Topic: Cant talk to other computers on the LAN

[Liam]

Hello,

I am new to SME. I have been working with linux for a while now but I dont have any experience with IP chains. The problem that im having is that I cant talk to other machines on the network. The machines have access to the internet but cant talk to each other. All the machines are configured with DHCP from the SME server. So I guess I have to add some rules to IP chains packets reach there destination. Can someone please let me know what kind of commands I must add to the SME server.

Thankyou

[schotty]

??? hmmm "cant talk to each other" I take it u mean that u cannot see the other pcs in network..... Have you tried pinging the pc's with there ip addresses. I suspect that you have a wins problem.

If you can ping the pc's with there ip addy then you must sort out a "wins server" -search forum on wins

[Cyrus Bharda]

I have this problem on windohs clients if I do not add a lmhosts file into the windows directory, once I do that all other computers are seen through network Neihbourhood.

Incedentially I can still access the computers by manually typing in their ip/computer name, they just dont appear in the NN until I copy in the LMHosts file, or in NT/2K/XP I have to copy it over then under network settings import the file.

This is due in whole to the isolation of Window's Name Bindery information from my remote LAN's.

Normally, each Windows stations (NT or 95/98) broadcasts its existence onto the LAN at regular intervals. These broadcasts remain local to the LAN segment and would not be propogated over the Internet to the remote server, or vice versa. As such, the mapping that would normally occur between server (or workstation) name to IP Address has to be accomplished in other manners. This is where the LMHOST file comes in.

Located in the Windows directory of every workstation is a file called LMHOSTS.SAM. This file presents a sample configuration of a properly configured LMHOST file. Essentially, this file maps a workstation/server name to an IP address.

On the client workstations, the LMHOST file would require an entry for the name of the server and the IP Address used to reach it. Remember, if NAT is being used, the IP Address entered here will be the address of the server-side router.

For additional details configuring the LMHOST file, the Microsoft Support web site is a valuable source of information. One article available on their web site is "How to Write an LMHOSTS file for Domain Validation".

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q180/0/94.asp?FR=0

[Bill Talcott]

The LAN PCs should be able to communicate without changing any settings. Since they can access the internet just fine, it can be assumed that the physical connection is good. Troubleshoot step by step... Can you ping the other IPs? Can you access them by IP (\1.2.3.4)? Can you access them by name (\machine)? Do they show up in NN?

As for LMHOSTS, I've never had to use one, but we also have an NT4 PDC acting as a WINS server. I would think the SME would handle this properly though...