Users Logon Before DHCP allocates an IPaddress

[Joe Spenceley]

Hi,

We are using roaming profiles on our network but are finding that users are
able to logon to the domain before their PC is allocated an IP address by
our DHCP servers.
The users then gets the message saying that their Roaming Profile can not be
found. Obviously they will use the local cached copy in these instances but
when they logoff any updates or changes to their profiles will not be saved.

Any ideas on how to resolve this?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Hi,

We are using roaming profiles on our network but are finding that
users are able to logon to the domain before their PC is allocated an
IP address by our DHCP servers.
The users then gets the message saying that their Roaming Profile can
not be found. Obviously they will use the local cached copy in these
instances but when they logoff any updates or changes to their
profiles will not be saved.

Any ideas on how to resolve this?

Thanks,
Joe

Yes, they can use cached credentials and log in even when not connected at
all, but there's no link between logging in and getting an IP address. That
should happen when the machine boots up. Are you using anything special for
DHCP, or is this a vanilla DHCP server setup?

What do you see in the event logs on the client, and what leads you to
believe it's a DHCP issue?

Are you using Active Directory?

 

[Joe Spenceley]

Our DHCP setup is fairly basic, two servers providing 50% each of the
available range.

The client log shows.
Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network (from the
DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address 000802E33645. The
following error occurred:

The semaphore timeout period has expired. . Your computer will continue to
try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP) server.

And yes, we are using AD

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Our DHCP setup is fairly basic, two servers providing 50% each of the
available range.

The client log shows.
Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network
(from the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address
000802E33645. The following error occurred:

The semaphore timeout period has expired. . Your computer will
continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network
address (DHCP) server.

If you boot up a computer and let it sit there for, say, five minutes, does
it get an IP address? Can you see it on your DHCP server, and ping it?

 

[Joe Spenceley]

Yes, if I leave the PC for a minute or so it will grab an IP address from
the DHCP server. Then it can ping and be pinged by the DHCP server.

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Yes, if I leave the PC for a minute or so it will grab an IP address
from the DHCP server. Then it can ping and be pinged by the DHCP
server.

Good. And then the user can log in normally & get his/her roaming profile
downloaded?
Are these computers perhaps laptops that were assigned DHCP addresses on
another network before being powered on on your network?
Are you using a switch or a hub?
Any network problems/issues to speak of? Using autosense, or locked down the
NIC speed at a specific speed/duplex setting?

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

If you boot up a computer and let it sit there for, say, five
minutes, does it get an IP address? Can you see it on your DHCP
server, and ping it?

 

[Joe Spenceley]

This problem occurs on many PCs here and they are all more than likely set
to autosense network speed. Between the client PCs and the DHCP server are
a couple of switches too. The switch that the DHCP server is connected and
the switch to which the PCs are connected.

I did find in GPO a setting for 'Slow network connection timeout for user
profiles'. In the explaination for the setting it describes 'Consider
increasing this value for clients using DHCP Service-assigned addresses'

Will try this out and also changing the nic settings to lock down at the
correct speed.


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

Yes, if I leave the PC for a minute or so it will grab an IP address
from the DHCP server. Then it can ping and be pinged by the DHCP
server.

Good. And then the user can log in normally & get his/her roaming profile
downloaded?
Are these computers perhaps laptops that were assigned DHCP addresses on
another network before being powered on on your network?
Are you using a switch or a hub?
Any network problems/issues to speak of? Using autosense, or locked down the
NIC speed at a specific speed/duplex setting?

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

Joe Spenceley wrote:
Our DHCP setup is fairly basic, two servers providing 50% each of
the available range.

The client log shows.
Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network
(from the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address
000802E33645. The following error occurred:

The semaphore timeout period has expired. . Your computer will
continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network
address (DHCP) server.

If you boot up a computer and let it sit there for, say, five
minutes, does it get an IP address? Can you see it on your DHCP
server, and ping it?

And yes, we are using AD



Yes, they can use cached credentials and log in even when not
connected at all, but there's no link between logging in and
getting an IP address. That should happen when the machine boots
up. Are you using anything special for DHCP, or is this a vanilla
DHCP server setup?

What do you see in the event logs on the client, and what leads you
to believe it's a DHCP issue?

Are you using Active Directory?