Problem with DNS - ping/Safari cannot resolve, but host/dig work OK

Question

Hi All,
Have a weird problem with DNS which is a bit similar to the following ones:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2190208
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=337942
I connect with remote internal network via OpenVPN and from time to time (yes, intermittent problem :)) internal DNS names cannot be resolved.
When it happens I can still resolve names using host or dig utilities, but applications (like Safari) and ping cannot resolve them.
resolv.conf has proper DNS server set:
*$ cat /etc/resolv.conf*
*# Mac OS X Notice*
*# This file is not used by the host name and address resolution*
*# or the DNS query routing mechanisms used by most processes on*
*# this Mac OS X system.*
*# This file is automatically generated.*
*domain openvpn*
*search openvpn*
*nameserver 10.0.0.1*
More than that - it can resolve those internal names when queried directly, for example using host:
*$ host YYY.XXX.ru 10.0.0.1*
*Using domain server:*
*Name: 10.0.0.1*
*Address: 10.0.0.1#53*
Aliases:
*YYY.XXX.ru has address 192.168.x.y*
but at the same time ping reports "*Unknown host*":
*$ ping YYY.XXX.ru*
*ping: cannot resolve YYY.XXX.ru: Unknown host*
I tried "*dscacheutil -flushcache*" and it did not help. Also tried to comment out domain and search directives in resolv.conf and it did not help as well (and actually it should not matter).
Any ideas why this can happen and what else can I check when it happens again?
Thanks!

Answer 1

I have the same issue. It cropped up after I installed updates to MS Office 2008 and Firefox in which I also saw issues with the icons disappearing in the dock of the applications that were open when I started the Office update. I rebooted to try to get them back, but ended up deleting them and restoring from the Applications folder. I don't know if that's a red herring or not, but I generally try to figure out what has recently changed that may cause something to suddenly start failing.
I'd been working successfully all morning before it started acting up. Switching from wifi to cat5 had no effect.
@realaaa, were you able to resolve without a major undertaking, like reinstalling your OS?
pnmbp:~ pn$ dig goo.gl
; <<>> DiG 9.6.0-APPLE-P2 <<>> goo.gl
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 40996
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 6, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;goo.gl. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
goo.gl. 140 IN A 74.125.45.139
goo.gl. 140 IN A 74.125.45.102
goo.gl. 140 IN A 74.125.45.113
goo.gl. 140 IN A 74.125.45.138
goo.gl. 140 IN A 74.125.45.101
goo.gl. 140 IN A 74.125.45.100
;; Query time: 27 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.2.1#53(192.168.2.1)
;; WHEN: Mon Dec 13 16:59:34 2010
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 120
pnmbp:~ pn$ ping goo.gl
ping: cannot resolve goo.gl: Unknown host
pnmbp:~ pn$ curl <a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://">http://goo.gl
curl: (6) Couldn't resolve host 'goo.gl'
pnmbp:~ pn$ host goo.gl
goo.gl has address 74.125.45.100
goo.gl has address 74.125.45.101
goo.gl has address 74.125.45.138
goo.gl has address 74.125.45.113
goo.gl has address 74.125.45.102
goo.gl has address 74.125.45.139
pnmbp:~ pn$