Raspberry Pi makes all of my Networked PCs dissapear from Explorer

[smitbret]

OK, so I am using my Raspberry Pi as an HTPC with OpenELEC (XBMC). It's wired to the same switch as my Server, Desktop and my DirecTV devices.

I was messing around with overclocking the Pi this weekend and sometime during the last couple of days I also noticed that when I have the RaspPi plugged in to the switch, all of the networked computers listed under the <Computer> field in Windows Explorer dissappear for any computer that is rebooted while the Pi is connected.

Here's the kicker, all the devices are still on the network and all services are running fine between them. You'll see them under the Services field and their folders are still accessible by typing the location (i.e. ///Homerver/) in the address bar or by using previoulsy created shortcuts. So, the network itself is completely unaffected except for the ability to access shares by clicking on the networked computer icons in Exporer.

If I unplug the RaspPi's ethernet cable and reset the switch, all of the networked PCs will pop back up in Explorer until I plug the Pi back into the switch and reboot the PC. It affects any Windows 7 connected PC:

Laptop - Windows 7 Home Premium
Desktop - Windows 7 Pro
Server - WHS 2011

My problem is that I don't remember if the issue popped up first or if I overclocked it first. Either way, how could overclocking the Pi cause this network issue to happen? Is it possible to corrupt the Pi's OS via overclock in a way that doesn't affect its operation at all but affects the way the network functions?

 

[CubanlB]

This is pretty much a guess but it sounds like the pi is messing up with netBIOS name resolution.

There can be a local master browser in a netbios environment, and while I don't know a lot about it, it sounds like that might be related.

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/powershell/powershell_function_browsemaster.htm

A little Powershell script to query for the local master browser.

I would try running that with the pi off and with the pi on with reboots for the other client machines in between and see if there are different.

Might net to force netbios stuff to be turned off on the pi.

Good luck with that though, I really dislike most name resolution that isn't DNS.

 

[Knavish]

Is the Pi running Samba? I probably know less than CubanIB (who posted above), but I remember configuring Samba about a decade ago and there was some setting that would allow you to change the priority or score in the samba server so that it would reduce or eliminate the likelihood that it would be come the local master browser.

After googling it, they have a great description of your problem on the Openelec Wiki:
http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php/Troubleshooting_SAMBA_Shares

Their fix tries to force the Openelec device to be the Master since they expect that device will be on 24/7 vs. a desktop or a laptop that might be shut down or carried off.

 

[smitbret]

BINGO!!!!

Did a little more googling and this is exactly what's happening. Stumbled across a utility while looking around on this webpage:

http://scottiestech.info/2009/02/14/how-to-determine-the-master-browser-in-a-windows-workgroup/

Did a lot of powering up and powering down in different orders and then running the LANScanner. The PCs dropping off the list of networked computers in Explorer always happens when the RaspPi boots up and gets assigned as the master browser.

Network seems best when the WDTV Live Hub is the master browser. I configured the Registry on the server to always configure itself as the Master Browser but it only seems to matter when I have just the Windows PCs on the network. When I introduce the WDTV Live Hub or the RapsPi to the network, they always assume the role of Master Browser. This is great when it's the WDTV Live since the network seems completely stable and most consistent when it is the Master Browser.

Unfortunately, that damn RaspPi finds a way to rig the election and always becomes the Master Browser when it is connected to the network and booted up. I'm gonna have to do some more research and figure out how to force it to refuse Master Browser status, or is there a way to set the WHS 2011 machine to act as a Domain Controller while just maintaining the normal Workgroup?

 

[CubanlB]

This looks like what you would need to modify to make the Pi loose the master browser election process.

https://www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/NetworkBrowsing.html#browse-force-master

 

[smitbret]

This looks like what you would need to modify to make the Pi loose the master browser election process.

https://www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/NetworkBrowsing.html#browse-force-master

Yep, that's today's project. I just don't know how to get at the Samba.conf file to modify it. That will be today's project. I clicked a little further in Google and somebody said something about using Filezilla to do this.

 

[CubanlB]

I know in Xbian you can ssh into the pi and get a regular bash shell somehow.

I would assume its possible with openELEC as well.

Might have to dust off the old vi skills though.

EDIT

Looks like ssh is off by default on newer versions of openELEC, but the config files are accessible from a windows machine from a samaba share.

http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php/Accessing_Samba_Shares

 

[smitbret]

I know in Xbian you can ssh into the pi and get a regular bash shell somehow.

I would assume its possible with openELEC as well.

Might have to dust off the old vi skills though.

EDIT

Looks like ssh is off by default on newer versions of openELEC, but the config files are accessible from a windows machine from a samaba share.

http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php/Accessing_Samba_Shares

I was able to set samba.config file up that disabled the Master Browser and Domain Master in OpenELEC. Then I started messing with overclocking the Pi because I got my heatsinks today. At one point I just did a reinstall on the SD card to get a fresh start and while setting it up again I discovered the settings where you can just turn Samba off in the XBMC interface.... so I did. <facepalm>

Problem Solved. Plus CPU usage went down when I turned off Samba. Should get a few more cycles back for browsing thumbnails.

Thanks for the help on this. I never knew anything about Domain Master, Master Browser or the Browser List and it cleared some networking things up for me.