[rescue] IRIX name resolution woes

[Mike Katchabaw]

Hi all!

This isn't directly a rescue question, though it applies to a box I
recently "rescued".  I just got my hands on a nice SGI O2, and
obtained Irix 6.5 to put on it.  Everything seems to have installed
properly, and I'm pretty happy.  I've noticed a tricky little name
resolution snafu, and I'm not sure how to fix it.  Since there are
several knowledgeable people on this list, I thought I would try here.

I entered all my network information -- a host name, IP address,
gateway, name servers and so on.  I can ping or telnet to IP addresses
with no troubles at all.  nslookup will match host names to IP
addresses with no problems.  But, when I try to ping or telnet to a
host name, it fails with a host unknown error, even if nslookup can
find the address for me.

Checking resolv.conf, I see all the name servers correctly and can
ping them by their IP addresses (there are no other lines in the
file).  I have not installed NIS, so I removed all traces of it from
nsswitch.conf and ensured that the hosts line referred to both files
and dns.

The really frustrating part is that I know someone who encountered
the same problem with Irix 6.2 on their Indigo 2.  He eventually
got it fixed, but can't remember how he did it.  Checking his system,
our resolv.conf files are identical, and he doesn't even have an
nsswitch.conf file.  The only other difference is that his host name
contains his DNS domain, whereas mine does not, and is just the name
of the host alone.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this?  Any pointers that
might be useful?  Is there some other control files I need to play
with or look at?

Many thanks in advance!

Mike.