Troubleshooting Broadcom NetXtreme Issues

Broadcom NetXtreme is a series of high-performance Ethernet network adapters. However, like any technology, users may encounter various issues while using these adapters. This article provides solutions to common problems related to Broadcom NetXtreme, including driver issues, Ethernet not working, and more.

Microsoft Remote Installation Service (RIS) Installation Failure

If you’re experiencing issues with Microsoft Remote Installation Service (RIS) for Windows 2000 and Windows XP, refer to Microsoft’s Article Q246184 “How to Add Third-Party OEM Network Adapters to RIS Installations.”

In the .inf file that is to be placed in the RemoteInstallSetupLanguageImagesDir_Namei386 folder, remove NTx86.5.1 in two lines. Here’s an example of how to revise the file:

Original:

[Manufacturer]
%V_BCM%=BROADCOM, NTx86.5.1
[ControlFlags]
ExcludeFromSelect=*
[BROADCOM.NTx86.5.1]

Revised:

[Manufacturer]
%V_BCM%=BROADCOM
[ControlFlags]
ExcludeFromSelect=*
[BROADCOM]

Remember to only use the .inf file provided by the vendor for this purpose.

Creating Broadcom LAC Connection Icons

In Windows 2000, each properly installed network adapter will have an icon in the Network Properties window. You can learn more about this in our guide on how to connect and use an Ethernet cable. The name of the icon is usually in the form of “Local Area Connection ##,” where ## is a number starting from 1.

System administrators often rename these icons to easily differentiate the network connections. For more information on managing network connections, check out our article on how to setup a long-distance WiFi bridge. When Broadcom Advanced Server Program (BASP) is configured, it will create additional adapter icons and rename them. The naming convention is designed to allow end users to quickly identify the adapter with the corresponding team and VLAN. It’s not recommended to change the names of the icons created by BASP.

Uninstalling the BASP Software

After configuring a BASP team in Windows 2000, the system may sometimes prompt the user to reboot. This is because Plug and Play on W2k may fail to commit any change in the network protocol binding. Users can choose not to reboot and continue configuring the intermediate driver without any side effect. However, a reboot is required once the user has finished all the configurations.

Enabling VLAN After It Is Disabled

In Windows 2000, BASP creates additional network connections in the “Network Connection and Dial-up” Window. Like physical network connections, these virtual connections can be disabled via the context menu. However, if these virtual connections are re-enabled, the system will report an error as “connection failed!”. This is a known problem with Windows 2000. When this happens, rebooting the system will enable the virtual connection again.

Configuring Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

Windows 2000 networking comes with the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), which is designed to allow multiple computers to access the Internet via a Windows 2000 system. For more on this, read our article on how to setup Gigabit Ethernet. To configure ICS, a user needs to select a network connection as the “outside” connection, and another network connection as the “inside” connection.

Broadcom has observed that ICS allows any available network connection to be the “outside” and “inside” connection, regardless of the BASP team configuration. It’s recommended not to select any network connection that is part of the BASP team to be the “outside” and “inside”.

Retaining Team Configuration

In configuring BASP team configuration, the actual changes of the configuration are not committed until the user clicks “OK” in the “Network Properties” window. If a user chooses not to click OK and instead goes back to the BASP team configuration window, all the previous uncommitted changes will be lost, and the user will need to reenter the configurations. As a workaround, always click “OK” in the “Network Properties” window after making changes.

Configuring IP Address on a Member of the Team

When a team is created, the TCP/IP properties for the adapters are unselected. The user can manually select and configure TCP/IP properties of the adapters and configure an IP address. This is a limitation of the Windows 2000 network installation paradigm, where this invalid configuration is still allowed.

Creating 64 VLANs

The maximum VLAN configurations are 63 tagged and one untagged VLAN ID 0. If 64 tagged VLANs are created, they are disconnected. A reboot is required, and only 63 tagged VLANs show links, while a 64th is disabled.

In conclusion, while Broadcom NetXtreme offers high-performance Ethernet network adapters, users may encounter various issues. For more information on Ethernet and related topics, visit our Ethernet guide. This guide provides solutions to common problems, helping users to troubleshoot effectively and ensure their network connections run smoothly.

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