Topic: Problems with iBays

[Gary Hammond]

I have a problem which has the following symptoms:

When copying files to an iBay, the transfer fails after a random length of time  (5 seconds to 15 minutes) with a 'network resource not found' (or similar) message. On the first client PC using Windows 98, I lose all IP networking (ie unable to ping server and other client PC's). On the same PC using Windows 2000 I get a BSOD with a stop error. On a second client PC using Windows 2000, I get the 'network resource not found' message and loss of IP also.

The network has been working fine for the last 2 years running MS software, so I know the server and client hardware is probably ok.

I am using e-smith 4.0.

All PC's are connected through a single 10/100 hub.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Gary

[Charlie Brady]

Gary Hammond wrote:

> When copying files to an iBay, the transfer fails after a
> random length of time  (5 seconds to 15 minutes) with a
> 'network resource not found' (or similar) message. On the
> first client PC using Windows 98, I lose all IP networking
> (ie unable to ping server and other client PC's).

There is obviously some problem with Windows 98.

> On the same
> PC using Windows 2000 I get a BSOD with a stop error.

There is obviously some problem with Windows 2000.

The symptoms sound as though there is a problem in the networking stack, or maybe the driver.

If you identify the problem, please let us know.

Regards

Charlie

[Gary Hammond]

I have since changed the MTU to 576 on all machines. Everything with the Samba sharing _appears_ to be working OK now. (Only time will tell!)

The only side effect I have noticed is that when copying large amounts of data, the Internet connection via dialup virtually stalls. When I stop copying files, the Internet runs at full speed again.

The server machine spec is an AMD K6-200 with 64MB RAM and 20+GB of storage. I believe this meets the spec. Maybe it's a simple case of the local net traffic swamping the Internet traffic?!?

Cheers,

Gary

[Stephen Davis]

Gary,

Just as a side note. You can also experience these same problems with your network cabling. If your cables are constructed as CAT5 10/100 cables and you have a kink or bend in the cable, the hub/switch will sense the cable as 100megabit capable and intermittently drop the connection when it does not perform at that rate.

Steve

[Gary Hammond]

Thanks for the suggestion Steve. I have rechecked the cables, and all is OK. Also, it was working fine prior to loading up e-smith.

The problem about slow internet access is becoming quite acute now. I have left it for a few days in case it was an ISP or general Internet thing, but I can access the net on a slower 33.6K modem to the same ISP on one of the client boxes, and it hums along quite nicely. When I go back to the e-smith box using the 56K modem, net access is woeful and even stalls. I will load up the old Win95 setup (I am loathe to admit to a crappy MS setup being better than e-smith) to see if it is a 56K modem issue, but I doubt it, as the setup was fine previously.

I am also having problems with DNS. The named daemon is barfing an error message about being unable to access /var/run/ndc. Could this be part of the problem?

Cheers,

Gary

[Gary Hammond]

Hi All,

The solution of the MRU _may_ be a bit of a furfy! (My apologies)

I decided to start with a clean slate and install 4.1.1 from scratch instead of over the top of the 4.0 installation. What appears to happen is a newly created iBay will develop the symptoms mentioned earlier if the system has not been rebooted. I have tried stopping and restarting the SMB daemon, but the problem persists until I reboot. Once rebooted, it appears to work OK. (Will keep an eye on it)

The second problem of lousy Internet access speed via dialup I am still investigating. At least it is not stalling now. The DNS problem is now also fixed. I suspect I should have done a fresh install and not an uprade! (Hindsight is 20/20 vision!)

Cheers,

Gary

[Charlie Brady]

Gary Hammond wrote:

> The second problem of lousy Internet access speed via dialup
> I am still investigating. At least it is not stalling now.
> The DNS problem is now also fixed. I suspect I should have
> done a fresh install and not an uprade! (Hindsight is 20/20
> vision!)

The upgrade process is designed and tested quite extensively to be be equivalent to a fresh install. There should be no need to do a fresh install. If anyone finds this not to be true, they should report details to bugs@e-smith.com.

Of course, if there have been any non-standard modifications to your system then there is no guarantee that the modifications are compatible with the upgrade process.

Regards

Charlie