Try changing “HOST = xxxxxxxxx” to ”HOST = ip address”.

Oracle might not be resolving the host address correctly.

It that does not work you might try

1.renaming the tnsnames file,

2.make sure that tnsping does not work,

3.bring up Oracle Net manager and recreate the tnsnames file

4.try tnsping again

5.try sqlplus again

6. If sqlplus works try the linked server again

Sometimes Oracle is very sensitive to a space or tab in the wrong place in the tnsnames file.

Also there might be some control character in the tnsnames file that you do not see.

David Weil