can ping IP address, but not hostname 1

[drochili]

Hi everyone, I have a weird problem and it's driving me nuts.. here's the situation :

I have a Rogers Cable connection and I have a Linksys BEFSR41 router with 3 computers connected to it. These 3 computers work fine, they can access internet and each other with no problem (2 Win98 and 1 win2000)

The problem started when I tried adding a 4th computer (Win 98) a few days ago, no matter what I tried... I couldn't get IE to open a web page on this machine. I've tried the ip addresses only (64.etc , 192.168.1.1 (the router's ip) and nothing happens... Ie just says Cannot open search page, or page cannot be displayed.

The funny thing is, I can release and renew IP's everytime, and under DHCP Client Table in the router admin, the machine is already assigned an IP. I can also ping the numeric IP addresses fine (I've tried the gateway (192.168.1.1), yahoo's (64.xx.something), rogers (24.something) etc and they all give ping replies), but if I try ping

http://www.yahoo.com

etc it just gives me unknown host.

I can also see all the other computers in network neighbourhood and access them fine. People have suggested manually setting the ip's and dns servers and it doesn't work.

Here are a few things I've tried :
- Set a static ip .. tried 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.99, 192.168.1.102 etc (btw the ip I get from DHCP is usually 192.168.1.102, although sometimes .100), and put in the dns servers I wrote down from a working machine (24.something) and gateway 192.168.1.1 ( the linksys router's lan ip)
this didn't work
- Tried a variation of that, obtain ip from server but manually set DNS, and vice versa -- doesn't work
- Download Opera, Netscape and tried them both, same thing cannot open page
- Reinstall Win98, take out the network card , put it back in etc -- doesn't work
- Shut everything down, unplug all the computers except this new one, and turn on modem, router and this computer - doesnt't work.
- Use a port where another computer was plugged in -- no result
- Change cables -- no result
- Upgrade Firmware for router -- doesn't work
- Replace wsock32.dll with a copy from working machine -- no luck .


I'm really running out of ideas, can somebody help me please ?

Thank You

Darrick
drochili@yahoo.com

 

[TheOldMan346]

drochili,

Sounds like you've been very thorough. Just a couple of questions:
- Can you connect the new Win98 computer directly to the modem and successfully get on line?
- Are you running any personal firewall or anti-virus software that would be blocking the ports (53 TCP/UDP) necessary for DNS queries?

The Old Man

 

[drochili]

TheOldMan346,

- No, the same thing happens, I can ping ip addresses but not hostnames...
- I don't have any firewall or antivirus running / installed

Darrick

 

[TheOldMan346]

drochili,

Sure sounds like a DNS issue.

Try this. Open your web broser and point to the router's address [default 192.168.1.1] and log in to the router. Go to the status tab and note if it has gotten DNS server addresses from Rogers. If it has, then follow the directions here:

http://www.rogershelp.com/help/content/trouble/connection/win9598_1a2.3.shtml

This is from the Rogers help web page. I know it is for direct connection to the modem but it will work for getting the address from the router as well. You will need to reboot the computer. When rebooted, try to browse.

If that did not work, try setting the DNS server addresses you got from the router on that machine. Try to browse again.

Let us know how it works out.

Good luck.
The Old Man

 

[drochili]

TheOldMan,

I cannot open anything from the browser on this new computer, not even IP addresses. I can only ping them from command line (only IP's not the

http://www.something.something)

..

If I do this from a working machine, then I get IP addresses from Rogers fine.. but not on this one.

I've tried manually setting the DNS server to the ones in the router a couple of times already and it doesn't work.

Darrick

 

[TheOldMan346]

drochili,

This was posted in another thread by peanutsmm. It is a little involved but seems to work in a number of cases. I see you replaces the wsock32.dll but there is more involved.
================peanutsmm (Visitor) Apr 29, 2002
Hi all.

I deal with a similar Win98/ME issue all the time. The issue being that you can ping IP addresses anywhere on the Internet, but cannot resolve DNS names. Assuming that your TCP/IP settings are configured correctly, the following information might help.
Again, this information applies only to Win 98/ME.

1. Make sure you have your OS CD or the correct .CAB files available for the particular version of 98/98se/ME.

2. Remove ALL instances of TCP/IP from Network Properties. DO NOT reboot when prompted to do so.

3. Delete the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinSock2

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VXD\AFVXD

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\DHCP

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\DHCPOptions

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\Winsock

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\Winsock2


4. Reboot.
5. Reinstall TCP/IP.
6. Reboot.

In my experience this issue is often caused by the installation and/or uninstallation of 3rd party internet-related programs such as spyware or firewall software. However, sometimes there seems to be no obvious cause. Have had much success with this fix.

Hope it helps.

Cheers,

peanutsmm

========================

Good luck.
The Old Man

 

[drochili]

TheOldMan, thanks for your help. That was where I was gonna go until I also found a previous problem in Tek-Tips. There was a link to download Winsock2 Fix somewhere. Apparently it will fix some registry settings, and i suspect it's the ones that are shown above. Anyway, after that everything worked fine..

Thanks a mil for your help

Darrick

 

[TheOldMan346]

Great! I'm glad you worked it out!

The Old Man