NICs can't receive inbound packets at boot

Hi there

When our nice shiny new Win2K3 SP2 fully patched server reboots, the NICs
(both of them - not teamed) do not accept any inbound packets. The first tmie
I saw this, I was in the datacentre and I re-placed the cables in the sockets
and hey presto - all worked.

Next time the server was rebooted, I was back at my desk - a hundred miles
away... same issue - happily sending out packets, but packets received are
zero. Only by disabling the NICs and re-enabling them will they suddenly fire
into life.

Wierd thing: even when they're set to DHCP rather than static, they'll pick
up an IP address and then stop accepting inbound packets!

This is causing mayhem with the boot routines - lots of services depend on a
functioning network when they start up; and the network only returns when I
go onto the remote KVM and disable / reenable the NICs.

I have set the Firewall to manual - and that's not starting at boot time at
all now, so that isn't the issue; IPSec is starting but the rules in gpedit
are not enabled. Unless, of course, there's some default rules that are on
anyway?

Help! Ever had a problem that you can't even work out the keywords to
Google? :-(

TIA

H @ EW

Open Regedit,..go to:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Param eters

Add (or edit) these DWORD values

EnableRSS=0
EnableTCPA=0
DisableTaskOffload=1


Keep track of what you did. Put things back as it was if it doesn't solve
the problem. You can also try them one at a time of in combinations to see
if it solves the problem without having to use all three as I listed them.
Use the KB Article 927695 as your guide, although that article only talks
about EnableRSS.

All three of these are additional "features" added by applying SP2 for
Server2003, so setting them to disabled is no different than if SP2 wasn't
applied but you still get all the other SP2 benefits. Whenever I build up a
fresh 2003 machine with SP2 I immediately disable these three before the
machine ever gets used,...and I never have any trouble with it after that.

--
Phillip Windell
www.wandtv.com

The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
-----------------------------------------------------

"Electronic Workplace" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
in message news:A1230AA5-9E16-4797-B55A-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi there
>
> When our nice shiny new Win2K3 SP2 fully patched server reboots, the NICs
> (both of them - not teamed) do not accept any inbound packets. The first
> tmie
> I saw this, I was in the datacentre and I re-placed the cables in the
> sockets
> and hey presto - all worked.
>
> Next time the server was rebooted, I was back at my desk - a hundred miles
> away... same issue - happily sending out packets, but packets received are
> zero. Only by disabling the NICs and re-enabling them will they suddenly
> fire
> into life.
>
> Wierd thing: even when they're set to DHCP rather than static, they'll
> pick
> up an IP address and then stop accepting inbound packets!
>
> This is causing mayhem with the boot routines - lots of services depend on
> a
> functioning network when they start up; and the network only returns when
> I
> go onto the remote KVM and disable / reenable the NICs.
>
> I have set the Firewall to manual - and that's not starting at boot time
> at
> all now, so that isn't the issue; IPSec is starting but the rules in
> gpedit
> are not enabled. Unless, of course, there's some default rules that are on
> anyway?
>
> Help! Ever had a problem that you can't even work out the keywords to
> Google? :-(
>
> TIA
>
> H @ EW

Phillip

Many thanks! Your solution didn't actually do the trick, but in the
interests of the community... your solution set me on the trail... although
RSS was disabled in the registry, it was still enabled in the NIC Driver
config - so I disabled it there and all was sorted!

So - many thanks for setting me on the trail!

Kind regards

Hany
Electronic Workplace

"Phillip Windell" wrote:

> Open Regedit,..go to:
>
> HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Param eters
>
> Add (or edit) these DWORD values
>
> EnableRSS=0
> EnableTCPA=0
> DisableTaskOffload=1
>
>
> Keep track of what you did. Put things back as it was if it doesn't solve
> the problem. You can also try them one at a time of in combinations to see
> if it solves the problem without having to use all three as I listed them.
> Use the KB Article 927695 as your guide, although that article only talks
> about EnableRSS.
>
> All three of these are additional "features" added by applying SP2 for
> Server2003, so setting them to disabled is no different than if SP2 wasn't
> applied but you still get all the other SP2 benefits. Whenever I build up a
> fresh 2003 machine with SP2 I immediately disable these three before the
> machine ever gets used,...and I never have any trouble with it after that.
>
> --
> Phillip Windell
> www.wandtv.com
>
> The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
> or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
> -----------------------------------------------------
>
> "Electronic Workplace" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
> in message news:A1230AA5-9E16-4797-B55A-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hi there
> >
> > When our nice shiny new Win2K3 SP2 fully patched server reboots, the NICs
> > (both of them - not teamed) do not accept any inbound packets. The first
> > tmie
> > I saw this, I was in the datacentre and I re-placed the cables in the
> > sockets
> > and hey presto - all worked.
> >
> > Next time the server was rebooted, I was back at my desk - a hundred miles
> > away... same issue - happily sending out packets, but packets received are
> > zero. Only by disabling the NICs and re-enabling them will they suddenly
> > fire
> > into life.
> >
> > Wierd thing: even when they're set to DHCP rather than static, they'll
> > pick
> > up an IP address and then stop accepting inbound packets!
> >
> > This is causing mayhem with the boot routines - lots of services depend on
> > a
> > functioning network when they start up; and the network only returns when
> > I
> > go onto the remote KVM and disable / reenable the NICs.
> >
> > I have set the Firewall to manual - and that's not starting at boot time
> > at
> > all now, so that isn't the issue; IPSec is starting but the rules in
> > gpedit
> > are not enabled. Unless, of course, there's some default rules that are on
> > anyway?
> >
> > Help! Ever had a problem that you can't even work out the keywords to
> > Google? :-(
> >
> > TIA
> >
> > H @ EW
>
>
>

"Electronic Workplace" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
in message news:E3B4AAB0-1E68-481B-9026-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Phillip
>
> Many thanks! Your solution didn't actually do the trick, but in the
> interests of the community... your solution set me on the trail...
> although
> RSS was disabled in the registry, it was still enabled in the NIC Driver
> config - so I disabled it there and all was sorted!
>
> So - many thanks for setting me on the trail!

I didn't think the nic setting would over-ride the Registry settings since
the registry setting is supposed to be global,...but anyway, if it
works,..very good!

--
Phillip Windell
www.wandtv.com

The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
-----------------------------------------------------
Understanding the ISA 2004 Access Rule Processing
http://www.isaserver.org/articles/IS...cessRules.html

Troubleshooting Client Authentication on Access Rules in ISA Server 2004
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...7/ts_rules.doc

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Partners
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/partners/default.asp

Microsoft ISA Server Partners: Partner Hardware Solutions
http://www.microsoft.com/forefront/e...epartners.mspx
-----------------------------------------------------