[Samba] smbmount ... error [Solution]

[Bob McGowan]

Bob McGowan wrote:
> I've spent the last 3 hours (it seems like) going over postings in the 
> comp.protocols.smb newsgroup trying to find a solution for this problem. 
>  It seems that a lot of folks have had the issue, but none of the posts 
> I looked at had any useful resolution.  Here's the error:
> 
>     28968: protocol negotiation failed
>     SMB connection failed
> 
> I'm running RHEL 4 Workstation with Samba Version 3.0.10-1.4E.  I'm 
> running as a client, not a server, and am attempting to mount a share 
> from a Windows server.  There is much networking mumbo-jumbo in the way, 
> but I don't think any of it applies, since I can telnet to port 139 on 
> the server in question and telnet connects nicely.
> 
> But any Samba utility I use fails with the above error, never getting to 
> the point where it asks for a password.  The main command I need to run is:
> 
>   smbmount //.../share /data/mount -o username=me
> 
> It should prompt me for my password.  The domain is specified correctly 
> in the smb.conf file.  In fact, I can use 'smbmount' to access another 
> system in the company, without any problem.
> 
> Any suggestions and assistance is much appreciated.  *Please* respond to 
> me directly as I'm not subscribed to the list.
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> Bob

This is, as is the case for many questions, user error.  In this case, 
specifically lack of knowledge.  Full access requires more than just 
port 139 (netbios), you also need port 445 (SMB).  So I didn't know I 
needed to check port 445 also.

It turns out the firewall was not quite correctly configured and so it 
was rejecting port 445 and causing this error.