The browser service has failed to retrieve the backup list too many times on transport

when you reboot the PDC, or even when the system is temporarily unavailable, election (fight) about who will become master browser starts.
When your PDC is back again, it'll be backup-master only.
If the winner of the election is a slow PC, you might get such errors.

Best is you tell all (most) of your clients not to participate at the browser election.
I'd recommend that only file-servers being master and/or backup and/or potential browser.

03.19.2003 at 05:14AM PST, ID: 8166307

Many thanks for your reply, I'm sure I am being a bit thick here, but could you tell me how to stop the client machines from participating in the browser election? (Also, what is the master browser???)

Running mainly win2K pro clients, but have 2 x win98 boxes.

Kindest Regards

Chris

03.19.2003 at 05:30AM PST, ID: 8166390

to stop participating on browser elections you need to edit the registry, using regedit.exe
Only know the key for NT (but should be similar wor w9x):

HKLM\System\CurrentControlset\Services\Browsers\Parameters
IsDomainMaster false
MaintainServerList no

keep in mind that these values should be true/yes on your PDC.

> what is the master browser?
the machine holding the list of all computers connected to the workgroup/domain. There are
exactly one master browser
multiple backup browsers
multiple potential browsers

the last ones are probably those which 'cause your truble, 'cause M$ insists on setting each computer to be a potential browser by default (even it is a 3kHz CPU;-)

03.19.2003 at 05:35AM PST, ID: 8166433

Many thanks

Any ideas why internet access stops working on the pdc when this occurs?

03.19.2003 at 06:40AM PST, ID: 8166870

Remove or disable the 2nd Nic if it isn't being used.

Its probably got a higher priority binding and it certainly isn;t going to find a browser list if its not connected.

Other problems may include an entry in your routing table going nowhere including another subnet default gateway.

This may explain the web browser shutdown

NT loves WINS. WINS has a higher priority lookup precedence than broadcast.

To this end install your server as a Wins server and use properly configured DHCP for your clients. I can't remember if its supported in NT but you can shutdown netbios broadcast over tcp/ip in win2k.

Accepted Solution

03.19.2003 at 06:47AM PST, ID: 8166919

Many thanks for being so imformative and giving several options to try.

Excellent answers

Kind Regards

Chris

03.19.2003 at 06:54AM PST, ID: 8166977

Just one more comment on master browers lists.

Microsft designed a heirachy approach in that if you turn on 10 computers at once and only one is the server, even if it loads last, the server WILL force an election and take control.

using the nbstat command will reveal extra numbers that basically determine the individual netbios names role.

03.19.2003 at 07:00AM PST, ID: 8167013

>using the nbstat command

sorry, typo

should read

NBTSTAT

03.19.2003 at 08:38AM PST, ID: 8167744

> .. even if it loads last, the server WILL force an election and take control

yes, but only if the server is fast enough to participate in election. If the election finished before the server joins, it looses, aehm still had lost.
On the other side, if the winner (server) goes doen, another master browser claims to be the queen. If the former (down) server comes back, it will not get back the master browser property, nevertheless how fast it is.
See my last suggestion.

03.19.2003 at 09:06AM PST, ID: 8167996

Many thanks for all the help from all,

It seems the best way forward for me to deal with this would be to remove the unsed NIC and to stop the browser service on the client PC's. (This may cause issues as some users will shortly be using VPN's to connect and I cannot get to their registry.).

Our PDC is on 24x7x365, so is there a way for it to be forced to remain as the master browser?

Chris

03.19.2003 at 12:59PM PST, ID: 8169608

>Our PDC is on 24x7x365, so is there a way for it to be forced to remain as the master browser?

If your vpn clients are using correctly configured DHCP with a WINS server nominated then what i have written above about wins having higher priority in a netbios environment still holds.

netbios search order is:

local name cache, Wins, master browser broadcast, lmhosts, hosts , DNS.

03.20.2003 at 12:28AM PST, ID: 8172320

> so is there a way for it to be forced to remain as the master browser?

no.
If the (P)DC goes down, another backup or potential browser claims to be the master browser.
AFAIK, there is only one solution to inhibit that another PC becomes master browser: no PC should initiate and/or paticipate at an browser election, see my registry suggestion

03.20.2003 at 01:07AM PST, ID: 8172443

Many thanks to you both for your comments, is the wins a service that can be used on the nt4 server (and more importantly, does it come with it??)

Can I just add at this point, that all of your comments and help on this are greatly appreciated.

Kindest regards

Chris

03.20.2003 at 01:25AM PST, ID: 8172504

03.20.2003 at 01:39AM PST, ID: 8172562

nt4 comes with WINS

03.20.2003 at 03:03AM PST, ID: 8172927

Sorry to keep asking, but if i was to use the wins service, and remove the 2nd NIC, could this solve my problem due the the hierarchy?

netbios search order is:
local name cache, Wins, master browser broadcast, lmhosts, hosts , DNS

Regards

Chris

03.20.2003 at 05:18AM PST, ID: 8173567