Strange Network Issues

[mattreeves]

I'm not really sure if this is a Debian related problem, but my linux server is running Debian anyway, and this problem has been driving me up the wall for about a week.

The problem is as follows. I am running two pcs on my home LAN :

1. Windows XP Pro machine (192.168.1.2)
2. Debian Linux Web Server (192.168.1.3)

The machines are both connected to a D-Link 504t Ethernet switch and ADSL router. The DHCP is enabled with NAT and Firewall. Both PCs can connect and Ping internet sites perfectly happily, with no problems. The two computers can also ping the router and the router can also ping them with no problems. I can also ping the webserver from an external server with no problems at all. From the XP machine, i can type the Linux box's Local LAN ip into the browser (ie, http://192.168.1.3/index.html ) and it will happilly display the Apache default install page. Therefore, i ruled out a switch problem.

The problems occur when they try to ping each other. The ping requests both unreachable, both from the linux and XP pro machine (with Software Firewalls off). It's been driving me mental, and i just can't work out the problem. I'd like to setup Samba ideally so i can access the linux server's HDD from WinXP.

If someone knows a solution i would be eternally gratefull....

Cheers,

Matt

[mattreeves]

Absolutely unbelievable. After nearly a week of tinkering, it turns out that Peerguardian was blocking access to and from 192.168.1.3.... The relief is immense. For any other strugglers out there with XP to Linux networking issues....DISABLE Peerguardian.