[Samba] Need Help Getting Windows XP To Use Samba Properly

Wed Dec 29 09:42:15 MST 2010

Brian,

Thank you so much for your responses.  I've got more effort and info out of you than a week of Microsoft support.

To answer your questions:

1.  Firewall off (removed, actually).  No domain membership (workgroup only).

2.  No av/as/am software of any kind (not needed - closed, secure network)

3.  smb.conf:  Looks good on my end, however, OS LEVEL was set to 10.  Raising it to 65 did not fix the problem.

Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: Brian McGrew [mailto:brian at visionpro.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 9:10 AM
To: Hodges, Robert CTR USAF AFMC 520 SMXS/MXDEC
Subject: Re: [Samba] Need Help Getting Windows XP To Use Samba Properly

Ah, OK...  So that begs a couple more questions...

1)  Is the XP firewall on or off???  When you join XP to a domain it makes
firewall exceptions for you.  If it's on, do you have the ability to turn it
off for an hour or two and see if XP picks up the SMB server?

2)  What are you running for AV/AS/AM software, anything???

3)  Do you have an OS LEVEL directive in your smb.conf file???  I'm thinking
your smb.conf file should look something like this:

[global]
    netbios name = toltec
    workgroup = METRAN
    security = user
    encrypt passwords = yes
    wins support = yes

    # The following three lines ensure that the Samba
    # server will maintain the role of master browser.
    # Make sure no other Samba server has its OS level
    # set higher than it is here.

    local master = yes
    preferred master = yes
    os level = 65

And you can find the whole Appendix here at
http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/using_samba/appa.html for more configuration
stuff.

-brian

On 12/29/10 7:32 AM, "Hodges, Robert CTR USAF AFMC 520 SMXS/MXDEC"
<robert.hodges.ctr at hill.af.mil> wrote:

> Brian,
> 
> Excellent response, thanks for giving me things to consider and check.
> 
> Yes, NetBIOS over TCPIP is enabled on XP.  Also, XP is set to use the Samba
> box as WINS server.
> 
> Using "nbtstat -r" and NetMon, I have discovered that WinXP is not
> acknowledging the broadcasts from the Samba box.  Windows 2000, on the other
> hand, recognizes them just fine, so I know the Samba box is configured
> correctly.  
> 
> If the Computer Browser service is enabled in XP, XP will elect itself as the
> master browser because it doesn't acknowledge the Samba box's server
> broadcasts.  But I can't have XP doing that, the Samba box MUST be seen as the
> master for my mission-critical needs.  Windows 2000 has no problems with this.
> 
> Bob
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brian McGrew [mailto:brian at visionpro.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 8:24 AM
> To: Hodges, Robert CTR USAF AFMC 520 SMXS/MXDEC
> Subject: Re: [Samba] Need Help Getting Windows XP To Use Samba Properly
> 
> Hi, Bob...
> 
> I remember having a problem similar to this a few years back on Solaris 8
> where the WINS traffic was somehow being sent to the multicast network on
> Solaris.
> 
> Have you configured XP to use the SMB Server as a WINS server under network
> properties?
> 
> Do you have NetBios over TCP enabled on XP?
> 
> Have you sniffed the network with tcpdump or wireshark to see if you're
> actually seeing the WINS traffic going across the wire?
> 
> This is a WINS problem, almost guaranteed, since you can map to the share,
> but not see it in Network Places.
> 
> -b
> 
> 
> On 12/29/10 5:56 AM, "Hodges, Robert CTR USAF AFMC 520 SMXS/MXDEC"
> <robert.hodges.ctr at HILL.af.mil> wrote:
> 
>> Thanks for responding, Brian, it is greatly appreciated.
>> 
>> To answer your questions:
>> 
>> Samba 3.4.2 is running on Solaris 8.
>> WINS support is enabled in Samba.
>> We are using a simple workgroup, not a domain structure.
>> One single XP workstation, one single Solaris/Samba server.
>> We are not using DNS, we are using the hosts file in XP.
>> 
>> Bob
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Brian McGrew [mailto:brian at visionpro.com]
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 3:31 PM
>> To: Hodges, Robert CTR USAF AFMC 520 SMXS/MXDEC
>> Subject: Re: [Samba] Need Help Getting Windows XP To Use Samba Properly
>> 
>> Hi, Robert!
>> 
>> So, since I don't have the whole thread here, this question may be
>> redundant, but are you running WINS?  Do you have a Windows DC or just a
>> Samba DC?  What version of Samba and Solaris, on what hardware?  What is the
>> network and DNS topology?
>> 
>> -b
>> 
>> 
>> On 12/28/10 2:25 PM, "Hodges, Robert CTR USAF AFMC 520 SMXS/MXDEC"
>> <robert.hodges.ctr at hill.af.mil> wrote:
>> 
>>> Excellent information, thank you.
>>> 
>>> Unfortunately, none of it solved my problem.
>>> 
>>> I see a lot of "The specified network name is no longer available" error
>>> messages all over the internet from Linux users, and none of the very few
>>> solutions I have come across have worked for me.
>>> 
>>> Anybody else able to chime in and take a guess as why my XP box is having a
>>> problem talking to my Solaris/Samba box?  Again, Win2K has no problems
>>> talking
>>> to the Samba box - it's just XP.
>>> 
>>> Refresh:  This error happens when you try to browse using "My Network
>>> Places"
>>> in the desktop.  Mapping works fine, access works fine.  Browsing is what
>>> fails in XP.  I need this to work or I'm looking at a huge and expensive
>>> documentation change effort that few would understand.
>>> 
>>> Still desperate for help on this.  This problem happens with WinXP right out
>>> of the box, we have nothing weird installed.
>>> 
>>> Help!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Chris Smith [mailto:smb_77 at chrissmith.org]
>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2010 12:45 PM
>>> To: Hodges, Robert CTR USAF AFMC 520 SMXS/MXDEC
>>> Cc: John Drescher; samba at lists.samba.org
>>> Subject: Re: [Samba] Need Help Getting Windows XP To Use Samba Properly
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 2:23 PM, Hodges, Robert CTR USAF AFMC 520
>>> SMXS/MXDEC <robert.hodges.ctr at hill.af.mil> wrote:
>>>> Other details:  I do not use a DNS server, I use the hosts file in XP.
>>> 
>>> Yes, but NetBIOS desires the lmhosts file. See my ancient (but still
>>> valid) scribblings here:
>>> http://realcomputerguy.com/networksetup.htm#hosts
>>> 
>>> Chris
>>> -- 
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> 