Something else to try: Reset the tcpip stack :
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357#letmefixit
On 31/07/2011, Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> You probably haven't seen a lot of the intervening communications. The
> printer is connected directly to the desktop, not by USB but via
> parallel port. This is a new Brother laser printer which does not
> support direct attachment to the net (different model, extra cost).
> However it is attached exactly as its predecessor Brother laser printer
> was and the laptop had absolutely no problem printing from it.
>
> Except for the change of printer (which works on the desktop) there have
> been no configuration changes made to the desktop. The laptop, however,
> went on a 7 week excursion to the UK, going and returning on the Queen
> Mary 2 along with my wife. On the trip over my wife attempted to send
> me email which didn't work. The laptop was handed over to the ship's IT
> personnel who said they only supported major email servers such as Yahoo
> and Gmail... not chucknorcutt.com. They modified my email settings to
> try and make the ship the email server. (that I'm aware of) but
> unsuccessfully. In the end email didn't work from the ship nor did it
> work as it did before once she got to the UK. That was fixed by setting
> Thunderbird back the way it was and the machine continued to operate via
> WiFi in multiple locations to access the net. There was no suspicion
> that anything else might be wrong until I tried to track down why it
> wouldn't print to the new printer when it came back. Ah, needs a new
> driver, of course. Fixed that but later discovered the printer issue
> was a sideline. The two machines could no longer talk over the local net.
>
> However, all this stuff about the printer is premature. The real
> problem (as I've since discovered since posting the original note about
> printer problems) is that there is no LAN communication between the
> machines. The desktop can ping the laptop via the router using a
> computer name or IP address. The laptop can resolve the desktops name
> to an IP address but the ping is unsuccessful and times out.
>
> The network setup has been run several times always with the same
> parameters it has always had... as when it was working. But there
> appears to be no communication between them. The desktop knows the
> workgroup name and the names of the computers in the workgroup but can't
> talk to them. The laptop knows the name of the workgroup but can't
> access anything within the workgroup other than itself.
>
> Trying to map a drive between them results in the desktop reporting that
> "The network path xxxxxxxxxx could not be found". The laptop, however,
> reports "The drive could not be mappped because no network was found."
> Subtly different and maybe significant messages.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
>
>
> On 7/31/2011 12:55 PM, Scott Gomez wrote:
>> Hi Chuck,
>>
>> All this talk of multiple things to tinker with on the network sound
>> largely
>> irrelevant to the problem, to me. All the network is providing in this
>> case
>> is a communication channel. As both machines can "talk" to the Internet
>> via
>> this channel, it's unlikely that either machine is incorrectly configured
>> as
>> far as the network is concerned. If both machines get their addresses via
>> DHCP from the router, and, in fact, are getting addresses in the same
>> subnet
>> (192.168.10.x, it appears from earlier messages) then there's most likely
>> no
>> issue with the network and/or router.
>>
>> It sounds like the printer is directly connected to the desktop (i.e. via
>> USB cable) based on what I've read in this thread. If so, then the printer
>> must be deliberately shared in Windows on the desktop machine in order for
>> the other machine to see it. As it's a new printer, are you sure that you
>> shared it?
>>
>> Both machines MUST also have the same "workgroup" name in order to be
>> considered part of the same network and thus able to "see" each other
>> correctly. You'll find the workgroup name listed via the "System" applet
>> in
>> the Control Panel.
>>
>> "File and Printer Sharing" has to be "on" on each of the machines.
>>
>> If you've got all of this correct, then about the only remaining item to
>> check is whether you have the proper machine name and printer name
>> referenced on the laptop in the printer set-up to refer it to the desktop
>> for printing.
>>
>> FYI, if you have the option of an Ethernet hook-up to the printer, and
>> instead chose to use USB, I would highly recommend switching to the direct
>> network connection via Ethernet to the router. Doing so will free you from
>> much of the baloney you're dealing with here, as well as from the need of
>> having either machine acting as "host" and "print server" for the other.
>> It'll also free you of occasional USB Alzheimer's from which XP seems to
>> periodically suffer, where a perfectly functional device is suddenly
>> "forgotten" and becomes inaccessible, requiring a restart. Should you have
>> this option, drop me a note and I'll try and get some info to you to make
>> setting it up less of a chore.
>>
>> ---
>> Scott
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 31, 2011 at 08:58, Chuck Norcutt
>> <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any way to direct the
>>> router to ping the computers directly. However, it would seem to me
>>> that the computers are communicating with the router since they can
>>> resolve the IP addresses using just the computer's names in a ping
>>> command. It's just that running the ping on the laptop against the
>>> desktop fails after properly resolving the desktop's IP address.
>>>
>>> I was just wishing I had a third computer to attach to the local net.
>>> That would at least tell me if the problem is in the laptop which is
>>> where I suspect it is. It's the only thing that's perhaps had "unknown"
>>> configuration changes. The only changes to the desktop were the
>>> uninstall of the old Brother laser printer and the installation of the
>>> new one in its place. The printer works fine from the desktop where
>>> it's physically installed.
>>>
>>> Chuck Norcutt
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7/31/2011 10:54 AM, Michael Collins wrote:
>>>> On 7/31/11 10:19 AM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Turning the firewall off on both machines makes no difference to
>>>>> anything. Trying to map drives elicits exactly the same similar but
>>>>> different responses. Trying to ping from one to the other also has
>>>>> exactly the same results.
>>>>>
>>>>> *I asked this yesterday I think. Is there perhaps a big clue in the
>>>>> failure of the laptop to ping the desktop? Is this not LAN adapter to
>>>>> LAN adapter via the router with no or at least minimal involvement of
>>>>> the OS?*
>>>>
>>>> I'd say so, although the firewall can certainly get in the way of the
>>>> "minimal involvement of the OS". The ability to ping the other machine
>>>> is
>>>> pretty fundamental at the TCP/IP level, and I think this is a
>>>> significant
>>>> clue. Whether it's the sending computer's ICMP packets not going out,
>>>> the
>>>> receiving computer not allowing them in or not sending the response out,
>>> or
>>>> the sending computer not allowing the response in is unknown. IMHO you
>>>> shouldn't be looking elsewhere until you resolve this.
>>>>
>>>> Can you ping them from your router? Some routers offer this feature. Or
>>> do
>>>> you have another system on the LAN that you can ping to/from? Either
>>> would
>>>> help you identify the likely culprit, though not the cause.
>>>>
>>>> Someone has suggest "sniffing" the LAN traffic, I think. The tool to use
>>> is
>>>> Wireshark. I have it on several of my systems, but not on my XP laptop;
>>> I'll
>>>> see if I can get it set up later today, if you're not already familiar
>>> with
>>>> it.
>>>>
>>>> Michael
>>>>
>>>>
>>> --
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