Tried it all and still can't connect

Looking for a SL expert to help me troubleshoot my connection problem.

Installed it last night, rebooted and ran SL. Got the following error: "unable to find the server domain name. this could be the result of a lost network connection or a server problem. please try again..." blah blah blah.

1. Closed SL and pinged the following: userserver.agni.lindenlab.com and lindenlab.com. Got packets back for both with no problem (faster response than most sites too).

2. Went looking for a debug log of some kind and found the following:
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO Attempting login as: Betty Page
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO Current Directories:
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO CurPath: C:\Program Files\SecondLife
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO AppName: SecondLife
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO ExecutableFilename: newview.exe
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO ExecutableDir: C:\Program Files\SecondLife
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO ExecutablePathAndName: C:\Program Files\SecondLife\newview.exe
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO AppRODataDir: C:\Program Files\SecondLife
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO OSUserDir: C:\Documents and Settings\[USERNAME]\Application Data
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO OSUserAppDir: C:\Documents and Settings\[USERNAME]\Application Data\SecondLife
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO LindenUserDir: C:\Documents and Settings\[USERNAME]\Application Data\SecondLife\Betty_Page
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO TempDir: C:\DOCUME~1\[USERNAME]\LOCALS~1\Temp
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO CAFile: C:\Program Files\SecondLife\app_settings\CA.pem
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO LLControlGroup::loadFromFile unable to open.
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO Loading startup bitmap...
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z WARNING Unable to open file for reading
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO Bitmap load failed
2004-11-19T22:18:36Z INFO Resolving Agni userserver domain name userserver.agni.lindenlab.com
2004-11-19T22:18:51Z INFO LL_WM_HOST_RESOLVED
2004-11-19T22:18:51Z WARNING Unknown host
2004-11-19T22:18:51Z WARNING Userserver name callback returned during invalid state!
2004-11-19T22:21:16Z INFO send_logout_request
2004-11-19T22:21:16Z INFO Disconnecting viewer!

That's all of that I am gonna post right now. If you want to see more (or the debug_log) let me know.

Incidentally, all that logging makes me a bit nervous but that's another post.

3. Hit the forums (HI!) and started searching. Found the Troubleshooting FAQ (http://www.tyrellcorporation.org/disabled/Troubleshooting) and opened up the ports on my firewall. Started with the limited opening 12020-12050 and 13000-13050. Didn't work. Then because I am stubborn I changed it to 12020 - 13050. Still didn't work. Yes, I even tried 443 although I doubted that would make a difference. It didn't.

4. Just to be absolutely sure I could "hear" incoming on those ports, I did a little testing. Not a problem.

5. Switched it back to the limited port range on my firewall.

6. Smoked, paced and cussed a few times.

7. Repeated number 6 for good measure.

8. Toyed with various preferences settings to no avail.

And now here I am posting to you lovely people! If you can help, fabulous! Otherwise I am gonna have to contact support and harass them.

Many thanks!
Betty

I think you've found a bug.

However, it appears from your log that it's taking Second Life a longish time to resolve the userserver.agni hostname; 15 seconds or so. This looks like the first DNS server you're trying to use is timing out. Have you double checked your DNS configuration to make sure that all of the name servers that you are using are actually responding?

I did, yes. All the DNS servers were responding with the right information using "ping" for example. Here is a fun little thing to put into your "check this if you..." file.

Here is what I discovered: I had ZoneAlarm installed but wasn't using it. Apparently some ZA internet security component loads from time to time that should not and it blocked SL from connecting.

At some point in the past ping.exe, mozilla.exe, etc were all in the approved list for in/out traffic so I was able to view the site, ping the addresses.

Here's the truly weird part (and I remembered this from a few months ago with a different game) ... when your system locks up and is hard-booted (or crashes... mine doesn't crash but I do use my Alienware -hard-) is the only time this thing with ZA happens. I'd have to start ZA and shut it down again to get the problem to go away.

I knew I had the settings right and that it had to be something strange.

I removed ZA, as I am no longer using it, and am now able to connect.

Thanks for responding!
Betty