Possible Problem in SMBclient SMB Write Request

[Nunez, Paul]

Hi,

We're investigating a problem reported by a user of a Redhat Linux system
running Samba v2.0.6 and believe we have found a problem with Samba's SMB
Write request.
We're hoping you can check into this and let us know if we're on track or
completely bonkers ;o)...

The smbclient fails when attempting to overwrite an existing file which
resides on a PATHWORKS for OpenVMS (or Advanced Server for OpenVMS) file
server share.  The error returned to the client depends on the method used.
Attempting to save changes to an existing file using vi results in the error
"<filename> Can't open file for writing"; using cp to copy one file over
another, the error is "bash: <filename>: Too many open files in system".

But in both cases, a Network Monitor trace shows the Samba client attempt an
SMB Write command to truncate the output file at the beginning (write 0
bytes at 0x00000000).  The PATHWORKS server rejects the SMB as invalid
because the buffer type is not 01 - Data Block, but 04 - Null terminated
ASCII string.  The SMB specification seems clear in this area - it indicates
the buffer type should be Data Block, so the PATHWORKS server rejects it and
responds with an error.

What do you think?  

TIA,

Paul E. Nunez
Software Support Consultant
Multivendor Network OS Team 
US Customer Support Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Compaq
Paul.Nunez at COMPAQ.COM