Random users began to receive "disk not available" errors
Articles and Tips: qna
01 Apr 1999
Q.
Dear Ab-end: I'm working for a small branch of an American company in Mexico. I am the entire MIS department, but my training has been minimal. I know the basics and how to keep an eye on the critical issues like disk usage and such. We have NetWare 4.10, which I basically have not tinkered with since it was installed in 1995. "If it works, don't fix it," I say. We have a server and 10 workstations running very simple DOS- and Windows-based software, and everything has been running fine for years.
Last Monday morning, after the network had been shut down for the weekend, random users began to receive "disk not available" errors and then lose their network connection. What could have happened overnight to cause this? I haven't changed any settings, added any users, or made any major changes in working software.
I checked the server error log and found nothing unusual. I also tried changing the server's network card and substituting another hub, but to no avail. I even ran a virus checker on all the user machines and found nothing. I am the only one connected to the Internet and I know enough to be careful about downloading viruses.
About the only other unusual thing I can think of is that when we did some Y2K testing a while back, our server failed the rollover test. As a result, its time was set somewhere in 1984. Ever since then, the server has been beeping every few minutes and displaying something about issuing synthetic time. I don't know if this has something to do with the problem, but I mention it just in case.
—Alarmed in Mexico
A.
Dear Alarmed: It could be that a spike or power surge affected your server. If you don't have an Uninterruptible Power Supply, get one. If the server came with diagnostic tools, run them to make sure that the processor, memory, drive controller, and drives pass without errors.
As for your time problem, it sounds like your network's time is not synchronized, which can prevent users from logging on. To check this, type TIME<Enter> at the server console. If the server does not display the correct time, it may be due to a malfunctioning internal (PC) clock. Also, check how the server is set up to handle time in its AUTOEXEC.NCF configuration file. It should show the time source as a Single Reference if you are using only one server.
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
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