Does samba upon installation create a group 'sambashare' for use in creating shares? If so does this mean that only users who are part of the group sambashare can access the shares? In Ubuntu there is such a group but in Slackware there isn't. I'm assuming this is distribution specific. Is this revelant to how users can access shares?

This is a Ubuntu hack. I have never seen it in Slackware.

Not sure what you are asking. smb.conf definitions for each share controls what smbusers can access what share.

Is samba behavior random? My samba share with a ps2 works sometimes randomly sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. My configuration options when it works and when it fails to connect are the same.

No, you have config problems if it not working consistently.

Here are the configuration options in my smb.conf file.
I have checked the read and write permissions of /home/curious95/Public/ps2 and they are equal to the ones in the config file. Where am I making the error?

At a minimum I would add two lines.

and

Do not think for a moment you can fix all the network problems by adding these two lines. Samba config is very complex, you can thank microbucks for that.

At this point I don't have any idea what windoze systems you are trying to connect to your samba server. Each version of windbloze has its own set of problems.

To get this running better, you need to start with basic network configuration. Any server should have a fixed IP address, not one assigned by DHCP, or in windoze speak, 'Automatic'. How have you set the server up?

The 'hosts' file. Have you got correctly updated hosts files on every system you want using file sharing? If not, or you have no idea what I asked, the answer is no. You need to fix that. On a linux system, the file is located at /etc/hosts. This file is the first place the system goes to resolve IP addresses. It is a plain text file on both windoze and linux. Here is a sample from mine.

The first line is the same on all machines, so you can connect to your tcp/ip stack.

The next two lines are form other machines on my network. The IP address; The name I use to connect to it, and an alias name.

If you are running DHCP on your windoze machines, you need to go into your router config, and for each MAC address, assign which IP address gets served to that MAC address. Almost all home routers can do this. You get the MAC address ( the real hardware address of the lan card that is burned in hardware ) in linux by running the command 'ifconfg'.

In windoze, you can try 'ipconfig'; not sure if that works on all versions, or not. Its in the Control Panel; somewhere.

Once the file is built, you can copy it to each system in the network. The only thing you need to change it the external IP address entry for the system you copy it to.

To test this, you use the ping command. You have to be able to ping from any system, to any system, using the names you assign in the hosts file. You may have to boot windoze in order to make the system read the hosts file.

On XP, the hosts file is located in C:/WINDOWS/system32/drivers/etc/hosts. You may have to use the search facility to find it on other versions.

The workgroup name on each system should match. Have you checked that?

MAC addresses on windoze. I tested 'ipconfig /all' and it shows the mac address on XP; also know as "Physical Address". Not sure what works on other versions of windbloze.

See how far you can get.

1 members found this post helpful.

Technically, I am trying to connect to a playstation 2 from my Slackware pc. In /etc/hosts is the name I use to connect to it the sharename of the share? Moreover, is the alias what I wish to name it or does it have to have a specific name? The ip address I specified for the ps2 is here is my /etc/hosts file .
This is under the assumption that the alias and the name I use to connect to it should be equal to the corresponding samba share name. I have also pinged the ps2's ip address from my pc and the connection is shown to be active. However, the connection still fails showing the Network startup error: 300. I have also added this line in my smb.conf file
I am using open ps2 loader to play my backed up playtation 2 games of my computer's hardisk via samba using a crossover cable between my Slackware pc and my playstation 2. My options are correct as far as this network configuration guide goes. I have been thinking this could be a problem associated with using the security = share option in the smb.conf file as it states in the man page this statement seems to imply some level of randomness although I may have misinterpreted it altogether. My current smb.conf file is as follows: . One of my previous configurations that worked only once is written below.I thank you for taking the time to read my post(s). Hopefully we can come up with a solution.

I don't think you understand what the hosts file is for. It is for resolving a fully qualified hostname to an IP address. That said, it has nothing to do with your shares. An example of a fully qualified host name could be host.somedomain.org. An alias is just a shorter unique name you wish to use, rather than type in the full name; like host1.

The name, and alias can be the same, that will not hurt anything, however, other than finding the IP address of the device, it has nothing to do with the share. Are you able to create hosts files on the PS/2??? Can you ping from the PS/2 to the samba server? These things have to work before you are going to have success with the share connection.

This is O.K., but does not guarantee a connection, it just won't block it.

I can not help with open ps2 loader. Never used it, I don't have a PS/2. The network guide looks very reasonable.

This is a direct quote from the smb.conf help file. If you try to use a smbuser name, remember you have to create it on the server.

1 members found this post helpful.

Well it looks like I have a lot more reading to do. Thanks for your help. I will post on this thread when I come up with a full-proof solution.