TechSupp Posted June 20, 2013 Posted June 20, 2013 (edited) Have a strange problem, I have a Ruckus WIFI network which has only just been updated to the latest version and now coincidentally the netbooks have started hanging for an absolute age on the startup scripts message on startup (Windows XP), I'm at a loss at to what is going on and would love any suggestions. Netbooks seemed to be working before all the Ruckus upgrade so things seem to point that way but dont know what. All the PC's are logging on fine so I think an issue with the startup scripts themselves is not the problem (they have not been changed other than see below). One thing I did notice on the laptops when I logged on was that a drive mapped to a folder on an old server (was the DC but was demoted a while ago and now just a PC with server installed no services etc) was now not available yet if I went to a PC that mapped using the same script I could browse it! I have since moved that folder to the new server and edited the script to point to the new folder) which when netbook does eventually log on it is now available. Hellllllllllllllllp! Edited June 20, 2013 by elsiegee40
elsiegee40 Posted June 20, 2013 Posted June 20, 2013 I am no help with the problem, but I have modified the thread title so it says hanging not handing . Good luck 1
witch Posted June 20, 2013 Posted June 20, 2013 (edited) Who updated the Ruckus? Can you speak to support? Does it matter how many netbooks are trying to log on at once? Have you tried a laptop, preferably a newish one to see if the problem is there too? What are the startup scripts doing? Can you disable them one by one and see what happens? Or rather, disable the lot and then reenable them one by one? You did say you had changed one so maybe that's caused a problem Edited June 20, 2013 by witch
TechSupp Posted June 20, 2013 Author Posted June 20, 2013 Happens with all nebooks, no other laptops to try, script change was as a consequence of noticing the error, scripts work fine on PC and netbook if using cable just not via WIFI. I did the upgrade (wish I hadnt now) so may involve a downgrade till its sorted. All netbooks are xp, bust justvdone same upgrade at another school where we are W7 so wipp check netbook connections there in the morning and see. Just seemed strange that one drive to an old server was not available via wifi yet was via a wired pc using same script.
TechSupp Posted June 20, 2013 Author Posted June 20, 2013 I am no help with the problem, but I have modified the thread title so it says hanging not handing . Good luck Its been a loooooonnnnng day.
witch Posted June 20, 2013 Posted June 20, 2013 So, everything is fine wired but not on wireless? Hmm. Perhaps it is that the netbooks aren't picking up the wireless quickly, or not as quickly as they did before, so the scripts can't even start to run until this happens. Which would indicate that it is the update that has done it.
seawolf Posted June 20, 2013 Posted June 20, 2013 Have a strange problem, I have a Ruckus WIFI network which has only just been updated to the latest version and now coincidentally the netbooks have started hanging for an absolute age on the startup scripts message on startup (Windows XP), I'm at a loss at to what is going on and would love any suggestions. Netbooks seemed to be working before all the Ruckus upgrade so things seem to point that way but dont know what. All the PC's are logging on fine so I think an issue with the startup scripts themselves is not the problem (they have not been changed other than see below). One thing I did notice on the laptops when I logged on was that a drive mapped to a folder on an old server (was the DC but was demoted a while ago and now just a PC with server installed no services etc) was now not available yet if I went to a PC that mapped using the same script I could browse it! I have since moved that folder to the new server and edited the script to point to the new folder) which when netbook does eventually log on it is now available. Hellllllllllllllllp! Well, they are netbooks... But seriously, The problem is probably due to a WiFi driver compatibility problem with the netbooks and the Ruckus APs with the new firmware. If these are older netbooks that came with XP that is a VERY probable cause. We had a similar problem with older Dell 820s and 830s running Windows 7 where they would just drop the connection even though they were 5m from the Ruckus APs. we finally found a driver that would work, but WiFi still just doesn't work as well with those units. Everything else - no problems ever. Just a note, you should definitely remove the non-existent drive mapping from your login script and I would also never use a DC as a file server. Just not best practice for many reasons. I suppose if you're very limited for servers and budget and scraping together pennies just to keep the hamsters fed and turning the wheel then OK, but if you've got a Ruckus WiFi network then budget shouldn't be the issue so always keep the two separate.
TechSupp Posted June 20, 2013 Author Posted June 20, 2013 This might be worth a try. I will give that a whirl in the morning, thanks.
TechSupp Posted June 20, 2013 Author Posted June 20, 2013 Well, they are netbooks... But seriously, The problem is probably due to a WiFi driver compatibility problem with the netbooks and the Ruckus APs with the new firmware. If these are older netbooks that came with XP that is a VERY probable cause. We had a similar problem with older Dell 820s and 830s running Windows 7 where they would just drop the connection even though they were 5m from the Ruckus APs. we finally found a driver that would work, but WiFi still just doesn't work as well with those units. Everything else - no problems ever. Just a note, you should definitely remove the non-existent drive mapping from your login script and I would also never use a DC as a file server. Just not best practice for many reasons. I suppose if you're very limited for servers and budget and scraping together pennies just to keep the hamsters fed and turning the wheel then OK, but if you've got a Ruckus WiFi network then budget shouldn't be the issue so always keep the two separate. Non existant drive changed to new location on other server and that surprising works! Same place in script just the server name changed so cant see what caused that. Will have another look at the later driver tomorrow and the fix suggested above to see if there is any difference. As I said I have a similar network setup at another school, Ruckus etc but on W7 so will see how that is doing in the morning. The school with XP is due to change to all W7 in the summer (so long as I get the images sorted in time!) so all may be sorted with that, will know if the above fix works. We are a primary school, so having a combined DC\file server is not something we can get away from any time soon. I feel we are lucky with what we get and yes, getting Ruckus was not cheap (cheaper than I expected though) but have to decide priorities and where money needs to be spent when it becomes available and as mobile technology was becomming a priority I pushed for a proper WIFI network rather than bits and pieces, so a storage server would have to wait.
TechSupp Posted June 20, 2013 Author Posted June 20, 2013 Just thinking about the kerbos Tcp issues that may explain the mapped drive not available as that folder was on Server 2003 and all the ones that mapped were on the 2008 R2 server, seem plausable in my mind anyway.
seawolf Posted June 22, 2013 Posted June 22, 2013 We are a primary school, so having a combined DC\file server is not something we can get away from any time soon. I feel we are lucky with what we get and yes, getting Ruckus was not cheap (cheaper than I expected though) but have to decide priorities and where money needs to be spent when it becomes available and as mobile technology was becomming a priority I pushed for a proper WIFI network rather than bits and pieces, so a storage server would have to wait. Glad that removing the invalid drive mapping seems to have sorted the issue. For those on a limited budget and a small to moderately-sized network (less than 300 concurrent clients), I'm a big fan of using a FreeNAS server for storage. You can easily build a very decent storage server for between $2,000 to $3,000 (depending on storage requirements) using off-the-shelf components. If you use plenty of RAM (16GB+), enterprise or near enterprise grade SATA drives (think Hitachi, WD Red or Re, seagate Constellation) and a couple of small SSDs (64 to 128GB) for write/read caching you'll get faster and more reliable performance for thousands less than anything from HP, Dell, Synology, etc. and a storage server that supports iSCSI, NFS, SMB/CIFS, AFP, and FTP. Here's a few good articles on the subject if you get a few $$$ in the future to spend on some storage and might be interested in going this route http://anotherschwab.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/poor-mans-san/ http://www.pcworld.com/article/255596/how_to_convert_an_old_pc_into_a_modern_server.html http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Hardware_Recommendations
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