OSX running dnsmasq not always handling default dns queries

Question

I'm a developer on OSX, I've always used .local for local sites im developing, Since ML I've been running DNSmasq to workaround the service query order so I can continue to use /etc/hosts to define my records (which I believe DNSmasq picks up).

I thought it was working but it's seems inconsistent, works for some and not for others.

Pinging a domain it's not working with seems to have a long delay about 30 seconds. Visiting that same domain in a web browser never resolves. Yet digging the domain, returns the A record results instantly from DNSmasq

Ping:

robaldred:~/Sites/sasp (master)
 → ping sasp.local

# insert long pause here

PING localhost (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.089 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.136 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.141 ms

Dig

robaldred:~/Sites/sasp (master)
 → dig sasp.local

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> sasp.local
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 55538
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;sasp.local.            IN  A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
sasp.local.     0   IN  A   127.0.0.1

;; Query time: 0 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1)
;; WHEN: Mon Apr  8 15:05:25 2013
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 44

/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.
#
nameserver 127.0.0.1

/etc/resolv.dnsmasq.conf

nameserver 2001:4860:4860::8888
nameserver 2001:4860:4860::8844
nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4
nameserver 2620:0:ccc::2
nameserver 208.67.222.222 

/usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf

http://pastie.org/7370748

Answer 1

First, you should pick a suffix other than .local. That pseudo-TLD has special meaning for mDNS/Bonjour. I use .dev, but you can use anything that isn't a valid TLD or pseudo-TLD.

Then, you may find my answer to another superuser question useful. dig won't work, but ping, curl, etc. will work, as will opening your site in a web browser.