Network PC to MAC wia Ethernet cable

I'm having a tough time trying to network my PC and MacBook Pro together.

Recently, I updated the BIOS on my PC - and since then I cannot network the 2 together. Prior to this - all I did was plug in the cable and I was able to access my files on my PC on my Mac.

Now, when I connect the cable, there is no indication on either machine that the PC or Mac are connected. On the back of the PC i can see that the light comes on when i plug the cable into the Mac. But beyond this - nothing.

I'm at a complete loss as to what the problem is - I think it has something to do with my PC - but Im not sure what I should try etc. I would appreciate any assistance on this - even a step by step so I can see if Im missing something.

When you updated the BIOS on your PC, did you access the CMOS settings menu and make sure all the settings were OK? Whenever you update or flash a BIOS on a PC, all settings are reset to factory default.

Open the CMOS settings menu and look for any that apply to Network. If you don't know how to enter your PC's CMOS menu, look in the manual or instructions that came with the PC. Usually entering CMOS is a matter of pressing certain keys during the POST - sometimes the DEL key, F10 key, etc. Depends on the make model of PC.

Also, flashing the BIOS may have actually altered some of your Windows network settings so you need to check those too.

Regards.

Thanks for your reply. The BIOS settings was the first thing I looked at - everything seems to be ok there (the stuff that I remotely understand at least).

Are you using a crossover cable or a straight Ethernet CAT5? I know the Macs are able to switch to uplink mode, but your PC might not be. If that's the case, a crossover cable should fix you right up.

im not entirely sure - but i think im using the CAT5 cable. Ill see if a crossover cable would work - but why would my setup work before with this cable and not now? Surely that implies something else thats causing the problem?

Thanks for your reply though - im still pulling my hair out over this

kmxe said:

im not entirely sure - but i think im using the CAT5 cable. Ill see if a crossover cable would work - but why would my setup work before with this cable and not now? Surely that implies something else thats causing the problem?

Thanks for your reply though - im still pulling my hair out over this

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Hard to say without actually seeing the machines, so I'm just offering a suggestion to try.

In years past, you couldn't do this sort of thing with a standard network cable - if you wanted to connect two machines directly via Ethernet, or if you wanted to connect two switches, you would need a crossover cable. Recently, NIC manufacturers have been able to add an "uplink" mode, where the NIC automatically detects a host-to-host connection and switches modes automatically.

Using a crossover cable takes the potential detection and driver issues out of the equation, since it will be a hard-wired connection.

i bought a crossover cable and tried it out - unfortunately same result. There must be a setting or something that i need to change. can anyone suggest some other things to check?

One other bit of info that might shed some light is in the 'My Network Connections' section, i do NOT see 'Local Area Connection' icon at all. I've been reading through Microsoft Support pages etc trying to find out how to get these icons back (as it may have something to do with whats going on) but still haven't had any luck

kmxe said:

One other bit of info that might shed some light is in the 'My Network Connections' section, i do NOT see 'Local Area Connection' icon at all. I've been reading through Microsoft Support pages etc trying to find out how to get these icons back (as it may have something to do with whats going on) but still haven't had any luck

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Aha! Have you gone into Device Manager? Do you see the Network Adapter listed there?