Creating a network
 

So I've had two computers connected to a router for a few years now. It's always bugged me that even though they shared an internet connection and can ping each other, it was seemingly impossible to get them to see each other. Even back when I had XP on my main box, and win98 on the other one, they couldn't even detect each other in Network Neighborhood.

Now, I have Linux on my main box (Gentoo) and 98 is still on the other box. I'm planning on upgrading that one to Ubuntu, but I need to get the files off of that computer and it doesn't have a burner.

My question is how do I get the two computers connected to the router to at least see each other?

When you say "seeing each other" are you reffering to Windows networking?

How about ftp, can you connect with it?
What type of router do you have? It's likely that it is blocking the netbios ports.

If I go into my Network Neighborhood thing, the other machine doesn't exist.

I've been able to SSH into my other machine before.

I have a Netgear RP614.

I have been trying to set up samba , modfying smb.conf to know such joy
there are three boxes , two on windows xp and this on linux, slackware 10.1 to be precise

this is my smb.conf file, sorry its a bit long, any help appreciated

[global]

# workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name, eg: LINUX2
workgroup = MSHOME




# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
server string = Samba Server

# Security mode. Defines in which mode Samba will operate. Possible
# values are share, user, server, domain and ads. Most people will want
# user level security. See the HOWTO Collection for details.
security = user

# This option is important for security. It allows you to restrict
# connections to machines which are on your local network. The
# following example restricts access to two C class networks and
# the "loopback" interface. For more examples of the syntax see
# the smb.conf man page
; hosts allow = 192.168.1. 192.168.2. 127.

# If you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
load printers = yes

# you may wish to override the location of the printcap file
; printcap name = /etc/printcap

# on SystemV system setting printcap name to lpstat should allow
# you to automatically obtain a printer list from the SystemV spool
# system
; printcap name = lpstat

# It should not be necessary to specify the print system type unless
# it is non-standard. Currently supported print systems include:
# bsd, cups, sysv, plp, lprng, aix, hpux, qnx
; printing = cups

# Uncomment this if you want a guest account, you must add this to /etc/passwd
# otherwise the user "nobody" is used
; guest account = pcguest

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

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

# Use password server option only with security = server
# The argument list may include:
# password server = My_PDC_Name [My_BDC_Name] [My_Next_BDC_Name]
# or to auto-locate the domain controller/s
# password server = *
; password server = <NT-Server-Name>

# Use the realm option only with security = ads
# Specifies the Active Directory realm the host is part of
; realm = MY_REALM

# Backend to store user information in. New installations should
# use either tdbsam or ldapsam. smbpasswd is available for backwards
# compatibility. tdbsam requires no further configuration.
; passdb backend = tdbsam

# Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration
# on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name
# of the machine that is connecting.
# Note: Consider carefully the location in the configuration file of
# this line. The included file is read at that point.
; include = /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf.%m

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See the chapter 'Samba performance issues' in the Samba HOWTO Collection
# and the manual pages for details.
# You may want to add the following on a Linux system:
# SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
socket options = TCP_NODELAY

# Configure Samba to use multiple interfaces
# If you have multiple network interfaces then you must list them
# here. See the man page for details.
; interfaces = 192.168.12.2/24 192.168.13.2/24

# Browser Control Options:
# set local master to no if you don't want Samba to become a master
# browser on your network. Otherwise the normal election rules apply
local master = no

# OS Level determines the precedence of this server in master browser
# elections. The default value should be reasonable
os level = 33

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. This
# allows Samba to collate browse lists between subnets. Don't use this
# if you already have a Windows NT domain controller doing this job

domain master = no

# Preferred Master causes Samba to force a local browser election on startup
# and gives it a slightly higher chance of winning the election
preferred master = no

# Enable this if you want Samba to be a domain logon server for
# Windows95 workstations.
; domain logons = yes

# if you enable domain logons then you may want a per-machine or
# per user logon script
# run a specific logon batch file per workstation (machine)
; logon script = %m.bat
# run a specific logon batch file per username
; logon script = %U.bat

# Where to store roving profiles (only for Win95 and WinNT)
# %L substitutes for this servers netbios name, %U is username
# You must uncomment the [Profiles] share below
; logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%U

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable it's WINS Server
wins support = no

# WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client
# Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT both
wins server = w.x.y.z

# WINS Proxy - Tells Samba to answer name resolution queries on
# behalf of a non WINS capable client, for this to work there must be
# at least one WINS Server on the network. The default is NO.
wins proxy = yes

# DNS Proxy - tells Samba whether or not to try to resolve NetBIOS names
# via DNS nslookups. The default is NO.
dns proxy = no

# These scripts are used on a domain controller or stand-alone
# machine to add or delete corresponding unix accounts
; add user script = /usr/sbin/useradd %u
; add group script = /usr/sbin/groupadd %g
; add machine script = /usr/sbin/adduser -n -g machines -c Machine -d /dev/null -s /bin/false %u
; delete user script = /usr/sbin/userdel %u
; delete user from group script = /usr/sbin/deluser %u %g
; delete group script = /usr/sbin/groupdel %g


#============================ Share Definitions ==============================
[homes]
comment = Home Directories
browseable = yes
writable = no

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
[netlogon]
comment = Network Logon Service
path = /usr/local/samba/lib/netlogon
guest ok = yes
writable = no
share modes = no


# Un-comment the following to provide a specific roving profile share
# the default is to use the user's home directory
;[Profiles]
; path = /usr/local/samba/profiles
; browseable = no
; guest ok = 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
writable = no
printable = yes

# This one is useful for people to share files
;[tmp]
; comment = Temporary file space
; path = /tmp
; read only = no
; public = yes

# A publicly accessible directory, but read only, except for people in
# the "staff" group
;[public]
; comment = Public Stuff
; path = /home/samba
; public = yes
; writable = yes
; printable = no
; write list = @staff

# Other examples.
#
# A private printer, usable only by fred. Spool data will be placed in fred's
# home directory. Note that fred must have write access to the spool directory,
# wherever it is.
;[fredsprn]
; comment = Fred's Printer
; valid users = fred
; path = /homes/fred
; printer = freds_printer
; public = no
; writable = no
; printable = yes

# A private directory, usable only by fred. Note that fred requires write
# access to the directory.
;[fredsdir]
; comment = Fred's Service
; path = /usr/somewhere/private
; valid users = fred
; public = no
; writable = yes
; printable = no

# a service which has a different directory for each machine that connects
# this allows you to tailor configurations to incoming machines. You could
# also use the %U option to tailor it by user name.
# The %m gets replaced with the machine name that is connecting.
;[pchome]
; comment = PC Directories
; path = /usr/pc/%m
; public = no
; writable = yes

# A publicly accessible directory, read/write to all users. Note that all files
# created in the directory by users will be owned by the default user, so
# any user with access can delete any other user's files. Obviously this
# directory must be writable by the default user. Another user could of course
# be specified, in which case all files would be owned by that user instead.
;[public]
; path = /usr/somewhere/else/public
; public = yes
; only guest = yes
; writable = yes
; printable = no

# The following two entries demonstrate how to share a directory so that two
# users can place files there that will be owned by the specific users. In this
# setup, the directory should be writable by both users and should have the
# sticky bit set on it to prevent abuse. Obviously this could be extended to
# as many users as required.
;[myshare]
; comment = Mary's and Fred's stuff
; path = /usr/somewhere/shared
; valid users = mary fred
; public = no
; writable = yes
; printable = no
; create mask = 0765