Dead Men Walking

Hey all,

Got problem with network at work. A group of computers are required to access the shared documents of another computer.
All but one of the computers can view the these documents.

This computer in question can ping the computers IP but can't see any computer in the network neighbourhood.
It has the same workgroup.
Manually assigned IP details.
Firewall disabled.
Simple File Sharing Enabled.
Files Sharing protocol.

I dont think it can ping the computer NAME if this helps at all.

Anyone have any ideas?...

Can u access the folder/files through the IP?

Also what OS are these PC's running.

...they all have unique ID's and names?

QuoteOriginally posted by Bunce@Mar 17 2006, 12:09 PM
Hey all,

Got problem with network at work. A group of computers are required to access the shared documents of another computer.
All but one of the computers can view the these documents.

This computer in question can ping the computers IP but can't see any computer in the network neighbourhood.
It has the same workgroup.
Manually assigned IP details.
Firewall disabled.
Simple File Sharing Enabled.
Files Sharing protocol.

I dont think it can ping the computer NAME if this helps at all.

Anyone have any ideas?...

[post=117677]Quoted post[/post]

[/b]

Try:

net view \\machinename which should fail
net view \\IPAddress should work.

If it does check that NetBIOS over IP is enabled in your network settings

Check the DNS settings then play on the servers.

Thank you for your replies...

sadly... none of it worked...

turning off the Windows Firewall fixed it though... so anyone have any ideas why that is?
It is not essential the firewall is enabled as we have firewall on the network.

If it now works don't ask why. just accept it

Its more the fact that its working, but not how i need it to...
granted i'll have to leave it like it is if i can't fix it. :)

QuoteOriginally posted by Bunce@Mar 17 2006, 01:09 PM
Hey all,

Got problem with network at work. A group of computers are required to access the shared documents of another computer.
All but one of the computers can view the these documents.

This computer in question can ping the computers IP but can't see any computer in the network neighbourhood.
It has the same workgroup.
Manually assigned IP details.
Firewall disabled.
Simple File Sharing Enabled.
Files Sharing protocol.

I dont think it can ping the computer NAME if this helps at all.

Anyone have any ideas?...

[post=117677]Quoted post[/post]

[/b]

Did that not say 'Firewall Disabled'?

How about, the firewall is blocking the ports? Enable netbios et all through the firewall till it works.

The Windows "firewall" (or cheese crowbar, chocolate fireguard) will block port 137-139 connection attempts. If you want to leave it running, you need to allow file and print sharing to the exemptions list.
http://computing.vassar.edu/safecomputing/...y/firewall.html (http://computing.vassar.edu/safecomputing/security/firewall.html)

Ok :) but to make it more confusing, when the firewall was enabled, the file and printer sharing was enabled... also netbios was enabled...

this is why i am confused.

Once the firewall was disabled i could see the computer via IP but not via computer name.
When the firewall is enabled, neither work.

QuoteOriginally posted by Bunce@Mar 17 2006, 04:04 PM
Ok :) but to make it more confusing, when the firewall was enabled, the file and printer sharing was enabled... also netbios was enabled...

this is why i am confused.

Once the firewall was disabled i could see the computer via IP but not via computer name.
When the firewall is enabled, neither work.

[post=117753]Quoted post[/post]

[/b]

I can explain that quite simply;




Microsoft + Firewall = chaos

QuoteOriginally posted by BlueBall@Mar 17 2006, 05:34 PM
I can explain that quite simply;
Microsoft + Firewall = chaos

[post=117763]Quoted post[/post]

[/b]

i agree 1000% on that

basically dont use the windows firewall.. if its an m$ product its bugged

ive been using the mcafee personal firewall plus for years now, its good, and you can track or block ips, let some programs pass and if you wish block them from acessing the inet

also you can get a trial verson, so its free..

sorry to bring this up again but its causing more of a problem that initially thought.

Were have a handful of computers (that we know of at the moment) that cannot ping any other othe computer/server by computer name.
They are fine pinging by IP.
They are all windows XP Pro.

NetBios over TCP/IP is enabled.
DNS Server is correct
Subnet mask is same for all.
So is the WORKGROUP
The IP is manual.
Default gateway is the same for all also.

Internet works fine.

Problem is theres some software that is required to talk to a server by Computer Name.

tracing the route of the computer name fails, yet IP is fine.

So something is completely wrong with the NAME side of things.

Can ANYONE please help shed some light or ideas on this, as this needs to be working by end of the week!

Thank you in advance!

Go to one machine that works and do the following in a command window:

ipconfig /all > c:\config1.txt

Then go to a machine that doesn't work and type:

ipconfig /all > c:\config2.txt

Obviously these two files are now on different PCs but if you can post the contents of the files here we can have a look

QuoteOriginally posted by Bunce@Mar 21 2006, 05:51 PM
... tracing the route of the computer name fails, yet IP is fine.

[post=118422]Quoted post[/post]

[/b]

Point the machine name to the known IP in the hosts file on all PCs.

your dns, hosts file and or netbios are all screwed.

QuoteOriginally posted by Benny@Mar 21 2006, 07:34 PM
your dns, hosts file and or netbios are all screwed.

[post=118457]Quoted post[/post]

[/b]

I was going to break it more gently ;)

Additional information for this fiasco!

I have a wireless laptop that can be used to connect to each site (5).
I use a nifty piece of software called "Mobile Net Switch" which can have multiple settings to connect to different network. Basically when you change site you can activate the sites settings to change it for that site. (i'll post details if people are interested in the program...)

Anyway...

The site i was at yesterday where all these problems are occuring with unable to ping computer names... was occuring also on my laptop...

Now i'm at HQ and the settings have changed slightly, weirdly... i am now able to ping computer names at this site...

The only changes though are the IP address and the Default Gateway.

At the (broken) site, i've tried changing the IP's around in case it was IP related between a working pc and a broken one. This fails.

We've tried translating the computer name to IP in the host file but this doesn't seem to work either.

(anyone able to tell me what LMHOST does? It is enabled...) (LMHOST is in the advanced tab on the TCP/IP properties - wins tab)

LMHosts is a lookup file for resolving LAN Manager names and IPs - I'm sure someone will give a better more accurate explanation.

weird


Is there a DHCP, DNS and WINS server on your network or is everyone just discovering each other on the network on their own?

Probably not if you're using mobile net switch.... at first read it just sounds like the dns and NetBIOS name cache tables were wiped and you're not discovering the machines properly.

Is the DNS server internal to the network and does it have the PCs in its area listed?


Maybe try this out to get things situated: http://www.famatech.com/products/utilities/lanscanner.php (http://www.famatech.com/products/utilities/lanscanner.php)

I *think* it pulls the machine the name from the machine (nbtstat -a ), but I can't remember.  I've used it in areas w/o any structure to find things on the fly.