[Samba] Windows text file encoding vs Unix Samba server

[Rowland Penny]

On Thu, 1 Feb 2024 13:30:56 +0100
Thierry LARONDE via samba <samba at lists.samba.org> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I have a NetBSD (currently kernel 9.2 without kernel ACL support)
> server serving files via Samba to, mainly, a heterogeneous network of
> MS Windows nodes with various versions, but the (new) problem I face
> does not depend on the MS version or the cifs protocol version.
> 
> It used to work with Samba 3.6.* but it doesn't with 4.18.9 (the Samba
> version installed).
> 
> Even when the Windows' user has full control other a (Unix) file, in
> some cases: apparently always text or considered as text files, some
> programs can't modify the file that the user totally controls and we
> have to save under another pathname, before removing the old file and
> putting the new version in its stead.
> 
> I thought, at the beginning, that there had something to do with the
> names of temporary files (unable to create the temporary or to rename
> the temporary). But there is no problem with the temporary names (they
> are created).
> 
> There is no problem when a program handles a binary file (the program
> can modify the file).
> 
> So I begin to suspect that this has something to do with localisation:
> that the Unix file is declared, by default, to have a certain encoding
> for a certain lang or that, in fact, nothing is declared related to
> encoding or lang, so that the Windows client considers it can not deal
> with a text file whose lang and encoding is unknown or for a
> combination it does not support.
> 
> Is there something l10n/i18n related indeed in the CIFS protocol?
> 
> TIA for any tip or any link to documentation that may shed some light
> on the subject!

I don't think you have given us enough information here to even guess
at an answer.

What Windows versions are you using ?
How are you running Samba ?
Is there an AD domain involved ?
What 'program' or 'programs' are involved ?
Could it be a 'locking' problem ?
What is in your smb.conf ?
There have been a lot of changes since 3.6.x

Rowland