Issues with Network cards in XP

dclee · ‎07-23-2009

I seem to be having a slight problem on our network with our XP workstations. It appears that for whatever reason the NIC card on some of the workstations seem to be disabling and the reenabling itself. The event viewer shows that the nic is going up and down more than 10 times per minute. It isnt happening on all workstations. XP is latest service pack. When I check the switch logs it shows the port also toggling back and forth.

XP event viewer also shows "detected spanning tree on network" right before the nic goes down.

I dont have any strange config on the ports. They are all associated with the appropriate VLAN.

Any ideas ? Anyone seen this before ?

Cheers

Dave

Lucien Avramov · ‎07-23-2009

Seems to be a nic driver issue. Find out what driver you are using, what the nic hardware is and try the microsoft forums.

Giuseppe Larosa · ‎07-23-2009

Hello Dave,

>> XP event viewer also shows "detected spanning tree on network" right before the nic goes down.

I dont have any strange config on the ports. They are all associated with the appropriate VLAN.

a normal switch port sends out BPDUs every two seconds unless using STP bpufilter that is not recommended.

An host NIC should simply discard these frames with no problem.

Hope to help

Giuseppe

Leo Laohoo · ‎07-24-2009

Hi Dave,

Just out of curiosity, what is the switch model in question? Is it a WS-C3500-XL-EN?

dclee · ‎07-24-2009

Yep, mix of 3560's and 3548's.

As far as Nic drivers, we have tried the updates and no luck. This seems to be a known issue in other forums on the web, was hoping that someone on this side has gone thru it.

Cheers

Dave

Leo Laohoo · ‎07-24-2009

Hi Dave,

1. Do these problems manifests themselves in the 3500-XL switches only?

2. The NICs of these PCs are Intel Intel Pro 10/100/1000 82566DM?

If you say yes to the two questions then you've hit yourself with the bug CSCec00968.

I've seen your problem way back in 2007.

Symptoms: PC with Intel 10/100/1000 NICs would "flap" when users have logged in. You might see comments something like "interface blah up/down N times per minute". When the users logs out, the interface will auto-negotiate to 10/Half and remain stable. Not all 3500 switch will have this issue. But I can't guarantee that the status quo will not change/deteriorate. Meaning, the PC's and switches may work today but it may start "flapping" tomorrow.

This is not reliant on firmware: Win 2K, XP, Vista

Cause: The cause of this issue is the inability of the Intel NIC's and Cisco controller's to negotiate with jitter.

Workaround: There are two methods of workaround. 1. Hard-code/force the PC NIC and the switch port to 100/Full; or 2. Hard-code/force the PC NIC and switch port to 10/Full.

You can request PC supplier to provide you with Broadcom NIC. This will also help.

Understand that the 3500 series is End-of-Support so you'll have to understand why further IOS upgrade is no longer available. It is also this reason why Cisco/Intel/PC manufacturer is un-willing to provide any patches to your particular issue because it just won't be financially justifiable.

If you contact PC Manufacturer or Intel for assistance, be prepared to be told that Cisco's got a "patch" for this issue and the patch, unfortunately, is upgrading the switch's IOS. IOS from the XU to the last WC17 won't fix the issue.

Hope this helps.