i'll start off by saying i've read several posts pertaining to the things i need help with, but still haven't a clue what i'm doing...

i'll try to take it slow, because there's lots that's frustrating the hell out of me with this computer right now

i installed mandriva 2006 on my Dell 8100. new 40 GB hard drive. my roommate has a pc running windows xp. we have a router so that both of us can connect to the cable modem. i wanted to set up a network so that we could share some files, so i made sure to have a vfat partition, /mnt/windows, 6.6 GB.

so i found about 800 different ways to set up samba and create a home network. i've tried them all and still have no idea what i'm doing, and no network. to make matters even more annoying, i had folders left over in /mnt from when i was trying to mount my samba shared folders.

here was my fstab:

/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults 1 1
/dev/hda7 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
//jdd/WINDOWS /mnt/WINDOWS smbfs user,username=% 0 0
/dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom auto umask=0,user,iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850,noauto,ro,exec,users 0 0
/dev/hdd /mnt/cdrom2 auto umask=0,user,iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850,noauto,ro,exec,users 0 0
none /mnt/floppy supermount dev=/dev/fd0,fs=ext2:vfat,--,umask=0,iocharset=iso8859-1,sync,codepage=850 0 0
//jdd/shared /mnt/shared smbfs username=% 0 0
/dev/hda8 /mnt/windows vfat umask=0,iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda6 /usr ext3 defaults 1 2
/dev/hda5 swap swap defaults 0 0

lines 3 and 10 were the ones bugging me. they made my /mnt directory look like this:

/cdrom /cdrom2 /floppy /shared /WINDOWS /windows

notice i magically had 2 /windows directories. and a useless /share to boot. i tried text editting those lines out of fstab, but they remained there nonetheless. fstab-sync doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either. so i replaced fstab with the backup (fstab~), and so far so good. no lingering directories.

so basically, i think i'm back to square 1. i was thinking i should uninstall samba then reinstall it, just to make sure there's no old files. but, anyway, i would like to connect to my roommate's network on xp.

mandriva has a lot of gui-based programs for samba, but i'm still not up to speed on what to enter in all of them.

anything will help, i'm sure.

maybe an ax. but other things will be appreciated too!

Are you using SWAT to configure SAMBA?

that was one of the things i was using. in all i was using like 4 different gui-interfaces...

but i just found out mandriva has a wizard, and i'm using that at the moment...trying to streamlin everything.

but what do i put in, or rather in what format to i enter:

name of share:

comment:

path:

i'm not sure i'm entering them in the right format, or mounting them where they're supposed to go...

thanks!

Comment isn't required, just a notes field like "mom's share"
Name of share is something like "MyShare"
Path would look something like "/mnt/samba/MyShare"
Did you put that stuff in the fstab manually?
If you note, all three of your mystery mounts are appearing in your fstab.

i didn't put them in there manually. but i removed them manually.

as for the path, if i want to use a vfat directory, would it be:

/mnt/windows/MyShare

i think i've just been putting /mnt/windows as the path...

hmm...

thanks!

so i've still got nothing...i've got less than i had last night.

i've checked all my configurations, including swat, and the smb.conf reads:

[global]
dos charset = 850
unix charset = ISO8859-1
workgroup = BANANAS
server string = Samba Server %v
security = SHARE
guest account = kevins
log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log
max log size = 50
server signing = auto
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_SNDBUF=8192 SO_RCVBUF=8192
printcap cache time = 60
printcap name = cups
add machine script = /usr/sbin/useradd -d /dev/null -g machines -c 'Machine Account' -s /bin/false -M '%u'
preferred master = No
domain master = Yes
dns proxy = No
ldap ssl = no

[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
create mask = 0700
guest ok = Yes
printable = Yes
print command = lpr-cups -P %p -o raw %s -r # using client side printer drivers.
use client driver = Yes
browseable = No

[print$]
path = /var/lib/samba/printers
write list = @adm, root
inherit permissions = Yes
guest ok = Yes

[pdf-gen]
comment = PDF Generator (only valid users)
path = /var/tmp
printable = Yes
printing = bsd
print command = /usr/share/samba/scripts/print-pdf "%s" "%H" "//%L/%u" "%m" "%I" "%J" &
lpq command = /bin/true
lprm command = lprm -P'%p' %j

[tuxbox]
comment = jdd
path = /mnt/windows/Jbox
read only = No
guest ok = Yes
case sensitive = No
msdfs proxy = no

i dunno what to do!

Not much to go on.

Is samba running? Do you see the processes nmbd and smbd?
Can the XP computer see your computer or any of your shares?
Make sure the workgroup is the same on both computers.
post the share section from smb.conf for /mnt/windows. (We might need to see the entire file.)
run the console command testparm to make sure there are no syntax errors.
Are you able to mount the XP shares successfully?
To see your shares use the command:
smbclient -L hostname (change hostname to your actual computer hostname).

BTW when sharing data over a network via samba the filesystem type does not matter. hda8 i.e. /mnt/windows does not have t be vfat. I would reformat it to ext3 or reiserfs.

michaelk beat me to the post.

smbd nmbd are running
windows cannot see my computer
workgroup name is same
i posted the entirety of my smb.conf file
when i do testparm:

Processing section "[printers]"
Processing section "[print$]"
Processing section "[pdf-gen]"
Processing section "[tuxbox]"
Loaded services file OK.
Warning: Service printers defines a print command, but print command parameter is ignored when using CUPS libraries.
Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE
Press enter to see a dump of your service definitions

it then lists the entirety of the smb.conf file

the XP shares show up under the workgroup on XP

smbclient -L hostname shows:

Domain=[BANANAS] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.0.20]

Sharename Type Comment
--------- ---- -------
print$ Disk
pdf-gen Printer PDF Generator (only valid users)
tuxbox Disk jdd
IPC$ IPC IPC Service (Samba Server 3.0.20)
EPSONStC40UX Printer EPSON Stylus C40UX
ADMIN$ IPC IPC Service (Samba Server 3.0.20)
Domain=[BANANAS] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.0.20]

Server Comment
--------- -------
JDD Samba Server 3.0.20

Workgroup Master
--------- -------
BANANAS JDD

and i wish someone would've told me before i started about the vfat not being necessary.
what should i do with 6.6GB of space if i reformat it as ext3?

sorry about all the info...but i'm getting impatient...

thanks!

What were you going to do with it before?

Configure the XP properties for the network connection to enable netbios over TCP/IP. And see if the XP box now sees the linux box.

i was just gonna use it for file sharing, like put anything i wanted shared in that partition...

if i reformat it as ext3 what should the mount be?

i've since gotten rid of all my samba junk...i may reinstall tomorrow sometime...

i just don't understand why it's so difficult...didn't think i was that stupid

thanks!

>Configure the XP properties for the network connection to enable netbios over TCP/IP. And see if the XP box now sees the linux box.

that is the default on XP\
John

The default is to use the netbios settings from the DHCP server. If the router does not provide netbios settings or if using a static IP address then it should be enabled.

Ok, try this as root:
add the user kevins locually -- adduser kevins
add samba user -- smbpasswd -a kevins
change local directory perms -- chown root.users /mnt/windows/Jbox
-- chmod 775 /mnt/windows/Jbox

Then set the Linux box as the WINS server for the XP box.

Then use this below for your smb.conf. You might want to run testparm on it just to make sure I don't have any typos in it. You will also have to restart SAMBA after you change the smb.conf file.


[global]
smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd
printing = cups
dns proxy = no
security = user
encrypt passwords = yes
workgroup = BANANAS
server string = Samba Server %v
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
netbios name = MyPC
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
load printers = yes
os level = 33
wins support = true
printcap name = lpstat
max log size = 50

[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
create mask = 0700
guest ok = Yes
printable = Yes
print command = lpr-cups -P %p -o raw %s -r # using client side printer drivers.
use client driver = Yes
browseable = No

[print$]
path = /var/lib/samba/printers
write list = @adm, root
inherit permissions = Yes
guest ok = Yes

[tuxbox]
comment = jdd
path = /mnt/windows/Jbox
guest ok = Yes
writable = yes
case sensitive = No
valid users = kevins
create mode = 775
directory mode = 775
write list = kevins
read list = kevins

I'm not a samba guru. I use the web to find most of my answers for what I do with SAMBA. So there is an article on JustLinux "Mounting smbfs Shares Permanently Help file" It might help you. Since you are able to see the windows box at this point.
John