DHCP Problems 1

[NFI]

Hiya,

I'm trying to set up a remote installation system using a Windows 2003 server, but I'm having problems getting my client machines to find the DHCP service running on it.

I've put together a boot disk taht uses tinyrfc.exe to obtain an IP address for the client machine through DHCP but it keeps coming back with "No DHCP Server Found". I know for certain that both machines are connected to the same network hardware and that I've followed the DHCP configuration wizard to the letter, but I don't really know where to start troubleshooting beyond that.

Can anyone suggest some starting points for me, please?

Many thanks,

Paul

 

[NFI]

OK - so that was a bit of a tricky one, I suppose...

Well, I've tracked this problem back a bit and I've found that my server simply isn't visible on my network! It can ping everything else on the network but nothing can ping it...hence DHCP doesn't work...

So why's that, then? As far as I can see, everything's set up right - IP range, subnet masks and all that - I mean, honestly, where can you go wrong setting up a network this simple? Is this some sort of Microsoft Server 2K3 anti-trust thing that I just don't know about?

Again, any help at all will be much appreciated,

Paul

 

[Wishdiak]

NFI,

Is the machine that is providing DHCP assigned a static IP address on your LAN? Do you have some kind of firewall blocking incoming traffic to the machine that hosts your DHCP?

Wishdiak

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[Jpoandl]

Some things to check:

1) make sure that you have a static IP assigned to the server. If you have more then one NIC in the server (and you only want to use one), make sure that you DISABLE the second NIC.

2) It sounds like you have a single server and that you want this server to provide all functions (DHCP, DNS, WINS (maybe), etc). Therefore, make sure that there are no other devices offering DHCP services. A lot of times, firewall/routers have the ability to provide DHCP- and these services are turned on by default. Make sure that these devices are disabled. Also, if you have a domain, make sure that clients receive IP that have DNS pointing to your Internal LAN Windows 2003 server (not to the ISP DNS servers).

3) Set a static IP address on a workstation. Make sure that you can ping the server and that the server can ping the workstation. Get this problem solved before considering other options. Sometimes, it will be necessary to put the server and the workstation on a simple hub to narrow down the problem.

4) Make sure that the NIC on the server is set for the right speed (100/FULL, 1000/FULL, 10/HALF, etc). Autodetect should be turned off and the speed of the nic should be manually set.

5) Whatch out for duplicate IP's on your network...for example maybe the old server has the IP address of the new server...or a printer has a conflicting IP address.

6) Check the event viewer of the server and verify that there are no errors.

-hope some of this helps...

Joseph L. Poandl
MCSE 2003

If your company is in need of experts to examine technical problems/solutions, please check out

http://www.NJCOMPUTERNETWORKS.com

(Sales@njcomputernetworks.com)

 

[NFI]

Hi chaps,

rights, thanks very much for replying - sorry about not getting back sooner

This turned out to be was something very unusual - the card I was using was actually a dual-port nic (just to make my life more difficult) and as far as I could see, everything was working just as it should...except nothing could see my server. So I changed the port I was using - I literally moved the network cable from one to the other and that solved everything.

So, I've put it down to bad hardware, but is that right? Seems awfully unlikely to me that a port could be damaged in such a way that it will allow outgoing traffic but not incoming...

anyway, thanks for all your help - I suspect that, any other time, your checks and suggestions would have brought the problem to light much sooner

All the best,

Paul