« ...you changed the subject... I assumed that you were
still dealing with duplicated names, not duplicated
addresses. »
You simply didn't read my 1st message, you had read only its
title, you missed that this title repeated the *system message*;
and you ignored the body, which reported I had not a duplicate
*name* but a duplicate *IP address*. Sure, to help fast readers,
I should have put that subject in double quotes.
Your main error is not to have missed this, but to deny you
missed, thus making the thread argumentative instead of helpful,
then to swap the roles and present me as the culprit.
Now if you want to actually help, just *be* helpful, and convey
the truth, without hiding it:
1) There is most probably a wrong system message, which induces
users, MVPs and developpers in errors, hence costs a lot of time
(and frustration I see). Useless to repeat commonplace
boilerplates as « we can reasonably expect that Microsoft have
eliminated most of the trivial problems such as an incorrect
error message »: everyone knows plenty false or imprecise
messages that cause millions hours lost world wide each year,
from Microsoft and other big software producers, and that
continue unfixed for years.
2) You are OK if you leave my particular case, however you could
report to developpers that, under W2KSP4 at least, a single
system can record the same IP address under 2 different
"computer names", and that this makes quite difficult for users
to troubleshoot their problem, as for MVPs and other users to
help them.
(Please don't infinitely serve the boilerplate about MVPs,
volunteers, staff: quite irrealistic, just irritating - and
useless. It is this attitude from MVPs that drove the best
people away from MS NGs a couple years ago).
Paris, Fri 25 Feb 2005 15:39:15 +0100
----- Parent Message -----
From: "Pegasus (MVP)" <
[email protected]>
Newsgroup: news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.win2000.networking
Message: news://msnews.microsoft.com/%
[email protected]
Sent: Sat 26 Feb 2005 00:36:57 +1100 (Paris 14:36:57 +0100)
Subject: Re: Again, it is a duplicate *IP address*, not "name"
Forgive me for overlooking that you changed the subject
of this thread after the first two posts. I assumed that you
were still dealing with duplicated names, not duplicated
addresses. I was obviously wrong.
Please note that I never made any reference to your level
of expertise. I simply suggested that it is much harder to
find the cause of a problem if one assumes too early that
the error messages are incorrect. There are a few million
Win2000 installations out there, and we can reasonably
expect that Microsoft have eliminated most of the trivial
problems such as an incorrect error message. If this was
my network then I would first eliminate every other
conceivable cause for my problem before suggesting
that the error message was incorrect.
Please note also that just about all the respondents in this
newsgroup are volunteers. They are not employees of
Microsoft and they try to assist members of the computing
community in their own time, without being paid. They do
not have a "direct line" to Microsoft developers, as you
appear to assume.
Seeing that this thread has become somewhat argumentative,
I shall now leave it to other volunteers to assist you and
possibly find a solution to your problem.
----- Parent Message -----
From: "Michel Merlin" <
[email protected]>
Newsgroup: news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.win2000.networking
Message: Sent: Fri 25 Feb 2005 14:05:55 +0100
Subject: Again, it is a duplicate *IP address*, not "name"
« It is perhaps a little premature to talk about inaccurate
or false system messages before you know the cause
of your problem »
Please read accurately what you just wrote, please do read why I
reported (that you obviously forgot or even never read), then
ask yourself if the comment you just wrote applies best to me...
or to yourself.
In case you persist not reading what I reported, I resume it
here:
=== resume start ===
When pinging from PC-B (WXPSP2 FR), I see the
correct names and IP addresses:
- Laptop1 has name "Laptop1" and IP "137.121.xx.yyy"
- PC-B has name "PC-B" and IP "137.121.xx.zzz"
When pinging from Laptop1 (W2KSP4 US), I see
twice the same *IP address*:
- Laptop1 has name "Laptop1" and IP "137.121.xx.yyy"
- PC-B has name "PC-B" and IP "137.121.xx.yyy"
=== resume end ===
As I was not (as you look) assuming my counterpart is an idiot,
I didn't precise that those names are quite unique (they are
strings of 12 or less mundane characters containing clear
references to personal name and identifiable machines, which
makes quite improbable to have twice the same name, and still
more improbable that such case would be unnoticed); and in any
Windows Explorer window on any of the involved PCs I never saw
(in years) twice the same name.
Now for my comment on « inaccurate or even false system
messages », I am not (as you look) someone writing without
knowing, and if someone says something I disagree with, I won't
(as you just did) disrespect him, let alone without asking him
for explanations, arguments and examples.
My words may look harsh, but please look from the beginning who
was appropriately respectful, careful and modest, and who was
less.
Now if you can forward to the developpers to make precise and
unambiguous system messages: if a "NetBIOS name" (after you) is
involved, they must write "NetBIOS name" (and not anything else,
as "name"); if it is an *IP address*, then they must write "IP
address" (and not anything else, as "name" again - which shows
the ambiguity).
Paris, Fri 25 Feb 2005 14:05:55 +0100
----- Parent Message -----
From: "Pegasus (MVP)" <
[email protected]>
Newsgroup: news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.win2000.networking
Message: news://msnews.microsoft.com/
[email protected]
Sent: Fri 25 Feb 2005 20:47:09 +1100 (Paris 10:47:09 +0100)
Subject: Re: "duplicate name" false; it is a duplicate *IP address*
See below.
Please explain what you call a "NetBIOS name"; I have
never seen something like this, the nearer from this I saw
is far away, it is (in the W2KSP4 US PC)
Local Area Connection Status \General \Properties \General
\NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol
\Properties \General \Internal network number,
which is "00000000"; on the WXPHSP2 FR PC I found nothing.
The NetBIOS name is the name you have given to your PC.
You can see it as "ComputerName" when you type this command
at the Command Prompt:
net config workstation
In my case the PCs involved are in workgroups, not in domains.
This is why I suggested that you should check the name of
every workgroup in your network. You can see it as "Workstation
Domain" when typing
net config workstation
Anyway in that case it seems to me clear that there is a
duplicate *IP address*, not a duplicate *name* - one more case
of inaccurate or even false system messages causing a huge
amount of time losses.
It is perhaps a little premature to talk about inaccurate or
false system messages before you know the cause of your
problem. Assuming that the message is false is likely to
prevent you from finding the real problem.
----- Parent Message -----
From: "Michel Merlin" <
[email protected]>
Newsgroup: news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.win2000.networking
Message: news://msnews.microsoft.com/
[email protected]
Sent: Fri 25 Feb 2005 09:07:10 +0100
Subject: "duplicate name" false; it is a duplicate *IP address*
Please explain what you call a "NetBIOS name"; I have never seen
something like this, the nearer from this I saw is far away, it
is (in the W2KSP4 US PC) Local Area Connection Status \General
\Properties \General \NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible
Transport Protocol \Properties \General \Internal network
number, which is "00000000"; on the WXPHSP2 FR PC I found
nothing.
In my case the PCs involved are in workgroups, not in domains.
Anyway in that case it seems to me clear that there is a
duplicate *IP address*, not a duplicate *name* - one more case
of inaccurate or even false system messages causing a huge
amount of time losses.
Paris, Fri 25 Feb 2005 09:07:10 +0100
----- Parent Message -----
From: "Pegasus (MVP)" <
[email protected]>
Newsgroup: news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.win2000.networking
Message: news://msnews.microsoft.com/%
[email protected]
Sent: Thu 24 Feb 2005 22:40:03 +1100 (Paris 12:40:03 +0100)
Subject: Re: A duplicate name exists on the network
The "Duplicate name" problem can occur under two different
conditions:
1) If two workstations have the same NetBIOS name.
2) If you have a domain or a workgroup name that is the same as
a NetBIOS name.
You now need to examine all your NetBIOS and all your domain
and/or workgroup names to identify the duplication.
----- Parent Message -----
From: "Michel Merlin" <
[email protected]>
Newsgroup: news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.win2000.networking
Message: news://msnews.microsoft.com/
[email protected]
Sent: Thu 24 Feb 2005 11:16:49 +0100
Subject: A duplicate name exists on the network
On my "Laptop1" (W2KSP4 US), when opening
Windows Explorer \Network Neighborhood \Computers near me
\PC-B (that happens to be another laptop, WXPSP2 FR), I get the
windowlet:
_________________________________________________
| Workgroup
|_________________________________________________
| \\PC-B is not accessible.
| X
| A duplicate name exists on the network.
|
| | OK |
|__________________________________________________
From PC-B:
- I have no problem browsing Laptop1;
- "ping Laptop1" and "ping PC-B" return the 2 correct different
IP addresses for the 2 laptops (137.121.xx.yyy and
137.121.xx.zzz);
- "ping 137.121.xx.yyy" and "137.121.xx.zzz" return immediate
success.
From Laptop1:
- "ping Laptop1" and "ping PC-B" return the same IP:
Ping statistics for 137.121.xx.yyy:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4...
with the "137.121.xx.yyy" being exactly the same
with "ping Laptop1" or "ping PC-B".
- "ping 137.121.xx.yyy" succeeds, but "ping 137.121.xx.zzz"
times out.
Possible cause
----------------------
Laptop1 has commuted without problems for years between LANs at
home and at work (using the excellent
http://www.netswitcher.com ). At office, I also have a desktop
PC (W98SE US), usually working under "PC-B" name and
"137.121.xx.zzz" IP address.
Last week, having recently setup a new laptop (WXPSP2 FR), I had
to connect it to the LAN at office. So I unplugged the PC-B
desktop, and connected instead the new Laptop, under the same
"PC-B" name and "137.121.xx.zzz" IP.
However, having problems (still unsolved), I also tried to
network the new laptop with PC-B, hence disconnecting Laptop1
and connecting the new laptop under Laptop1's normal name
("Laptop1") and IP ("137.121.xx.yyy").
Then this morning I reverted, disconnecting the desktop PC and
networking Laptop2 under PC-B's name and IP: this is where
the mentioned problem came - and won't go away.
I assume there is somewhere a table that has recorded Laptop2
just in the middle of a change, recording the old IP
("137.121.xx.yyy") but the new name ("PC-B").
Since everything works correctly from Laptop2 under "PC-B", I
assume this partially out-dated table is not in the DNS server,
not in Laptop2, but in Laptop1; this is why I post on this W2K
Newsgroup.
TIA for any help...
(Excuse me for the length... I thought it was easier to
understand with all the details, even if long)
Paris, Thu 24 Feb 2005 11:16:50 +0100
