OK, i haven't been able to get any dns server stuff to work for me at all... here are my config files and some output from some troubleshooting measures i've taken. I'm using freebsd 4.8 with natd, dhcpd, and ipfw working great, i just want to set up a caching nameserver and it's not working very well....

/etc/namedb/named.conf

options {
directory "/etc/namedb";
forwarders {
24.51.159.130;
};
};

zone "." (
type hint;
file "named.root";
);

zone "0.0.127.IN-ADDR.ARPA" {
type master;
file "localhost.rev";
};


/etc/namedb/resolv.conf

nameserver 127.0.0.1 (my server)
nameserver 24.51.159.130 (isp caching server)
nameserver 24.51.159.133 (isp caching server)

/etc/host.conf

order hosts,bind
multi on

here's the result of running a dig with my dns server

BSDSRV1# dig @128.128.238.1 wwwgooglecom

; <<>> DiG 8.3 <<>> @128.128.238.1 wwwgooglecom
; (1 server found)
;; res options: init recurs defnam dnsrch
;; got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: SERVFAIL, id: 4
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUERY SECTION:
;; wwwgooglecom, type = A, class = IN

;; Total query time: 1 msec
;; FROM: BSDSRV1.frdrmd.adelphia.net to SERVER: 128.128.238.1 128.128.238.1
;; WHEN: Mon Jan 19 21:20:40 2004
;; MSG SIZE sent: 32 rcvd: 32

and finally here's what my named.log says after all that

listening on [69.80.13.195].53 (fxp0) (address changed for security)
listening on [128.128.238.1].53 (dc0)
listening on [127.0.0.1].53 (lo0)
Forwarding source address is [0.0.0.0].1052 <-- what does this mean?
Ready to answer queries.
sysquery: nlookup error on ?
No root nameservers for class IN
sysquery: nlookup error on ?
sysquery: nlookup error on ?
sysquery: nlookup error on ?

Hey, thanks for any help, i'll post more files etc... if needed

You have the wrong brackets around your hints zone. You're using parenthesis when you should be using curly brackets. Also, make sure that named.root exists in /etc/namedb.

Yes, thanks for the help, that did end up fixing my named problems, but i had some other issues to work out as well. I had some firewall configuration issues that were masking everything and making it seem like problems in my other configurations. Thanks for your help it is much appreciated.