workgroup is not accessible - is there _any_ answer?

[Rich Grise]

I've got that perennial problem - Samba server on Slackware Linux 10.0,
with a LAN on 10.0.0.*, and four W2K boxes. All of the computers
can access the one samba share at \\10.0.0.1\Server, but nothing
shows up under "computers near me" in "network neighborhood", and
it takes about a minute to time out, and says "Workgroup is not
accessible. The list of servers for this work\group is not currently
available."

I've been searching google groups all day, and this question has
been asked about a hundred times and nobody seems to have an answer.
There are a few answers, but they talk about arcane stuff like
"The Master Browser". I've tried every suggestion I've found so
far, and nothing works.

And it USED TO WORK!

Here's parts of my smb.conf:
-----------
[global]
netbios name = ops
workgroup = WORKGROUP
server string = Samba Server
hosts allow = 10.
printing = cups
log file = /var/log/samba.%m
max log size = 50
security = share
encrypt passwords = yes
smb passwd file = /etc/samba/private/smbpass
ssl CA certDir = /etc/ssl/certs
socket options = TCP_NODELAY
interfaces = 10.0.0.1/8
local master = no
; os level = 33
; domain master = yes
; preferred master = yes
wins support = yes
; wins server = w.x.y.z
wins proxy = yes
dns proxy = yes
-----------
And I've tried every possible combination of settings in the LAN
properties applet in W2K, and I still get "Workgroup is not
accessible".

Is there some arcane secret little thing buried somewhere in the
bowels of W2K that will fix this?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Jetro]

Obviously, this is a Samba configuration question. To confirm it, just shut
it down.

Remove semicolons from smb.conf and change OS level to 65. Read Samba man.

 

[Randy Thompson]

; os level = 33
; domain master = yes
; preferred master = yes

wins support = yes

Rich,

Correct me if I'm wrong about this... I'm going to make an assumption
that the four Windows 2000 boxes are all running Windows 2000 Professional.

Uncomment the lines above. Set "os level" to 65. This will insure that
it overrides the other Win2K PCs. Since you have "wins support" enabled,
be sure to set the IP address of your Samba server on the workstation's
WINS server settings. This will allow the Samba server to resolve NetBIOS
names on behalf of the workstations. Otherwise, NetBIOS names are
resolved via broadcasts.

The above will make your Samba server the "master browser" you've been
reading about.

Restart the Samba daemon and verify that you have at least one smbd and
one nmbd process running. On my server, it looks something like this
using `ps aux | grep -i mbd` :

root 2464 0.0 0.4 10688 3188 ? Ss Jul29 0:00 smbd -D
root 2467 0.0 0.2 8160 2244 ? Ss Jul29 0:37 nmbd -D
root 2468 0.0 0.2 8212 2008 ? S Jul29 0:00 nmbd -D
root 2479 0.0 0.4 10724 3168 ? S Jul29 0:00 smbd -D

If nmbd isn't running, you will not have a "Network Neighborhood". You
should then check your logs and find out why it's dying.

My [GLOBAL] parameters for Samba are:

[global]
workgroup = WORKGROUP
server string = Samba %v Server
map to guest = Bad User
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *New*UNIX*password* %n\n *ReType*new*UNIX*password* %n\n*p asswd:*all*authentication*tokens*updated*successfully*
unix password sync = Yes
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 1000
announce version = 5.0
name resolve order = wins bcast hosts lmhosts
time server = Yes
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
add machine script = /usr/sbin/useradd -n -g 501 -c 'Machine Account' -d /dev/null -s /bin/false %u
logon script = logon.bat
logon drive = U:
domain logons = Yes
os level = 65
lm announce = Yes # Needed for old DOS/LanManager clients.
preferred master = Yes
domain master = Yes
wins support = Yes
ldap ssl = no
idmap uid = 16777216-33554431
idmap gid = 16777216-33554431
admin users = <my username>

This setup creates a pseudo-PDC that you can then join your Win2K/XP
servers to. This configuration is working on Samba version 3.0.14.

Hope this helps!

Randy