netbios

[Selick, Matthew]

Bridget:

It sounds like you have a name resolution problem. Make sure that your Unix
machine is listed in DNS, and that you can ping it by name. Keep in mind
that ping uses things like the HOSTS file
(systemroot\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS) and SMB connections use NetBios
which has a different method of name resolution (Thanks, Microsoft)
(systemroot\system32\drivers\etc\LMHOSTS). You might want to try this: Check
off the box under TCP/IP protocol/properties/WINS Address/Enable DNS for
Windows Resolution. If this does not work, also try using your LMHOSTS file.
Not the hosts file, as this is Lan Manager stuff. Put in the name of each
Samba server with a #PRE for preload. Actually, what we do is have a local
LMHOSTS file on each NT PC that points to a central LMHOSTS file on a
highly-available server (read: cluster). That way, we can add entries in one
place and don't have to modify each PC when a new server comes online. One
other thing. You might also want to try using the
fully-qualified-domain-name for the Samba server. This works often when
there is a problem with NetBIOS name resolution.

In case you have never used LMHOSTS, here is what it should look like:

On each client:
10.1.1.1  apps  #PRE
#INCLUDE \\apps\CLNTHOME\lmhosts

on the server apps:
;NT Domain controllers:
10.1.1.2		"DOMAIN       \0x1b"  #PRE
10.1.1.2		dom1		#PRE #DOM:ITTAV_IS
10.1.1.3		dom2		#PRE #DOM:ITTAV_IS
10.1.1.4		dom3		#PRE #DOM:ITTAV_IS
10.1.1.5		dom4		#PRE #DOM:ITTAV_IS
;UNIX Stuff:
10.1.1.6		nfsrv		#PRE
10.1.1.7		nfsrv2		#PRE
10.1.1.8		avionics		#PRE

After you make a change to either the local or central LMHOSTS file, you
must execute an nbtstat -R (capital "R") to reread or reboot. You can also
issue an nbtstat -c to list the entries currently in memory.

Your problem doesn't sound like it has anything to do with Samba running on
the Unix server, but with name resolution on your client. Is your server
using DHCP, or does it have a static IP address? If it is using DHCP, you
must somehow update your WINS server and DNS server with this information.

Matthew G. Selick
UNIX/NT System Administrator
ITT Avionics
Matt at Selick.com
(973) 284-4744



Date:	Tue, 09 Nov 1999 12:27:24 +0800
From:	Bridget Lung <blung at penang.png.intel.com
<mailto:blung at penang.png.intel.com> >
To:	samba at samba.org <mailto:samba at samba.org> 
Subject:	netbios
	Message-ID: <199911090427.MAA20635 at penang.png.intel.com
<mailto:199911090427.MAA20635 at penang.png.intel.com> >
	Mime-Version: 1.0
	Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

				Hi all,

My NT environment cannot recognize my SAMBA servers(Bad IP address when ping
from MS DOS prompt) and after I restarted the nmbd daemon it can see my
SAMBA servers. Does anyone know why this happens? Is it there is a change in
the WINS server's database? Please advise.
				thanks & regards,
				Bridget