Cannot ping hostname. Hostname not resolving. (unknown host)

Posts you requested:

[root@name root]# cat /etc/resolv.conf
; generated by /sbin/dhclient-script
search companyname.com
nameserver xxx.xxx.109.126
nameserver xxx.xxx.109.38
nameserver xxx.xxx.26.41

[root@name root]# ps aux| grep [d]hcp
root      8224  0.0  0.3  2064  996 ?        S    17:51   0:00 /sbin/dhclient -1 -q -lf /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient-eth0.leases -pf /var/run/dhclient-eth0.pid -cf /etc/dhclient-eth0.conf eth0


[root@name root]# nslookup name
Note:  nslookup is deprecated and may be removed from future releases.
Consider using the `dig' or `host' programs instead.  Run nslookup with
the `-sil[ent]' option to prevent this message from appearing.
Server:         xxx.xxx.109.126
Address:        xxx.xxx.109.126#53

** server can't find name: SERVFAIL


[root@name root]# nslookup name xxx.xxx.109.126
Note:  nslookup is deprecated and may be removed from future releases.
Consider using the `dig' or `host' programs instead.  Run nslookup with
the `-sil[ent]' option to prevent this message from appearing.
Server:         xxx.xxx.162.109.126
Address:        xxx.xxx.109.126#53

** server can't find name: SERVFAIL

I also tried this last command against the backup DNS servers as well.
xxx.xxx.109.38  - gave the same response
xxx.xxx.26.41 - gave this response ** server can't find name: NXDOMAIN

 I THINK I AM GETTING DNS INFO BECAUSE OF WHAT THE DHCLIENT-SCRIPT IS POSTING IN /ETC/RESOLV.CONF.  I THINK SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE DHCP SERVER FORWARDING OF IP/HOSTNAME TO THE DNS.  

I CAN ALSO TELL YOU THAT I SET UP SAMBA ON MY LINUX BOX IN HOPES THAT THE SMB TRAFFIC WOULD HELP, AND IT SEEMS TO HELP WINDOWS BOXES ON THE SAME SUBNET.  IF A WINDOWS BOX CANNOT PING, THEN I MAP A DRIVE TO THE SAMBA SHARE AND IT SEEMS TO HELP.  ALSO, IF I PING FROM A WINDOWS BOX ON THE SAME SUBNET AND MOVE THE WINDOWS BOX TO ANOTHER SUBNET, I CAN STILL PING, BUT ONLY FOR A WHILE.  

If the problem is really with the DHCP and DNS servers (which might be beyond my control), then maybe this problem isn't a Linux problem.  The DHCP and DNS servers are Windows.  Windows boxes on the network seem to have no problems getting IP addresses via DHCP and I'm assuming they are properly listed in the DNS server, since their names resolve.  

I'm wondering if I'm just not doing something right on the Linux side.  I know enough about Linux to get in trouble, and looking for another opinion.  

Just an idea for further troubleshooting, go an download...

http://www.netbootdisk.com/

...it's a small bootable floppy that will try an obtain an address via DHCP.
It's good for quickly testing if the problem is in your Linux config or not.

giltjr:
Good idea. Haven't thought so far.

Perhaps the problem also could be a misconfigured dhcpcd on the linux box, which doesn't provide its own hostname within the query.

On the linux box you could try:

$> ifconfig eth0 down
$> dhcpcd -t 10 -h hostname.domain.tld

Does that change anything?

Cheers,

-XoF-

To veedar:
   - Thanks for the pointer to the network boot disk.  I downloaded and will give it a try.

To XoF:
   - Yes, I changed "search companyname.com" for the post.  It is correct in the resolv.conf file
   - No, nslookup on the fully qualified name (hostname.companyname.com) does not work
   - No, nslookup <hostname> does not work from a Windows command line either
   - The dhcpcd command was not found.  Did you mean dhcpd -t  ??
      -- if so, the command reports that there is no /etc/dhcpd.conf file
      -- I shortened the command to dhcpd -t   I'm using Fedora Core 4, and the -h switch doesn't appear as an option