[wpkg-users] login stalls

[Tomasz Chmielewski]

Brian May schrieb:
> Hello,
> 
> Not convinced this is entirely wpkg's fault, but wpkg is what the users 
> will see as broken.
> 
> 
> Real Symptoms:
> 
> * Wpkg will will force the user to wait for the full delay before 
> logging in.
> * Wpkg doesn't appear to do anything.
> * Cannot log into the domain, windows says domain controller not available.
> * Trying to access the samba server on the wins computer from the dud 
> computer resulted in Windows Explorer hanging and committing suicide.
> * Accessing other samba servers works fine.
> * Tests on other computers indicate there is nothing wrong with the 
> domain controller, the wins server or anything else I could think of 
> testing.
> * Only happens on a few random computers at random times, making it 
> difficult to reproduce. Computers that were bad will get better for
> no apparent reason and vice versa.
> * Rebooting does not help.

Do you use WINS? With a Samba server, you should - otherwise, your 
clients use broadcasts only, which may have similar characteristics as 
the problem you describe.
To enable WINS in Samba, add:

wins support = Yes

to your smb.conf.

Also, your clients have to be told to use WINS. You can set it up either 
with DHCP (preferred) or manually in network settings.


> I guess I really need a packet dump and/or debugging information on the 
> Samba server, but being able to reproduce the problem on a computer that
> isn't in use might be difficult.
> 
> 
> An initial theory I had is that wins lookups are broken for some reason, 
> and the wpkg offline check uses DNS lookups instead. This doesn't 
> entirely match the symptoms I described above though.

Samba does not integrate with DNS by default (unless you put some effort 
to it); so double check if WINS is configured and that it works.


> So the questions I have are:'
> 
> 1. Why is Windows having network issues when nothing appears to be wrong 
> with the network?

Don't you contradict yourself here? ;)


> 2. Wpkg appears to be aborting prematurely, possibly as a result of the 
> above problem, is it possible to stop the log in delay if this happens?

If your network is not to be trusted, it would be best if you disable 
logon delay feature until you're able to solve the problem with the network.
Or, use WPKG Client 1.3.5 and use shutdown delay instead of logon delay 
if it helps.


-- 
Tomasz Chmielewski
http://wpkg.org