Unable to share network resources

[opetero]

I have found a partial answer, I am still looking for the rest of the solution.

Originally my network of 5 computers were a mix of 2K, XP home & pro connected through a Linksys AP/switch/router.

Networking worked fine for a period until 1 day I added a new laptop to the network. Networking stopped working on all machines except the 2k which could access the XP pro.

All machines still saw each other but if I tried to access resources across the network the computer used would freeze for a minute or two without accessing the resource. The XP home machines gave no error message but the XP pro gave a message which I can't remember as it was a while ago. It did not even hint at the resolution.

I spent days trying to resolve the problem and finally someone here refered me to Microsoft support article # Q177078. The help was greatly appreciated.

In XP there is a registry entry under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Paramater
s

Under this key is an entry IRPStackSize which has a default value of 15, the valid range is 11 - 50. It is recommended to increase in steps of three.

I increased IRPStack to 20 on all machines and networking worked again.

It seems that this stack records resources available on the network and when the resources surpass a certain size the network ceases to function.

I have 2 80gb drives with extensive directory structures on one of the machines. I am guessing the stack must contain the directory structure of machines accessed on the network and these extensive entries cause an overflow.

It is interesting that adding another computer to the network would cause all the machines to go down.

The lack of documentation regarding this problem astounds me as it must occur frequently.

Here is what I haven't yet solved. I have an older DirecPC 1 way satellite modem and spent weeks trying to get it to function under XP and 2K. I finally gave up and reverted one of my computers to ME to get the modem to work.

As soon as I did this I had similar network symptoms on the ME machine although the rest of the network works. The machine can see the rest of the network and the network can see the machine but nothing works. The machine freezes for a couple of minutes while trying to access the network. This affects file, printer and internet sharing.

There is no IRPStackSize entry in ME and I have been unable to find the equivelant entry.

It is a real hassle as I want this machine to be the internet server for the network. Everything I download or upload now needs to be burned to CD to be available to the other machines.

Hope someone can help

Thanks

[aym]

No need to post more than once, wait for some time, and other members will try to help you.

[opetero]

Originally posted by aym_7 No need to post more than once, wait for some time, and other members will try to help you.

Sorry - hit the back button and it resubmitted.