XP client cannot locate domain controller

[Guest]

I've been using my XP Pro laptop on the office domain for a couple of years
now with no problems. The domain controller is NT 4.0 based.

After my most recent trip I found I could no longer logon to the domain. I
tried changing the name of my laptop just to see what would happen and I get
a message saying that there is no domain controller for the domain I'm trying
to access. The other machines in my office can access the domain just fine.

I can ping the machine where the controller is located fine. I've tried all
sorts of things I've seen in the knowledgebase to no avail.

Is there some procedure for hunting down problems of this sort?

 

[Steven L Umbach]

Wow NT4.0. Have not seen one of those servers in quite a while.

What happens when you try to logon to the domain?? A couple thinks to check
is that the time/day/date is correct on your laptop and that it is using the
domain controller as it's wins server in tcp/ip properties/advanced - wins
and that netbios over tcp/ip is enabled. If it is using DHCP it should be
getting that automatically when on the domain network and you can verify
with the command ipconfig /all. If you changed any Local Security Settings
on your laptop [or applied a security template] that can also cause problems
in a NT4.0 domain.

Also if changing the name of your laptop meant that your removed it from the
domain and are using a workgroup now then that explains a lot and your
laptop will need to be joined to the domain again by a domain administrator.

Steve

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the ideas, Steve. All this checks out. I did a system restore to
see if anything may have changed lately. Same result. I tried NSLOOKUP for
grins and it says:

*** Can't find server name for address 192.168.0.1: Non-existent domain
*** Default servers are not available
Default Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.0.1

Very strange...

Wow NT4.0. Have not seen one of those servers in quite a while.

What happens when you try to logon to the domain?? A couple thinks to check
is that the time/day/date is correct on your laptop and that it is using the
domain controller as it's wins server in tcp/ip properties/advanced - wins
and that netbios over tcp/ip is enabled. If it is using DHCP it should be
getting that automatically when on the domain network and you can verify
with the command ipconfig /all. If you changed any Local Security Settings
on your laptop [or applied a security template] that can also cause problems
in a NT4.0 domain.

Also if changing the name of your laptop meant that your removed it from the
domain and are using a workgroup now then that explains a lot and your
laptop will need to be joined to the domain again by a domain administrator.

Steve

I've been using my XP Pro laptop on the office domain for a couple of
years
now with no problems. The domain controller is NT 4.0 based.

After my most recent trip I found I could no longer logon to the domain. I
tried changing the name of my laptop just to see what would happen and I
get
a message saying that there is no domain controller for the domain I'm
trying
to access. The other machines in my office can access the domain just
fine.

I can ping the machine where the controller is located fine. I've tried
all
sorts of things I've seen in the knowledgebase to no avail.

Is there some procedure for hunting down problems of this sort?

 

[Steven L Umbach]

NT4.0 does not use DNS for domain controller location - it uses net bios
over tcp/ip which is why I suggested that it should show as a wins server in
your computers tcp/ip properties. It looks like your default gateway is set
to be your DNS server. Check your tcp/ip settings compared to another domain
computer that works fine and see how your computer compares to it as far as
wins server, node type, DNS server, default gateway, and tcp/ip address as
in is does the other computer's IP also start with 192.168.0.xxx ?? Use the
ipconfig /all command on each and the results will look similar to below.

Steve


D:\WINDOWS\system32>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : steve-xp
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : umbach3.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : umbach3.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SiS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet
Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-07-95-EC-77-CA
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.201
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.90
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.251
192.168.1.90
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.90
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, October 16, 2007
3:29:41 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, October 17, 2007
3:29:41
AM

Thanks for the ideas, Steve. All this checks out. I did a system restore
to
see if anything may have changed lately. Same result. I tried NSLOOKUP for
grins and it says:

*** Can't find server name for address 192.168.0.1: Non-existent domain
*** Default servers are not available
Default Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.0.1

Very strange...

Wow NT4.0. Have not seen one of those servers in quite a while.

What happens when you try to logon to the domain?? A couple thinks to
check
is that the time/day/date is correct on your laptop and that it is using
the
domain controller as it's wins server in tcp/ip properties/advanced -
wins
and that netbios over tcp/ip is enabled. If it is using DHCP it should be
getting that automatically when on the domain network and you can verify
with the command ipconfig /all. If you changed any Local Security
Settings
on your laptop [or applied a security template] that can also cause
problems
in a NT4.0 domain.

Also if changing the name of your laptop meant that your removed it from
the
domain and are using a workgroup now then that explains a lot and your
laptop will need to be joined to the domain again by a domain
administrator.

Steve

I've been using my XP Pro laptop on the office domain for a couple of
years
now with no problems. The domain controller is NT 4.0 based.

After my most recent trip I found I could no longer logon to the
domain. I
tried changing the name of my laptop just to see what would happen and
I
get
a message saying that there is no domain controller for the domain I'm
trying
to access. The other machines in my office can access the domain just
fine.

I can ping the machine where the controller is located fine. I've tried
all
sorts of things I've seen in the knowledgebase to no avail.

Is there some procedure for hunting down problems of this sort?

 

[Guest]

I found the answer late last night. The node type (as seen with IPCONFIG) was
set to 'peer-to-peer'. How that happened is beyond me. Anyhow, I found the
answer here: http://www.chicagotech.net/Networking/nodetypeissue1.htm.
(Deleted the specified registry key.)

It works fine now. Thanks for taking the time to help me out!

NT4.0 does not use DNS for domain controller location - it uses net bios
over tcp/ip which is why I suggested that it should show as a wins server in
your computers tcp/ip properties. It looks like your default gateway is set
to be your DNS server. Check your tcp/ip settings compared to another domain
computer that works fine and see how your computer compares to it as far as
wins server, node type, DNS server, default gateway, and tcp/ip address as
in is does the other computer's IP also start with 192.168.0.xxx ?? Use the
ipconfig /all command on each and the results will look similar to below.

Steve


D:\WINDOWS\system32>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : steve-xp
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : umbach3.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : umbach3.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SiS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet
Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-07-95-EC-77-CA
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.201
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.90
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.251
192.168.1.90
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.90
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, October 16, 2007
3:29:41 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, October 17, 2007
3:29:41
AM

Thanks for the ideas, Steve. All this checks out. I did a system restore
to
see if anything may have changed lately. Same result. I tried NSLOOKUP for
grins and it says:

*** Can't find server name for address 192.168.0.1: Non-existent domain
*** Default servers are not available
Default Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.0.1

Very strange...

Wow NT4.0. Have not seen one of those servers in quite a while.

What happens when you try to logon to the domain?? A couple thinks to
check
is that the time/day/date is correct on your laptop and that it is using
the
domain controller as it's wins server in tcp/ip properties/advanced -
wins
and that netbios over tcp/ip is enabled. If it is using DHCP it should be
getting that automatically when on the domain network and you can verify
with the command ipconfig /all. If you changed any Local Security
Settings
on your laptop [or applied a security template] that can also cause
problems
in a NT4.0 domain.

Also if changing the name of your laptop meant that your removed it from
the
domain and are using a workgroup now then that explains a lot and your
laptop will need to be joined to the domain again by a domain
administrator.

Steve


I've been using my XP Pro laptop on the office domain for a couple of
years
now with no problems. The domain controller is NT 4.0 based.

After my most recent trip I found I could no longer logon to the
domain. I
tried changing the name of my laptop just to see what would happen and
I
get
a message saying that there is no domain controller for the domain I'm
trying
to access. The other machines in my office can access the domain just
fine.

I can ping the machine where the controller is located fine. I've tried
all
sorts of things I've seen in the knowledgebase to no avail.

Is there some procedure for hunting down problems of this sort?

 

[Steven L Umbach]

That is weird but does explain the problem as it was not able to use the
wins server. Good job getting it resolved and thinks for reporting back what
you found as the fix.

Steve

I found the answer late last night. The node type (as seen with IPCONFIG)
was
set to 'peer-to-peer'. How that happened is beyond me. Anyhow, I found the
answer here: http://www.chicagotech.net/Networking/nodetypeissue1.htm.
(Deleted the specified registry key.)

It works fine now. Thanks for taking the time to help me out!

NT4.0 does not use DNS for domain controller location - it uses net bios
over tcp/ip which is why I suggested that it should show as a wins server
in
your computers tcp/ip properties. It looks like your default gateway is
set
to be your DNS server. Check your tcp/ip settings compared to another
domain
computer that works fine and see how your computer compares to it as far
as
wins server, node type, DNS server, default gateway, and tcp/ip address
as
in is does the other computer's IP also start with 192.168.0.xxx ?? Use
the
ipconfig /all command on each and the results will look similar to below.

Steve


D:\WINDOWS\system32>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : steve-xp
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : umbach3.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : umbach3.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SiS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet
Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-07-95-EC-77-CA
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.201
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.90
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.251
192.168.1.90
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.90
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, October 16, 2007
3:29:41 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, October 17, 2007
3:29:41
AM

Thanks for the ideas, Steve. All this checks out. I did a system
restore
to
see if anything may have changed lately. Same result. I tried NSLOOKUP
for
grins and it says:

*** Can't find server name for address 192.168.0.1: Non-existent domain
*** Default servers are not available
Default Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.0.1

Very strange...

:

Wow NT4.0. Have not seen one of those servers in quite a while.

What happens when you try to logon to the domain?? A couple thinks to
check
is that the time/day/date is correct on your laptop and that it is
using
the
domain controller as it's wins server in tcp/ip properties/advanced -
wins
and that netbios over tcp/ip is enabled. If it is using DHCP it should
be
getting that automatically when on the domain network and you can
verify
with the command ipconfig /all. If you changed any Local Security
Settings
on your laptop [or applied a security template] that can also cause
problems
in a NT4.0 domain.

Also if changing the name of your laptop meant that your removed it
from
the
domain and are using a workgroup now then that explains a lot and your
laptop will need to be joined to the domain again by a domain
administrator.

Steve


message
I've been using my XP Pro laptop on the office domain for a couple
of
years
now with no problems. The domain controller is NT 4.0 based.

After my most recent trip I found I could no longer logon to the
domain. I
tried changing the name of my laptop just to see what would happen
and
I
get
a message saying that there is no domain controller for the domain
I'm
trying
to access. The other machines in my office can access the domain
just
fine.

I can ping the machine where the controller is located fine. I've
tried
all
sorts of things I've seen in the knowledgebase to no avail.

Is there some procedure for hunting down problems of this sort?