Weird Netbios share connection problem

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J

John

Dear all,

Recently i had an unusual problem regarding file-sharing (netbios) in a
windows xp environment (server/clients).

We have a central computer with windows XP pro on it with 2 harddisks, (One
for data and one for the system). The data drive was crashing, so we
replaced it by a new one, and put a copy of all the files to this one.
Create a new share, and that's it.

But, since then, this share stops working after a few hours. No logs on
errors (see note below), nothing. It just stops. I can't restart the server
service (denied). The only thing I can do is restart this computer (act as
server), and everything is working again for a few hours.

All computers on the lan are windows XP pro's with latest software updates
and patches.

On all connected computers via lan is the same problem, they can't connect
to this single computer anymore. (err : can't find network path)

The only error that shows up in the logs is event 2021 :

Server was unable to create a work item n times in the last seconds seconds.

But if you lookup this kb : http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=317249 then
you will notice that this is a very large possibility factor which I will
not work through it.

Can someone advice me with a good solution (please do not advice format c or
run through this very large kb list)

Kind regards,
John
 
John said:
Dear all,

Recently i had an unusual problem regarding file-sharing (netbios) in
a windows xp environment (server/clients).

We have a central computer with windows XP pro on it with 2 harddisks,
(One for data and one for the system). The data drive was crashing, so
we replaced it by a new one, and put a copy of all the files to this
one. Create a new share, and that's it.

But, since then, this share stops working after a few hours. No logs
on errors (see note below), nothing. It just stops. I can't restart
the server service (denied). The only thing I can do is restart this
computer (act as server), and everything is working again for a few
hours.

All computers on the lan are windows XP pro's with latest software
updates and patches.

On all connected computers via lan is the same problem, they can't
connect to this single computer anymore. (err : can't find network
path)

The only error that shows up in the logs is event 2021 :

Server was unable to create a work item n times in the last seconds
seconds.

But if you lookup this kb : http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=317249
then you will notice that this is a very large possibility factor
which I will not work through it.

Can someone advice me with a good solution (please do not advice
format c or run through this very large kb list)
Click to expand...

If you are running XP Pro on the "server" and not a server operating
system, you do not have a server/client setup. You have a
"pseudo-server". How many workstations are making inbound connections
to this machine?

Malke
 
That's correct.

Well, there are 3 clients that are making these connections to the same
share. On a certain moment "all" shares are just stopped.

1) Deleting the share on the pseudo-server, and remake it, will not work.
2) Pinging the server is working (ip ping and netbios ping)
3) Webserver (iis) on the pseudo-server server is running and connecting
(http on port 80) is no problem.
4) Browsing network shares on this pseudo-server via clients is not
possible.

So all i know is the event error 2021 and my guess is that there is some
sort of bug regarding Netbios, security and old folder or share settings
from the previous hard disk.



All patches and sp's are applied as well on the clients as on the
pseudo-server. Firewall and anti-virus is at this moment disabled.

Kind regards,
John.
 
John said:
That's correct.

Well, there are 3 clients that are making these connections to the
same share. On a certain moment "all" shares are just stopped.

1) Deleting the share on the pseudo-server, and remake it, will not
work. 2) Pinging the server is working (ip ping and netbios ping)
3) Webserver (iis) on the pseudo-server server is running and
connecting (http on port 80) is no problem.
4) Browsing network shares on this pseudo-server via clients is not
possible.

So all i know is the event error 2021 and my guess is that there is
some sort of bug regarding Netbios, security and old folder or share
settings from the previous hard disk.
Click to expand...

Well, reading through the MS KB article is actually quite useful. Since
you don't have very many computers connecting to the pseudo-server and
the problems occurred when you installed a different hard drive in the
pseudo-server, that's where I'd start troubleshooting - with the
hardware on the pseudo-server and also the network hardware. After all,
your network was fine with all your old software settings. The only
thing that has changed is hardware. The error message you are getting
doesn't seem to indicate a permissions problem, although perhaps one of
the server gurus will think it does and pop in with a suggestion
regarding that. You could test if the permissions are OK by making a
brand-new share and putting some completely new files in it to see if
drop-outs occur with the new share.

Since I don't know any of the server or network hardware specs, here are
some general suggestions:

1. Consider the specs of the hard drive you replaced and the new one.
Was the old one smaller and possibly using an old 40-wire ribbon cable?
Try swapping out the ribbon cable for a new one, 80-wire naturally.

2. Power supply - swap out the psu for a new, more powerful one.

3. RAM - how much memory is on the pseudo-server? If under 1GB, give it
more. Test the RAM to make sure it is healthy. Check other hardware
components for health also - NIC, motherboard, etc.

Perhaps the pseudo-server is an older computer and the hardware is
beginning to fail. Perhaps the networking hardware is older and
beginning to fail. If using an older, consumer-level switch for
instance you might see about replacing it.

Again, these are just general suggestions. With hardware
troubleshooting, you always want to start with the least
difficult/cheapest solutions (swapping out cables, psu for ex.), make
only one change at a time and test after each change.

Malke
 
The KB article applies to Windows server operating systems that seem to have
a heavy network load and that is not your situation though it does suggest
that disk corruption could be a concern. What you could try is to
temporarily disable the share on the new drive create a share on the system
drive to see if that experiences the same behavior or not. Next time it
happens try the command sc queryex lanmanserver and sc start lanmanserver to
see if any additional helpful information is displayed. It may also be
worthwhile to try and uninstall file and print sharing, reboot the computer
and install it again and using netsh to reset tcp/ip. Though most if us here
try to help when we can it would be more appropriate to post in the
Windowsxp.network_web newsgroup where you may also get some help. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q299357 --- use
netsh to reset tcp/ip. Be sure to document your tcp/ip settings first and
check again after running the command. Ipconfig /all will show tcp/ip
configuration.
 
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