"The local device name is already in use." network drive error when connected via VPN.: Microsoft, Windows, XP Professional, Checkpoint VPN, Mapped Network Drives, The local device name is already in use. The connection has not been restored.

by: weareitPosted on 2008-08-26 at 13:15:08ID: 22318937

VPN is a RAS connection. Also, your VPN connection (according to your description) is using a non-LDAP authentication for the connectivity.

I would check to see if Offline Files are enabled, as I have seen this cause an issue.

-saige-

by: bradl3yPosted on 2008-08-26 at 13:19:20ID: 22318978

wearit:

Thanks, I did not know that it was a RAS connection. Offline files are not enabled. The Microsoft KB solution suggests disconnecting and reconnecting the network drive. I can't expect the employees to know how to create a network drive and do it evertime they leave the office. This did not happen in the past. We replaced the router with a new one because the power supply went out on the old one, however we copied the exact configuration over. Only difference is the new one has the latest firmware.

Now it is consistently happening.

by: weareitPosted on 2008-08-26 at 13:29:55ID: 22319098

The old router could have had a setting or connection to Active Directory. Not likely as you said that you copied the exact configuration over, but the firmware seems like it would be the first clue. What does the manufaturer for the router say?

-saige-

by: leewPosted on 2008-08-26 at 13:30:57ID: 22319113

I've seen messages like this when the user connects a card reader to the system - the card reader adds 4 drives to the list of drive letters using the next available drive letter. If the system isn't connected to the network before the card reader, then it causes this problem, especially when using low drive letters like F:, G:, E:, H:.

What drive letters do you use and what drive letters exist on the person's laptop when they are at home and BEFORE they connect to the VPN?

by: bradl3yPosted on 2008-08-26 at 13:41:57ID: 22319225

@leew, thank you for your response. That was my initial impression as well. However, the drive letters are W & X, and the problem is consistant across all users, so that is not the cause.

by: bradl3yPosted on 2008-08-26 at 13:43:19ID: 22319236

@wearit: i am awaiting a response from them. I wasn't sure if this problem would fall under their responsibility. The VPN seems to be doing it's job and connecting me to the network, but I'm sure they have ran into this before, so hopefully they can shed some light on the issue.

by: leewPosted on 2008-08-26 at 13:45:58ID: 22319266

Could it be that the connections are in use because they were connected at the office? If these are laptops, I can see users putting them to sleep and/or hibernating and then when they get home, the mapped connections are still remembered. Now once at home, they sign on to VPN and VPN tries to connect those drives, but they are already connected.

Is this an error message that appears or are they having trouble accessing those drives?

by: weareitPosted on 2008-08-26 at 13:50:11ID: 22319310

Hey leew, that is exactly what the Microsoft Article explains the problem is. However, the differentiating factor here is that they did not have the problem until after they changed their router. It only makes sense to me that the router firmware plays a part.

-saige-

by: seanlucePosted on 2008-08-26 at 18:27:43ID: 22321096

would it be possible to revert the router firmware back to the old version for testing purposes?

by: bradl3yPosted on 2008-08-27 at 07:23:31ID: 22325071

@seanluce : unfortunately I do not know what firmware version was on the old device.

I have received a response from them, they think the problem is not with the checkpoint, and pointed me to the KB article I linked to here, which I somewhat expected.

So the problem is that once using the RAS connection (VPN), it can not reestablish a connection to the network drive without removing and recreating the drive. Is there any way around this? It has worked properly in the past, I am not sure what has changed.

by: mobotPosted on 2008-08-27 at 13:42:54ID: 22329023

I've had that same problem a couple of years ago, sorry can't remember exactly what was done, but I'm thinking DNS. We've got SPLAT R60 and the file servers are Windows 2003 Standard.
I was using SecuRemote at the time, and not SecureClient.
Just to confirm you are using SecureClient with Office Mode and not SecuRemote?
If you are using SecureClient with Office Mode, the virtual ip address is being assigned to the laptop when connected?
When connected via VPN you can ping the servers by ip address and by name?
If so, forget about DNS. If not, check this setting.
Smartdashboard | Policy | Global Properties | Remote Access | Encrypt DNS Traffic
Also do you have logging turned on in the VPN settings?
And, have you monitored the VPN logs using SecureClient Diagnostic's while logging in to create the connection and while the connection is established?

by: bradl3yPosted on 2008-09-04 at 10:17:35ID: 22390032

Yes we are using SecureClient, they are able to ping and connect to the servers fine, only the network drive mapping is a problem.

I havn't been able to update this question in some time because I have to wait until a user is able to test it and report the results. I have asked a couple of employees now, most users are no longer receiving the error. Nothing has changed as far as I can tell.

At this point, I am not able to consistently reproduce the error. I notice the KB article I had referenced states "If the file share server does not accept the logon credentials of the RAS connection". Why would the file share server (windows server 2003), not accespt the logon credentials of the RAS connection sometimes?

by: WestezPosted on 2008-09-04 at 11:19:09ID: 22390799

You might look\post over in the Check Point users group forum. www.cpug.org Someone over there may be able to help out.

by: bradl3yPosted on 2008-09-12 at 07:09:55ID: 22459979

Sorry about the lack of update, this is not a problem i can quickly test so it takes some time. The problem seems to have resolved itself. It does not occur every time at this point, and to be honest I am not sure what, nothing really has changed. I did add a /delete for each network drive before mapping them in the login script, this may have played a role in it functioning correctly now, however the login script wasnt set up this way before and it worked.

It did not seem to be a DNS issue, DNS was resolving the domains just fine.
The checkpoint doesn't seem to be causing the problem, as i have not changed any settings and am back to normal operation.

In summary, the only thing i changed was the login script to delete the drivers before adding them, and even though I do not believe that played a role in resolving the problem, it does not occur frequently anymore.

Thanks for all of your suggestions, I will accept my answer here as the answer and divvy up the points. If there is a better way to do it please let me know.

by: FolknerComputingPosted on 2009-06-24 at 09:26:49ID: 24702747

I have seen this work and not work as you have described. The best resolution I have had is to entery the domain controller ip addresses in the windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file nothing complicated just the IP address and the name of the domain controller, the second is to edit the network connections TCP/IP protocol and add the same IP addresses into the WINS (yes WINS) tab. This could also be accomplished by editing the LMHOSTS file to add the IP address and name of the Domain controller (OLD school pre-AD solution) with the appropriate hex mask but I have found this step unnecessary recently particularily with pure 2003 or newer AD structures.

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"The local device name is already in use." network drive error when connected via VPN.

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