Netowrk issue advise needed

[phoneguyinpgh]

Hello all,

I am having what seems to be a network issue with several computers.

First here is the set up;  1 laptop(connected wireless), 1 desktop and 2 HTPCs(hard wired) all backing up to a WHS box.  The laptop backups are flawless, I can’t recall one that has failed.  However, the computers that are hardwired to the network do have back up failures,  The HTPCs fail maybe once or twice a month at most, the desktop fails every 3-4 days.  When I wake the computers up after the back up failure I find that their connectivity to the WHS or any network drive (I have a FreeNAS box running too) is lost, internet connectivity is unaffected.

Nothing seems to restore connection to the WHS or FreeNAS box except a full restart, then everything is fine.

All the hard wired computers are being brought out of sleep mode and all are on UPS so I do not  believe it is a power glitch that’s causing the issue.  All the hardwired computers are using AMD mother boards with Realtek 1G on-board NICs connected through a 1G switch.  All are running W7x64 and all drivers are up to date.  I recall reading some posts a while back that said something to the effect that the Realtek 1G on-board NICs had issues when coming out of sleep mode. 
Could this be the issue??  If so what add-on 1G NIC would you recommend??  There is plenty of room in all 3 machines for a full sized add-on card.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

[George L. Schmauch Jr.]

Sounds like an S3 issue.  You didn’t specify XP, Vista, or Windows 7, but I know Windows 7 has about 3 options for the NIC.  Also, ensure that the BIOS is set to allow the NIC to wake the computer.

If you do decide on another NIC, I’d go with Intel.

[mikinho]

The Realtek 1G has had a lot of reported problems lately.  So far the only work-arounds have been to either 1- use a different driver, I believe 2 updates back, or 2- disable the sleep and hibernate settings for the NIC under power settings.

[phoneguyinpgh]

[quote=”Skirge01″]
Sounds like an S3 issue.  You didn’t specify XP, Vista, or Windows 7, but I know Windows 7 has about 3 options for the NIC.  Also, ensure that the BIOS is set to allow the NIC to wake the computer.

If you do decide on another NIC, I’d go with Intel.
[/quote]
Actually I did say i was running Windows 7 64 bit  (W7x64), but I believe the computers wake themselves with a wake timer.  However, the computers are waking, they just loose connectivity to networked drives.  I did browse some 1G NICs last night, some reviewers on NewEgg note some compatibility issues w/ Intel NICs and AMD mother boards, so I’ll have to do more research on them.

[quote=”Mikinho”]
The Realtek 1G has had a lot of reported problems lately.  So far the only work-arounds have been to either 1- use a different driver, I believe 2 updates back, or 2- disable the sleep and hibernate settings for the NIC under power settings.
[/quote]

I quickly checked the power options and can’t seem to find an option like that for my NIC.  I’ll check again after work, maybe I missed something.

[mikinho]

Sorry I didn’t use the proper term.

When you go to the NIC properties it is under Configure -> Power Management (tab)

Uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”

[George L. Schmauch Jr.]

[quote=”phoneguyinpgh”]
Actually I did say i was running Windows 7 64 bit  (W7x64), but I believe the computers wake themselves with a wake timer.[/quote]

Why, yes, you did!  I completely missed that.  My bad.  :-[  I have no clue how the wake timer works, but if it’s internal to the computer, then changing the NIC might not help.

[quote]However, the computers are waking, they just loose connectivity to networked drives.  I did browse some 1G NICs last night, some reviewers on NewEgg note some compatibility issues w/ Intel NICs and AMD mother boards, so I’ll have to do more research on them.[/quote]

My systems do this, too.  After a couple of seconds, the network connections are restored, however.  I see this first hand when I wake it up for watching TV.  Are you able to wake the computer yourself via other methods?  You could try setting the backup to a time when you’ll be there to watch it and see what happens.  It may not be waking up at all.

[phoneguyinpgh]

[quote]However, the computers are waking, they just loose connectivity to networked drives.  I did browse some 1G NICs last night, some reviewers on NewEgg note some compatibility issues w/ Intel NICs and AMD mother boards, so I’ll have to do more research on them.[/quote]

[quote=”Skirge01″]
My systems do this, too.  After a couple of seconds, the network connections are restored, however.  I see this first hand when I wake it up for watching TV.  Are you able to wake the computer yourself via other methods?  You could try setting the backup to a time when you’ll be there to watch it and see what happens.  It may not be waking up at all.
[/quote]

I can wake the computers by pressing any key on the keyboard (my usual method). I’ve never tried to wake by any remote/network means.  I do not have any of these computers set for remote desktop.  Also the fact that my laptop wakes and backs up flawlessly and has never lost connectivity to the networked drives leads me to suspect the NIC or as Mikinho stated, a power setting for the NIC.  I will check those settings after I get out of prison (work).

[phoneguyinpgh]

[quote=”Mikinho”]
Sorry I didn’t use the proper term.

When you go to the NIC properties it is under Configure -> Power Management (tab)

Uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”
[/quote]

Found it (I feel sheepish now ::) ).  Will verify it’s setting after prison (work).

[phoneguyinpgh]

Update;
First, I was wrong about the NICs in the HTPCs, they are both using nForce NICs which might explain why those back ups rarely fail.  The desktop is using a RealTek NIC.  I checked that all the settings were as advised above and it still did not fix the issue of losing connectivity to the networked drives.  After putting the system to sleep for several minutes and waking it back up again, the connectivity was lost, only a restart got the network drives back up.
So I think I’ll go shopping for a NIC.

[mikinho]

FWIW My preferred [s]”cheapo”[/s] reasonably priced network card is [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106033]Intel EXPI9301CTBLK[/url].  Great card for the price.  My next one up is almost 20x more expensive =/

[Meester.Rip]

Or in PCI – http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106121

I use that one in my HTPC because I was having issues with my HDHomeRun. But it also sped up my extenders connect time and sped up the GUI in Music and Pictures. IT used to hang almost 10 – 20 seconds while it loaded thumbnails, now it is around 5 I’d guess.

[phoneguyinpgh]

Fixed!  ;D

Well the new Intel NIC came.  Installed it and disabled the on board Realtek NIC.  Still no joy.  I tried every network reconfiguration I could think of, tried hibernate instead of sleep, still no joy.  As a last ditch effort I uninstalled Zone Alarm firewall and let the Windows firewall take over.  Problem fixed.  I had been running the Zone Alarm firewall for months, I don’t know why it suddenly broke access to my WHS when coming out of sleep mode, but it seems to be working fine now.

[htpc_user]

Glad to hear.  Just wondering…will you take the Intel NIC out and go back to the onboard or continue using the Intel?

[phoneguyinpgh]

[quote=”htpc_user”]
Glad to hear.  Just wondering…will you take the Intel NIC out and go back to the onboard or continue using the Intel?
[/quote]

Not sure.  I don’t like messing w/ a system when it’s working correctly, but I might give it a try just to verify it wasn’t the Realtek NIC.  If it wasn’t then I have a spare 1G NIC in case something else blows up.

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