Network Adapter Not Available During Cluster Configuration with a Crossover Cable

ID: Q242430

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you are installing the Cluster service on the first node in a server cluster, Setup may not detect the network adapter that is connected with a crossover cable. The icon in Network and Dial-up Connections that represents the network adapter connected to the crossover cable is displayed with a red X, and the Network cable unplugged icon in displayed on the taskbar.

You may also receive one of the following error messages:

During installation:

Only a singled Adapter is configured for internal cluster use. If you have multiple adapters you may reconfigure them to avoid a single point of failure.

Or, depending on the network role designated on other network adapters that are detected:

No network adapter was configured for internal cluster use.

CAUSE

Media Sense is a default feature in Windows 2000 that removes bound protocols from an adapter sensed as "down" or "disconnected." Because the second node is powered off to avoid contention on the shared disk, Media Sense flags the network as "disconnected" because there is no end-to-end signal. During installation, the Cluster service does not detect the adapter because there are no protocols bound to the adapter.

RESOLUTION

Use any of the following methods:

Method 1

During the cluster installation, the other node must be booted but stopped at the Boot menu so that there is power to the network adapter but it does not have write access to the shared disks.

Method 2

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

Disable the Media Sense feature:

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

Locate the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\System\Tcpip\Parameters

On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:

Value Name: DisableDHCPMediaSense
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

The network adapter still shows the "disconnected" status, but the cluster installation process can detect the adapter as available for cluster communication.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about the Media Sense feature, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q239924 How to Disable Media Sense for TCP/IP in Windows 2000

If you do not use any of the methods in the "Resolution" section of this article, booting the second node (that is connected to the crossover cable) provides the network connectivity that the Cluster service requires, and the network adapter is added to the list of network adapters used by the cluster.

Note that the network adapter will be configured for both private (node-to-node) and public (client) communications. To set this adapter to only node-to-node communications, in Cluster Administrator, right-click the network adapter, and then click Properties.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbhw kbnetwork kbtool
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb