NT PDC forgets it's the domain master browser! Why???

[Joel Smith]

Jim Watt <jimw at pe-nelson.com> wrote:
>A quick synopsis:  I have an NT PDC acting as the domain
>master browser on one network, and a Samba machine acting
>as the browse master for the same domain on the other
>network.  Both networks are local, and the router passes
>everything between the networks.
>
>About a week after the NT PDC has been rebooted,
>Samba (nmbd) can no longer contact the domain master browser to
>synchronize browse lists:

We had exactly the same problem - it turned out that someone had been
fiddling with the PDC and had changed the WINS entry to point to itself
(and it isn't a WINS server) instead of the Samba WINS server.

When the PDC is booted, it broadcasts that it is the PDC, and the samba box
picks this up. However, when it becomes time to refresh it's entry with the
WINS server, it was pointing to the wrong box. It's entry then expires from
the WINS server, and everything which isn't on the same subnet starts
having all kinds of trouble.

It took us a long time to track this down, as we knew that the networking
info had been set up correctly, and none of us had changed it. The perils
of a PDC in a location with lots of developers who fiddle!!

Cheers,

Joel

Joel Smith
First Software
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