Can't Use the Network Browser to Connect to SMB Shares

RAdams · 12-14-2006, 11:09 AM

Before I installed the optional Samba software, I could use the "Network Servers" item under "Places" and see an item called "Windows Network". When I clicked on that, it used to take me to a list of available windows machines with shared folders. I couldn't connect to these machines, because I didn't have samba installed. Now I do, but when I open "Windows Network", I can no longer see the computers, just an empty windows with "smb://" in the address bar. What's the deal?

I know I can connect to the machines using fstab or even the "mount" command, but I want to connect using the above method, without having to manually type in the computer informaiton (it's a dynamic set of clients, and I'll be translating some the methods to people who can't (i.e., won't) handle non-point-and-click methods.

nelse23 · 12-15-2006, 04:31 AM

I had that same problem when I attempted to use GSAMBAD. It created a new smb.conf which would not allow me to do anything. I went back in the the /etc/samba folder and renamed the new smn.conf and then renamed the old file, which GSAMBAD had renamed smb.conf.old back to smb.conf. Everything has worked fine since then.

Nelse

nelse23 · 12-15-2006, 04:33 AM

That should be smb.conf and not smn.conf. It's early in the morning and I'm not quite awake.

RAdams · 12-18-2006, 08:51 AM

I only have one smb.conf. Restoring the default smb.conf does nothing for me.

nelse23 · 12-18-2006, 06:43 PM

If you want I could send you the smb.conf on mine that works.

Nelse

fragos · 12-18-2006, 09:04 PM

Linux frequently pretends things don't exist when you don't have access. I might ask if any of the Windows machines are configured to share any folders?

RAdams · 12-19-2006, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fragos

Linux frequently pretends things don't exist when you don't have access. I might ask if any of the Windows machines are configured to share any folders?

Yes they are, and the Windows partition on the same machine accesses them. Also, they were previously visible to the Network Browser, as I said.

RAdams · 12-19-2006, 02:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nelse23

If you want I could send you the smb.conf on mine that works.

Nelse

Check your private messages.

primal-id · 12-31-2006, 12:04 AM

I'm having a similar problem. Nothing shows up in the network but if i type in the location bar the ip address of my server all the shared folders appear (example smb://10.0.0.1)

jschiwal · 12-31-2006, 12:27 AM

One thing to check is that the nmbd service is running. It handles NetBIOS over IP naming services to clients. You haven't indicated how your network works. There are different technology families for different versions of Windows. The NT/WINS type networks work very well with samba. Samba can replace any windows server or domain controller. If the network uses 2003 / Active Directory, then samba can do some things and not others. One solution is to use OpenLDAP instead of an Active Domain server. ( An AD server is a smb'ified LDAP server solution.) LDAP is more general. Also, Windows XP Home is crippled and can't join a domain or use Single Sign on in a NT or AD configured network. I never had problems browsing before XP came out. XP computers may not use netBIOS over TCP unless you enable it. It uses TCP/UDP instead of the LLC layer broadcasts to locate other hosts. If you have a mix of technologies, this may be the problem.

There are a couple of books you can download from the samba.org website: "Samba 3 Reference" and "Samba 3 By Example". You may also have these books in /usr/share/doc/packages/samba/ if you have the right package installed. SuSE and Fedora Core have these packages. In SuSE, the books are in PDF format. If memory serves, FC 5 has them in Postscript format.

Another thing to check is that you don't have the ports you need closed. The nmbd manpage indicates that if you have samba running as an xinetd service, then you need to have these config files properly configured:

Code:

       /etc/inetd.conf
          If  the server is to be run by the inetd meta-daemon, this file must
          contain suitable startup information for the meta-daemon.

       /etc/rc
          or whatever initialization script your system uses).

          If running the server as a daemon at startup, this file will need to
          contain an appropriate startup sequence for the server.

       /etc/services
          If running the server via the meta-daemon inetd, this file must con‐
          tain a mapping of service name (e.g., netbios-ssn) to  service  port
          (e.g., 139) and protocol type (e.g., tcp).

Also, read through the man pages for smbd, nmbd, and smb.conf.

Also, for the source reference for NetBIOS, you can enter "rfc:1001" in the konqueror browser, or download it from: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1001.txt

There could also be an oddball problem. For example, if an old Windows98 host has a netware protocol installed, it will win browser elections. The samba books I mentioned will cover this.