# Strange ping issue: Working on Window, not working on Gentoo

## asyr

Hi all.

I have a Gentoo 64-bit system (Tution). I have a VMWare Workstation installed on it with Windows XP. I'm using NAT networking from the VMWare.

When I'm trying ping 193.0.0.193 from the Gentoo (host OS) I got no result, but if, at the same time, try ping -t 193.0.0.193 from the VMWare Windows XP it works !

I suspect the the problem when my server (Gentoo) and another MAC server was unable no ping the 193.0.0.193, but other Windows servers (on the same LAN) was able to ping it !

Any suggestions ?

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## VinzC

Could you tell more about your network config? What you explained is insufficient to make a proper diagnostic. Please give the full network config of your Gentoo host and that of the Windows guest. So, what is that IP 193.0.0.193 ? Is it the host or a guest?

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## Hu

To start, show us the output of ip addr; ip route; ping -c4 193.0.0.193, as run from the Gentoo host.

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## asyr

193.0.0.193 is a public IP that is respond to ping.

From the Gentoo host :

```

# ip addr; ip route; ping -c4 193.0.0.193

1: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 1000

    link/ether 00:0f:b0:b9:f5:95 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

    inet 172.26.201.11/24 brd 172.26.201.255 scope global eth0

    inet6 fe80::20f:b0ff:feb9:f595/64 scope link

       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

2: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue

    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00

    inet 127.0.0.1/8 brd 127.255.255.255 scope host lo

    inet6 ::1/128 scope host

       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

3: eth9: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 1000

    link/ether 00:14:a5:25:42:47 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

4: vmnet1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 1000

    link/ether 00:50:56:c0:00:01 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

    inet 10.11.13.1/24 brd 10.11.13.255 scope global vmnet1

    inet6 fe80::250:56ff:fec0:1/64 scope link

       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

5: vmnet8: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast qlen 1000

    link/ether 00:50:56:c0:00:08 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

    inet 10.11.14.1/24 brd 10.11.14.255 scope global vmnet8

    inet6 fe80::250:56ff:fec0:8/64 scope link

       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

10.11.14.0/24 dev vmnet8  proto kernel  scope link  src 10.11.14.1

10.11.13.0/24 dev vmnet1  proto kernel  scope link  src 10.11.13.1

172.26.201.0/24 dev eth0  proto kernel  scope link  src 172.26.201.11

169.254.0.0/16 dev eth0  scope link

127.0.0.0/8 dev lo  scope link

default via 172.26.201.1 dev eth0

PING 193.0.0.193 (193.0.0.193) 56(84) bytes of data.

--- 193.0.0.193 ping statistics ---

4 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 3008ms

# date

Mon Nov 12 10:24:06 EET 2007

```

... and from the Windows XP (from the VMWare)

```

ping 193.0.0.193

Pinging 193.0.0.193 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 193.0.0.193: bytes=32 time=540ms TTL=128

Reply from 193.0.0.193: bytes=32 time=96ms TTL=128

Reply from 193.0.0.193: bytes=32 time=93ms TTL=128

Reply from 193.0.0.193: bytes=32 time=95ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 193.0.0.193:

    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

    Minimum = 93ms, Maximum = 540ms, Average = 206ms

date

The current date is: 12/11/2007

Enter the new date: (dd-mm-yy)

time

The current time is: 10:22:24,87

Enter the new time:

```

If you need more info, tell me...

I have done my investigation before open the case, but I did not found something.

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## padoor

i think your gateway and route is not added properly.

manually add route and default gw

and try ping again.

ping your isp gateway

check /etc/resolv.conf  if dns entry is correct

show the /etc/conf.d/net

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## asyr

My gateway and DNS are configured OK.

Have in mind that the Windows XP server is a VMWare host that is running on my Gentoo box and get internet through my Gentoo via a NAT interface !

Have also in mind (as noted above) that other Windows into the LAN are capable to ping the 193.0.0.193, but other Unises (a MAC server) are not !

Any other suggestion ?

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## VinzC

I'd say without any more information that host 193.0.0.193 [accepts only packets from 10.11.x.y or 10.0.0.0/8] EDIT: or at least rejects those from 172.x.y.z . Can your Gentoo host ping anything else on the Internet?

Note: from here, 193.0.0.193 resolves to ns.ripe.net. Is it what you expected?

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## asyr

I think that you do not understand the problem.

The problem is that I can ping the 193.0.0.193 from a Windows XP but not from my Gentoo !

The XP is a virtual machine on my Gentoo that is connected to internet by using NAT interface from my Gentoo.

There is a different behaviour of the Windows ping and Linux/Unix ping !

From Windows is working, from Linux is not !

The net configuration is OK.

Do you need more explanation ?

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## VinzC

Since you requested our help, the least we can do is try our best to bring you the help you need. Nothing can make you think I (or we) don't understand the problem.

Since we're not at your place you're the best person to describe accurately what you have. And when we ask for more information it's just that we need it. Unlike yourself we cannot make any assumption on your system.

Till now you described that a NATed host, i.e. a host which appears from subnet 10.11.14.0/24 (vmnet8 is typically for VMWare NATed guests), can successfully ping *one* single host, 193.0.0.193. We don't know if a) that host is on the Internet (you know your network better than we do) and b) if both your Gentoo host and XP guest can ping *other* machines *and* machines on the Internet. We can make no further assumption.

Finally, route 169.254.0.0/16 probably comes from APIPA, i.e. it is probably an address range in which your server got an address from being started while there was no network available. Still we can make no further assumption.

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## VinzC

... and as a further indication, can any of your VMWare guests ping *all* of the local IP addresses (except 127.0.0.1, of course) on your Gentoo host?

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## asyr

First of all I want to thanks anybody that is trying to help me.

Let me explain in more details my problem...

I'm using a Gentoo Laptop with 2.6.21-gentoo-r3 kernel (Linux asterix 2.6.21-gentoo-r3 #2 Wed Oct 31 23:05:28 EET 2007 x86_64 AMD Turion(tm) 64 Mobile ML-34 AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux). You can see my network configuration above. I do not have any other network issue. My system is working fine. I have internet connection (I'm replying on this ...) and I can ping OK local and remote sites from my Gentoo, EXCEPT the 193.0.0.193. I'm using this IP just as an example, because the problem is reprodusable from my system with this target.

At the same time I run one vmware server with Windows XP on my Gentoo. I'm using NAT connection from my XP system to the internet and it works fine. I have normal internet connection from inside the Windows XP system, I can ping several local and remote IPs and I can, additionally, ping the 193.0.0.193 host, the same that I can not from the host system (Gentoo).

I suspect that there is a different implementation/configuration on the windows ping from the Linux ping, because I can not found any other reason why is this happens. I have a lot of experience on Unix/Linux systems for more that 8 years and I can not see any reason for this to not work, and for this reason I'm asking your help.

Thanks in advance, and please ask any detailed configuration that will help you understand the situation.

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## VinzC

Well I think I had pretty much understood the scene  :Smile:  .

First it is either a routing or a firewalling issue. As I said, 193.0.0.193 resolves to ns.ripe.net. What puzzles me most is why that specific address since a) it is just a nameserver from RIPE network and b) if this is the only IP that exhibits differences when pinged from different hosts?

As a side note, I also have a Windows (2000 Server) virtual machine in VirtualBox that does exactly the same as yours. When I ping that IP address from a Windows guest I get results: average time 50ms. When I ping that particular address from my Gentoo host I get no response.

You're just the first one who focused on that issue  :Smile:  .

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## asyr

That's good to found that I'm not the only one !

I do not think that is a firewall issue because I tested this without any iptables rule to my Gentoo, with the same results.

Regarding routing, I have just one GW that is works fine for other IPs !

As I said, I have no clue for what is the problem, but I have double check any network settings (routing, firewall, IPs) before asking help.

If somebody has any clue, please share it with us ...

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## VinzC

When I said it could be a firewalling issue I meant the machine with IP 193.0.0.193 itself  :Smile:  . Otherwise I'd say "who cares" since I don't think this is an issue, really. Unless you absolutely need to contact that host. I fail to understand why you are focusing on that IP in particular - except because it doesn't return your *NIX' pings? Does it have something you need for your organisation or company? (It's just a name server...) At most you might just have discovered something strange on the Internet...

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## asyr

I do not need to ping this IP.

I discovered this issue, and was very strange to me, when I was trying to do some tests for some other systems by using the ping.

I raised this issue because it is something that is working on Windows and not on Linux (this is bothering me, as a Linux fanatic   :Very Happy:  )

Do you think VinzC that the FW in this server will differentiates Windows pings from *nix pings and responds only to Windows pings ? I do not think so...

The only issue that I can think about is that the Windows version of ping is doing something different than the *nix version of ping and the above server is responding to this 'different' ping.

I wan to resolve the issue just to find out what is this difference, not for any other reason, but just to identify this difference ...

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## VinzC

 *asyr wrote:*   

> Do you think VinzC that the FW in this server will differentiates Windows pings from *nix pings and responds only to Windows pings ?

 

Well, I don't know but I think it's possible to inspect packets and differenciate between OSes since ntop does that. But I don't know how - maybe there are flags or markers to identify packets, I'm no specialist in that matter.

EDIT: maybe this helps.

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