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Suddenly "Could not connect with the client"


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Have not changed configuration in six months, and that was on the other side of the hub -- otherwise haven't changed anything relevant in about 18 months.

 

Suddenly the backup server (4.3, Mac OS 9.1) cannot back up the Windows box (Win98SP2). "Clients on network" shows it as "responding" but when I try to configure it I get "could not connect with the client". Of course I found this out because the backups weren't happening. It started about a week ago, quite suddenly.

 

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Configuration:

 

Backup server: PowerMac 8600/200, 184MB physical RAM, Mac OS 9.1, Retrospect 4.3. Retrospect is assigned 25MB. Named poobah.

 

Client 1: PowerMac 7200/180, Mac OS 9.1. Named nankipoo.

 

Client 2 (with the problem): Gateway 1.3GHz, 384 MB physical RAM, Windows 98 SE2. Also running TSStalk (from Thursby) so that it can see poohbah (the PM8600) as a file server. Named katisha.

 

Both clients use TCP/IP.

 

The three computers are connected via 10Base-T to a Kingston 5-port hub, which is also connected to a Lucent CellPipe 50A DSL router/DSL modem. The CellPipe does NAT, but should not be relevant as the backups only use the LAN. The CellPipe also provides DHCP to katisha. The Macs have fixed IP addresses -- I don't remember exactly why it's this way except that I never got everything moved to DHCP.

 

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The backup attempt actually reports a 519. However, all the evidence is that it's a configuration issue rather than a networking hardware issue, because

 

1) The server on poohbah cannot connect to katisha, yet it knows the client at katisha is reponding.

 

2) The error occurs immediately, before it even starts scanning the client's (katisha) disk.

 

3) I have stressed the network by copying a 50MB file from katisha to poohbah (twice) with no problems.

 

4) I've moved the cable from katisha to a different port on the hub with no change in symptoms.

 

5) netstat -e shows no Ethernet errors.

 

6) I'm have NO problems with backups from nankipoo (the other Mac).

 

7) The problem is reproducible and absolutely solid. Since the network does work, one would expect a hardware problem to be flaky, and it's not.

 

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I have removed and re-installed the Windows client. This did not change the symptoms. The client itself shows itself Ready (and Should Be Backed Up As Soon As Possible).

 

I "forgot" the client katisha on the backup server poohbah, and re-added it. Retrospect was able to talk to it to validate the security code and put it back in the client database, but still cannot "connect".

 

I've been through tech note 415 (the one on 519 errors). It mostly talks about hardware, and I've explained why I doubt (though cannot disprove) hardware problems.

 

Any ideas?

 

Edward Reid

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Additional information that I thought, while reading other threads, might be helpful:

 

IP addresses:

 

poohbah (Mac, backup server) = 192.168.1.4 (manually configured)

 

nankipoo (Mac, client, works) = 192.168.1.6 (manually configured)

 

katisha (Windows, client, cannot connect) = 192.168.1.30 (DHCP but always gets this address)

 

As mentioned before, it's all on a single NAT area and nothing on the other side of the router/NAT is involved.

 

Edward

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Quote:

The 5.1 client is
very
old, and I don't believe it is compatible with 4.3 Retrospect.

 


That would be quite a surprise, since until last week they'd been working together for ... oh, well over a year, I'm not sure exactly. I think that the Win 5.1 client came with the 4.3 Mac Retrospect. But no matter.

 

 

 

Quote:

Try downloading and clean installing a newer version (uninstall / reboot / reinstall):

 

 

 


OK, I did that. There's little or no change. It seems like the backup server is spending more time displaying the "net retry" box now, but I'm not sure and so probably that's my imagination. It gets the name of the client with no delay, but then goes into the Net Retry purgatory. Eventually it comes out and says 519, Could Not Connect with the Client. And the client knows it's been contacted, because it says Ready.

 

 

 

Edward

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Quote:

Error 519 Troubleshooting:

 

 


In the post which started this thread, I mentioned this document:

Quote:

I've been through tech note 415 (the one on 519 errors). It mostly talks about hardware, and I've explained why I doubt (though cannot disprove) hardware problems.

 


I also explained point by point why this hardware-oriented document seems to have little to offer in this situation, which has all the signs of a software problem -- no signs of network problems even under stress, Retrospect can validate the security key but then cannot "connect", etc.

 

So I repeat: I've been through that document and tried the few things that applied, and they didn't help.

 

Edward

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Quote:

I also explained point by point why this hardware-oriented document seems to have little to offer in this situation, which has all the signs of a software problem -- no signs of network problems even under stress, Retrospect can validate the security key but then cannot "connect", etc.

 


 

From what you've outlined, you haven't ruled out the hardware completely. Copying a file and changing a port do not constitute thorough troubleshooting.

 

Have you tried a direct crossover cable between the client and the server? If not, give it a try - this will isolate whether the problem is out on the network or on the client machine itself.

 

If you have the same failures with the crossover cable, try updating or reinstalling the NIC drivers. Reinstall the TCP/IP protocols. Try another NIC if you have one handy. Use msconfig to kill all startup items. Disable any running utilities such as Norton.

 

You may not have changed anything in 6 months - but something has changed which is no longer allowing proper communication between the two computers. You've reinstalled the client - which makes it essentially a "new" client. You can uninstall, reboot and do a registry search for Retro or Dantz to see if any registry entries are left behind.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Quote:

From what you've outlined, you haven't ruled out the hardware completely. Copying a file and changing a port do not constitute thorough troubleshooting.

 


Maybe, but I was right, it was not a hardware problem.

 

Quote:

You may not have changed anything in 6 months - but something has changed which is no longer allowing proper communication between the two computers.

 


Clearly correct, and it appears that the cause was Windows system rot. (A friend says you're just asking for trouble if you're running Windows and you don't wipe your disk clean and reinstall everything every few months.) I had other signs of system rot, so I decided to take the plunge and upgrade to XP.

 

But in the mean time, I had to (HAD to) take a long-weekend bike trip, go to Michigan for a concert and to visit friends, and go to the other coast for a couple of weeks for work ...

 

One of the first things I did after getting XP up last night was to reinstall the Retrospect client. Immediate success!

 

No hardware problem, no Retrospect problem, just Windows rot.

 

Thanks!

 

Edward

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