Machine on LAN cannot be seen by other machines but it can see them

[nate901]

This is a weird problem and Windows help files have proved useless. I have a couple of WinME machines on a LAN. Lets call them A and B. Everything is set up correctly for the LAN to operate as far as I can tell. A can find B in a search and also access shared files and directories but B cannot find A in a search. Using NET DIAG from dos window is successful when A is set as a server so it's some kind of Windows problem I guess. I turn off Zonealarm firewall and still have the problem. I also did IPCONFIG/ALL from dos window and can see no differences that raise suspicion. I can even control B from A using VPN software. Machine A just looks stealth on the network for some unknown reason. Thanks for you help.

 

[smah]

There are a few possibilities for this condition - the most common being a firewall on A. Second, make sure Client for MS Networks is installed on A. Third, try logging off A - Start, logoff {username}, when it starts up, make sure a valid username is in the logon box - do not cancel this dialog. Finally, it's possible that the machines are fighting over who will be the master browser. It may help to force one machine to be the master browser and the other to be automatic.

BTW, what protocols are you running for your network and let us know if any of the above helps. After restarting (or logoff/logon) be sure to allow enough time for master browser election.

 

[smah]

Oh yeah, one other thing that often helps-

Make sure something is shared on A. It can be the printer or an empty folder.

 

[nate901]

Smah,
I'm running Netbui protocol and TC/PIP but I have Netbuis set as default on both machines. I'm not cancelling the login and I have a couple of folders shared. That leaves the 'master browser' fighting as the only culprit based on your suggestions and I don't know how to control that and I've never encountered that in previous network setups. Thanks.

 

[smah]

I agree that normally you shouldn't need to force the Master Browser setting, but sometimes it helps. Are there only 2 machines on the LAN or are there more that are working without problems? The reason I ask is because NetBEUI doesn't work well when you get up to 10 machines. Sometimes there are problems with even less.

First, one thing that you probably checked, but I haven't asked - are they both in the same workgroup?

I don't remember exactly where the master browser setting is in Me. It's somewhere in the network properties. Maybe under Client for MS Networks? By default, they should all be set to auto or something similar. Manually change one to yes or similar to see if that helps.

 

[nate901]

I have three machine on the LAN and two of them can access each other fine but neither can access the problem machine. I found the Browse Master setting under File and Printer Sharing properties for WinME on the problem machine and have set it from Automatic to Enabled. The workgroup setting is fine as I expected because the problem machine can access other machines on the LAN but they cannot access it. I have discovered what might be the root of the problem but not sure how to correct this. I might have to uninstall and reinstall the protocols, services, etc. AOL software might have caused the problem. I had AOL installed on another drive D in the machine that I can boot from with Win98. On my C drive with ME I located the AOL executable and doublecliked it to see if I could run and use AOL without having to reinstall it. It went through some song and dance mystery stuff most like registering some dll files and stuff and then started and I have been able to use AOL not realizing it had possibly screwed up my LAN. The way I found out is I did Ipconfig/all and the found out the machine network name had become nateme.aoldsl.net instead of just nateme I originally set. Strange thing is this new name does not appear at Identification tab of Network page in Control Panel. The other weird thing, I found from comparing Ipconfig datd with the other machines, is that the ethernet adaptor description had become 'NDIS 5.0 driver' whereas the other machines were showing the nic driver name. I noticed my Network had NDIS Wan service (or somethign like that) installed somehow and I decided AOL software did that when I tried the AOL thing, so I removed it and guess what - it fixed the machine name back to just 'nateme' but I still have the problem. I'll need to reboot in order to see if the Master Browser thing I just changed will work and I'll be sure to report back here if it does. Otherwise you see why I feel I might have to uninstall and reinstall the network protocols, services, etc. to fix the problem. Thanks.

 

[smah]

Yup. A very thorough diagnosis and I agree that it may be best to start over with this AOL mess - just one more reason not to use AOL.

 

[nate901]

Well I deleted the Client For Microsoft Networking service and the Netbui protocol, rebooted the computer and re-added then them re-botted again and that fixed my problem.