I am having difficulty connecting a single linux box to a single windows machine standalone (no internet sharing or other network sharing)

I am running Fedora 2 and did not configure the network or ethernet device during installation. I am attempting to do so through the kickstart but can not get the "Network Device Controller to determine the IP"

The network setup is the simplest possible LAN that I know of two boxes connected with a crossover cable. I know both the crossover cable and the ethernet card are operational because I can dual boot the linux machine and when they are both windows I can transfer files and both machines can see each other.

I am configuring the ethernet (eth0) to be a static IP because I don't have a DHCP server running.

The process I've tried unsuccefully so far...

Through Kickstart Configure I am entering the information for the ethernet card. I have eth0 card set to static Class C non routable IP 192.168.X.X
with a netmask of 255.255.255.0 the kickstart forces me to enter information about the gateway and the Nameserver (even though there isn't any) I've tried multiple address for them and now enter them the same address as the static IP of the card.

Now... I use the Network Device Control to "Activate the card" it sits for a couple minutes then gives me an error unable to determine the IP address.

If anyone has any suggestion on how to networking them together please let me know (including articles or threads)... also these (Kickstart Configure and Network device control) are GUI entries, what files config files are responsible for determining the static IP of the single and only ethernet card I have in this machine.

thanks

I got the eth0 card working and changed the other windows machine to be on the same network 192.168.50.X however, I can't ping the other machine... on each side it just times out

As long as one machine is say 192.168.1.1 and the other is say 192.168.1.2 they should ping... Mask should be 255.255.255.0... Broadcast should be set automatically in most configs... Are you sure the crossover cable is okay? are the eth card lights on?

Yes, though I cripped the crossover, I checked it with a fluke tester and its okay... In addition when I boot one of the boxes into windows I am able to ping and transfer files.

I have no firewall and allow pings (if default) both machines can ping localhost and their assigned 192.168.x.x number. Any idea what I am missing?

samba? im not an expert but see if you have samba installed. also check linux firewalls again. if you do have samba find your smb.conf file mine in /etc/samba. i think you need to make an extra user on both machines. search around abit. this info is everwhere. hope this guides you somewhere. if you have ?'s ask but there is a good chance i wont know. i had the same problem as you but got it. it wasnt that hard just takes a bit of reading.

you may want to take a look here:
HOWTO: Makeshift Linux network @ Home
this was pulled from alt.hacking