Networking in hell

[Grog]

I need help bad.
A friend of mine is using 98. Just got a cable modem. Used to use DSL (with a usb modem) just fine. Installed a linksys ethernet card. Card works fine. I can run winipcfg and see the modem params, ip address - no problems.
HOWEVER: Any application comes up and says "unable to create socket". WSFTP says: "address family not supported". It's like his whole TCP/IP stack is shot. I've removed evey network component and reinstalled only the lan card, tcp/ip protocol and client for microsoft networks. Binding is kosher.

What in the world is going on!?!? This should have been a snap!

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Spider]

You've tried releasing and renewing the ether card
connection out of winipcfg?

Try moving the ether card to another PCI slot.
Remove the drivers out of Device Manager first.

[Grog]

Yes, I tried releasing and renewing. It refreshes just fine and the cable modem uplink flickers when I do this. Therefore I know that the card is communicating with the modem. This is what worries me. It seems like the winsock (or wsock32) dll is screwed up somehow - but it can't be because these very files worked with DSL!

I also tried powering off the modem for a minute or two. No change.

I will try moving the card to another pci slot and let you know.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[GretaP]

If moving the card to another PCI slot doesn't solve the problem, you could try this:
Remove every network component, but, before restarting, open the registry editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>System>CurrentControlSet>Services
under Services, delete both Winsock and Winsock2. Now restart your computer and add the network components (this will rebuild the Winsock and Winsock2 entries in the registry), restart.

[Grog]

Well, my buddy snapped last night, backed up his personal files and wiped the whole system.:o He installed ME and is now up and running.

I wish I knew what went wrong on 98 - but thanks to you all for your help!

[GretaP]

Hi Grog,
Thanks for coming back and keeping us apprised of the situation.
It woulda been nice to know what went wrong on 98, as you said, but I'm glad he is now up and running.