# Can not ping (or find) by NetBIOS name



## drewgraham (Jul 20, 2005)

Hi,

I have a small network at home of a Netgear DG834 router, a couple of access points, a desktop and a laptop.

Recently, I have not been able to connect to desktop or laptop via NetBIOS names.

Pings give me:

```
Ping request could not find host NETBIOSNAME. Please check the name and try again.
```
A nslookup gives me:

```
C:\>nslookup
*** Can't find server name for address 192.168.61.254: Non-existent domain
*** Default servers are not available
Default Server:  UnKnown
Address:  192.168.61.254

> NETBIOSNAME
Server:  UnKnown
Address:  192.168.61.254

*** UnKnown can't find NETBIOSNAME: Non-existent domain
>
```
I can ping and get full expected connectivity via ip addresses, but not via netbios.

Any ideas?


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## Squashman (Apr 4, 2003)

Can you post the output of *ipconfig /all* from your computers.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Let's see both things as detailed below. 

Hold the *Windows* key and press *R*, then type *CMD* to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands, one at a time, followed by the _*Enter*_ key:

_Note that there is a space before the -n or the /ALL, but there is *NOT* a space after the - or / in the following commands._

NBTSTAT -n

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose *Select All*, then hit *Enter* to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.


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## drewgraham (Jul 20, 2005)

*Desktop Nbtstat:*

```
VMware Network Adapter VMnet8:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.186.1] Scope Id: []

                NetBIOS Local Name Table

       Name               Type         Status

    ---------------------------------------------

    DGCDESKTOP1    <00>  UNIQUE      Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <00>  GROUP       Registered

    DGCDESKTOP1    <20>  UNIQUE      Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <1E>  GROUP       Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <1D>  UNIQUE      Registered

    ..__MSBROWSE__.<01>  GROUP       Registered

VMware Network Adapter VMnet1:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.59.1] Scope Id: []

                NetBIOS Local Name Table

       Name               Type         Status

    ---------------------------------------------

    DGCDESKTOP1    <00>  UNIQUE      Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <00>  GROUP       Registered

    DGCDESKTOP1    <20>  UNIQUE      Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <1E>  GROUP       Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <1D>  UNIQUE      Registered

    ..__MSBROWSE__.<01>  GROUP       Registered

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.61.100] Scope Id: []

                NetBIOS Local Name Table

       Name               Type         Status

    ---------------------------------------------

    DGCDESKTOP1    <00>  UNIQUE      Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <00>  GROUP       Registered

    DGCDESKTOP1    <20>  UNIQUE      Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <1E>  GROUP       Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <1D>  UNIQUE      Registered

    ..__MSBROWSE__.<01>  GROUP       Registered
```
*Desktop Ipconfig:*

```
Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DGCDesktop1

        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :

        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast

        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet8:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8

        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-08

        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.186.1

        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet1:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1

        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-01

        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.59.1

        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC

        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-4D-49-81-75

        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.61.100

        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.61.254

        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.61.254

        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.61.254

        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 22 January 2009 23:29:13

        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 25 January 2009 23:29:13
```
*Laptop Nbtstat:*

```
Wireless:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.61.103] Scope Id: []

                NetBIOS Local Name Table

       Name               Type         Status

    ---------------------------------------------

    DREWGR60       <00>  UNIQUE      Registered

    DREWGR60       <20>  UNIQUE      Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <00>  GROUP       Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <1E>  GROUP       Registered

    DGCOMPUTERS    <1D>  UNIQUE      Registered

    ..__MSBROWSE__.<01>  GROUP       Registered

Wired:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

    No names in cache
```
*Laptop Ipconfig:*

```
Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DREWGR60

        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :

        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast

        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection

        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-D2-08-36-10

        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.61.103

        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.61.254

        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.61.254

        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.61.254

        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 22 January 2009 22:23:25

        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 25 January 2009 22:23:25

Ethernet adapter Wired:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet

        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-D3-28-38-51
```


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Both of the machines indicate they're the master browser. This is usually because a firewall is blocking the access.

Turn off any firewalls for debugging. If the firewall is the problem, you'll have to configure it to allow access to "trusted zone" addresses. Note that some firewalls must be completely uninstalled to stop them from affecting your networking.

Hold the *Windows* key and press *R*, then type *CMD* to open a command prompt.

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

PING each remote computer by IP address, and if successful, PING by name. Open a command prompt as described above and type.

PING _<ip address>_ 
or
PING _<computer name>_

Where: 
_<ip address>_ - is the x.x.x.x IP address
_<computer name>_ - is the computer name

*A failure to PING is almost always a firewall configuration issue. Any failure to PING needs to be corrected before you go any farther.*

_*Note:* You can obtain the IP address and computer name of a computer by opening a command prompt (DOS window) and typing *IPCONFIG /ALL*. This should work for any Windows version. The IPCONFIG /ALL display will provide a wealth of useful information for debugging your network connection._

Check your Services are Started on all PCs: 

COM+ Event System (for WZC issues)
Computer Browser
DHCP Client
DNS Client
Network Connections
Network Location Awareness
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Server
TCP/IP Netbios helper
Wireless Zero Configuration (XP wireless configurations)
WLAN AutoConfig (Vista wireless configurations)
Workstation

_*Note:* You can check the services in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services._

All of these services should be started, and their startup type should be automatic.

If a service is not running, open it's properties and check the dependencies. Check each of the dependencies and see which one is preventing the service from running. Checking the event log is also a good idea here, there may be clues to what is failing.

All computers should be in the same workgroup for computer browsing to function properly. File & Print Sharing has to be enabled on any computer you wish to share files or printers from. You also need to actually share the resource in question from My Computer, right click on the drive/printer/folder, and select sharing.

If you encounter difficulties accessing computers that are visible in Network Places (_Network and Sharing Center in Vista_), make sure the computer being accessed has an account with the same name/password as the system connecting to it uses to login.

While the default NetBIOS setting is correct for normal network configurations, it's possible for it to be altered, and it costs nothing to make sure it's correct. NETBIOS over TCP/IP must be enabled for normal network browsing.


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## drewgraham (Jul 20, 2005)

Fantastic, thanks. I can now ping via NetBIOS from the desktop to the laptop, but not laptop to desktop. I can ping via IP address both ways.


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## apr911 (Jan 26, 2007)

Double check your firewall settings on the desktop. NetBIOS works by making an announcement to the network broadcast address requesting any computer with that name to respond with an IP address and then pinging that IP. If the desktop is not configured to accept broadcast address traffic, it will not respond to a net bios name/IP request and thus the ping will not find an IP to ping and fail.

The reason it responds when pinging by IP is because it makes a direct ping request to that address.

Also as a final note, nslookup is a tool to make DNS queries. It will not provide responses to net bios names unless you have a DNS server configured to query a WINS server.


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