Discussion:
can't initialize resolver
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t***@antispam.ham
2006-11-18 19:48:25 UTC
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Interesting problem:

[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.

Any ideas where the problem might lie?
Bernd Hohmann
2006-11-18 20:07:34 UTC
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Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
"resolv2" broken or the first DNS mentioned there doesn't respond.

try "nslookup - 80.242.134.170" to use one of my DNS in interactive mode.

Bernd
--
What do you get when you cross a mail pigeon with a parrot ? Voice mail
t***@antispam.ham
2006-11-18 22:27:15 UTC
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Post by Bernd Hohmann
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
"resolv2" broken or the first DNS mentioned there doesn't respond.
The resolv2 file is timestamped Nov 16, which is the last time I
rebooted after installing a higher resolution monitor. The contents
of the file look fine (same format as the resolv2.bak file, though
with different IP addresses).

DNS might not be responding. PMPING has been alternating between
showing "response" and "no response". But I changed the interval
to 1 sec, and at the moment it's showing a response from the name
server, but nslookup is still failing.
Post by Bernd Hohmann
try "nslookup - 80.242.134.170" to use one of my DNS in interactive mode.
That works. I also tried it with the name server at work, and that
also works.

But the naked nslookup command is still failing in the same way.
If I try nslookup with a machine name, it's trying to use my own
machine as the name server and showing an address of 0.0.0.0.
Bernd Hohmann
2006-11-18 22:56:32 UTC
Permalink
Post by t***@antispam.ham
Post by Bernd Hohmann
try "nslookup - 80.242.134.170" to use one of my DNS in interactive mode.
That works. I also tried it with the name server at work, and that
also works.
In this case the first Nameserver mentioned in "resolv2" is not
reliable. NSLOOKUP takes the first DNS from resolv2 only. If it can't
connect, the symptoms you described will occur.

The internal resolver of the TCP/IP stack will try the 1st NS then the
2nd/3rd/.. NS if the first one(s) fails.

Bernd
--
What do you get when you cross a mail pigeon with a parrot ? Voice mail
t***@antispam.ham
2006-11-19 00:03:54 UTC
Permalink
Post by Bernd Hohmann
Post by t***@antispam.ham
Post by Bernd Hohmann
try "nslookup - 80.242.134.170" to use one of my DNS in interactive mode.
That works. I also tried it with the name server at work, and that
also works.
In this case the first Nameserver mentioned in "resolv2" is not
reliable. NSLOOKUP takes the first DNS from resolv2 only. If it can't
connect, the symptoms you described will occur.
The internal resolver of the TCP/IP stack will try the 1st NS then the
Although the first name server has been unreliable, it turns out that
the problem was with the ETC environment variable. SSH uses that
variable, and I had manually changed it in the window where I was
trying out SSH, thus breaking TCP/IP's use of that same variable.
I figured that out after nslookup worked just fine in a different
window.
Aidan Grey
2006-11-18 20:12:45 UTC
Permalink
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
What DNS server are you using? Can you ping it by IP
address?

I think that in some cases nslookup requires the default DNS
server to have a reverse lookup DNS zone. Can you confirm
if such a zone exists on your network?


Aidan Grey
t***@antispam.ham
2006-11-18 22:17:40 UTC
Permalink
Post by Aidan Grey
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
What DNS server are you using?
The one automatically configured by DHCP with the ISP.
Post by Aidan Grey
Can you ping it by IP address?
Yes and no. When I frist tried ssh and failed to connect, PMPING was
showing no response from the name server. Later on, PMPING was showing
a response in 60 msec, so I tried nslookup, but it still failed. Now
PMPING is showing no response from the name server again. I suppose
its possible that the connection to the name server went down again
between the last time PMPING tried the connection and when I tried
nslookup. I've got it configured for a 5 minute interval. And now
it's showing a response again.
Post by Aidan Grey
I think that in some cases nslookup requires the default DNS
server to have a reverse lookup DNS zone. Can you confirm
if such a zone exists on your network?
I don't have that information.
Peter
2006-11-18 21:36:56 UTC
Permalink
Greetngs,
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
This almost sounds like you have no TCP/IP stack installed on this
machine. Does MPTS run ok, and if so do you have a TCP/IP protocol
configured for your NIC/Dialer (whichever one you are using). Plus
does TCPCFG2 (the TCP/IP cnfiguration utility) run ok?

Cheers.................pk.
--
Peter from Auckland.
t***@antispam.ham
2006-11-18 22:12:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by Peter
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
This almost sounds like you have no TCP/IP stack installed on this
machine. Does MPTS run ok, and if so do you have a TCP/IP protocol
configured for your NIC/Dialer (whichever one you are using). Plus
does TCPCFG2 (the TCP/IP cnfiguration utility) run ok?
Yes, it does look like there is no TCP/IP stack, but I've had a TCP/IP
stack on this machine for years. I can ssh to a remote machine, I can
ftp to a remote machine, I can get email from the ISP server, I can
browse the web.

The problem surfaced when I tried to ssh to a different remote machine,
and it couldn't resolve the address, so I tried nslookup to find its
dotted decimal notation. That's when nslookup misbehaved.
m***@mighty.co.za
2006-11-20 03:26:00 UTC
Permalink
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
A0L! Even 0S/2 hates you, Dickless.
Phil Kyle
2006-11-20 16:47:46 UTC
Permalink
Post by m***@mighty.co.za
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
A0L! Even 0S/2 hates you, Dickless.
OS/2 hates everyone.
--
Phil Kyle™

T
h i
i s
s l
f i l
S o n o
i u e n
g r s g
honestjohn
2006-11-20 17:15:42 UTC
Permalink
Post by Phil Kyle
Post by m***@mighty.co.za
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
A0L! Even 0S/2 hates you, Dickless.
OS/2 hates everyone.
Right you are dog Pyle.
Michael Baldwin, Bruce
2006-11-21 00:00:34 UTC
Permalink
Post by Phil Kyle
Post by m***@mighty.co.za
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
A0L! Even 0S/2 hates you, Dickless.
OS/2 hates everyone.
And everyone hates 0S/2 - except Dickless. He just hates everyone.
Post by Phil Kyle
--
Phil Kyle™
T
h i
i s
s l
f i l
S o n o
i u e n
g r s g
Phil Kyle
2006-11-23 22:38:09 UTC
Permalink
Post by Michael Baldwin, Bruce
Post by Phil Kyle
Post by m***@mighty.co.za
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
A0L! Even 0S/2 hates you, Dickless.
OS/2 hates everyone.
And everyone hates 0S/2 - except Dickless. He just hates everyone.
Well, I'd hate everyone if I was without dick.
--
Phil Kyle™

T
h i
i s
s l
f i l
S o n o
i u e n
g r s g
honestjohn
2006-11-23 22:24:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Phil Kyle
Post by Michael Baldwin, Bruce
Post by Phil Kyle
Post by m***@mighty.co.za
Post by t***@antispam.ham
[C:\]nslookup
*** Can't initialize resolver.
Any ideas where the problem might lie?
A0L! Even 0S/2 hates you, Dickless.
OS/2 hates everyone.
And everyone hates 0S/2 - except Dickless. He just hates everyone.
Well, I'd hate everyone if I was without dick.
When did you grow one, hermaphrodite?

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