The Diabolical Error Number 678 > Nothing mysterious about Error 678

Nothing mysterious about Error 678

Re: Nothing mistrouis about Error 678

Read the article. It says 678 "with DSL". Put the two together and you get a specific problem. Hint: it has to do with PPPoE.

Anyway, please register so we can abuse you more formally.

Thanks for your input.

Yes, it could be a PPPoE problem. Absolutely. It also could be caused by a dozen other things. In fact you can fail to connect with your DSL provider, not be using any software version of PPPoE and still get Error 678--it still means one thing only: You can't establish a connection.

To quote some of the other posts in this thread:

Error 678 means the same thing as Enternet 300 "Timeout while contacting server". What makes it sound so mysterious is Windows wants to apply the dialup paradigm to everything.

Many thing can cause a 678, and most times it not your fault but your ISP! Things that can cause this include

1) Not having sync
2) Not being provisioned into the ISP router
3) Incorrect mapping into the DSLAM (i.e. you have sync, but the tech shows no sync, or they can ATM ping your modem and succeed...while the modem is off!)
4) Corrupted cross-connects
5) CPE and line ATM VPI/VCI mismatch

number 1 - get sync first!

number 2 and 4 are easy to solve - the respective tech just pushes the "Rip & Rebuild" button, though Tier 2 typically has access to those tools though

number 3 is harder, and is easy to miss. Simple to test for, but often overlooked.

number 5 is uncommon - although it can happen with USB modem especially

Any monkey that can see the sync status of the line and has access to an ATM Ping tool can quickly diagnose if its a line problem

Things on the computer end that can cause it (under XP):

1) NIC drivers not installed/incorrectly installed
2) Corrupt TCP/IP stack
3) Firewall software

For number 1, freshly reinstall the drivers

Number 2 was already touched on in the article, it works quite often!

Number 3 even msconfig isn't sufficient sometimes. I've seen both Zone Alarm and McAfee firewall casue this.

Oh yeah...you wouldn't believe how much a power cycle can help. Compared to Enternet 300, XP makes this process EASY.

I'm surprised that Wired wrote such a crappy article.

The 678 error on WinXP while running DSL is, like Net Force said, equivalent to a cannot connect error. You will find that most of those errors are caused by virtual channel lockups between the exchange and the IPSN [IP Services Node]. The lockups mostly occur when there's an upstream buffer overflow [ie. you are hosting a Q3 server on a 64/128 uplink]. The only solution is to reset or rebuild the channel. The former will keep your existing PVC ID and the latter will create a new one.

Sure, there will be instances when this error is PC based and can be solved by a simple connection profile recreation or a reinstall of the NIC. BTW, check your MTU settings especially if you're a gamer.

To those of you running routers, have you ever seen a router's connection status as 'Trying'? It will either be authentication related or channel related. There's not much that can go wrong with a router based DSL connection.

My 2 cents.

reply to salahx

Re: Nothing mysterious about Error 678

reply to The Reader

Re: Nothing mistrouis about Error 678

reply to The Reader
This topic and thread was generated by the article in Wired. In all honesty I can't ever recall seeing an article in Wired regardless of the slant or position of Wired that they have written well or covered adequately. All they ever do well is to cover an inherently interesting or relevant topic. But the level of coverage is something else.

reply to The Reader
There is a lot of reasons for 678 and I have found its not the ISP. The reason I know this is because I work for an ISP. Everytime I had a customer getting 678 with WinXP and they had another computer running another OS it has worked. You are right that winXP wants to assign error 678 with everything. Error 678 is the same as your Check enginge light in your car.