I've got a Fedora 4 box and a Ubuntu box here. No firewalls enabled on either one. They connect through the switch on my router. I've got a printer Samba share on the Fedora box as well as a couple file shares. On the Ubuntu box I've got some file shares.

The Fedora box can see and use the Ubuntu shares, no problems at all. But on the Ubuntu box, the Fedora shares just don't show up. I -think- it's seeing the printer, but no test page prints when I try.

Any suggestions? I'm somewhat of a newb, but not a total beginner, so hit me.

EDIT: Just turned on the big Windows XP box that's on this network and both Linux boxes see it fine too, so I'm doing something right. Hmm... The Windoze box can see the Fedora box, but is unable to access it.

EDIT2: Here's another hint, maybe: Windows shows the Fedora box as "Samba Server (Localhost)", but shows the Ubuntu box as "ubuntu server (Samba, Ubuntu) (Ubuntu)" And the Windows error I get when I try to access the Fedora box is "Localhost is not accessible. You might not have permission... blah blah blah... You were not connected because a duplicate name exists on the network... blah blah blah...".

Why does my Ubuntu box show up as "Ubuntu" and the Fedora box show up as "Localhost"??? How can I fix this?

post your /etc/samba/smb.conf files

Do your linux machines have different names?? I mean hostnames. Same applies to the windows machine computer name.

The thing is that Fedora4 (out of the box) cannot use SELinux and Samba at the same time. For some reason, SELinux on Fedora4 disables funcionality of Samba. You may need to disable it. I don't know much about Ubuntu. I actually stopped using Fedora4 for that reason.

Someone, some time ago, did post something on a fix for Fedora4 and Samba. Look for it in the Forums.

Ok, here's my fedora smb.conf file. To keep it short, I deleted all commented sections.

----------------------------------------------------

#======================= Global Settings =====================================
[global]

# workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name
workgroup = homer
# netbios name = futz

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
server string = %h server (Samba, Fedora4)

# if you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
printcap name = /etc/printcap
load printers = yes

# This option tells cups that the data has already been rasterized
cups options = raw

# this tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine
# that connects
log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log
# all log information in one file
# log file = /var/log/samba/log.smbd

# Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb).
max log size = 50

# The following are needed to allow password changing from Windows to
# update the Linux system password also.
# NOTE: Use these with 'encrypt passwords' and 'smb passwd file' above.
# NOTE2: You do NOT need these to allow workstations to change only
# the encrypted SMB passwords. They allow the Unix password
# to be kept in sync with the SMB password.
; unix password sync = Yes
; passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
; passwd chat = *New*UNIX*password* %n\n *ReType*new*UNIX*password* %n\n *passwd:*all*authentication*tokens*updated*successfully*

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See speed.txt and the manual pages for details
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

# DNS Proxy - tells Samba whether or not to try to resolve NetBIOS names
# via DNS nslookups. The built-in default for versions 1.9.17 is yes,
# this has been changed in version 1.9.18 to no.
dns proxy = no

#============================ Share Definitions ==============================
idmap uid = 16777216-33554431
idmap gid = 16777216-33554431
template shell = /bin/false
winbind use default domain = no
security = share
; encrypt passwords = yes
guest ok = yes
guest account = futz
; encrypt passwords = yes
; guest ok = no
; guest account = nobody
; security = user
; encrypt passwords = yes
; guest ok = no
; guest account = nobody
[homes]
comment = Home Directories
browseable = no
writeable = yes

# NOTE: If you have a BSD-style print system there is no need to
# specifically define each individual printer
[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
browseable = no
# Set public = yes to allow user 'guest account' to print
; guest ok = no
; writeable = no
printable = yes

[futz]
path = /home/futz
writeable = yes
browseable = yes
guest ok = yes

[ML-1510]
comment = Laser
path = /dev/usb/lp0
writeable = yes
browseable = yes
guest ok = yes

I don't know where to look for hostnames in Linux. The windoze box definitely has a unique name.


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I've disabled SELinux just in case. No change. Anyway, Samba was working partly with SE enabled - this Fedora box can see the others. They just can't see the Fedora box.

Also, on a previous install of Fedora 4, I had no trouble getting Samba to work between Fedora and the Windows box, and that was with both firewall and SELinux enabled. Can't imagine what's different this time.

Hahaha!! I just discovered that the smb service wasn't started. Checked the box in the list and even restarted just to be sure. Was sure my problems were over. They aren't. No change.

I decided to print out the man file for smb.conf on my new printer. Had no idea what I was in for. HOLY CRAP!!! That's a BIG book! Had to refill the paper four times!

Oh, fer cryin out loud! Sometime during my tinkering, I got it working, but I don't know what I did to make it happen.

The Ubuntu box can now see and access the Fedora box. The Windows box can now see, but not access, the Fedora box. That should be a simple thing to fix.