im trying to figure out my networking problem.

[root /etc]# nslookup 216.12.209.51
*** Can't find server name for address 216.12.209.173: Non-existent host/domain
*** Can't find server name for address 216.12.209.174: Timed out
*** Default servers are not available

what exactly does this mean? and how could it be fixed

it means you have this in /etc/resolv.conf

nameserver 216.12.209.173
nameserver 216.12.209.174


and the nameservers are incorrect or cannot be reached

the Ips are correct and ns1.myhost4u.net ~>'s 216.12.209.173
and ns2.myhost4u.net ~>'s 216.12.209.174

im drawing a blank when it comes to networking

maybe you are firewalled and cannot contact the nameservers, or your routing table has no default route or no route to the name servers

you can check the route like this

route -n

to stop the firewall for testing you could do one of these, depending on your firewall

service iptables stop
or
service ipchains stop

no firewall is running right now

[root /etc]# route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
216.12.209.175 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 eth0
216.12.209.174 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 eth0
216.12.209.173 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 eth0
216.12.209.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
0.0.0.0 216.12.209.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
[root /etc]#

maybe the dns server does not have the name for the ip address you were trying to resolv

try running the nslookup on the nameserver

[root /etc]# nslookup 216.12.209.51
*** Can't find server name for address 216.12.209.173: Non-existent host/domain
*** Can't find server name for address 216.12.209.174: Non-existent host/domain
*** Default servers are not available
[root /etc]# nslookup 216.12.209.173
*** Can't find server name for address 216.12.209.173: Non-existent host/domain
*** Can't find server name for address 216.12.209.174: Non-existent host/domain
*** Default servers are not available
[root /etc]#

Are the nameservers connected over a lan to your pc or do you have some hardware between you and them

i dunno, i have two extra IPs and wanted to setup virtual dns or name servers or whatever.. networking just isnt my cup of tea at all. Further more, this is a Raq4 box, which I hate cobalts.. I know the Ips and name servers work, I can ping them from my windows box, but when i log into the server via ssh, i cant do anything network related really

if the ips are internet ips and you know the dns ips for your isp, just put those nameservers in resolv.conf. You should be able to access the internet

are you using dhcp?

k ill look into the ISP dns servers and see... how would I know if im running dhcp

did you set the ip addresses yourself?

dhcp sets the ip address assigned to you and it should also set the nameservers and routing table

Hi,

I'm a newbie too but I thought I'd post things that I manage to fix from advice from various internet posts.. anyway, about the DNS Nameserver problem, I was struggling with this for awhile too - finally fixed it by simply adding an reverse entry for my actual namerserver host in the master file. In other words:

In your /var/named/master-zones/192.168.1.rev file, add the following:

1.0.168.192.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR mycomputer.mydomain.com

Make sure you increment the serial number before you save and restart DNS.

Hope this helps...