The PCH as Master Browser

[Drizt]

(06-26-2011 06:46 PM)nuke12 Wrote:  If I were Syabas;

1) As a min. fix, I would adjust the PCH units to sit lower on the pole then an XP desktop.
2) A better fix would be to offer an option of "PCH as master browser". "Yes or No". Let the user decide what works best for their network.

Are syabas going to fix this.

Really is a shithouse situation.

[Beck38]

(12-03-2010 03:28 PM)nuke12 Wrote:  The next option was to make one of my desktops become master browser.

From here;
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libra...59923.aspx
You can see the registry settings that apply. So I did this;

Quote:\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services \Browser\Parameters\MaintainServerList=Yes
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services \Browser\Parameters\IsDomainMaster=True

It's a little like hitting the problem with a sledge hammer but it does work. I notice Vista does not have the "IsDomainMaster" setting but I'm pretty sure you can add the key.

Yes you can, and indeed for those with an XP/Vista mix, it's the only way to really get the Vista machines to 'do their duty'.

But since I first bought a PCH box (C200, never had any problems wit hthe A1xx series) I ran into the browser problem. The only way to insure that the Vista would start up and become the 'master' was to shut the C200 off completely.

And, that still remains with putting in the registry settings. If the C200 is disconnected from the network while the Vista is rebooted, things start up as expected. As soon as the C200 is reconnected on the LAN WHAM! it grabs the network and becomes the master browser. No matter what.

I spent the good part of this morning rechecking and reevaluation network stability with my (now) three C200's. The only way to insure that they don't try and 'hyjack' the master browser is to turn them completely off, wait until the Vista PC starts up and stabilizes, and then turn them back on. That will run (hopefully) for several weeks until I need to reboot the Vista, then I have to shut down the C200's yet again.

According to all I"ve read, I haven't quite been able to figure out what settings in the PCH s/w can be hyjacking the network OVER the 'super-master' settings on the Vista, but I'll continue to try and investigate what it can be.

[Beck38]

Okay, here's the upshot as far as I can determine at present:

Yep, the C200's 'seem' to try and grab 'master browser' as soon as they are turned on or attached to the network, and even when the actual PC set up to be the master is reattached to the network (or powered back up) it can't seem to 'grab it back'.

BUT it's firmware dependent! As I said, I have three, and earlier f/w than the latest I'm running on one set: 03-14-120517-21-POP-408 (which is the latest except for a 'release candidate' version.. I'll wait until an actual release is ready, I fully believe in 'do not fix something that isn't broken'!)

That latest f/w set (above) works as expected. I don't seem to be able to 'trick' it into acting like the earlier sets (I may decide in the next couple of weeks to 'upgrade' one of them to that f/w, when I get up the gumption). So, that appears to be the 'fix', i.e., upgrade the f/w to the latest (as listed above). Hopefully, later versions won't 'degrade' back to the older f/w I have that DO exhibit the 'grabbing'!

Problem 'solved'. Anyone else who's also had this problem and 'fixed' it by going to this f/w, I'd like to know. TIA!

[accident]

This thread is kind of old, what issue is it causing for you?

[Beck38]

It is old, but this problem has existed for a VERY long time, and seemed to never get fixed; those with rather heterogeneous home networks (and really, what isn't these days with the proliferation of just about everything that plugs into a wall socket also plugs up to ones network?) that things that don't 'act nice' stand out like a sore thumb.

I've dealt with it by simply keeping an eye on the C200 like a hawk, turning off power to sets when not in use, you name it. I tripped across this thread a few days ago when trying to 'add' my third box, and wondering (for the nth time) why oh why does this occur (?).

Well, somewhere along the way the 'fix' got 'escalated' in the f/w development, and voila. Exactly where/when is a good question, when I get around to upgrading one of my older sets I may find out when exactly the f/w was 'fixed'. But I do know that the box with the latest I have does work, thankfully.

[accident]

I'm still really confused.. You keep calling it this problem.. I get what's happening but I don't really understand what problem it's causing for you. Also a little confused as this behavior has been changed.

[coffey33]

Unfortunately, this documentation doesn't explain everything.. and it seems that I'm going to post some questions here if I didn't find an answer from that doc..
anyway, thanks

[Veger69]

Hey Beck
I'm having an interesting Network issue and after reading your post I was thinking you might be able to help. Let me know in a PM if you might have time to try and help me figure the issue out.
Its kind of interesting my network is either being hyjacked or there is a windows issue with seeing the correct default gateway. Anyway let me know if your interested.
Thanks

[SpiderWave625]

I thought about fixing the Samba server on the PCH.
You would have to stop the services, copy in your own smb.conf file
and then restart the services.