Now it works, not it doesn't, now it works...

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traveller2000 · #1 Post by **traveller2000** » 2006-06-26 14:24

The title in my post reflects the situation I'm experiencing.

I have a PC running Windows 2000 and a very old Mac running OS 8.5. Since (the experts in other lists say) there seems not to be a way to connect these two buddies in something like a local network, I decided to install FileZilla server in the PC and an FTP client in the Mac.

I use my router (the one I use to connect to Internet) as the bridge between these two computers.

The router is assigning IPs using DHCP. Internet works fine in both computers, BUT,

I install FileZilla in the PC. I go to my Mac and connect to the PC using an FTP client. Everything works fine. I can repeat this procedure as many times as I wish but... as soon as I turn off the PC and turn it on again, the connection is never stablished again between the Mac and the PC.

Surprised, I check the Filezilla service and see that it is up and running. I try a local connection (from the same PC the server is installed in) and it works. But the Mac won't connect. I use a third PC (my laptop), and it doesn't connect neither.

I reinstall Filezilla. Eveything works again. I can connect from my old Mac and from my laptop. Well, if I shut down the server computer again, and then turn it on once more... the problem reappears.

Any ideas? May this problem be related to the fact that the router can assign a different IP to the server (DHCP) each time it is rebooted? Note, however, that after each reboot I look for the new server's IP in order to ftp to the correct address from the clients, as for instance, "ftp 192.168.1.33" or "ftp 192.168.1.36".

Thanks alot.

A puzzled Jose.

#2 Post by **botg** » 2006-06-26 15:39

Looks like a router or firewall issue to me, please check your settings.

traveller2000 · #3 Post by **traveller2000** » 2006-06-26 16:04

OK, I forgot to say that there's a ZoneAlarm installed in the PC, but FileZilla is authorized to work as a client and as a server, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Concerning the router... which settings do I have to check? I'm a greehorn in such matters, so, please, be a little bit more specific.

Ooops! I almost forgot to thank you for the fast answer!

Jose.

traveller2000 · #4 Post by **traveller2000** » 2006-06-27 10:54

Well, I'm feeling a bit schyzophrenic

answering myself, but I got to do it to avoid the waste of time it would mean for the people that so courteously is trying to help me.

Filezilla works allright. It was my fault.

Yes, it was a problem concerning the firewall! In spite of the fact that I had told ZoneAlarm to allow Filezilla to work as a server as well as a client, ZA was partially blocking the requests coming from my Mac... because it is in the local area network and not in the Internet!

Since it worked sometimes, I discarded the firewall as the cause of the problem. I still don't understand why FZ worked only sometimes; the firewall should have blocked all the attempts to connect from my Mac, but it didn't.

To be short, the solution is tell ZA that all the connections coming from the LAN subnet must be trusted. Once this is done, the Mac and the PC hosting FZ connect without problems.

Thanks, anyway, by your help and interest.

#5 Post by **botg** » 2006-06-27 13:52

Zonealarm has a very strange sense of what it considers to be "local". In my network here, the subnet mask is 255.255.252.0 for the local network. But in any case, ZoneAlarm thinks the local subnet is just 255.255.255.0. The users that use ZoneAlarm here have problems reaching some servers inside the local network. And of course, this important stuff cannot be configured in ZoneAlarm.

cszeto · #6 Post by **cszeto** » 2006-07-07 20:02

"Broken Alarm" is also confused about its operating state. Past versions will continue to remain "active" even when you "deactivate" it through its own management interface. One would have to uninstall it completely to "deactivate" it...