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Cannot Browse Entire Network under My Network Places

I have a member server, 2003 SP2. When I go to My Network Places -> Entire Network - >Microsoft Windows Network - ><domainname>  (where domainname = my AD domain), I dont see any computers listed at all.

This is especially difficult because I use Symantec Backup Exec on this same machine. It uses this same subsystem to browse machines. At this point I can't manage any backup jobs.

All connectivity seems functional, and I can reach other servers by using the UNC path.

I am receiving EventID: 8032 "The browser service has failed to retrieve the backup list too many times on transport \Device\NetBT_Tcpip_[65C29181-CCEB-4908-8AAD-5F9796045EE3]. The backup browser is stopping.

I have found many solutions to this error, but none so far have seemed to make the event go away or fix my browsing issue.

If I remove the Client for MIcrosoft Networks from the NIC, reattach and then reboot the issue goes away temporarily for a day or two. Then it comes back.
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Just_RC
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File & Print Sharing installed & enabled?  (Propterties of your LAN interface - General tab).
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cbiit

ASKER

Yes, installed and enabled.
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The problem is a WINS issue.  Either your master browser is not working correctly, or your WINS is not set up.
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ASKER

WINS is installed and I believe it is working. Im not 100% sure how to tell, but I am able to query machine names using nbtstat -a.

Also, if I look in the WINS MMC on the WINS server, I can see this server listed.

It is also important to note, this is the only machine on the network having this problem. So if the browser master had a problem, I think I would see the issue on other machines.
have you tried rebooting it, or restarting the computer browser service?
Check the connectivity between the troubled system and the wins server aslo.  are they on the same subnet?


look into an old tool called browmon, it should tell you who the system thinks the master browser is.
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ASKER

I have restarted the service and the computer.

The connectivity is fine to the WINS server. At least from a TCP/IP perspective it is. They are on the same subnet as well.

I've used browmon, but it says the browser is unknown. When I used the browstat utility, it lists the WINS server as the master browser.
How is its other network connectivity?  I am beginning to suspect a hardware issue.  Its a long shot, but you can try rebuilding the tcp/ip stack.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;817571
I have got the same event on some of my server. Reboot the server will fix it temperarily. The following steps fix the event on some servers:
- Reinstall NIC driver. Reteam the NIC if applicable
- Make sure NIC set to the proper duplex (1Gbp or 100Mbp) with switch duplex setting

K
Hi Friends,
Is there any firewall installed on Server?  if  so disable and try again for testing purpose or configure trusted network range and  allowed protocols.

here some  solutions from Microsoft..
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/135404

-Maheen
You beat me to it:

Agreeing with the above statement, I wanted to give you some ammo that might help you fix your problem.You may need to edit your software firewall settings to use  UDP port 138..

Using browstat, you see that the Master browser is the WINS server.Assuming your WINS server is your PDCe.

The master browser service uses two ports. One to communicate on netbios. (Netbios port 137).

The second port is a UDP port. (UDP port 138)

I would say you have a firewall that isn't blocking Netbios on 137 but is blocking UDP port 138.

DNS- port 53

WINS- port 137
Netbios translation for WINS and the Master browser service- (port 137)
Master browser- (port 137 and 138)

DNS is a separate entity than the browser service. In your case WINS seems to work, but the browse list doesn't. so it appears you have a block on UDP port 138.
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ASKER

There aren't any firewalls installed.

I haven't had opportunity to try re-installing the NIC driver yet. However, I am using the same driver on two other servers that are not having the issue. They are identical in OS, SP and Hardware.
Reinstall the NIC driver with the same drivers. What I have done was uninstall the NIC and rescan them. The NIC detects the driver by itself. Follow the wizard to complete the installation.

K
We need some information to best help you:

NEEDED MATERIALS:
You will need to download the XP SP2 support tools. It is also known as 2003 server support tools. On those tools, you will have two files you need {{download bot the CAB and MSI file}}. The tools you want are 1) browstat.exe  2) nbtstat.exe
(Who knows, you may already have them. If not, you can find them on this web page) http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=96a35011-fd83-419d-939b-9a772ea2df90&DisplayLang=en#filelist )


Can you provide three things to help us resolve your problem.

On the problem child computer, can you provide an "IPCONFIG /ALL"
We can also use the information from "BROWSTAT STATUS"
Then, we can use the information from a "NBTSTAT"

IPconfig will tell us if we have networking problems or we are on a different subnet as the master browser. It will tell us if  you have the basics needed to run the master browser service. One thing I think that may be your problem is the NODE type. You will want a HYBRID node type to work with the master browser service:

Browstat will give a list of master browsers and backup browsers for this computer. If none are the PDCe, your problem child computer will elect a master browser and you will not get a full list of computers in my network places.

NBTStat check the netbios links. You need to have a netbios link to use the master browser service. You should be able to see if your problematic  computer has a netbios link with the PDCe. You might try to refresh your netbios links. To do this, try NBTSTAT -RR at the command prompt after you download the support tools.

Please provide this information and we should be able to tell you what the problem is.



Further:

I also recommend you take a look at this article. Though it is for NT4, everything applies to 2003 server.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windowsnt/4/server/reskit/en-us/net/chptr3.mspx?mfr=true

You should evaluate your network topology for  your situation. The master browser service, in the default configuration, will not propogate netbios broadcasts over NAT, over a Firewall, Through a VPN Tunnel, over different subnets or over domains/workgroups. Unless you use WINS, the browser service will not do these things. The above article will show you how to use WINS to overcome these obsticles of netbios broadcasts. I call it the WINS/WAN configuration of the Domain master browser service.

You will want a master browser and hopefully a backup browser for each domain, workgroup, or subnet. Then you want the master browsers communicating with the domain master browser. That should be your PDCe.

I really think your problem is that you have the wrong node type to perform master browser reregistering. So, once you mess with the configuraiton, it may show up for a few days and not reregister. So, your computer is removed from the browser service after a short lifespan.

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Ok, here are the results from the IPCONFIG /ALL (note I have removed identifying information)

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : sweeper
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : mydomain.com
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mydomain.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : mydomain.com
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom BCM5708C NetXtreme II GigE (NDIS
 VBD Client)
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.13
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.16
   Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.16

Here is the results of the BROWSTAT STATUS

(note, My PDC is called AD02. AD01 is another DC and CLYDE is a SQL server. All of these machines are working normally)

Status for domain MYDOMAIN on transport \Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{65C29181-CCEB-
4908-8AAD-5F9796045EE3}
    Browsing is active on domain.
    Master browser name is: AD02
        Master browser is running build 3790
    3 backup servers retrieved from master AD02
        \\AD01
        \\CLYDE
        \\AD02
    There are 0 servers in domain MYDOMAIN on transport \Device\NetBT_Tcpip
_{65C29181-CCEB-4908-8AAD-5F9796045EE3}
    There are 0 domains in domain MYDOMAIN on transport \Device\NetBT_Tcpip
_{65C29181-CCEB-4908-8AAD-5F9796045EE3}

I read all the links and articles that have been posted. I think I have a pretty good understand of Netbios and how it works and its limitations. I must be missing something, I just cant seem to figure out why this machine wont browse properly.

I am on LAN, with two logical subnets.  There are no firewalls in between my nodes. The servers are on one subnet and the clients on another. I am able to ping successfully from server to server, client to client, server to client and client to server. All other machines on the network (about 100 clients and 12 servers) are working normally. I am using WINS on the PDC, and all of the servers are set up to use this WINS server. The clients are not. They are using simple NBT browsing.

The 'problem child' is one of my servers.
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When running NBTSTAT -RR at the command prompt, you may have to do this a couple times to straighten out the cached Netbios connections.

Further:
If CLYDE doesn't have the ability to do Netbios translation, you might want to prevent it from being a backup browser.
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OK, I did find one entry in LMHOSTS that didn't need to be there. I had added it some time ago to try to resolve a similar issue with this machine.

After removing it something strange happened. Suddenly running browstat returned the same browse master (AD02), but now I could see 15 servers in the domain. I also saw the 15 machines in My Network Places.

Now, I have about 100 machines on the domain, so I asked myself why just 15? I checked on a few other servers, and it turns out they are only seeing 15 as well. So I checked WINS. It had only the 15 entries, for my servers. For some reason my master machine (AD02) is only serving up the machines from the WINS list.

I did some searching and I found this article.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/191611

Basically this article explains that having your master browser be a mulltihomed machine is a big no no. My server came with two nics, and I only have one plugged in. So I disabled the second nic, and now Im getting a full browse list with WINS and non-WINS clients.

I think removing the exterraneous LMHOSTS entry fixed my 'problem child' machine, but I also had a separate browsing issue on my master browser that was causing all clients to get an intermittent list from the master browser.
Oh, how did we fix multihomed nics on a browser. There is configuration settings that prevents your second nic from trying to perform NBT broadcasts on the second NIC. If I can remember how to do this, your problem will be solved.

REQUEST FOR COMMENTS, ANYONE:

I'll see if I can remember how to fix this issue.

Easiest and most effective fix:
If you don't need the second NIC, disable it. What is the second NIC used for???
As a follow up:
On NIC two:
You can go into the Network connection configuration and under TCP/IP properties you can disable that NIC from providing Netbios over TCP/IP or Netbios over DHCP.