[Samba] How to verify smb communication

[Grimes, Michael E {PBSG}]

Howdy,

I have a situation that I would like some ideas. I have a SAMBA connection
that is used to transfer files to an AIX platform. I monitor the process
table to be sure smbd and nmbd are running, but on several occasions the
processes were running, the NT drive was still mapped, but no files were
able to be transferred. The lights were on, but nobody was home. When SAMBA
was recycled, transmissions resumed.

My alerting medium (email and pages) is available only from the AIX side. Is
there some utility that I can use from the AIX side to verify that the
connection is active (is there an smbping)? I am aware of smbstatus, but I
do not know if this will give me what I am looking for. If it does, what
should I be looking at to make a determination? 

Thanks for the help,
Mike