This thread is for those who are having problems with connections to our master server. You will make a connection with our master server every time you go online in LFS (demo or licensed), and when you create a host (in online mode). This is a required step and you will only be able to race online if you can connect to our master server.

Here are some tips that might help you diagnose your problem.
Also if you create a post here about your problem, include all test and check results, so that we may be able to help you. Without any test results, we just do not have the information required to assist.

Ever since the creation of this thread, we have done _a lot_ of research into reasons why people might have problems connecting to our master server. We could only conclude that either your router or ISP is having problems routing UDP packets. Some ISP's seem to block really tiny UDP packets for example. Others just don't like UDP at all, albeit temporary usually.
If the tests below do not point you to an obvious problem, then it is quite likely that your ISP is the culprit.
For your information, if there is anything wrong with our servers or their connectivity, we will be alarmed immediately and we'll look into the problem and fix it. So by that I mean, please do not think the problem is on our end. We have all sorts of diagnostics running constantly to avoid these problems.

The first thing you should check :
CHECK 1 - LFS version
Check which version of LFS you have. You can see that at the bottom of the main menu screen of LFS, or on the end screen (after you clicked 'exit').
If you have a version older than LFS S2 ALPHA 0.5Y then you cannot unlock it; those older versions are not supported anymore. Your solution is to get the latest version of LFS from www.lfs.net .

If you have the correct version of LFS, do the following tests :
TEST 1 - ping
-click Windows Start button
-click Run
-enter the command cmd and press enter
-type : ping master.liveforspeed.net
-copy the outcome and post it here


TEST 2 - tracert (traceroute)
-click Windows Start button
-click Run
-enter the command cmd and press enter
-type : tracert master.liveforspeed.net
-copy the outcome and post it here


Do both of the above completely fail to do anything?
CHECK 2 - hosts file
Maybe you have previously edited your 'hosts file'.
In winXP (which the majority uses I assume) check and open the following file with notepad :
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Make sure this file does NOT have any line containing master.liveforspeed.net.
If it does, remove that line.
Then restart your computer and try to connect to the master server again.

CHECK 3 - firewall settings
If still nothing works, you should check your firewall settings. This normally is a last resort, because by default most firewalls do not block _outgoing_ connections. But some do. Unfortunately I cannot assist you with this in detail because I do not know which firewall you have and a very wide variety of them is available. Too much to list here. So please consult the manual of your firewall (or router).


More tests and checks might be available, however I cannot think of any useful ones at the moment. If we discover any new tests, they will be added to this list.

Remember, only post about your problems if you've done the tests and checks in this post and
include your test results in your post!

Good luck

Ok, I'm sure I used to have a hosts file but now I have a 'lmhosts'. If this is the same thing then there are no entries.

'Ping' of the masterserver comes up as unreachable.

Please Help.

Andy D

Was that huge font not big enough? You must include all the test results in your post. It's not asked for the fun of it or something - it's so we can see all the details of your tests that will help pinpoint the problem.

I'm going to ignore further posts from people who don't read the first post.

Quote from Jangler :

Ok, I'm sure I used to have a hosts file but now I have a 'lmhosts'. If this is the same thing then there are no entries.

lmhosts is designed for netbios resolution, not DNS resolution. In other words, it's irrelevant for this discussion.

I made a little .bat file which runs ping and tracert then saves the output to a text file. It's easier for beginners. It can be found here. (right click, save link as..)

Quote from Victor :

Was that huge font not big enough? You must include all the test results in your post. It's not asked for the fun of it or something - it's so we can see all the details of your tests that will help pinpoint the problem.

I'm going to ignore further posts from people who don't read the first post.

This isn't in huge font!!! 'Without any test results, we just do not have the information required to assist.'

I see it now and I'll post my results when I have worked out how to cut and past from cmd.

Thanks

Andy D

Right click, select Mark, then highlight the text and then right click. Now just paste in whatever application you want.

Ok Here are my test results.

TEST 1.



C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator>ping master.liveforspeed.net
Pinging master.liveforspeed.net [213.40.196.103] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Ping statistics for 213.40.196.103:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator>

Test 2.

C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator>tracert master.liveforspeed.net
Tracing route to master.liveforspeed.net [213.40.196.103]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 40 ms 34 ms 34 ms lo99.mk-0-ips.as9105.net [212.74.111.5]
3 35 ms 37 ms 35 ms ge0-1.mk0.as9105.net [80.40.119.137]
4 39 ms 37 ms 39 ms pos3-0.lon10.as9105.net [212.74.108.10]
5 37 ms 37 ms 36 ms pos2-p0.lon11.as9105.net [212.74.111.230]
6 38 ms * 40 ms ge-7-1-0.lon11.ip.tiscali.net [213.200.77.49]
7 38 ms 36 ms 87 ms xe-2-0-0.lon20.ip.tiscali.net [89.149.186.85]
8 226 ms 222 ms 225 ms ge-7-1.core2.London1.Level3.net [213.200.77.130]
9 37 ms 38 ms 37 ms ae-31-53.ebr1.London1.Level3.net [4.68.116.94]
10 45 ms 45 ms 46 ms ae-4-4.car1.Manchesteruk1.Level3.net [4.69.133.1
01]
11 44 ms 46 ms 45 ms ae-11-11.car2.Manchesteruk1.Level3.net [4.69.133
.98]
12 49 ms 45 ms 53 ms 195.50.119.134
13 47 ms 49 ms 49 ms noc01-ds3-man01.core.netline.net.uk [212.111.130
.21]
14 50 ms 49 ms 50 ms cyclone.core.netline.net.uk [213.40.192.249]
15 cyclone.core.netline.net.uk [213.40.192.249] reports: Destination host unr
eachable.
Trace complete.

Hope this helps.

Andy D

Are you sure you do not have an entry in your hosts file ?

The DNS is not resolving to the correct IP, it should be as follows...

Quote from Bean0 :

Are you sure you do not have an entry in your hosts file ?

The DNS is not resolving to the correct IP, it should be as follows...

C:\>ping master.liveforspeed.net

Pinging liveforspeed.net [213.40.20.2] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 213.40.20.2: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=47
Reply from 213.40.20.2: bytes=32 time=47ms TTL=47
Reply from 213.40.20.2: bytes=32 time=50ms TTL=47
Reply from 213.40.20.2: bytes=32 time=47ms TTL=47

Ping statistics for 213.40.20.2:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 46ms, Maximum = 50ms, Average = 47ms

C:\>

There are no entries in the hosts file.

Strangely, you ping master.liveforspeed.net and then it says 'pinging liveforspeed.net' without the master at the front. Whats going on there.

Andy D

OK. Triggered by something I spotted in Bean0's post. I tried ping on both "master.liveforspeed.net" and "liveforspeed.net"

I've also found I can trace to liveforspeed.net.

Does this help??



Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator>ping master.liveforspeed.net
Pinging master.liveforspeed.net [213.40.196.103] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Ping statistics for 213.40.196.103:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator>ping liveforspeed.net
Pinging liveforspeed.net [213.40.20.2] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 213.40.20.2: bytes=32 time=36ms TTL=56
Reply from 213.40.20.2: bytes=32 time=36ms TTL=56
Reply from 213.40.20.2: bytes=32 time=37ms TTL=56
Reply from 213.40.20.2: bytes=32 time=37ms TTL=56
Ping statistics for 213.40.20.2:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 36ms, Maximum = 37ms, Average = 36ms
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator>tracert liveforspeed.net
Tracing route to liveforspeed.net [213.40.20.2]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 34 ms 34 ms 35 ms lo99.mk-0-ips.as9105.net [212.74.111.5]
3 35 ms 35 ms 35 ms ge0-1.mk0.as9105.net [80.40.119.137]
4 40 ms 36 ms 35 ms pos3-0.lon10.as9105.net [212.74.108.10]
5 37 ms 36 ms 37 ms pos2-p0.lon11.as9105.net [212.74.111.230]
6 * 35 ms 36 ms ge-7-1-0.lon11.ip.tiscali.net [213.200.77.49]
7 37 ms 36 ms 37 ms xe-0-0-0.lon20.ip.tiscali.net [89.149.186.77]
8 39 ms 44 ms 37 ms ge-7-1.core2.London1.Level3.net [213.200.77.1
9 37 ms 36 ms 36 ms PACKET-EXCH.car2.London1.Level3.net [212.187.
.98]
10 38 ms 45 ms 45 ms loncat01-ge-lon01.core.netline.net.uk [213.40
1.73]
11 36 ms 38 ms 37 ms lfs4.hosted.netline.net.uk [213.40.20.2]
Trace complete.
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator>

Andy D

Quote from Jangler :

Strangely, you ping master.liveforspeed.net and then it says 'pinging liveforspeed.net' without the master at the front. Whats going on there.

master.liveforspeed.net is a CNAME to liveforspeed.net. What this means is that when you search for master.liveforspeed.net it redirects you to look at the result for liveforspeed.net to get the address.

Considering you can now resolve and contact it, are you actually having trouble still?

Yes still having trouble. If you look at test 1 when I ping master.liveforspeed.net I get destination host unreachable.

I'm hoping Victor can help.

Andy D

Sorry, I missed that in the tangle of posts.

Try this, out of interest - start > run, type "ipconfig /flushdns" and then click ok.

What happens when you try to resolve it now?

Tried that and did a reboot. Exactly the same result.

Grrrrrrr.

Not to call you a moron, but would you mind attaching a screen shot of your %WINDIR%\system32\drivers\etc directory (literally goto start > run, type or copy and paste %WINDIR%\system32\drivers\etc in and press ok, then press print screen, goto mspaint and then paste it in and save it as a jpg)?

Ok, here you go. I hope.

I probably am being a moron but thank you for your help.

Andy D

That's your hosts file in the top left.

Right click it and choose to Open with..., then choose notepad.

If there's any lines containing master.liveforspeed.net, remove them, save, reboot and try again.

Any doubts, post up its contents.

Here is the the content of the hosts file.



# Copyright (c) 1998 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP stack for Windows98
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost

I'm not convinced this is the problem, but hey, what do I know.

Thanks to you guys for your help so far but still no connection.

Andy D

as checking to remove any lines that are in the hosts file came up empty, try adding one instead. after the:

127.0.0.1 localhost

add the line:

213.40.20.2 master.liveforspeed.net

That should work (after a reboot) as a temp solution at least. but any changes at the master server and you would need to change or remove that line

No, that didn't work. Heres the ping for master.liveforspeed.net.

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator>ping master.liveforspeed.net
Pinging master.liveforspeed.net [213.40.196.103] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 213.40.192.249: Destination host unreachable.
Ping statistics for 213.40.196.103:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator>

Thanks for trying tho.

pretty weird. You seem to have a hosts file that is ignored and a dns server that reports an old IP for master.liveforspeed.net

The only thing i can think of is you try using different dns servers.
Try the OpenDNS servers. They also have a nice page explaining in great detail how to change your dns servers : http://www.opendns.com/start/windows_xp.php

if that still gives the same results, then the really last thing i could imagine it might be is a router that sits between your computer and internet connection. Maybe that uses some dns persistent cache. But let's not go there before you tried OpenDNS.

Quote from Victor :

pretty weird. You seem to have a hosts file that is ignored and a dns server that reports an old IP for master.liveforspeed.net

The hosts file is being ignored because it's still in his cache. A swift ipconfig /flushdns should sort that.

Quote from the_angry_angel :

The hosts file is being ignored because it's still in his cache. A swift ipconfig /flushdns should sort that.

maybe - but since franky suggested a reboot, i assumed it was read and done

I've flushed, rebooted 50 times. I'm on openDNS now and i've set the router to use opendns too.

Victor, If we can arrange a time and you're happy to I can let you into my system through 'logmein'. That way you can check I'm not being a complete numpty.

Thanks for help but still no resolution.



Andy D