Net Diag: 0 Free NCBs!!

Greetings!

When I first boot up my machine, I can access the network. If I go to sleep,
then come back on, I can no longer browse the network. It doesn't even
recognize my \\LocalMachineName. The only thing I know to do right now is to
reboot the WinMe system. The other Win98-2ndEd systems on the network do not
have this problem. The only clue I have as to what's wrong is the output of
the net command:

================================================== =========
NET DIAG /STATUS <Enter>

Please enter the remote computer's NetBIOS name, or press ENTER to examine
a local adapter's status.
<Enter>

Remote adapter status:

Permanent node name: ##X#X#X##XXX

Adapter operational for 236 minutes.
0 free NCBs out of 255 with 255 the maximum.
0 sessions in use
10 sessions allocated
1 packets transmitted 122 packets received.
0 retransmissions 0 retries exhausted.
0 crc errors 0 alignment errors
0 collisions 0 interrupted transmissions.
The command was completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS>
================================================== =========

I can run the 'net diag' command successfully between the WinMe and Win98
PC's with any acting as the NetBIOS server. I can ping all machines from any
other machine. It's just that Computer Browsing and File Sharing is broken
on WinMe. From the '98 machines, I can no longer see the shares on the WinMe
machine.

Here is my network setup:
-Cable modem
-Hardware NAT router
-NIC on WinMe machine: 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller
(3C905C-TX Compatible)
-Each device has its own IRQ or shares with a ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ
Steering
-KerioPF on all systems
-WinMe with all the updates.
-Currently 2 Win98-2 with all the updates.
-TCP/IP used only for Internet, no NetBIOS over TCP/IP
-NetBEUI used for File and Printer Sharing and Client for Microsoft Networks
only
-Unique machine name for each on one common workgroup
-Only the WinMe machine is actually sharing anything.

It used to be that my system would freeze completely after it hibernated or
powered down automatically. I solved that by using the Blank Screensaver.
Now the system doesn't freeze, but the NetBEUI seems to freeze with too many
pending NCBs. What is happening and what causes my WinMe system to run out
of NCBs to allocate? Has anyone else had this problem before or know of it?
Is there a solution? How can I refresh the NCBs without rebooting? I tried
hibernating and coming back, logging out and back in, restarting
explorer.exe, nothing worked.

Thanks!

This is common that networks log you off once the connection is broken and a
reboot is necessary. This is normal operating procedure. I suggest you do
not use Standby or Hibernate modes. They were intended to save battery life
on laptops and were never meant for use on desktops.

Carey

"Typical M$ User" <Win$(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:uWhEG7y%(E-Mail Removed)...
> Greetings!
>
> When I first boot up my machine, I can access the network. If I go to
sleep,
> then come back on, I can no longer browse the network. It doesn't even
> recognize my \\LocalMachineName. The only thing I know to do right now is
to
> reboot the WinMe system. The other Win98-2ndEd systems on the network do
not
> have this problem. The only clue I have as to what's wrong is the output
of
> the net command:
>
> ================================================== =========
> NET DIAG /STATUS <Enter>
>
> Please enter the remote computer's NetBIOS name, or press ENTER to examine
> a local adapter's status.
> <Enter>
>
> Remote adapter status:
>
> Permanent node name: ##X#X#X##XXX
>
> Adapter operational for 236 minutes.
> 0 free NCBs out of 255 with 255 the maximum.
> 0 sessions in use
> 10 sessions allocated
> 1 packets transmitted 122 packets received.
> 0 retransmissions 0 retries exhausted.
> 0 crc errors 0 alignment errors
> 0 collisions 0 interrupted transmissions.
> The command was completed successfully.
>
> C:\WINDOWS>
> ================================================== =========
>
> I can run the 'net diag' command successfully between the WinMe and Win98
> PC's with any acting as the NetBIOS server. I can ping all machines from
any
> other machine. It's just that Computer Browsing and File Sharing is broken
> on WinMe. From the '98 machines, I can no longer see the shares on the
WinMe
> machine.
>
> Here is my network setup:
> -Cable modem
> -Hardware NAT router
> -NIC on WinMe machine: 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller
> (3C905C-TX Compatible)
> -Each device has its own IRQ or shares with a ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ
> Steering
> -KerioPF on all systems
> -WinMe with all the updates.
> -Currently 2 Win98-2 with all the updates.
> -TCP/IP used only for Internet, no NetBIOS over TCP/IP
> -NetBEUI used for File and Printer Sharing and Client for Microsoft
Networks
> only
> -Unique machine name for each on one common workgroup
> -Only the WinMe machine is actually sharing anything.
>
> It used to be that my system would freeze completely after it hibernated
or
> powered down automatically. I solved that by using the Blank Screensaver.
> Now the system doesn't freeze, but the NetBEUI seems to freeze with too
many
> pending NCBs. What is happening and what causes my WinMe system to run out
> of NCBs to allocate? Has anyone else had this problem before or know of
it?
> Is there a solution? How can I refresh the NCBs without rebooting? I tried
> hibernating and coming back, logging out and back in, restarting
> explorer.exe, nothing worked.
>
> Thanks!
>
>

X-No-Archive: yes
"Carey Holzman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%23BA04h1%(E-Mail Removed)...
> This is common that networks log you off once the connection is broken and
a
> reboot is necessary. This is normal operating procedure.
My Win98 machines don't do that.

>I suggest you do not use Standby or Hibernate modes. They were intended to
save battery life
> on laptops and were never meant for use on desktops.
>
> Carey

Thanks. I created a new power profile (No Standby) which of course disables
Standby, but still powers down the monitor and hard drives. I believe
Standby was the problem. I manually went into standby mode, and when I came
back, there were no free NCBs again. I tried to use Hibernate instead, but
it's now disabled. It wasn't that way from the factory though. It must be
those nVidia drivers or something. I wonder if I can use my Science screen
saver again. l8!

X-No-Archive: yes
"Typical M$ User" <Win$(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:OU05ye9%(E-Mail Removed)...

> Thanks. I created a new power profile (No Standby) which of course
disables
> Standby, but still powers down the monitor and hard drives. I believe
> Standby was the problem. I manually went into standby mode, and when I
came
> back, there were no free NCBs again. I tried to use Hibernate instead, but
> it's now disabled. It wasn't that way from the factory though. It must be
> those nVidia drivers or something. I wonder if I can use my Science screen
> saver again. l8!

Update on this. I decided to get rid of NetBEUI and use NetBIOS over TCP/IP.
I noticed four things: 1) There are only 64 max NCBs unlike with NetBEUI
which had ~254 max, but at least they are all free most of the time; 2) If I
go into standby mode, TCP/IP doesn't lose all its free NCBs when I come
back; 3) I can now see my domain name(workgroup) and hosts under "Entire
Network". With NetBEUI, double-clicking that would give a blank window; 4)
All the tools work almost instantly including the fact that I can now use
'nbtstat.exe'

Ahhhhhhhh!!! I just tried to access this ME machine from a Win98 box after
sleeping, and I get an "Error 54: Network Busy" type message with 'net view
\\MEMachine' and can't get to the shares using Explorer. Maybe Standby is
simply broken on my box. 64 free NCB's, but the network is busy. Hmmmmmm...
Is there a way I can increase the max NCBs in TCP/IP?