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 machine can ping the IP address of the Linux server The offending URL or IP (and not the Linux server's IP) CANNOT be pinged from the Linux server's command line

If it's a name, there's something wrong with the naming service (or at least as it relates to that name). If it's an IP, there's something wrong with redirection or that IP isn't an auxiliary to the interface, or it's incompatible with the IP of the interface.

Here are some diagnostic tests, all performed on the Linux server, to narrow it down:

• Is the named program running?
  ps ax | grep named
• Can other domain name aliases be pinged? If not, there's a basic problem with DNS. If some aliases can be pinged, the problem might be limited to that particular domain or its mapped IP.
• Try pinging its mapped IP to see whether it's a naming problem or whether the IP itself is no good.
• Look for answers in the following files:
• /etc/hosts
• /etc/resolv.conf
• /etc/named.boot
• /var/named/named.forward
• /var/named/named.reverse