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Computers can no longer see each other in Network Neighborhood

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purity

MIS
Nov 5, 2002
6
US
Here's the network layout. We have a Red Hat 7.3 Linux server running Samba. All computers are within a workgroup, not a domain. All computers must also log into the Linux Samba box in order to:

1.) Access the file server's files
2.) See any other computers, including the print server

Even if the computers do not log into the Linux box and join the workgroup, they still receive an I.P. address and can access the Internet.

At about 1:30 this afternoon, none of the workstations could see each other in Network Neighborhood. I double-checked the following:

1.) All workstations are members of the same workgroup
2.) All workstations have the appropriate protocols installed (TCP/IP, File and Printer Sharing, Client for Microsoft Networks)
3.) All workstations can ping each other. I was also able to see some of the workstations if I used the Find-->Computers command

Funny thing is this: all of the workstations can still access the mapped network drive (O:\), which is on the Linux box. Workstations still had the ability to print (The printer server is an actual Win98 SE box that shares all of the printers it is attached to).

Installed NetBeui on all of the workstations and they were able to see each other again (In Network Neighborhood). The Linux server still cannot be seen (Naturally - since it isn't running NetBeui).

What do I do? And what could have caused this to happen? According to all of the employees, this has never happened before.
 
Interesting. I don't know too many about samba and using a Linux to provide WIndows services.
But when you click Network Neigh. the computer is asking a browser service for the list of the computers.
If you don't have WINS, the browser service is kept by one of the PCs (the one with the latest version of OS).
If you have just w9x computers then they need NetBIOS resolution. And, in TCP/IP stack from W9x is used NetBIOS.

The browser service can be activated or not. For not puzzling the network you can decativate it and keep it just on one machine (but that machine should be on most of the time). Gia Betiu
m.betiu@chello.nl
Computer Eng. CNE 4, CNE 5, soon MCSE2k
 
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