network disconnected then need to reboot

[lumangoy]

I have a Lenovo T60 with an intel Pro 1000 & Intel Wireless 3945a.

Lately, I noticed I get diconnected from the network. The only thing I can ping is myself even though the network cable is connected. When I try to renew the ip address, it doesn't renew. Basically, my only way to get connected back is to reboot my laptop. I noticed that if I copy large files (2gb files, vm disks) on the network, it will lose my network connection and need to reboot. I did an virus scan using symantec enterprise 10.2 and it didn't find anything. I also tried avast. nothing.

I get errors like:

The system detected that network adapter \DEVICE\TCPIP_{02193CA1-BB30-4F2F-B7DE-373819E6E2D0} was disconnected from the network, and the adapter's network configuration has been released. If the network adapter was not disconnected, this may indicate that it has malfunctioned. Please contact your vendor for updated drivers.

I've tried updating the latest drivers for my network card. Nothing.

So I'm not sure what I've got, and why I lose the network connection. Only this particular laptop. No one else is having the problem.

I'm a techie, so this one stomps me!

[Mr Snrub]

Are you on the latest firmware for the laptop?

If you disable the NIC, then wait 10 seconds and re-enable it, does it report the network is back up again?

Is there anything in the properties of the NIC relating to power or offloading?

If so, and you have a reliable method to reproduce the problem, I would try toggling some of those features off to see if it makes any difference.

[CoffeeFiend]

I noticed that if I copy large files (2gb files, vm disks) on the network, it will lose my network connection and need to reboot.

I've seen that happen lots actually. Most of the time, the problem wasn't actually with the NIC, but rather the switch at the other end -- especially if it's a consumer-level router (d-link being particularly bad). The switch chips used in them tend to be quite poor (everything to save a half penny!) You try to push a few GB through them, and then they overheat & reset, dropping your network connection in the process. Usually, if you wait long enough (so it cools down), the network connection re-establishes itself... until the next time you try to transfer anything.

I'm not saying it's what you're experiencing, but it happens quite a bit. The solution to that is usually a good network switch.

But then again, it might be the NIC or drivers too. In addition to what Mr Snrub said, it would be worthwhile to look for an updated driver (never hurts to try, it's easy to just hit "roll back" if there's any problem). I'd also peek at the event log for more hints.

[lumangoy]

the firmware of the actual bios you mean? probably not. why would it start having problems all of a sudden?

it's definitely not the switch. I tried a cross over cable from my laptop to my colleague (same model laptop) and only mine stopped working.

I cannot reproduce except when I try to force copying large files, sometimes it stops.

I've disabled the power management on the wireless and the wired.

disabling and enabling doesn't work either.

last time it happened, wireless status says I was connected, but I cannot ping my access point. I had to reboot.

[Mr Snrub]

Sorry, I didn't mean Power Management on the NIC, I meant in the Advanced tab on its properties.

There should be a list of entries under "Property", all these are features that the manufacturer has enabled configuration of through the driver - such as flow control, interrupt moderation, jumbo packet, large send offload, link speed & duplex, priority & VLAN, etc.

Are you using any personal firewall software, maybe part of the Symantec suite?

Just seems a bit of a coincidence that you say it's ~2GB file copies on a (presumably) 32-bit system (2GB being the default size of the user-mode address space).

Does it make any difference which direction the file copy is going, or which end it was initiated from?

If you do the copy from the XP client it should be using the Workstation service, but if the file is pushed to the client from the other end it should be talking to the Server service - might be interesting to see if there is a difference...

[lumangoy]

I turned off all AV & firewall and I was still having the same problem.

I noticed the problem when I shared a directory for my colleague to copy some 2gb VM files. He was pulling it from the share. I thought he was causing the problem, so I tried pushing it. Same problem. I tried a cross over cable to his laptop (same model), same problem. I was the only one getting disconnected.

I tried FTP to another workstation, same problem.

[Mr Snrub]

Note that disbling software is not the same as uninstalling it - the filter drivers are still present and involved in I/O.

You need to uninstall the software to be certain it is not affecting the environment.

[lumangoy]

I found out that I have a hidden network device:

Nortel IPSECSHM Adapter

I don't even know how that got there. I tried uninstalling it, but I get an error:

Failed to uninstall the device. The device may be required to boot up the computer.

Both my wired and wireless connections have the Eacfilt driver, which I was able to trace to the Nortel IPSECSHM Adapter, I think. I unchecked the Eacfilt driver on both, but still can't remove in device manager.

I'm not sure if this is what's causing the problem.

[Mr Snrub]

I would guess it is a VPN client driver - is it listed in Add/Remove Programs?