Workgroup Broken

[acrocker]

After a number of years working without error, my MS Network broke. I
have done a significant amount of fault-finding and tried many of the
suggestions from this forum and elsewhere but things stil don't work.
Would appreciate some pointers from anyone that wants to take on the
challenge.

Setup:-
o 3 PCs using TCP/IP and NetBios over TCP/IP
o Connected by WiFi ADSL Router (although the failing PC is using an
RJ45 cable)

Symptoms;-
o Two of the PCs (A&B) cannot communicate with one (C) - happens to
be the one with all the data!)
- Error returned '{networkname} not accessible' when trying to
access the workgroup

Isolation:-
o All PCs can talk to the I'net via a wireless ADSL router
o PCs A&B can successfully ping each-other but not C
o PC C can successfully ping both it's loopback address 127.0.0.1 and
it's NIC

I have tried create a different MS domain, switched off everything
(including Zonealarm firwall) and restarted - no difference.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Robert L [MS-MVP]]

can C ping A and B? Do you have another security software like Norton?

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
After a number of years working without error, my MS Network broke. I
have done a significant amount of fault-finding and tried many of the
suggestions from this forum and elsewhere but things stil don't work.
Would appreciate some pointers from anyone that wants to take on the
challenge.

Setup:-
o 3 PCs using TCP/IP and NetBios over TCP/IP
o Connected by WiFi ADSL Router (although the failing PC is using an
RJ45 cable)

Symptoms;-
o Two of the PCs (A&B) cannot communicate with one (C) - happens to
be the one with all the data!)
- Error returned '{networkname} not accessible' when trying to
access the workgroup

Isolation:-
o All PCs can talk to the I'net via a wireless ADSL router
o PCs A&B can successfully ping each-other but not C
o PC C can successfully ping both it's loopback address 127.0.0.1 and
it's NIC

I have tried create a different MS domain, switched off everything
(including Zonealarm firwall) and restarted - no difference.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[acrocker]

Yes C can ping A and B.

In fact I can get C to see shared devices from A and B. I simply can't
get C to take part as a 'sharing' device in the network and am
convinced this is something to do with the NetBios/TCP namespace but do
not know how to isolate further.

Thanks.

 

[Kurt]

If C can ping A&B but A & B cannot ping C, this sounds like a firewall
policy. If you've disabled all firewalls, maybe the firewall software has
gone haywire. Obvoiusly, swap the NIC, cable, switchport to eliminate all
possibility of hardware failure. Do a "winsock fix". Make sure netbios over
tcp is enabled, file and print sharing is enabled, client for MS networks,
no WINS entry (unless you have a working WINS server), the server service is
started, etc. Check your event viewer for anything related.

BTW, all kinds of weird things can happen in hardware failures. Once had a
router that started going up and down every 2 or three minutes. Finally
chased it to a bad NIC on a workstation that would reply to pings, arps,
etc. destined for the router. Go figure.

....kurt