I can ping IP addresses but I can't ping DNS names as a result IE will not let me on the internet.

[Wirehead]

I have been working on and off on this problem for 8 weeks now and I am completely baffled. Eight Road Runner techs have not been able to help me. I was adding a second 3COM NIC to my rig when I lost internet conectivity. Regardless of what page I try to go to in IE I get a "This page cannot be displayed" error. I have tried other browsers and they cannot get me on the net either. I can ping my ISP and they can ping me. I can ping the IP address for yahoo.com but I cannot ping their DNS name. As example: I can ping 216.32.74.51 but I cannot ping www.yahoo.com. I have reloaded W98SE 7 times. I have reloaded IE. I have done every trouble shooting tip on Tim Higgins site Praticallynetworked.com and the problem still remains. I have used four different brands of NICs. I have also used PCI and ISA NICs and placed them in different slots on the mobo. I have change IRQs for the NICs. I have even deleted some Windows 3COM system files and some Registry entires as suggested by Tim Higgins, but nothing has worked. I have put the cable modem on a Win 95 machine that I am typing on right now and the cable modens works fine. I can even set up a LAN between the W98SE and the Win95 computer and they can ping and see each other and pass files to each other using the same NICs that will not get me on the net. Tim's web page stated that trying to install two 3COM cards in the same computer has caused a lot of problems for a lot of people. That is exactly what I tried to do. I installed a 3COM ISA NIC card in my rig when there was already a 3COM PCI NIC card there. It seems when I did this that some setting in the computer got changed and I do not know where it is. Is there a way to make the computer recognize DNS names so my browser will work. Anybody got any ideas? Thanks for your imput.

 

[cavingjan]

Sounds like you are not finding your ISP's DNS server. What settings do you have for DNS under TCP/IP for the NIC that is connected to the internet. IF you do not have anything in there, you can specify one. Find out the IP for one of RR's DNS servers.

 

[Wirehead]

Cavingjan. Thanks for the reply. Under Winipcfg I can see what the DNS address for RR is. Under TCP/IP I have DNS disabled as per the RR techs. One of the techs had me Enable DNS and he had me type in the DNS address, but it still did not work. You are correct, it appears my machine cannot see there DNS servers, however I can ping the server address because it is an IP address. Could the problem be in the BIOS or the registry? Do you have any other ideas. Thanks.

 

[dirtboy]

Unless you are getting your IP address by DHCP from RR, you should have DNS disabled.

Under WINIPCFG, you should have the following settings (assuming IP via DHCP):

Host Name: something here
DNS Servers: IP address(es)
Node Type: whatever
NetBIOS Scope ID: blank
IP Routing Enabled: unchecked
WINS Proxy Enabled: unchecked
NetBIOS Resolution...: unchecked

Under Ethernet Adapter (same window):

Adapter Address: MAC address of nic
IP Address: your assigned RR ip address
Subnet Mask: a value will be here
Default Gateway: ip address of router gateway
DHCP Server: ip address of dhcp server
P WINS: blank
S WINS: blank

Under TCP/IP Settings:

IP Address: Obtain automagically
WINS Configuration: Disabled
Gateway: Blank
DNS Configuration: Disabled

The only things you should have loaded under the properties of your Network Neighborhood are:
Client for MS Networks
Network Adapter
TCP/IP

If you have anything else, remove them.

You said you reloaded Win98 7 times. Did you format the drive first or did you just install over the top of your existing installation?

 

[linuxboy]

uninstall and reinstall tcp/ip

 

[cavingjan]

Dirtboy has it right. No more needs said. IM me if it doesn't and we'll see what we can do for you.

 

[Wirehead]

Dirtboy. Thanks for the length reply. My configuration is identical to what you described except I had two AOL TCP/IP Adapters listed. I have deleted those and I am rebooting now. I will have to disconnect my cable modem from the Win95 computer in order to test it out. I will let you know if this fix worked in a few minutes in another message. I reloaded W98SE on top of each other.
Thanks.

 

[Wirehead]

linuxboy,

I did uninstall all the TCP/IP entries in the Network properties last night. I even deleted all TCP/IP entries in the Registery. I then reloaded the correct adapter and the TCP/IP protocal all over again. Thanks for the reply. Do you have any other suggestions please. Thanks again.

 

[Wirehead]

Dirtboy,

I removed the two AOL adapters TCP/IP entries and rebooted, but the same problem still remains. When I go to IE is gives me the same error. I cannot get on the internet. My browser will not go to a DNS name. Any other ideas please. Thanks for your help.

 

[tim0thy]

i had this problem once... and i sitll have no solution for it. i thought it was a bad nic, but when replaced, was still bad. you can access the net through IP right? (i.e. http://<ip address for yahoo>)... because that's what i eventually did lol.

 

[cavingjan]

Do you still have AOL installed? If so, can you still connect using their DNS? AKA running IE inside of AOL? Worst way to run things but if that works, maybe you have it detecting the proxy and that is affecting things. I had that happen on my network here. It would run fine until I open AOL and also try to load a new webpage. It usually required a reboot to fix. It sucked.

 

[Wirehead]

Timothy,

I did try that but it does not work. Even though I can ping yahoo's IP address, I cannot get there in IE. I get the same page cannot be displayed error. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[tim0thy]

your welcome... here's how i would diagnose
(1) ping loopback (127.0.0.1)
(2) ping the computer's IP address that is assigned to it
(3) ping ping gateway's IP

try those and tell me if that works.

 

[Wirehead]

Cavingjan,

No, AOL will not work either for the same reasons. It gives me the following error: &quot;We were unable to connect to AOL. Your TCI/IP connection may not be working properly. Please check your ISP or network connection.&quot;

 

[Wirehead]

Timothy,

Yes, I had tried those before and I just tried those again and they all work. The ping replied to all of them. Thanks.

 

[Wirehead]

I understand from reading on the net that Windows for Workgroup 3.11 has a field to enter the IP address manually. Is there such a place in W98SE other than in the TCP/IP properties where you have to check whether to obtain an IP address automatically, or to specify an IP address?

 

[cz]

I think you need to delete all adapters along with TCP/IP stack from network property, then you can reinstall network card adapter and TCP/IP. Since you have AOL adapter(s) your TCP/IP stack does not use cable modem network but AOL network. While you are not connected with AOL your TCP/IP name service does not work even though IP routing works.

 

[ucdnam]

Wirehead: I use @Home service and I encountered the identical problem that you have. Called them,waited for an hour, spoke with their tier 1 tech who assumes you know sh*t. I told her that it seems I cannot find the DNS server, so she passed me onto the next level tech. He seemed to know a bit. We tried several things, but nothing seemed to work.
As a last resort, he restarted my @home service. He told me to wait a day. Next day, I turn on the computer and I can surf the internet. So you might try to ask them to &quot;restart&quot; your service. I have no clue as to what that means, but it did the trick for me.

 

[Mr-Mahem]

Can you PING your ISP's DNS server???
Are you running any kind of firewall (either software or hardware)???

 

[Wirehead]

Thanks CZ,

&quot; Since you have AOL adapter(s) your TCP/IP stack does not use cable
modem network but AOL network. While you are not connected with AOL your TCP/IP name service does not work even though IP routing works&quot;.

Can you please elaborate on the above statement. If I delete all adapters in Network properties and uninstall AOL, will that solve the stack problem? If not can you tell me how to get to stack so I can change the settings. Thanks.

 

[tim0thy]

nothing like AOL screwing the TCP/IP stack. remembered an exec had problems on his laptop attributed to AOL (and the stack)... we uninstalled it and worked fine.

 

[Wirehead]

UCDNAM,

Thanks for that insight. I will try that as last resort if all other suggestions fail. Great tip. Thanks again.

 

[ElDiablo]

WIREHEAD. how did you re-install the tcp/ip info?? whenever I try to do that it just re-uses the info on disk, but I'd like to re-intsall from the cd. Thanks

 

[Wirehead]

Mr-Mahem,

Yes, I can ping my ISP's DNS server. I was running Zone Alarm when the problem started, but I have since uninstalled it. Thanks.

 

[Wirehead]

ucdnam,

I just though of something. I can actually use the RR account and connect the cable modem to my Win95 computer and the service works fine. I guess restarting the service might not do in this case. The RR service does not work only on my W98SE machine making me think that the problem must be in my computer and not on the RR end. What do you think?