Cannot find server. (XP Pro)

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I have no difficulty in getting online with my ISP, as confirmed by them by telephone at the same time as I do it and as displayed with the icon on my monitor and the lights on my modem. Unfortunately, I am unable to transfer any data beyond that: Internet Explorer, Netscape, Outlook, Outlook Express, and software updates all fail to respond, and I get

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I will give you a few commands to type in a command prompt window to see if we can get more detail on your problem.

IPCONFIG
Note the value for DEFAULT GATEWAY. This should be an IP address looking a bit like 22.10.37.105 (with different numbers)

PING aa.bb.cc.dd
Replace aa.bb.cc.dd with the IP address of the default gateway
If this times out then you do not have any connectivity to your ISP
If it works then we at least know that you can transfer some packets

NSLOOKUP http://www.microsoft.com
If this returns a valid IP address then we know you can convert hostnames to IP addresses, otherwise we can troubleshoot a DNS problem

Let us know the results of these tests and we can offer some more, depending on the outcome so far.

StuartR

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IPCONFIG gives me a box that vanishes in the blink of an eye (on either machine). Is there a trick to hold it long enough to read?

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Since Stuart doesn’t seem to be online at this time, let me venture a guess that you typed his suggested command in the RUN box. What you need to do first is RUN, then CMD to open Stuart’s suggest command prompt window. THAT window should now stay open so you can see the results of further commands.

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Thank you. You were correct about the run box, and I took the liberty of changing the directory to the root once I had the cmd box open.

I actually discovered that my firewall specified the default gateway (but not by name), and the IPCONFIG gave it as well.

PING gave four healthy replies.

With NSLOOKUP I was out to lunch:
Can’t find server name for address 206.123.6.11. No response from server.
Same for 206.123.6.10.
Server: Unknown.
Address: 206.123.6.11.

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Are we talking about software firewall or are you using a ROUTER? Sounds like a DNS problem. This screenshot is from my XP Pro Network Properties for TCP/IP. Do you have any DNS entries in yours? If you’re using a router, the DNS entries are usually in the settings for the router and may not need to be in the Windows network settings.

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Software, in this case SystemSuite 5, for which the firewall is called NetDefense. It just popped up to ask permission and showing me the settings, with the option of letting me say yes to all future logons. All the TCP/IP settings such as you showed me are set to ‘automatic’.

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This was all covered in my phone calls with the ISP: they have gone through those settings with me and mine are what they say they should be – all automatic. They did admit that they were stumped, and suggested that I look around for such help as I’m getting here, since it appears not to be their problem.
I’m about to dash away for the day, but look forward to any further suggestions you might have. I’m also bewildered by the inability to use the restore points I made. Any idea what would cause that?

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This was all covered in my phone calls with the ISP: they have gone through those settings with me and mine are what they say they should be – all automatic. They did admit that they were stumped, and suggested that I look around for such help as I’m getting here, since it appears not to be their problem.
I’m about to dash away for the day, but look forward to any further suggestions you might have. I’m also bewildered by the inability to use the restore points I made. Any idea what would cause that?

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Software, in this case SystemSuite 5, for which the firewall is called NetDefense. It just popped up to ask permission and showing me the settings, with the option of letting me say yes to all future logons. All the TCP/IP settings such as you showed me are set to ‘automatic’.

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Are we talking about software firewall or are you using a ROUTER? Sounds like a DNS problem. This screenshot is from my XP Pro Network Properties for TCP/IP. Do you have any DNS entries in yours? If you’re using a router, the DNS entries are usually in the settings for the router and may not need to be in the Windows network settings.

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The next thing we need to know is what DNS server you are trying to use. Look where Al showed you to see if a DNS server address has been hard coded. Also look at the output from IPCONFIG /ALL to see what DNS server shows there.

If IPCONFIG/ALL scrolls the useful information off the screen then try
IPCONFIG / ALL > temp.txt
Edit temp.txt with notepad to look at the values
Delete temp.txt

When you have found the DNS server address try
PING xx.yy.zz.aa
where xx.yy.zz.aa is the address of the DNS server
Also try contacting your ISP to find out what DNS server they think you should be using (this information is probably available from their web site somewhere)

edited by StuartR to add…
I have just checked from here and 206.123.6.11 is a valid DNS Server, it returns perfectly good responses when I ask it to look up names. From your error message it looks like this is the DNS server you were getting errors from.

SO you have a routing problem between your default gateway and your DNS server.

Please type
TRACERT 206.123.6.11
this will show how far packets can get from you to your DNS server before they time out

StuartR

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tracert 206.123.6.11
Tracing route to over a maximum of 30 hops
1 25ms 29ms 30ms j_ow0t
trace complete
(I’m not sure if that’s an underscore or an equals sign after the j.

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This is definitely a routing problem then. Packets are getting from your computer to the first router, but no further.
I assume that j_ow0t is a box in your home somewhere, do you know if this is true.

What kind of Internet connection do you have and what is the equipment at your end. I have seen very similar problems in the UK when an ADSL line has been mis-configured at the exchange end so that it establishes the connection with no routing at the exchange. When we have enough data you will quite probably have to log this one with your ISP again. It is also possible that j_ow0t has an incorrect route that can be fixed at your end.

StuartR

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The hardware is a Gnet External ADSL Ethernet Modem, BB0060, with a telephone cable in and an Ethernet cable out. It works perfectly with my Windows 98 Aptiva, but not with my Toshiba Satellite Pro. When I go online with the Ethernet cable plugged into my Aptiva I have no problem, and that

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Your logic sounds impeccable.
Can you compare the output of IPCONFIG /ALL on the two computers. Particularly look at the IP Address and Gateway Address

StuartR

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Your logic sounds impeccable.
Can you compare the output of IPCONFIG /ALL on the two computers. Particularly look at the IP Address and Gateway Address

StuartR

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Peter,

Thanks for the private message with the output from IPCONFIG/ALL on both computers. I appreciate the security concerns that led to your not posting it here.

On both computers you have an Ethernet adapter with an address that starts 169. This is presumably a disconnected Ethernet that has autoconfigured itself and should not be a problem

You also have an IP address for your Braodband connection that seems reasonable, not the same both times but they look like they have come from the same DHCP scope. In each case the gateway address is your local IP address. This is unusual, but I guess that is how your particular broadband router works. Unfortunately this means that when you PING’d the default gateway you were only talking to yourself, packets were not being sent anywhere.

I am not familiar with the GNET ADSL Ethernet Modem, but a quick Google search shows that it can be configured in “single user mode” which is presumably what you have here. I am a bit stumped at this stage. I will think about this some more, but maybe another lounger will be able to jump in with some suggestions.

StuartR

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Hey Peter and Stuart. You two are deep into this problem and I don’t claim to know the answer, but….. I’ve not seen this with DSL setups, rather with CABLE internet providers, like my son uses. I know you’ve talked to your ISP, Peter, but is it possible that your ISP (without thinking to tell you) has some sort of MAC address table at their end and your non-working machine has a MAC address they don’t recognize? I can’t help but wonder if inserting a router into this equation and configuring IT to DHCP would help the situation. If your ISP is using MAC address control, they would probably have to start from scratch if you DID add a router. I just can’t think of anything more than that. In an older thread we discussed that when my son (using cable) changed computers, we had to DELETE TCP/IP protocol and the NIC on his replacement machine, let Windows98 re-install both on the next boot and all of a sudden, he was OK. All we had to do was set DHCP.

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[indent]

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If your ISP is using MAC address control, they would probably have to start from scratch if you DID add a router.

---

[/indent]Alternatively – you could see if the situation would clear up should the router spoof the problem-free MAC address.

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[indent]

---

If your ISP is using MAC address control, they would probably have to start from scratch if you DID add a router.

---

[/indent]Alternatively – you could see if the situation would clear up should the router spoof the problem-free MAC address.

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With AT&T, you did have to spoof the MAC address. The Websafe Router (Netgear?) had a nice web-based interface to do this. With Comcast, it no longer seems necessary. (I realize this may be completely off-topic, but I thought I’d toss it out…)

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With AT&T, you did have to spoof the MAC address. The Websafe Router (Netgear?) had a nice web-based interface to do this. With Comcast, it no longer seems necessary. (I realize this may be completely off-topic, but I thought I’d toss it out…)

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This sounds like my cup of tea in that I love 10-minute solutions if they work. TCP/IP sounds like a good bet for the source of the problem, in that I think the problem arose while using dial-up before even trying high-speed, and it won’t work now with dial-up. We do have a communications problem in that I don’t know the meanings of all these acronyms without looking them up, and another communications problem in that I’ve just discovered that I’m not being notified of postings by email (maybe I should tell Sysop, or maybe I’ve done something wrong), but above all I don’t know the nuts and bolts of it: How do I delete TCP/IP (XP Pro)?
I have a router on hand that I can try, and I can certainly ask my ISP about the MAC business, whatever that is, but I’d like to try TCP/IP first in case it’s corrupted.

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A MAC address is something that uniquely identifies a particular network card. It is used for two purposes.
To address packets to the correct computer on the local network
To increase security, by only accepting packets from known MAC addresses.

You can see your own MAC addresses in the output of IPCONFIG / ALL (listed as Physical Address)

Some ISPs note your MAC address when you first connect and will then refuse to accept connections from a different MAC address. This stops you using multiple computers on the same subscription.

Some Routers have features to help you fool your ISP into thinking you only have one computer, they will use a MAC address that you give them – so the ISP thinks they are still talking to the same computer, you can then put multiple computers behind the router.

We don’t know if your ISP is filtering on MAC addresses, but it would certainly explain the strange symptoms that you have described.

StuartR

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A MAC address is something that uniquely identifies a particular network card. It is used for two purposes.
To address packets to the correct computer on the local network
To increase security, by only accepting packets from known MAC addresses.

You can see your own MAC addresses in the output of IPCONFIG / ALL (listed as Physical Address)

Some ISPs note your MAC address when you first connect and will then refuse to accept connections from a different MAC address. This stops you using multiple computers on the same subscription.

Some Routers have features to help you fool your ISP into thinking you only have one computer, they will use a MAC address that you give them – so the ISP thinks they are still talking to the same computer, you can then put multiple computers behind the router.

We don’t know if your ISP is filtering on MAC addresses, but it would certainly explain the strange symptoms that you have described.

StuartR

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(Edited by bigaldoc on 08-Oct-03 07:46. To crop the attachment a tad more!)

Keep in mind that the routine I described for deleting TCP/IP and the Network Card was prescribed by our CABLE company as the way to “clear” a Windows98 machine for accessing the internet through their system. It certainly won’t harm your system, but it may not work. Be sure you have the drivers for the network card and your XP Pro CD before you do anything. Now, having said that, look at this attachment I made from a shot of device manager and network properties. I have not been aware that when you select TCP/IP in Windows XP, the UNINSTALL button grays out. I could use the advice of other Loungers who are familiar with this. Or, maybe if you delete the network card, that automatically deletes the TCP/IP protocol. I just don’t know what to expect. When you re-boot, XP should re-discover the network card and MAY ask you for the drivers. Can one of the others chime in here, please?

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Thank you for providing so much help.

At 10 AM today, the launch date of Office 2003 no less, I finally got the computer working as it should (I had others to use in the meantime). As problems go, this was a dilly. It was something you wouldn

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Thank you for providing so much help.

At 10 AM today, the launch date of Office 2003 no less, I finally got the computer working as it should (I had others to use in the meantime). As problems go, this was a dilly. It was something you wouldn

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(Edited by bigaldoc on 08-Oct-03 07:46. To crop the attachment a tad more!)

Keep in mind that the routine I described for deleting TCP/IP and the Network Card was prescribed by our CABLE company as the way to “clear” a Windows98 machine for accessing the internet through their system. It certainly won’t harm your system, but it may not work. Be sure you have the drivers for the network card and your XP Pro CD before you do anything. Now, having said that, look at this attachment I made from a shot of device manager and network properties. I have not been aware that when you select TCP/IP in Windows XP, the UNINSTALL button grays out. I could use the advice of other Loungers who are familiar with this. Or, maybe if you delete the network card, that automatically deletes the TCP/IP protocol. I just don’t know what to expect. When you re-boot, XP should re-discover the network card and MAY ask you for the drivers. Can one of the others chime in here, please?

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This sounds like my cup of tea in that I love 10-minute solutions if they work. TCP/IP sounds like a good bet for the source of the problem, in that I think the problem arose while using dial-up before even trying high-speed, and it won’t work now with dial-up. We do have a communications problem in that I don’t know the meanings of all these acronyms without looking them up, and another communications problem in that I’ve just discovered that I’m not being notified of postings by email (maybe I should tell Sysop, or maybe I’ve done something wrong), but above all I don’t know the nuts and bolts of it: How do I delete TCP/IP (XP Pro)?
I have a router on hand that I can try, and I can certainly ask my ISP about the MAC business, whatever that is, but I’d like to try TCP/IP first in case it’s corrupted.

Reply | Quote

Hey Peter and Stuart. You two are deep into this problem and I don’t claim to know the answer, but….. I’ve not seen this with DSL setups, rather with CABLE internet providers, like my son uses. I know you’ve talked to your ISP, Peter, but is it possible that your ISP (without thinking to tell you) has some sort of MAC address table at their end and your non-working machine has a MAC address they don’t recognize? I can’t help but wonder if inserting a router into this equation and configuring IT to DHCP would help the situation. If your ISP is using MAC address control, they would probably have to start from scratch if you DID add a router. I just can’t think of anything more than that. In an older thread we discussed that when my son (using cable) changed computers, we had to DELETE TCP/IP protocol and the NIC on his replacement machine, let Windows98 re-install both on the next boot and all of a sudden, he was OK. All we had to do was set DHCP.

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Peter,

Thanks for the private message with the output from IPCONFIG/ALL on both computers. I appreciate the security concerns that led to your not posting it here.

On both computers you have an Ethernet adapter with an address that starts 169. This is presumably a disconnected Ethernet that has autoconfigured itself and should not be a problem

You also have an IP address for your Braodband connection that seems reasonable, not the same both times but they look like they have come from the same DHCP scope. In each case the gateway address is your local IP address. This is unusual, but I guess that is how your particular broadband router works. Unfortunately this means that when you PING’d the default gateway you were only talking to yourself, packets were not being sent anywhere.

I am not familiar with the GNET ADSL Ethernet Modem, but a quick Google search shows that it can be configured in “single user mode” which is presumably what you have here. I am a bit stumped at this stage. I will think about this some more, but maybe another lounger will be able to jump in with some suggestions.

StuartR

Reply | Quote

The hardware is a Gnet External ADSL Ethernet Modem, BB0060, with a telephone cable in and an Ethernet cable out. It works perfectly with my Windows 98 Aptiva, but not with my Toshiba Satellite Pro. When I go online with the Ethernet cable plugged into my Aptiva I have no problem, and that

Reply | Quote

This is definitely a routing problem then. Packets are getting from your computer to the first router, but no further.
I assume that j_ow0t is a box in your home somewhere, do you know if this is true.

What kind of Internet connection do you have and what is the equipment at your end. I have seen very similar problems in the UK when an ADSL line has been mis-configured at the exchange end so that it establishes the connection with no routing at the exchange. When we have enough data you will quite probably have to log this one with your ISP again. It is also possible that j_ow0t has an incorrect route that can be fixed at your end.

StuartR

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tracert 206.123.6.11
Tracing route to over a maximum of 30 hops
1 25ms 29ms 30ms j_ow0t
trace complete
(I’m not sure if that’s an underscore or an equals sign after the j.

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The next thing we need to know is what DNS server you are trying to use. Look where Al showed you to see if a DNS server address has been hard coded. Also look at the output from IPCONFIG /ALL to see what DNS server shows there.

If IPCONFIG/ALL scrolls the useful information off the screen then try
IPCONFIG / ALL > temp.txt
Edit temp.txt with notepad to look at the values
Delete temp.txt

When you have found the DNS server address try
PING xx.yy.zz.aa
where xx.yy.zz.aa is the address of the DNS server
Also try contacting your ISP to find out what DNS server they think you should be using (this information is probably available from their web site somewhere)

edited by StuartR to add…
I have just checked from here and 206.123.6.11 is a valid DNS Server, it returns perfectly good responses when I ask it to look up names. From your error message it looks like this is the DNS server you were getting errors from.

SO you have a routing problem between your default gateway and your DNS server.

Please type
TRACERT 206.123.6.11
this will show how far packets can get from you to your DNS server before they time out

StuartR

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Thank you. You were correct about the run box, and I took the liberty of changing the directory to the root once I had the cmd box open.

I actually discovered that my firewall specified the default gateway (but not by name), and the IPCONFIG gave it as well.

PING gave four healthy replies.

With NSLOOKUP I was out to lunch:
Can’t find server name for address 206.123.6.11. No response from server.
Same for 206.123.6.10.
Server: Unknown.
Address: 206.123.6.11.

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Since Stuart doesn’t seem to be online at this time, let me venture a guess that you typed his suggested command in the RUN box. What you need to do first is RUN, then CMD to open Stuart’s suggest command prompt window. THAT window should now stay open so you can see the results of further commands.

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IPCONFIG gives me a box that vanishes in the blink of an eye (on either machine). Is there a trick to hold it long enough to read?

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I will give you a few commands to type in a command prompt window to see if we can get more detail on your problem.

IPCONFIG
Note the value for DEFAULT GATEWAY. This should be an IP address looking a bit like 22.10.37.105 (with different numbers)

PING aa.bb.cc.dd
Replace aa.bb.cc.dd with the IP address of the default gateway
If this times out then you do not have any connectivity to your ISP
If it works then we at least know that you can transfer some packets

NSLOOKUP http://www.microsoft.com
If this returns a valid IP address then we know you can convert hostnames to IP addresses, otherwise we can troubleshoot a DNS problem

Let us know the results of these tests and we can offer some more, depending on the outcome so far.

StuartR

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