"workgroup" is not accessible.

Hi all

I have a fair bit of experience with networking but almost exclusively domain and server based. My experience with peer-to-peer networks is not great. I have a 2 PC network at home connected through a wi-fi router.

My ability to connect to either PC from the other has always been a bit 'patchy' as the wireless laptop never had a great connection speed. Because of this whenever I needed to move file(s) between PCs I've tended to use a USB memory stick.

I have now bought a new Netgear SuperG router and am getting a much better signal and speed (108mb) to the wireless laptop. I thought it was about time to try the workgroup network again. Unfortunately I get the "workgroup" is not accessible message suggesting I don't have the required permissions.

I have re-run the 'Home or small office network' wizard and set both PCs up with the same workgroup name. I have enabled 'file and printer sharing' on both PCs and shared some folders on both to test. Still no joy. It does not matter whether the laptop is connected via wireless or ethernet I still get the same message.

The only possible cause I can think of that may have caused the problem is that I took the laptop to my office a couple of weeks ago and connected to the domain there. I usually connect to my office with a VPN connection from home. I have changed the network type back to a 'workgroup' before running the wizard again.

I am running WinXP Pro (SP2) on both PCs. and am logged on to both PCs with administrator access rights.

Just tried a ping and it is timing out to and from the laptop and desktop.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.

 

This is the place to start. The inability to ping indicates that this is a fairly low level problem.

How are you Pinging: by name or IP address. Start by trying to ping the other PC by the other PC's IP address. (E.g. PING 192.168.0.2). If this fails you have a basic network problem. Check connections, and make sure the two PC are using IP addresses that will communicate (Use this tool to check that the IP addresses are compatible).

If you can ping by IP but not by name, then you have a name resolution problem. On a small peer to peer network, the easiest answer is to create entries in your Hosts file to map a name to an address:

127.0.0.1 localhost
192.168.0.2 PC1
192.168.0.3 PC2

For example.

If you are still stuck: Ping still not working post back with an IPCONFIG output. That is at the command prompt enter:

IPCONFIG /ALL > IPCONFIG.TXT

This will output you IP configuration to a text file called IPCONFIG.TXT. Copy the contents of that file to this post.

 

My guess would be it is one of two probable causes.

The most common is that you have a FIREWALL interference problem. Whenever you change a network, you generally are best to run the firewall's wizard again to detect networks (LAN) and computers. Make sure to approve the router and other PCs.

The second most common cause is that the workgroup you have on one computer is different than that on the other.
XP => my computer=> right click properties => Computer name =>workgroup

In win98 control panel=> network => workgroup.

Note you have to restart after changes.

 

Reggie

I am pinging to IP addresses. I can ping the router but not the other PC. I have run IPCONFIG and all looks OK. I am at the office at the moment but will post the results of IPCONFIG a bit later.

oshwyn5

I too thought it must be a firewall problem but I have tried again with the Windows firewall disabled on both PCs. The workgroup names are definately the same on both PCs. There seems to be a communication problem between the PCs although both PCs can see the router and use the internet. The router is a Netgear DG834GT by the way.

Thanks both for your suggestions, will post my ipconfig results later.

 

Results of IPCONFIG tests

From desktop PC


Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-B0-D0-A2-3B-7D
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.3
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 07 September 2005 16:39:16
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 10 September 2005 16:39:16

Ping to router and laptop PC


Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=255
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=255
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=255
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=255

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 9ms, Average = 2ms

Pinging 192.168.0.2 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.2:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),


Results from laptop



Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : pc0497
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-08-74-E7-51-93

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NETGEAR 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card WG511T
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0F-B5-1D-59-41
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 07 September 2005 16:32:09
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 10 September 2005 16:32:09

 

IPconfig results indicate that connectivity should be possible. I would check for firewall settings. I had a similar problem a while back and ended up reinstalling to be able to share between the systems.

You could also try connecting the laptop with the LAN card and cable, just to see if there is a problem with the router.

By the way, when sharing between PCs, not only must the usernames be the same, but they must have the same password and the password must NOT be blank.

DRD

 

Taking an Ethernet X-Over cable home tonight and will try the PCs directly connected to eliminate the router as a possible culprit.

I'm guessing that without the router acting as the DHCP server I will need to set the IP addresses manually.

NetDoc

Thanks for the reply, I thought that with 'simple file sharing' switched on that anyone with a log-on to the PC will be able to see the 'shared' files. As it happens my log-in on both PCs is identical.

 

Connected desktop and laptop with X-Over cable. Set IP address to 192.168.0.2/3 with DHCP set to auto.

Re-run the 'Home/small business network' wizard and re-booted both PCs. IPCONFIG shows both PCs have the correct IP address and subnet mask.
Still can't ping between PCs.

I think this shows it's nothing to do with the router. Anyone got any more ideas, short of a complete re-install, which will be my last ditch solution.

 

Have you had a chance to check this. Quickest test ... pull the modem input cable out of the router and disable/close your firewall. Run your ping test.

 

Hi Dennis

I can't even ping PC to PC directly connected with no router connected at all. I have disabled the Windows firewall on both PCs.

The router is a Netgear DG834GT wireless gateway router and there is no separate modem.

 

Then it almost certainly is a firewall issue. Make sure that windows firewall is disabled as is any second party firewall.

 

No firewalls running at all except when the router is on and I'm connected to the web. The PCs both have Windows firewall OFF. When I connected the PCs together I still can't ping.

 

Norman, try
ping -t 127.0.0.1
and let it run for 50 or 60 reps. If you see any errors, you are dealing with a bad NIC. Note that you will need to CTRL-Break to stop the pinging.

If the ping testing is normal, can you swap NICs to see if the problem follows the NIC or stays with the PC?

 

Hi Newt

It can ping it's own IP address successfully (I haven't tried 127.0.0.1). The NICs are built in to M/B so can't switch them round but on the laptop it doesn't matter whether I use the ethernet or wireless NIC the result is the same. Will try the localhost ping when I get home.

 

When you connect the two pcs directly you are using a crossover cable , not the same cable you connect to the router with?

When you are direct connecting them, you not only need to check that work group is the same , but that you specify an ip for both. When using the router, you should not specify the IP, you set to obtain automatically and set the router to assign them.

 

Cracked it!!!

Something someone said on another BBS made me have a look at my VPN client software (Checkpoint). I disabled the Checkpoint binding in LAN Connection Properties on both PCs and all is now well. I can ping from either PC to the other and browse the shared files on both PCs.

I think that when the Checkpoint client software is installed it notes the IP address and subnet and performs some sort of filtering or firewalling. I will now have to re-install the client software to see whether it recognises the new IP addresses served from the router and whether that will be enough to cure the local browsing problem between PCs on the LAN. If not it's going to be a bit of a pain to have to remember to disable the binding every time I need to use VPN to my office LAN.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and help.

 

Thank you for the update.