Known Problems

This page lists known ongoing issues relating to the CS network. If you need additional information on any of these issues, or if you have additional issues, or if (best of all) you have a solution, please email submit a ticket to facilities. Also, please note that most of this is informational only, Computer Services can't fully support networking outside of Sitterson.

General Issues

Problems using the Wireless network.

Wireless networking is problematic for a variety of reason, here's a detailed list.

Problems Reaching Campus, but can reach machines in Sitterson.

Almost invariably, since the summer of 2004, this problem involves being blocked by ITS on the campus switches. Check the blox link on the ATN control center pages). The test is to ping 152.2.131.228 and 152.2.21.1--if you can reach the first one but not the second, that's likely the problem. Submit a ticket to facilities with the IP number of your machine and we'll ask ATN to check that entry.

 

Can't Send Mail from Home or other ISP through smtp.cs.unc.edu.

True, if you are using an IP number that is not part of the CS domain, you cannot send mail through our smtp server unless that mail is destined to a CS email address. Some workarounds are available, but your best bet is to use smtp.unc.edu, which supports authentication with your onyen and password, or asmtp.cs.unc.edu, which used your CS id and password.

 

Can't connect to news.unc.edu to read usenet newsgroups from outside ISPs.

No longer true! The UNC news service now authenticates against the Onyen.
But the workarounds still work if you don't want to or can't use authentication.

 

Can't get connections working through a proxy server or home network gateway.

We can only offer general suggestions: make sure your gateway support enough ports to do what you'd like (some only support a dozen mapped ports or so), and make sure all the ports you need to use are mapped. The docs on IP networking at home may help, and if you're stuck, post a note to the CS help newsgroup.

 

Appletalk connections aren't reliable for printing or filesharing.

Appletalk is no longer supported and it's also just not very reliable. If you have a printer or filesharing problem using appletalk, have them try an IP based connection instead. For file sharing, that's Dave. For printing, that's an LPR desktop printer, setup using the Desktop Printer Utility. For more info, see the macsupport page on avoiding appletalk.

Windows Issues

Win2k slow on 10 Mbps network connections

Although you should check to make sure the speed is set properly, often the problem is the drivers. The drivers included with Win2K are often not very good (esp. the Wavelan and 3Com drivers). Upgrading to current drivers is recommended.

 
Win95 Disconnections on CS Dialup service.

Windows95 will often terminate dialup connections unexpectedly. Since it's not supported, this is a low priority and likely will not get fixed, but we have a workaround. We have no reports (yet) of this happening on the Lucent Max3000 we installed in the fall of 2001.

 

Windows Laptops' Problem Accessing UNC over outside ISPs.

Laptops used on ethernet at UNC-CH and with ISPs off campus may have trouble resolving UNC-CH sites. For more info.

 

Incorrect Password Message or Failure to Authenticate while connecting to SAMBA servers

Windows98, NT, and 2Ksend encrypted passwords by default, but our version of samba doesn't support this (due to lack of AFS support, so I'm told). How to set Windows to use unencrypted passwords. PLEASE BE AWARE WE ARE TAKING DOWN AFS ACCESS VIA SAMBA TO ENABLE ENCRYPTED PASSWORDS--IF YOU USE SAMBA TO ACCESS YOUR UNIX HOME DIRECTORY, YOU'LL NEED TO SWITCH TO AN AFS CLIENT.

 

Can't connect to Samba servers from outside the CS domain

The Samba servers 1-3 are authenticated via domain, so you cannot connect to them from non-CS ip numbers. For WinNT and Win2K users, AFS is a better choice.

 

Can't connect to windows shares or printers accross the campus boundary

SMB/CIFS is blocked at the campus router as of Oct 2 2002. You can get around this with the Cisco VPN, see the Security page for details.

Printer Connections over JetAdmin lock up

JetAdmin has been a recurring source of problems over the years, it's best to avoid it if you can. Here's a run down on the most recent problem we ran into (in 2001), and a general printer troubleshooting list.