Name Resolution

[pritska]

Got an NT Server, standalone, running SP5. Out of the blue it doesn't want to go to websites when you type in the

http://www.xyz.bum.

If you enter the IP address of the website, it goes in fine. THe only protocol installed is TCP/IP. I have entered the DNS and WINS servers that our org uses. No luck.
There are no proxy settings for accessing the internet.
There are no errors or messages in event viewer, and no services have failed.

What may the problem be?

 

[tEWP]

If you go to a command prompt, can you ping other machines on the network by name?
do an 'ipconfig /all' and see if all the ip settings are correct.

 

[pritska]

I've done IPConfig/ all and the settings are all OK. I have also tried to ping other machines on the network and that works OK. Any thoughts?

 

[tEWP]

Sorry to be a bother - but can you ping by name, or only by address?

 

[pritska]

No bother at all. It's using the NAME of the machines rather than their IP address. This is a test server for the developers. The problem just appeared one day Any more thoughts on the matter??

 

[Highland]

Can you ping Internet Addresses by name....????

 

[sobak]

Go out to a command prompt and type....

c:\nslookup yahoo.com

This should bounce back the ip address of your DNS server and if it's able to resolve the ip address of yahoo.com. If the problem is with the machine it will tell you that it can't locate the DNS server, if the problem is with the DNS server then it will tell you that request timeout. If the DNS server is internal and there is no block on port 53 from you to the internet, try to use one outside of your network. You can go to Internic and do a lookup on any domain and use their DNS server for testing. david e
*end users are just like computers, some you can work with...others just need a simple reBOOTing to fix their problems.*

 

[pritska]

Below is a paste of what I get when I do the nslookup for yahoo. The machine can see other machines on the network btw.
Isn't the 127.0.0.1 the IP for the NIC??? I guess the problem is with this machine? All other machines in the office are OK getting to all websites. I also tried another NT Workstation box with nslookup and it works fine.

C:\>nslookup yahoo.com
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Can't find server name for address 127.0.0.1: Timed out
*** Default servers are not available
Server: UnKnown
Address: 127.0.0.1

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to UnKnown timed-out

 

[jaeddy]

Hmm, interesting. Question: are you running DNS server on this machine? If yes, turn it off. Nslookup is going to your default DNS server to resolve the name and your machine thinks that is the loopback address (127.0.0.1). Verify that you are/aren't running a DNS server on this machine. Check your DNS settings on the IP protocol to ensure it is pointing where you intend.

Next, did anyone do any work on the protocol settings? Did they reboot when done? Did they add any network services after you applied the service pack (you'll need to re-apply it if they did)?

Just my 2 cents.

 

[cmptrnerd]

Sounds like a problem with the DNS server for this machine

In the IPCONFIG /all what does it show for your DNS server.

It looks like 127.0.0.1 which would be your machine.

Change the DNS server in TCP/IP to one that is not the same as your machine ip address.

See if you can ping new ip address. If that works ping by name.

Make sure ipconfig /all shows your new DNS server.

mark
mark@acsconsult.com

 

[sobak]

Okay there is definitely a problem with DNS on this system. The items posted by Mark and Jaeddy are good items to check. I simulated the issue on my Windows NT system and got the same result you did if the DNS entry was left blank. Like Mark said, do an IPCONFIG /ALL and see what you get for DNS entry. You may want to remove the entry out reboot then place it back in, I've seen some issues with a corrupt registry where there would be an entry in but the system would not use the assigned DNS Server. Two cases I can think of where removing the DNS server IP Address, rebooting the system then adding it back in took care of the issue.

david e
*end users are just like computers, some you can work with...others just need a simple reBOOTing to fix their problems.*

 

[pritska]

Well, what can I say? It's FIXED! I managed to find out the DNS server name from another server, and put it into this one and rebooted. All websites now accessible using letters of the alphabet!
Thank you all for your ideas, not sure I'd have sorted it without.
Have a great weekend all!

 

[sobak]

Cool, glad to be of assistance........You have a great weekend as well.

david e
*end users are just like computers, some you can work with...others just need a simple reBOOTing to fix their problems.*