745N & Windows 98

Question

Greetings All,   We have a 745N on our office network.  The unit seems fine, we have a network of Win98, 2K and XP Pro computers.  The Windows 98 PCs have a real issue staying connected to the share on the 745N.  We used to have to remap them every few days but now they have been unable to connect for a week.  Please note that Everyone else is in, but these two PCs cannot.  We get errors:   'This device does not exist on the network.'   I simply do not understand this.  When we asked Dell to recommend a storage solution, we told them that we had to make sure it was versatile with these different OS.  They said there would be no problem.  The computers have no issues at all being mapped to the server which is a PowerEdge, they have complete ability on the shares on that machine.   I also tried giving the Windows 98 clients an alternative with FTP but they cannot connect via FTP either.  I mean I gave them usernames on the Powervault separate and I logged in with both thru FTP on the other PCs but on 98 it will NOT connect.   Anyone have any ideas?  I hope that Dell did not have us spend this money on a machine that simply does not work well with 98.  That is the reason we asked them what would work in our situation.   Thanks, Joel

Dev Mgr · Answer

I assume your 2000 and XP systems are able to connect just fine to the unit (judging from the fact that you state that the 98 systems are losing their connection).

One option would be to upgrade the Windows 98 systems to an NT-architecture OS (NT, W2K, XP, 2003).

Another one would be to have your network admin check your network configuration to see what happens and why the 98 systems can no longer connect to this NAS box.

Is this system part of your AD, or is it a stand-alone?
What happens if you reboot the 98 system(s) in question?
What happens if you reboot the PV745N?

joel.mich · Answer

Hello,

Well, we have been slowly upgrading throught the office and that is why we only have a few left with Windows 98. But if we tell the boss that the problem is because they are Win98 Clients, he's liable to hit the roof. We had a conference call with Dell sales in regards to having NAS that would work across the various OS that we use.

In answering your questions, see below:

Is this system part of your AD, or is it a stand-alone?
The 745N stands alone, has a static assigned IP address on the network and when users logon to the domain, the 745N connections reconnects like any other shared drive on the network. As far as if the 745N is assigned to the PowerEdge's Active Directory, no. I have not assigned anything to that I was told we would not have to because the machine has been joined to the domain during installation.

What happens if you reboot the 98 system(s) in question? Does not hel. This has been tried and also after start up in the mornings, we receive the error that I previously posted when attempting to map the drive.

What happens if you reboot the PV745N? Not sure, we really have not rebooted the 745N since we did the setup (back in October). However, I will reboot it this afternoon and we'll see if it makes a difference in the morning.

Thanks,
Joel

Bezalel · Answer

This sounds like a name resolution problem. Are you running your own DNS servers? What type of domain are you running?

joel.mich · Answer

We are running a Windows 2000 Professional domain (is this what you mean?).  The computers have no issues with any shares with the exception of the Powervault. Joel

Bezalel · Answer

On the W98 PCs in the DNS tab of the TCP/IP proerties enable DNS and add the full AD domain name (be sure to include the '.local' or whatever tld you are using) to the 'Domain Suffix Search Order' list.

Bezalel · Answer

When you querry the name of the DNS server even if you don't include the full domain name it will resolve. What you are describing is typical behaviour for Windows 98 when adding a second server to an AD domain. You should still be able to see the powervault using its IP address.

joel.mich · Answer

OK, i understand what you mean, but the Win98 machines have no problems with the domain shares (there are three shares on the DC itself, then a fourth share is the 745N). Just errors connecting to the 745N. I will try on one in the morning.

Joel

joel.mich · Answer

UPDATE:

What happens if you reboot the PV745N? Not sure, we really have not rebooted the 745N since we did the setup (back in October). However, I will reboot it this afternoon and we'll see if it makes a difference in the morning.

We rebooted the Powervault but it made no difference. Everyone can connect except Windows 98 workstations.

Joel

joel.mich · Answer

What a headache...LOL. here is the latest from a Windows 98SE workststion when trying to RUN the IP address of the Powervault:

Cannont find the file '192.168.5.226' (or one of its components). Make sure the path and filename are correct and that all required libraries are available.

Any new ideas on what to do next? Mind you the Windows 98 workstations were able to map before then it just stopped. Nothing was changed with the powervault or the AD. Also, I have tried 7 different FTP clients and they all work from Win XP/2000 but NOT from Windows 98.

Joel

joel.mich · Answer

OK, just had an error come up after 5 minutes...   \192.168.5.226   An extended error has occurred.

Bezalel · Answer

You can't run an IP address, you can run \192.168.5.226 to browse the computer

joel.mich · Answer

OK, we did a Start-Run \192.168.5.226 and absolutely nothing happened.  No connection, no error, nothing.   Joel

PowerVault

745N & Windows 98

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