Samba, Win2K, Network path not found

[Ng Pek Yong]

Hi,

I have tried to get my Win2K to access my Linux Samba server without success.
The error message I am getting is "Network Path not found".
Below are the details:

1. The Win2K is actually a guest OS running on VMWare-2.0.4. 
The host OS is a RedHat 7.2. VMware uses samba-2.0.6.

2. The config file was based on a working sample, off another
VMWare machine. Its host OS was RedHat 7.2 again, but its Guest OS
was Win98. The configuration allowed the Win98 to access Linux file system
through network drives. The config file has been working for more than a 
year (under RH6.2, RH7.1) already.




Some other things I have confirmed along the way:

3. the Win2K's network was fine. I was able to ping, do DNS query, do 
HTTP etc through the Win2K guest OS.

4. ipchains on RedHat is not the issue; turning off the FW doesn't make
the problem go away.

5. testing the Linux Samba server using 'smbclient' shows that it is
responding correctly, i.e. I am able to view, access the resources.



It seems like the problem is on the Win2K end.
On the Win2K end, this is what I have done:

6. I use static IP (not DHCP), DNS, gateway. It is working fine (see point 3)
I did not configure WINS  on Win2K though; I believe I do not need them
as there are only 2 host involved and they are in the same subnet.
I have also not configured LMhost etc.  Is this a problem?

7. I have set up a workgroup (not domain) and have set up a user with the
same passwd as on the Linux smaba end.



Observations:

8. When I tried to discover the network resource made available to the Win2K
(through GUI and command prompt), it gave me either of the following:

8.1 The Linux samba server appeared, after some considerable delays. 
But when I double clicked on the icon, it returned with a 
"Network path not found" errmsg.

8.2 The Linux samba server never appear at all. All I have is the local
win2K icon.



Any ideas what has gone wrong?


Thanks,
-PY




Here's the config file smb.conf
-------------------------------
;
; Configuration file for Samba 2.0.6 vmware-[sn]mbd operating on vmnet1.
;
; This file was automatically generated by the VMware configuration program.
; If you modify it, it will be backed up the next time you run the
; configuration program.
;

; Global settings
[global]
;
; Identity
;

; Allow several Samba servers on different subnet without conflicts
socket address = 192.168.253.1
interfaces = 192.168.253.0/255.255.255.0
interfaces = 127.0.0.0/255.0.0.0
bind interfaces only = yes
;debug level = 3
;log file = /var/log/vm-smb

; Workgroup the host belongs to
workgroup = VM

; SMB name of the host (the hostname by default)
;  netbios name = 

; Description of the host
server string = VMware host - RW

;
; Access
;

;  Allow connections from
;   Beware: if we use this directive, smbd will try to do a reverse resolution
;   of the guest IP. If the host is disconnected from the network and uses
;   named, that reverse resolution will take a long time, and the smb client
;   (the guest) will give up waiting for a smb reply before the reverse
;   resolution timeout occurs :(
;   Because it doesn't add any real security, we don't use this --hpreg
;  hosts allow = 192.168.255.0/255.255.255.0

;  Authentication scheme
security = user
encrypt passwords = yes

;
; Options
;

; Automatically load the printer list (from /etc/printcap by default)
load printers = yes

; Gives better performance
socket options = TCP_NODELAY 

; VMware extension to use a different shared memory access key on each
; Samba server running on this host
sysv shm key = /dev/vmnet1

;
; Files and directories
;

;  Debug log for _both_ daemons
  log file = /etc/vmware/vmnet1/smb/var/log.smb
  log level = 5
;   Max log size in KB 
;  max log size = 50

;  Locks
  lock directory = /etc/vmware/vmnet1/smb/var/locks

;  SMB passwords
  smb passwd file = /etc/vmware/vmnet1/smb/private/smbpasswd

;  VMware extension to use codepages in a different directory
  codepage dir = /usr/lib/vmware/smb/codepages

;
; Name browsing
;

; Allow the host to participate in master browser elections
;  domain master = no
  local master = yes

; Force a local browser election upon startup
; We need that otherwise it takes a long time before the windows network is
; browsable
  preferred master = yes

; Do not try to resolve SMB names via DNS
  dns proxy = no 

;
; Shared resources
;

; Home directories
[homes]
  comment = Home directories
  browseable = yes
  writable = yes

; Printers
;[printers]
;  comment = All printers
;  path = /var/spool/lpd
;  browseable = no
;  guest ok = no
;  writable = no
;  printable = yes

[HostFS]
  comment = VMware host filesystem
  path = /
  public = no
  writeable = yes
  printable = no

[proxy]
  comment = Proxy printer
  path = /var/spool/lpd/proxy
  browseable = yes
  guest ok = no
  writable = no
  printable = yes

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