Do you know how to determine WHO the Windows RPC server is?

[Ciccio]

This question is different than all the other "RPC Server Unavailable"
questions on the net (as far as I can tell anyway).

For a home network of a single Windows XP machine, does anyone know
how to determine *WHO* the Windows XP machine thinks the current RPC
server is?

 

[Ciccio]

For a home network of a single Windows XP machine, does anyone know

how to determine *WHO* the Windows XP machine thinks the current RPC
server is?

A bit of background:

I googled for "RPC Server Unavailable" and in the tons of responses,
the best seem to be in the list below but NONE seem to answer this
fundamenatl question:

Who is the RPC server?

Or, more completely:
Who is the RPC server that the home WinXP machine thinks it needs to
connect to when there is only one home machine on the "network" in the
first place?

224370 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224370/EN-US/)
Error Message: The RPC Server Is Unavailable

171781 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/171781/EN-US/)
DNS Server Fails to Start Due to Unavailable RPC Server Error

196636 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196636/EN-US/)
XADM: RPC Server Unavailable Error During Setup On Cluster

Note that the RPC Service (not "server" but "service" is started).

Do you know how to determine WHO the machine thinks the RPC server is?

 

[Ciccio]

These two might help.
http://www.faqs.org/docs/linux_network/x-087-2-appl.rpc.html
http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci214272,00.html

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the pointers to Remote Procedure Call (RPC) explanations:
http://www.faqs.org/docs/linux_network/x-087-2-appl.rpc.html
http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci214272,00.html

I read everything on google & had also read:
224370 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224370/EN-US/)
Error Message: The RPC Server Is Unavailable

171781 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/171781/EN-US/)
DNS Server Fails to Start Due to Unavailable RPC Server Error

196636 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196636/EN-US/)
XADM: RPC Server Unavailable Error During Setup On Cluster

The problem is that ALL these articles assume we WANT this thing
called an RPC server to be available.

That is, it seems they all ASSUME there is a domain controller
(I think) and that we inherently KNOW what that domain controller is.

For example, most articles just say "ask your system administrator".
Great. I don't HAVE a system administrator. I'm the system
admistrator. The system is a single computer on a home network. (Can
you tell my frustration?)

I think this need for an RPC Server has SOMETHING to do with
networking on a domain. But NONE of the articles tell us HOW to
determine WHO that RPC server really is or WHERE to tell it to just go
away!

I'll keep looking but I very much appreciate pointers as I seem to be
the only one on the net who is asking THIS particular question of the
RPC service.

 

[Ace Fekay [MVP]]

In

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the pointers to Remote Procedure Call (RPC) explanations:
http://www.faqs.org/docs/linux_network/x-087-2-appl.rpc.html
http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci214272,00.html

I read everything on google & had also read:
224370 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224370/EN-US/)
Error Message: The RPC Server Is Unavailable

171781 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/171781/EN-US/)
DNS Server Fails to Start Due to Unavailable RPC Server Error

196636 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196636/EN-US/)
XADM: RPC Server Unavailable Error During Setup On Cluster

The problem is that ALL these articles assume we WANT this thing
called an RPC server to be available.

That is, it seems they all ASSUME there is a domain controller
(I think) and that we inherently KNOW what that domain controller is.

For example, most articles just say "ask your system administrator".
Great. I don't HAVE a system administrator. I'm the system
admistrator. The system is a single computer on a home network. (Can
you tell my frustration?)

I think this need for an RPC Server has SOMETHING to do with
networking on a domain. But NONE of the articles tell us HOW to
determine WHO that RPC server really is or WHERE to tell it to just go
away!

I'll keep looking but I very much appreciate pointers as I seem to be
the only one on the net who is asking THIS particular question of the
RPC service.

I can't see the original posts in this thread, but I assume one or more of
your DCs are reporting, 'can find RPC server'?

If so, every DC is pretty much an RPC server, just as anything else that
uses RPC protocols to communicate. RPC is a connectivity method for services
to connect to other machine's services. If it's a DC, then there is a DS
(directory service) request being made more than likely on port 389 (LDAP).
If you are getting that message, then it;s telling me there is
miscommunication between your DCs, which is not a good thing.

I can get into specifics as to why it may be occuring, but rather wait to
hear what the original post was about and if this is true.

--
Ace

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It's easy:
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Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSE+I, MCT, MVP
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
Microsoft Certified Trainer

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