and Prokddp.vxd files in Windows 2000 or 98
If you use the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Windows Control Panel to remove an Intel adapter, and then try to install drivers from a later Intel CD, you may see a prompt asking for the following files:
"Prodd.vxd"
"Prokddp.vxd"
This is because Windows is attempting to install the files associated with the earlier driver, which are not present on the later Intel CD.
To resolve this problem, finish the installation and choose "Skip" when prompted for a missing file. Then, instead of removing the driver, update it with the later Intel CD.
For instructions on updating the adapter driver, see the "Install the Network Drivers" section in the online guide on the Intel CD. 
After upgrading operating systems, Intel PROSet is no longer available If you are upgrading Windows operating systems and you have Intel PROSet II software installed, it will be deleted in the process. You will need to reinstall Intel PROSet II.
In Windows XP, IP addresses are lost or Intel PROSet becomes unstable with bridging enabled With bridging enabled, Intel PROSet II does not retain adapter IP address information.

If changes are made to any Intel PROSet II advanced feature after enabling bridging, the Intel PROSet II software becomes unstable.
Terminal Server support When using Terminal Server, make sure only one session of Intel PROSet II is open at any one time. Simultaneous sessions are not supported in Intel PROSet II.


Indicator Lights

The Intel(R) PRO/100+, PRO/100 S, PRO/100 M, PRO/100 VE, and VM Desktop Adapters and Network Connections have the following indicator lights:

Label

Indication

Meaning
 ACT/LNK On The adapter and switch are receiving power; the cable connection between the switch and adapter is good.
  Off The adapter and switch are not receiving power, or you have a driver configuration problem.
  Flashing The adapter is sending or receiving network data. The frequency of the flashes varies with the amount of network traffic.
 100TX On Operating at 100 Mbps.
  Off Operating at 10 Mbps.

Other Items to Check

If none of these works, check the Late-breaking News document that came with the adapter or check the Intel support Web site. See Intel Customer Support for information on connecting to Intel's online services.


Multiple Adapters

When configuring a multi-adapter environment, you must upgrade all Intel adapters in the computer to the latest software.

If the computer has trouble detecting all adapters, consider the following:

Check the sections on installing driver software for your particular operating system for further information.


PCI Configuration Troubleshooting

If the adapter is not recognized by your OS or if it does not work you may need to change some BIOS Setup program settings. Try the following only if you are having problems with the adapter.

Here are some examples of BIOS Setup program parameters:

PCI slot #: Slot where the adapter is installed (1-3)
Master: ENABLED
Slave: ENABLED
Latency timer: 40 - 80
Interrupt: Choose any one of several that the BIOS Setup provides
Edge-level: Level

The exact wording of the parameters vary with different computers.


PCI and PCI-X Bus Performance Issues


Other Performance Issues

Attaining 100MBs requires that many components are operating at peak efficiency. Among them are the following:

NOTE: On NT4.0 computers, some applications may cause incorrect behavior and even blue screen at deserialized drivers. This is an operating system bug admitted by Microsoft that currently won't be fixed in NT4.0. This bug was fixed for Windows 2000 and later. Intel's base drivers are not affected.

Known Compatibility Issues

This section lists the current known issues that have been observed by our testing labs.

Issue: Network adapter in systems that use the Intel 450GX chipset.

Symptom: The computer locks up after running for a few minutes.

Description: The 450GX chipset has an errata related to "zero-byte" write cycles that causes a system failure under certain conditions. For more information on the errata, download the latest specification update for the Intel® 450KX/GX chipset. A link to this specification update can be found at:

    http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/450GX/

Solution: Run BIOS setup and change IOQ Depth From Auto or 8 to 1.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The computer hangs when the drivers are loaded.

Diagnostics pass, but the connection fails or errors occur.

The Wake on LAN feature is not working. (NOTE: Only the PCI 2.1 bus requires a WOL cable.  The PCI 2.2 bus does not need a cable.)

The IPv6 protocol does not seem to work after updating adapter drivers on Windows 2000 Advanced Servers.

When using a Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP1 with IPv6 bound to the adapter,
you must unbind the IPv6 protocol from the adapter before updating drivers. This is a result of the operating system implementation of the IPv6 protocol. To update an adapter using the IPv6 protocol:

  1. Unbind the IPv6 protocol from the adapter. To find the IPv6 setting, click
    Start > Settings > Control Panel > Network and Dial-Up connections > 
    Local Area Connection ###. Right-click the Connection number to open 
    the Adapter Properties dialog box. Clear the IPv6 checkbox then click OK.

  2. Update drivers. 

  3. Bind the IPv6 protocol to the adapter. In the Adapter Properties dialog box,
    click the IPv6 checkbox. See step one for detailed instructions on finding
    the IPv6 option.


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