Strange FTP issue

I have this problem which doesn't seem consistent. When ftp'ing to a RedHat 7.1 box, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When it works it works fine. When it doesn't I get this message dev/tux/backup/login: Bad address. Really need some help with this one.
Thanks.

Hi Gregory - Too many variables for an answer.
Does this happen from multiple clients, or only a particular one?
Which ftp server runs on the Linux box? If this is not a critical production situation, try changing which ftp server you run on 7.1.
Do your ftp logs on the RH system give you any information? Take a look at them.
Does the connection fail, or just the data transfer?
Do you actually have device definitions like /dev/tux/backup/xxxxx ?
There are probably lots of other questions I could ask ......
Good luck, Guy

Have you tried pinging your RH box? Does a response come back?
If you can ping to it, then maybe your ftp server in not setup correctly.
Are you ftping with a ip address or a friendly name? if you're using a 'hostname', try using the ip address instead, does that work? if so then there is something wrong with the name resolver, try to take a look at the host table.
[ March 02, 2002: Message edited by: Rajinder Yadav ]

What the situation really is (after much patience) is that it takes a reeaally long time for the ftp or telnet server to respond. Why is this happening. I have two machines and only one does this.