Some computers not browseable in Windows XP workgroup

[Kenneth Johnson]

We have 9 Windows XP systems set up in a workgroup.
All of these systems have MS file sharing enabled.
6 of these systems are visible to all 9 of the systems
in the My Network Places display. The other 3 systems
are not visible any of the 9 systems in the My Network
display.

I have one of each category set up in my office to
try to troubleshoot the problem. System A is visible
to itself in My Network Places and to System D in
My Network Places. System D is not visible in
My Network Places on system A or on system D.
On each system, the system listing shown by NET VIEW
matches the listing shown in the My Network Places window.

NetBios is enabled for TCP/IP on both systems.
(My Network Places | Properties | Local Area Connection |
Properties | Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) | Properties |
Advanced | WINS | Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP)

Both systems are set with NodeType of 4 (m-node).
Did this with Regedit after reading other problem/solution
threads in this newsgroup.
(...CurrentControlSet/Services/NetBT/Parameters/NodeType)

The workgroup name matches (case-sensitive).

On system A, I can access file shares on system D
by specifying \\D in the address bar of an explorer
window, or in the Run... window from the start menu.

I can also use "ping D" from system A.
(No hosts file, lmhosts file, or DNS server to
provide name translation for this name, which suggests it
is a NetBios name lookup, I think.) No packets
are lost. Likewise, I can use "ping A" from
system D; no packets are lost.

Any suggestions on how to further track down the nature
of this problem, or for references to study which
might be illuminating? I do have Ethereal installed
on each of these systems.

Ken

 

[robert]

try doing a search in NN for the computers.

www.pctechnicians.ca

 

[Bob Willard]

We have 9 Windows XP systems set up in a workgroup.
All of these systems have MS file sharing enabled.
6 of these systems are visible to all 9 of the systems
in the My Network Places display. The other 3 systems
are not visible any of the 9 systems in the My Network
display.

I have one of each category set up in my office to
try to troubleshoot the problem. System A is visible
to itself in My Network Places and to System D in
My Network Places. System D is not visible in
My Network Places on system A or on system D.
On each system, the system listing shown by NET VIEW
matches the listing shown in the My Network Places window.

NetBios is enabled for TCP/IP on both systems.
(My Network Places | Properties | Local Area Connection |
Properties | Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) | Properties |
Advanced | WINS | Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP)

Both systems are set with NodeType of 4 (m-node).
Did this with Regedit after reading other problem/solution
threads in this newsgroup.
(...CurrentControlSet/Services/NetBT/Parameters/NodeType)

The workgroup name matches (case-sensitive).

On system A, I can access file shares on system D
by specifying \\D in the address bar of an explorer
window, or in the Run... window from the start menu.

I can also use "ping D" from system A.
(No hosts file, lmhosts file, or DNS server to
provide name translation for this name, which suggests it
is a NetBios name lookup, I think.) No packets
are lost. Likewise, I can use "ping A" from
system D; no packets are lost.

Any suggestions on how to further track down the nature
of this problem, or for references to study which
might be illuminating? I do have Ethereal installed
on each of these systems.

Ken

Any firewall apps?

Are all PCs in the same IP subnet? I.e., for IPA=a.b.c.d, all should
have the same a.b.c and unique d's; and, each should typically have a
subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.

If ping-by-number works but ping-by-name fails, then you should
check the DNS settings.

 

[Kenneth Johnson]

try doing a search in NN for the computers.

www.pctechnicians.ca

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my inquiry.

A search in My Network Places on system A (toolbar search button)
for system D finds it without difficulty. However,
even after doing this, system D does not appear
the next time My Network Places is opened,
even if the current user has not logged off.

Likewise for a search in My Network Place on system D
for system D.

Any other ideas, anyone?

Supose you had a working network, and wanted to induce
this kind of failure (or 'hide' one or more of the systems)
-- what would you do?


KLJ

 

[Kenneth Johnson]

Solved. Determined that a Samba server was acting
as master browser, and apostrophe (single quote)
in computer description of stealthed systems invoked this bug:

https://bugzilla.samba.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1221

KLJ