Network Name Resolution

Hello all, I've been corresponding w/WeeboTech and have come up w/a problem that I'm not sure how to solve:

I can access my Server only by IP address - //10.0.0.50/main.htm not //Tower/main.htm etc.  This also applies to Telnet Access - Telnet Tower does not work, Telnet 10.0.0.50 does.  This has seemingly occurred w/my upgrade to 4.5.3 now 4.5.4.

This in of itself is not an unworkable problem, but perhaps becomes an issue as we start to grow our operational aspects of UnRaid.  I think that it is affecting my use of UnMenu (Joe, doesn't UnMenu access the supplemental files - Help, About, Config View/Edit, etc ... by using "Tower:8080/xxx" ?  I don't have any access to any other page except Main.htm via 10.0.0.50:8080 - Tower:8080 does not work.  Also the bottom of your Main.htm states "page cannot be found.") 

WeeboTech believes it may have something to do with a Master Browser setting and/or DNS or ImHosts file, but I'm not exactly sure how this would be corrected/entered.  Is it something to set on my Router or in the UnRaid Config file?    Windows Tech Files refer to a Master Browser for Domains (I gave that up) but most of the info is for NT/Win2K/Win2003 Server.

My Network consists of several computers XP/Vista/Win7 (as of today) all on a local Workgroup connected to a Router & GigE switch.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts & expertise!

Dave

In a Windows network without domain controllers one of the computers is assigned the task of master browser.  You can actually pick which one (Different ways between win OS's) and I always use one that is on 24x7.  A master browser maintains the list of host names on the network so that when on a windows machine you select the network places the master browser can quickly populate the list.

LMhosts is a local file on a windows machine that associates a host name such as Tower with an IP address and will be used if other resolutions fail.  Think of it as a local (to that machine only) Domain Server Server.  On the machine that can not resolve the name Tower to an IP address you can supply a local host file.  If there are multiple machines they they should each have the same LMhosts file. Also make sure that Netbios protocol is turned on for the network stack on that machine, and LMHosts is enabled. On a Win 7 machine you need to look at the properties of the NIC you are using and then the Properties of the IP Protocol stack and then under the WINS tab you will find the LMhosts and Netbios configuration items.  I am pretty sure it is the same on XP.

This isn't a solution to whatever is causing your problem, but you could use it as a bandaid to get you what you need, but it would help you at least on that one machine or every machine that your having that issue with.

http://accs-net.com/hosts/how_to_use_hosts.html

On my machine which is Windows XP I have a file located here.

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC

In that folder there is a file named

hosts with no extension. example NO .txt or anything of the sort.

I just put the following in it.

192.168.1.127 [TAB] Pizza

like so

127.0.0.1       localhost
192.168.1.127	pizza

Now when I type http://pizza it goes straight to that machine. Of course I'd change that to tower and set a static IP opposed to a dynamic IP so it goes where it needs to go while using unMENU.  

I have the exact same problem and I have no idea how it began. Because when I set up my server named tower I could access via browser and telnet using the server name. My router is a AVM Fritzbox, very popular in Germany.  Client list showed a device named tower but after some customization (installing plex and unmenu) and a restart it did never again. The only thing I can see is a device "PC-192-168-178-78" which is obviously the servers ip address. I'm not really sure but I think the problem was there after I changed from dhcp to a custom ip address. Even setting back to dhcp didn't help.

Any ideas?

And sorry for my bad English

Petjek

There used to be a setting under identification "Local Master", this would make sure your unraid will try and win the master browser election .. Cannot find the setting anymore though...

This isn't a solution to whatever is causing your problem, but you could use it as a bandaid to get you what you need, but it would help you at least on that one machine or every machine that your having that issue with.

 

http://accs-net.com/hosts/how_to_use_hosts.html

 

On my machine which is Windows XP I have a file located here.

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC

 

In that folder there is a file named

hosts with no extension. example NO .txt or anything of the sort.

 

I just put the following in it.

192.168.1.127 [TAB] Pizza

 

like so

127.0.0.1       localhost
192.168.1.127	pizza

 

Now when I type http://pizza it goes straight to that machine. Of course I'd change that to tower and set a static IP opposed to a dynamic IP so it goes where it needs to go while using unMENU. 

+1. I had the same problem a year ago with an old XP PC. Updating the host file took care of the issue.

I have since switched to Win7, and the issue seems to have resolved itself without requiring any host file trickery... Not sure if something else changed, or if it was Win7...

As I'm using Mac only I cannot try the Windows behavior. On our most used Mac I edited the /etc/hosts file as shown above. That works fine. So editing the file in every computer on my home might be a solution. But I am curious and would therefore like to know what really happened.

As I can see the "tower" is no more publishing his name to the router. This as well happens with some Android 2.x devices here. My wife's 4.0 android phone shows up with its name in the router device list.

The wiki says it will help to add those lines of code mentioned above to the go-script and edit the server host file on every start. Really? I did but nothing happened.

what IP ranges is your network on?

DHCP-Range is 192.168.178.20-200, Subnet 255.255.255.0.

Router and DNS is 192.168.178.1

http://screencast.com/t/6WmmfNdStF

Renamed server to "hightower"

MACs do not use net-bios to resolve names on the local LAN as Windows does.  You must EITHER have a local name server on your LAN configured, or populate HOST files.  It has nothing to do with DHCP.

set your server to not use automatic ip.

set it to 192.168.178.2

Joe L. and mr-hexen: both of you gave me the right direction. First I did turn of DHCP and set the static IP address to 192.168.178.2. But so far that changed not so much. At last the "name server" hint solved it. On Fritz boxes you can give names to every device and just a second later the name can be used on every device. No more need for editing hosts files. 

Thanks a lot. For me the problem is solved

petjek