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General discussion

Problem connecting two simultaneous networks TCP/IP - NWLink

Feb 5, 2015 4:15AM PST

Hello,

I am trying to setup two separate network connections, using two separate network cards, on a Windows XP computer. One connection will be for a TCP/IP Windows based network (with internet access) and the other will be for a NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS, (DOS based) Novell type network.

I have installed both NICs but the problem I am having is that when both networks are connected at the same time, the TCP/IP Windows based network connects fine but the NWLink IPX/SPX network does not connect. However, if I unplug the cable of the TCP/IP Windows based network, then the NWLink IPX/SPX network connects fine.

I assume that the TCP/IP Windows connection is causing some kind of conflict somehow with the other connection and that is why it is not allowing it to connect.

I have tried disabling the NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS protocol in the Connection Properties for the TCP/IP Windows connection and have also tried changing the Network Connection Bindings but it does not make any difference.

Would there be anything that I can try to troubleshoot where the issue is? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Discussion is locked

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Ahh, the perils of OSes past.
Feb 5, 2015 4:37AM PST

You may want to move to a supported OS that you can chat with Microsoft about this. XP, as noted by you without the service packs may indeed be buggy. As its time has past there is no more fixes so try updating to the last service pack and hope the bindings work.
Bob

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XP service pack
Feb 5, 2015 5:03AM PST

Thank you for your reply. The Service Pack on my XP is SP2. You are right in that the issue could be some bug that was fixed in SP3 but I ran a quick search on what is fixed in SP3 and there is no mention on the bindings: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946480

I could try installing SP3 but would there be anything else that I could try to troubleshoot this?

Thanks,

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There are tomes on the web about binding order.
Feb 5, 2015 4:49AM PST
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PS, Meant to add this tutorial.
Feb 5, 2015 4:50AM PST
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Binding settings on two network connections
Feb 5, 2015 5:40AM PST

Thank you for the information on the bindings.

One thing I notice is whether I select Connection 1 or Connection 2 when configuring the bindings, whatever changes I make to the enabled/disabled protocols are applied to both connections. It does not allow me to disable specific protocols for each connection. Any idea why?

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Sounds like a bug. XP was like that.
Feb 5, 2015 5:52AM PST

Later patches helped but you're not all patched up. Between that and being out on a limb I can't guess why it's doing that.

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SP3 updated
Feb 5, 2015 9:27AM PST

I installed SP3 but nothing changed.

Here are the screen captures for the configurations. As you can see, this is Windows in Spanish but you should be able to figure it out (if not, please let me know and I will translate).

This is the setup for the NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS, (DOS based) Novell type network:
http://i62.tinypic.com/iyo7x2.jpg

This is the setup for the TCP/IP Windows based network:
http://i57.tinypic.com/6o249x.jpg

Thank you.

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The .128 netmask looks odd.
Feb 5, 2015 9:53AM PST

But why IP on the NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS card for protocols? Novell was not IP so I can't guess why IP networking is enabled on that card.

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.128 netmask
Feb 5, 2015 11:46PM PST

I originally had the 255.255.255.0 subnet mask but someone suggested that the two networks be on different subnets. Either way, with any of the two subnets, I could not get the two networks to connect simultaneously.

Should the two networks be on 255.255.255.0 ?

As for the TCP/IP protocol on the NWLink card, if I disable it this network does not connect at all. What could this mean then?

Thank you.

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Again, IPX/SPX is not IP based so odd to think that.
Feb 5, 2015 11:51PM PST
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There is a bug in your selected GATEWAY IP
Feb 6, 2015 12:06AM PST

If you look over your LAN IPs, you have 2 GATEWAY IPs that don't match. That looks incorrect to me. Why 2 gateways for IP?
Bob

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PS. "Default route"
Feb 6, 2015 2:42AM PST
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Default_route

Let's say you can't sort out why IP networking is in use on the IPX Novell LAN NIC. My thought would be to use the gateway IP from the IP based LAN or use 0.0.0.0 to let the network route (in the XP IP stack) sort out where the packet is going.

As it stands, the current gateway IP setup looks busted.
Bob
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more testing
Feb 6, 2015 8:22AM PST

Thanks again for you help.

I tried setting both Gateways to the same 192.168.1.1 but no luck. I also tried setting both to 0.0.0.0 and still, no luck.

Very strange. Any other ideas I could maybe try?
Thanks,

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Both to 0.0.0.0
Feb 6, 2015 9:02AM PST

With that I left to guess you are new to IP networking. I recall a day long ago where I did remove IP from a NIC. Something's off here in many ways. That is, it would be incorrect for 0.0.0.0 on both netmasks so I can't guess why we would do that. Also, IPX doesn't need IP so we can uncheck that from the Novell LAN.

Then we can always fix it in hardware. Just join the two LANs with a switched hub and we're done.
Bob

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solved
Feb 9, 2015 8:30AM PST

I finally solved this by putting both networks on the same hub, connected to a single NIC and using the same subdomain. Go figure... it was that simple!
Thank you for you help. Greatly appreciated!