Resolving LINUX LAN hostnames to LAN addresses

[gatorback]

Observations:

* from RT-AC68: pinging XP hostname is successful
* from RT-AC68: pinging rPi hostname is successful
* from Win10: pinging XP hostname is successful
* from Win10: pinging rPi hostname NOT successful:

Ping request could not find host rPiHostname. Please check the name and try again.
​

Ping is not case sensitive, but just to be sure, I ensured the case matched. I noticed that this is true with other Linux devices. I have a second Linux device that responded to pings invoked from the router. Attempts to ping this second Linux device from the rPi failed:

ping: unknown host myHost
​

Naturally, when trying to access these device as their hostnames from tools (WinSCP), their is a failure. Although it is possible to access them directly through the LAN IP address, I would prefer to understand why local DNS resolution works for some boxes and not others.

Why is that Linux device hostnames are not resolved through DNS? What can be done to correct this? Maybe there are configuration settings (conditions) that need to be met? Actionable guidance is appreciated. Thank you

Update: DNS settings:

Advertise router's IP in addition to user-specified DNS = Yes
Forward local domain queries to upstream DNS = No

 

[john9527]

Windows is quirky when it comes to resolving hostnames.... Try tuning on the options to set your Router as Master Browser and WINS server on the Samba configuration page.

 

[ColinTaylor]

From the command prompt of the Win10 machine, post the complete output of the following commands:

nslookup XPhostname
nslookup rPihostname

ipconfig /all

Also, how does the rPi get its IP address? Is it a DHCP client or have you configured its interface manually?

 

[gatorback]

* rPI is configured to DHCP static lease so that it receives the same LAN IP each time.

C:\Users\User>nslookup XPBOX
Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.8.1
*** UnKnown can't find XPBOX.: Non-existent domain

C:\Users\User>nslookup rPiBOX
Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.8.1
*** UnKnown can't find rPiBOX.: Non-existent domain



C:\Users\User>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : WIN10Box
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No


Ethernet adapter LAN:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : XXXX::d35:193b:5353:YYYY%2(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.X.Y(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, January 7, 2016 2:02:56 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, January 8, 2016 6:14:34 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.8.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.8.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 40416665
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : D5-68-B5-99-EE-C3-67-00-01-00-01-1D-67-43
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.8.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

 

[ColinTaylor]

The DNS server on the router appears to be misconfigured. Not only can it not resolve either of the client names (XPBOX and rPiBOX), but it doesn't even have a reverse lookup for itself (Server: UnKnown).

You can ping the XP machine because the Win10 PC is probably getting that name from NetBIOS.

Have you got any custom scripts running on the router that modifies dnsmasq or hosts?

 

[gatorback]

@ColinTaylor: Agreed and excellent question. I was in the process of installing advance adblock (method 2) but did not finish yet:

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/adblocking-with-combined-hosts-file.15309/

I did not finish because, I was concerned that adblock might cause problems for users and I was concerned about having to deal with it remotely.

Any commands that can be used to diagnose the issue would be appreciated.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Any commands that can be used to diagnose the issue would be appreciated.

Sorry, I'm not sure what issue you are talking about now. From what you've said, the issue in this thread is caused by an incomplete installation of the ad-blocker. So the solution to that would be to complete the installation or remove the changes you have made.