Path Traveled Start Server does not hang during boot All other Windows clients display this symptom, or there are no other Windows Clients, or it's too difficult to test the other Windows clients The Linux server can ping its own address from its console's command line The Windows Client CANNOT ping the Linux server's IP address The Windows client can ping itself

This shows that the Windows client's basic networking and network card are working. The problem therefore is most likely in either the physical wiring and devices (wires, hubs, etc) or in a mismatch between the Windows client's TCP/IP setup and the Linux server's.

Here are some things to check:
 

• Physically inspect the wiring for continuity.
• If easy, swap the wiring.
• Check the lights on the hub. If no lights, make sure the hub is powered up.
• Make sure the subnet mask listed on the Windows network configuration's Tcp/IP configuration's IP address tab matches the subnet mask on these Linux server files
• /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 (and make sure that file's netmask, ip, network and broadcast are consistent with each other).
• /etc/hosts
• /etc/dhcpd.conf (and make sure the subnet is the correct network address, and the entire range is in the subnet.
• Check these hotspots:
• /etc/sysconfig/network the gateway should be the host IP anded with the netmask, and that whole thing orred with 0.0.0.254.
• /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0:0 the IPADDR range, which is eth0's auxiliary ip's used for virtual hosting, should be in the machine's subnet as defined by the IP and netmask.
• /etc/resolv.conf make sure the nameserver variable is the IP address of the Linux server.
• /etc/hosts make sure there's a line starting with the Linux server's IP address, followed by a space and the complete hostname.domainname, followed by a space and the hostname.
• /etc/dhcpd.leases if there appears to be any discrepancy between a lease and the network (subnet) number, from Windows expire the lease and reload. Note that the client-hostname comes from the Identification tab, not from the host name in the DNS configuration tab.
• /etc/named.boot make sure the domain you're attempting to hit is listed as a primary, directed toward /var/named/named.forward. Make sure the in-addr.arpa line contains the correct reverse-notation network number -- 3 digits for class C, 2 for class B, 1 for class A.
• /var/named.reverse Make sure the in-addr.arpa line contains the correct reverse-notation network number -- 3 digits for class C, 2 for class B, 1 for class A.

Networking on the Linux server is working just fine, but the Windows machine cannot see it. Either there's a problem in the physical wiring (cables, hubs, etc), the subnetting (IP anded with netmask on each machine should yield an identical result), or the basic networking capability of the Windows machine. To rule out the latter, from the command line of the Windows machine, ping the IP address of the Windows machine. Or, if the Windows machine is assigned an IP address by Wins via dhcp, ping the Windows machine name as shown in the DNS configuration tab of the TCP/IP properties of the networking setup.

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UNUSUAL FEATURE NOTE: The name to ping is the one in the DNS configuration tab of the TCP/IP properties of the networking setup, not the one in the Windows networking configuration, Identification tab, Computer name field. The latter has function in dhcp, and may have some function, but it is not self-pinging. It's always best to have these two fields match, to prevent any possible subtle problems. However, to my knowledge, Windows will not tell you about a mismatch in these two fields.

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