DNS name resolution failing for new node - can't resolve

[tradle]

All -

Please forgive me if this is an easy one. I'm an application developer, not a network guy, and I'mtrying to help out one of my clients.

They have a very small Win2K network - 4 workstations plus a digital printer attached and using active directory on one server. The IP addresses are statically assigned. On trying to add a new WinXP workstation to the domain, I'm getting DNS name resolution errors. On the server, for the computer object, I've noticed that the "DNS Name" field is not populated as it is for other workstations. Could this be the source of my issue, or is this field populated when a workstation successfully connects to the domain?

The domain is not a single-label domain; another user in another forum suggested a fix for that scenario. I'm drawing at straws here - the other workstations joined the domain with very little effort. This one is not at all behaving.

Please help - I'll be happy to provide any further details that may be necessary in diagnosing the issue.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[abrannon]

Are you trying to join this WS to the domain? Have you configured the IP settings? Is the Server running DNS Server, if so is the WS pointed at it?

 

[tradle]

Sorry - to answer your questions...

Yes, we're trying to join the ws to the domain.
Yes, IP and DNS settings are configured.
Yes, the server is running DNS Server and the ws is configured to work within its specifications. The other 4 ws's work fine - no issues. This is a new install that is just not going well.

We are able to ping the DNS server addresses and any other object in the network without fail. Like I said, the only difference that I see between the new ws configuration and the other ws configurations is a lack of a value for what is essentially the fully quallified domain name in the computer object definition.

 

[abrannon]

Are all of the Machines at the same site as the server?

What message do you recieve when you attempt to join the domain?

 

[tradle]

Yes - all machines are in the same location.

The core message I get is the ever famous error code 0x0000232B RCODE_NAME_ERROR on the workstation.

 

[Albion]

Did you use any type of image replication to install this WS? Did you check AD User and Computers on the server to see if the workstation name is listed in there? It could be that something weird happend during the original join.

You might want to try getting NewSID (

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/newsid.shtml)

from SysInternals. Use it to reset the SID on the workstation and try joining it to the domain with a new name. Just tell it to pick a new random SID when it asks. I use this application all the time when doing ghosted images to new workstations, so I can vouch for it's proper functionality. Actually SysInternals has a lot of nice little applications for Administrators to use and they're all free.

Good luck

-Al

 

[tradle]

Al -

Nope - this ws came from Dell. We didn't do anything to the box as far as the operating system went. We just configured the ws for the network.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[Albion]

Right, what I am saying is that during your install of the machine on the AD something weird may have happened not allowing the SID of that computer to connect to the domain. The server could be thinking that SID already has an account on the domain and it's refusing to create another one. If you change the SID it will think the WS is a bran new machine and not worry about the malfunctioning SID. Then after everything is working, if the solution works, you can research how to get rid of the bad SID in AD.

-Al

 

[tradle]

Al -

Great thought - I'll give it a try.

Regards,
Tim