Thanks Lester.
Yes I did remove the .txt that notepad puts on the end.
Yes It does ping both ways to both machines.(havn't tried by address,
just by name.)
Your third way, using ip addresses instead of names is interesting.
I must say that I do get confused about 'server' and 'machine name'
are they the same thing. If my machines are PC1 and PC2 is that name
of the server 'PC2' ?? I have supposed so.
Does it matter that firebird is on a different disc from c: ? (It is
installed on E:) although the database is on C:\
I have removed dial-up on one machine..I could not be writing this if
I had removed it on both !!

--- In ib-support@y..., lester@l... wrote:
> Been there, done that.
>
> First - is HOST file actually HOST or has notepad added the
> '.txt'?
>
> Second - can you ping both name (PC1) and address
> (169.254.0.3) both ways?
>
> Third - Against the rules - but it is the only way a couple
> of my Win98 machines will work. Use
> '169.254.0.3:c:\ifixed.gdb' instead of 'PC1:c:\ifixed.gdb'.
>
> Fourth - do you have dial-up access setup on the machines?
> If so try removing that.
>
> If you have got this far, then the next step is to wipe the
> two machines and reinstall Win98 putting in the network
> cards and their settings in first before any other
> additional stuff. It usually restores operation, but will
> not fix point 3 - don't ask me why.
>
> --
> Lester Caine
> -----------------------------
> L.S.Caine Electronic Services