Arch Linux

fcuk112

Member

From: Warwickshire

Registered: 2010-03-11

Posts: 52

strange ping error

hi, i have a couple of linux (ubuntu,arch) machines and a win7 lappy. 

the linux machines used to be able to see eachother on the home network (and on ubuntu i can still browse them using nautilus), but for some reason they can only ping eachother via ip address now, not the hostname.

running smbtree on the linux machines does show all other machines on the network.

the win7 lappy can happily ping the hostnames of the linux boxes and get a response.

i've restarted my router twice but no joy.

i know i can probably fix this by rebooting the linux machines, but was just wondering what the issue could be.

thanks!

Last edited by fcuk112 (2010-08-28 03:03:21)

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litemotiv

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2008-08-01

Posts: 5,026

Re: strange ping error

As far as i know, on a linux system a) the hostnames need to be in your /etc/hosts file, or b) you need to be running a dns-discovery/zeroconf daemon like avahi, or c) you need to setup a local dns server that your machines use.

Once you're using samba tools to browse the network you're using another abstraction layer, but from plain command line you need either one of the solutions above.

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timm

Member

From: Wisconsin

Registered: 2004-02-25

Posts: 417

Re: strange ping error

For some reason your linux boxes are not doing name resolution, translating the IP address to a name.  Check out what's in your /etc/hosts file and your /etc/resolv.conf file.

fcuk112

Member

From: Warwickshire

Registered: 2010-03-11

Posts: 52

Re: strange ping error

strange, i tried again today from 1 one the linux boxes and it did resolve names - nothing had changed though, seems it is a temporary issue but not sure what is causing it.

i am not sure adding entries in /etc/hosts is the solution, as they retrieve their ip address dynamically via DHCP from the router.

maybe i need to look into avahi or a local dns server as litemotive suggested.

thanks for your help!

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litemotiv

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2008-08-01

Posts: 5,026

Re: strange ping error

maybe i need to look into avahi or a local dns server as litemotive suggested.

I think it's very likely that your Ubuntu box already has avahi (or another zeroconf daemon) running by default.

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