Ok, I've run into something I've never, ever seen before and can't resolve, so I'm hoping someone here knows what the heck is going on.

I have 4 machines in my home. 2 laptops, 2 desktops. For identification purposes, the problem machine will be named "Bob". :p

Basic 192.168. network. DHCP disabled, static ips. No firewall on any machine, external firewall as part of router. laptops are wireless. desktops are wired.

Bob can see all of the other machines, as well as ping them. I can open up shares, copy files to/from, no biggie. Expected behavior.

None of the other machines can see or ping Bob. At all. Periodically, one of them will show Bob as having shared folders available, but when you click on it, it fails to open. This is rare, however. Most of the time, Bob is just plain invisible.

I've swapped network cables and ports on the router with known working. Nada. I've replaced the router (I hate belkin, so wanted a different one and this was a good excuse heh ) as well as the network card in Bob. Nada.

Behavior persists even when I use the wireless card in Bob.

So this all tells me SOMETHING is wrong with Bob. But I'll be damned if I can find it. Network settings are identical to the other machines. No firewall in place. This did work a few months back without issue, but I am unable to pinpoint when it stopped working because Bob has always been able to see the other shares, and I only periodically try to go to Bob from another machine.

Ideas? I'm running out of things to test.

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By "network settings are all the same" the workgroup is too, right?

What if you type in \\bob in the run dialog?

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

yep, all in the same work group.

typing \\ip or \\bob gets you nothing. It hangs for a looooong time, and then errors out with "network path not found".

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sounds like bob is sick and may need a reinstall. I've never run into that issue with a machine that was properly functional. lemme do some digging and I'll see what else can cause it.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Just to cover off some things Van had me check over IM:

1) I've already done a fresh install, about a week and a half ago when this problem was first noticed.
2) checked that the Server, Workstation, and Computer Browser service are all started (and restarted them)

No dice.

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For shits and giggles, try changing duplex settings, reboot, wait 5 minutes, and see the result. I have one more thing to try on the router side once you do this regardless of if it works.

no success with duplex settings changed.

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I'm stumped, and I'll be damn interested to see what the fuck could cause that in Bob. And it's interesting to think of the ways a Bob who can be completely stealthed and yet see everyone else could be useful/dangerous (primarily in a workplace setting).

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Have you tried a different NIC?

Also, in the event that you are able to see Bob's shared folders when typing \\Bob\, do you get a password prompt when trying to access them?

3 different ones, in fact. Original wired nic. Wireless nic. New wired nic.

I can't get password prompts, I never get that far.

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by the way, the router can not ping Bob either.

Everything here is acting like there is a firewall, but I haven't installed one and I've verified (about a billion times) that the windows one is disabled.

Really baffling me. :p

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I had this exact same problem on my wireless network before I moved. Never did figure out what the deal was. Same thing; once in a while it was all fine, other times it would show the stuff but then hang and time out when you went to access stuff. No rhyme or reason.

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Larreth Wolfsong (long retired)
Lanys T'vyl, Everquest

Zinky, Lvl 60 Warlock
Thunderhorn, WoW

I'm not really familiar with motherboards with the nvidia chipsets, but in case you have one-don't they have built-in firewall that you have to turn off via the BIOS?

Not nvidia, but already checked bios as well for a firewall. No dice.

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did you try running the network setup wizard?

I know it sounds dumb, but sometimes it'll fix 'odd' things.

I did that just 2 days ago, figuring "what the hell, maybe there is some magic mojo windows isn't telling me about". Still no change in behavior.

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Tried running ethereal or wireshark on bob?

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

In other news, Yeno's bird is apparently really hyper these days.

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Larreth Wolfsong (long retired)
Lanys T'vyl, Everquest

Zinky, Lvl 60 Warlock
Thunderhorn, WoW

Does Bob have any third party apps trying to manage networking? This issue happens frequently when Windows Networking is in conflict with another application.

Sarissa Candyangel

An ARP flush might work here. ARP tables aren't cleared with a flash or reset on many routers.

NETSH helped me last time I had a similar problem with the eldest's PC.
NETSH INT IP RESET LOG.TXT, followed by a ARP -D, a reboot, and a cookie.

problem solved thanks to a co-worker that had the issue once upon a time as well...

The culprit? Cisco's VPN client. Once removed? Everything works

I guess I need to go see if there is an updated version of it. :p

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Niiiice. Cisco's VPN is so much more invasive than it needs to be. Drives me batshit insane. Course, so does their Vista support too, but that's another topic entirely ;P

Glad you pinpointed it. Was thinking it was software since the last I've seen something like this was when zonealarm fuxored a tcp/ip stack.