*SOLVED* Display And Networking Issues

[jgatcomb]

I have recently completed my setup and I am relatively happy. I am using Windows 7 and have a wired gigabit network though I have artificially throttled my NIC to 100 full as my switch apparently can't buffer enough to keep the Xbox from experiencing pixilation at full gigabit speeds.

There are two nagging issues I can't seem to resolve.

1. Whenever I launch WMC from the Xbox and "close", the PC claims it has a network problem (can't reach the internet) and clicking troubleshooting resolves the issue as it resets the adapter. I have not yet had an opportunity to be looking at the PC when using the extender to see if this happens as soon as content begins streaming or if it is after disconnecting. Does anyone know what this is and how I can resolve it?

Edit: This is a description of the problem: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2246884

2. The display on the TVs (one is a 60" and the other a 52") doesn't look quite right (not using full screen and appears squished) but I can't seem to setup/configure the display. On the PC, under settings I have the option to setup the display and tell it if I have a monitor/TV but that option is not available when accessing through the Xbox extender. How can I resolve this issue?

Cheers,
Joshua

[erkotz]

Re: 1:
Start by removing any firewall/antivirus software you have installed, and update your network drivers to the latest version

Re: 2:
Are your TVs HD or not? What interface do you have your Xbox 360 to? What resolution is the Xbox set to output?

[jgatcomb]

Re: 1:
Start by removing any firewall/antivirus software you have installed, and update your network drivers to the latest version

Network drivers have been updated and I have temporarily disabled Windows Firewall and Semantic Endpoint Protection - didn't resolve the problem.

Re: 2:
Are your TVs HD or not? What interface do you have your Xbox 360 to? What resolution is the Xbox set to output?

The TVs are both HD connected through HDMI. I have not changed the resolution on the Xbox - they are out of the box configuration. I am at work so I can't determine what that is at the moment but I have just googled how to reset the resolution if necessary.

Cheers,
Joshua

[jgatcomb]

Re: 2: Are your TVs HD or not? What interface do you have your Xbox 360 to? What resolution is the Xbox set to output?

Setting the resolution resolved the issue - thanks. I am not sure how I missed that setting.

Re: 1: Start by removing any firewall/antivirus software you have installed, and update your network drivers to the latest version

I am still no where on this front. I have a new Intel NIC arriving today or tomorrow. It makes no sense to me that this would only happen when disconnecting but I guess if it made sense - I would have resolved it already.

Any further insight is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Joshua

[barnabas1969]

Try uninstalling Semantic Endpoint Protection. Don't just disable it. Uninstall it.

[jgatcomb]

Try uninstalling Semantic Endpoint Protection. Don't just disable it. Uninstall it.

Uninstalling SEP did not resolve the problem nor did replacing the on-board Realtek GBE NIC with an Intel NIC (latest drivers) nor did disabling TCP/IP V6 nor did following the solutions provided at

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wik ... lient.aspx

Nor did turning off "green/power saving features" nor did turning off magic packets.

What I do find most interesting is that I can't disable "Large Send Offload V2 (IPv4)". I change the setting to disabled and click ok but then after the adapter resets, the property is back to enabled. This is happening with both NICs. In reading through the microsoft article above, I thought this may resolve the problem but apparently you can't change it.

I am at a complete loss - there are at least two other people having this exact same problem and yet no solutions.

Any other ideas?

Cheers,
Joshua

[Shackleford]

What router and/or switch are you using?

[jgatcomb]

What router and/or switch are you using?

The router is a linksys e4200 but the HTPC and the extenders are both behind the router.

Verizon Fios ---> Linksys E4200 ---> Trendnet TEG-S50g ---> NETGEAR GS105

The HTPC and one extender are connected to the netgear and the other extender is connected to the trendnet. The problem happens regardless of which switch/extender is involved.

Cheers,
Joshua

[Shackleford]

Might try and check to see if there is a firmware update for your router. Also you may want to try bypassing switches. Remove one at a time and try to reproduce the problem.

[jgatcomb]

Might try and check to see if there is a firmware update for your router. Also you may want to try bypassing switches. Remove one at a time and try to reproduce the problem.

I should have mentioned that everything has the latest drivers/firmware. My original configuration didn't have any switches. The HTPC was connected directly to the router via powerline which I removed thinking it was the source of the problem.

I am borrowing a Windows 7 laptop from a friend to try and determine if it is the HTPC or the environment. Of course, if both have the problem I won't be able to draw any conclusions but if the laptop doesn't then I will know that it is either the HTPC or the NIC in the HTPC.

I am ready to throw the system out the window though. I even considered writing a perl program to detect when the network went down and automatically run the trouble shooter.

Cheers,
Joshua

[erkotz]

The powerline adapters are effectively switches. I'd be willing to bet they are the cause of the issue. Try actual hard-wired Ethernet and see if the problem persists.

[jgatcomb]

The powerline adapters are effectively switches. I'd be willing to bet they are the cause of the issue. Try actual hard-wired Ethernet and see if the problem persists.

It must not have been clear when I said my original configuration but the powerline adapters are not in the picture. I removed them when I thought they were the source of the problem.

Cheers,
Joshua

[jgatcomb]

I am now 99% convinced this is a Windows 7 issue.

After uninstalling Semantic Endpoint Protection and disabling Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, Windows Network Protection, etc I isolated the HTPC and 1 extender from the rest of the network

I tried 3 different routers (all different brands) with no internet connection - just the HTPC and the extender

I tried two different switches hanging off the 3 different routers - just the HTPC and the extender

In every single scenario, the HTPC loses its connection to the default gateway upon closing out of the Windows Media Center App on the Xbox 360

Tomorrow, I plan on re-installing from scratch and verifying it works on a virgin install and then test it after every single configuration change and software install

I really really really didn't want to have to do this

Cheers,
Joshua

[jgatcomb]

I have just finished re-installing Windows 7 from scratch. So far I have:

Installed latest video drivers
Installed a gazillion windows updates
Verified that I am no longer having the disconnect problem

I have a ton of software and configuration tweaks that still need to be made but the next thing I am doing is installing Semantic Endpoint Protection to rule that out early as the source of the problem (even though I had previously uninstalled it and still had the issue).

More updates to follow.

Update 1:

I have installed Semantic Endpoint Protection and updated to the latest signatures and everything is still working. I did notice my response time on a ping -t to the gateway jumped up from < 1 ms to over 800 ms for a single packet after disconnecting from the extender but it never totally lost connection. It is 3AM here and I am going to bed. I will update as I go tomorrow and if I am able to identify/reproduce the problem - I will let everyone know.

Update 2:
I have finished the SSD and Windows tuning and everything is still working. I have deferred disabling unnecessary Windows services and TCP/IP tuning for now and am moving on to installing programs like Plex.

UPDATE 3:
I was able to re-introduce the problem. Unfortunately, I stopped checking after every little thing so I am not 100% positive what the exact cause was but I did manage to isolate it. It was one of the following 3 things:

• - AI Suite II
  • - ASUS Update
    - DIGI + VRM
    - EPU
    - Fan Xpert +
    - GPU Boost
    - MyLogo
    - Network iControl
    - Device Driver Package Install: NT Kernel Resources Network Service
    - Probe II
    - System Information
    - TurboV EVO
    - USB 3.0 Boost
  - Java 7 Update 21
  - System Requirements Lab for Intel

Of the 3, the only one that makes sense is the ASUS AI Suite II. I restored to just before that point and verified that so far - everything is good.

Cheers,
Joshua