Scan to NCP Issue

[unisys12]

Hey guys, just wanted to see if there was anyone out there that had more experience working with Novell in a scan environment than I. And I'm willing to bank that there is... I have very very little!!

About a month ago, this customer could browse their Novell tree, then all of a sudden they couldn't connect with it from the MFP. When setting up a folder - they can either enter a path manually and press "Connection Test" to test the connection or press the "Browse" to find the folder they want to connect with. Both fail to connect and we triple checked the path when manually entering it.

So, what I did was set up a small 5 port hub and connected my laptop. Then ran a capture, using Wire Shark, and pressed the "Browse" button. I also ran and saved a separate capture using the Connection Test button. After filtering out the IP of the MFP, we found that the IP for the destination was a multi-cast address (224.0.1.22) using a Protocol SRVLOC.

I did some research this afternoon and found a lot of good info on the Novell site, as well as Cisco. But my question is, why would the machine point to this address? What in the hell is happening here?

[Scott_Lewis]

SRVLOC

I ran into a similar situation a couple of months back. I'm not well versed in novell. But, I have been checking into some of this and spending way too much time looking at network traffic.

The SRVLOC protocol is used by servers and workstations to advertise services available on the network. The 224 address is not really it's address. I believe when you look at the data closely, you will find a real address embedded in the data that was multi-casted out.

As for why you used to be able to see the servers and cannot now....... I found that I could reconnect with the servers by changing the NCP Delivery Protocol. Don't remember what all of the options were other than TCP/IP Priority and IPX priority. Anyway, the Novell administrator didn't seem to know about this or what he needed. I was getting desperate at the time and came across this as something to try.

It's one thing to have trouble setting up something for the first time and having trouble. It is quite another to have to go back and make work what once worked just fine. Too often, I've come across changes in the network that the admin didn't remember making.

Anyway, good luck with your setup.

[unisys12]

Thanks for the response Scott! Yes, I just booted up the laptop and checked the Op Manual and found what you mentioned.

System Settings / Interface Settings / NCP Protocol - IPX Priority, TCP/IP Priority (Default), IPX only, TCP/IP only. There is a note below this that reads - If you select "IPX Only" or "TCP/IP Only", you cannot switch the protocol even if you cannot connect with it. If "Netware" in [Effective Protocol] is set to "Inactive", you can only use TCP/IP.

Great find man! I will look into this Monday!

[fausto1981]

Hi Usisys12, I don't know what the brand of the machine is but I had the same problem on a Ricoh this might be it. instead of them browsing to the folder try to program it in the address book and that solved my problem.

Ricoh also released this in the Hot Topics for December.

Take a look at the attachement.

[unisys12]

Hey... thanks! I never thought of that. The next time I am at the account, I will get one of there IT guys to try it out.