[Samba] smbmount performance stinks, smbclient is good

[Zachary Filan]

thanks for the suggestions. an interesting update:
the network between the server (a PC in the basement) and the client
(my laptop) uses 802.11b "infrastructure". I found a knob on the linksys
wireless router that could jack up the bandwidth. (why the default wasn't
maxed out is a mystery to me). anywho,
before turning the "knob" I got say ~40-50kByte for the smbmount and
~200-400kByte for the smbclient transfers.
After I get ~400kByte for the smbmount and
~670kByte for the smbclient. cool.

I still wonder why there is a noticeable difference
between the two.

>
> 1. Make sure you've got a new(ish) kernel.  Read the changelogs to see 
> if you're missing anything in new versions.

I'm using 2.6.7 (gentoo hacked) on both the server and the client. samba 
3.0.10 is installed on both.
Maybe the gentoo'y kernel is wonky.


> 2. Try using the cifs mount instead.  Personally I've never tried it, 
> but it is a common solution given 'round these parts for probmes with 
> smbfs kernel operations.
>
why oh why does the computer hate me so?
i enabled CIFS support and rebuilt my kernel on the laptop but 
mount.cifs is a no go.

e.g.
$ mount -t cifs //asterix/media /mnt/media -o user=root,password=big_secret

gives me

mount error 5 = Input/output error
Refer to the mount.cifs(8) manual page (e.g.man mount.cifs)

crud.