Unable to connect to Windows Workgroup [SOLVED]

[krasnit]

I am a newbie who finally got a chance to try Linux again, and put Linux Mint 15 on a Windows XP retired Compaq Presario M2000 with hacked BIOS (stripped out the WAN whitelist) and with a Linux supported Intel wireless LAN card.

The wireless LAN works well, but I cannot connect to the Windows workgroup I have. Period.
I have 4 computers: MRMint, 2 Win7s, and one Win8. The Windows computers are connected to a workgroup passed on from the days of Windows XP called MYGROUP and they connect fine among each other.

Enter MrMint: The fresh install showed me my MrMint computer and a "Windows network" folder. Inside the "Windows network" folder I saw WORKGROUP and MYGROUP. Opening WORKGROUP showed my MrMint computer again. Clicking on MYGROUP gave me the error message "Unable to mount location. Failed to retrieve share list from server".

OK, but I do not need WORKGROUP. So in smb.conf I changed
workgroup = WORKGROUP
to
workgroup = MYGROUP

After a reboot, now I do not see MrMint anymore in the network folder. Nor do I see a MYGROUP workgroup in the "Windows network" folder!
Also put the line right after

name resolve order = lmhosts wins host bcast

Nothing.....

Yes I have gone through the checklist at
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=88146&start=0
and it seems everything checks out.

The key must be in the answer to this question: Why can I no longer see my MrMint computer on itself in the Linux Network folder when I change the workgroup = X statement in Samba, and why can I not see the new workgroup in the "Windows network" folder?

I have spent too much time on all this already. Does anyone have a magical solution?

Thanks.

[altair4]

Please post the output of the following commands:

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testparm -s

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hostname

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smbtree

And if you followed the cheklist you wouldn't have a "name resolve order = lmhosts wins host bcast":

After a reboot, now I do not see MrMint anymore in the network folder. Nor do I see a MYGROUP workgroup in the "Windows network" folder!
Also put the line right after

name resolve order = lmhosts wins host bcast

Nothing.....

Yes I have gone through the checklist at
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 46&start=0
and it seems everything checks out.

[trapperjohn]

After providing the posts for smbtree etc, post:
cat /etc/nsswitch.conf

Mine has the line 'hosts files dns [NOTFOUND=return] wins winbind mdns4_minimal mdns4' and it works quite well. (I'm not sure if the winbind package is installed by default. Check in Synaptic.) You must restart the network if you change it.

Myself, I haven't found smb.conf to be of much consequence on the linux-to-windows side. I can set workgroup to any arbitrary string and still see every Windows share on any network. It's useful for sharing your linux files with windows machines though.

As you make changes, it will take a few moments for propagation, so don't react immediately if you're still not reaching out.

[krasnit]

Thanks for your response. Here is the information you requested. The real name of the Windows workgroup is STABLE, and the Mint computer name is ted-Presario, as you can see below. Nothing happens with the smbtree command. As for the "name resolve order = lmhosts wins host bcast" line, I took off the semicolon and moved it up to below the 'workgroup = STABLE' line, as someone suggeted it worked for him.


ted@ted-Presario ~ $ hostname
ted-Presario
ted@ted-Presario ~ $ testparm -s
Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf
rlimit_max: increasing rlimit_max (1024) to minimum Windows limit (16384)
Processing section "[printers]"
Processing section "[print$]"
Loaded services file OK.
Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE
[global]
workgroup = STABLE
server string = %h server (Samba, LinuxMint)
map to guest = Bad User
obey pam restrictions = Yes
pam password change = Yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
unix password sync = Yes
syslog = 0
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 1000
name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast
dns proxy = No
usershare allow guests = Yes
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
idmap config * : backend = tdb

[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
create mask = 0700
printable = Yes
print ok = Yes
browseable = No

[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /var/lib/samba/printers
ted@ted-Presario ~ $ smbtree
Enter ted's password:
ted@ted-Presario ~ $

[krasnit]

For trapperjohn:

ted@ted-Presario ~ $ cat /etc/nsswitch.conf
# /etc/nsswitch.conf
#
# Example configuration of GNU Name Service Switch functionality.
# If you have the `glibc-doc-reference' and `info' packages installed, try:
# `info libc "Name Service Switch"' for information about this file.

passwd: compat
group: compat
shadow: compat

hosts: files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4
networks: files

protocols: db files
services: db files
ethers: db files
rpc: db files

netgroup: nis
ted@ted-Presario ~ $

[krasnit]

There is some progress. One of my Win7 machines is actually able to see my Mint laptop now, and can access the shared public folder (which I manually set to be shared), although at this stage I am not sure what user name and password to give it to open the folder.
But I am still unable to see anything in the Mint machine network other than the Windows network folder which is empty.
One of my Win7 computers has a 3Tb drive with media files that is available through a DLNA server on it (Servio) to all my media clients. Would love to get my Mint laptop to access that.

[altair4]

Let's start from the beginning since it doesn't appear that you are following the HowTo you referenced in your original post.

[1] For browsing hosts to work all the machines have to be in the same subnet. If you all are receiving ip addresses from the same router this shouldn't be an issue but you might want to check just the same. If you machine has an ip address ... let's say in the 192.168.0.xxx range then all of them have to be in the same range.

[2] Name Resolve Order.

The one you are using needs to be reversed so edit smb.conf and change it to this:

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name resolve order = bcast host lmhosts wins

Then restart samba by executing each one of these commands:

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sudo service smbd restart
sudo service nmbd restart

Then rerun "testparm -s" to make sure it has in fact changed.

Note: Windows gets all discombobulated when any smb/samba service is restarted on any machine in the network so you have to wait a few minutes for things to settle down before you try to find each other again.

[3] Disable your Mint firewall ( if you want to have a firewall we can enable samba pass though later ):

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sudo ufw disable

One of my Win7 machines is actually able to see my Mint laptop now, and can access the shared public folder (which I manually set to be shared), although at this stage I am not sure what user name and password to give it to open the folder.

You don't have any Samba Classic shared defined for the Public folder or else it would show up in the testparm output. It's likely your created a Samba Usershre form your File manager ( Nemo? ) so please post the output of the following command so we can see how it's set up:

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net usershare info --long

As far as the username and password required it's not like Windows. A Linux Samba server differentiates a local user from a network user. So for example if you want a remote user to use the local user "ted" to access the share "ted" must be added to the samba password database:

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sudo smbpasswd -a ted

Nothing happens with the smbtree command.

The fact that you can't even see your own machine in smbtree is not a good thing. The changes you've made may resolve the issue -- we will find out. In the meantime run these two commands to see if the Samba client on your Mint machine can access the Samba server on the same machine.

On the Mint machine:

This one will determine if samba itself is working:

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nemo smb://192.168.0.100

Change 192.168.0.100 to the ip address of the Mint machine.

This one will determine if name resolution is working:

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nemo smb://ted-presario

[krasnit]

altair4:
Making very good progress. Tried all your suggetions, but got no change. The IP address was ok, well within the range I set on the router.
When I tried different workgroup names at least I was able to see my Mint machine on them, so I got suspicious when the name STABLE was being blacklisted that way. It could only be blacklisted because of the Windows machines that were part of that workgroup.
Now, most of my Windows machines run 24/7. So I temporarily disconnected from network all the Windows machines and rebooted the Mint machine, so DHCP would assign it a new address. Good news, now I was able to see the STABLE workgroup with the Mint machine in it. Then I started reconnecting the Windows machines one by one. And success: each one started appearing!!!
So it seems the Windows machine family did not like the Linux intruder!

But one problem still remains. I am able to access all the Windows machines except for one, the most important one for me, Mr Big, my main computer (Win7) that has the media files and DLNA server. When I try to access it I get: Unable to mount location -Failed to retrieve share list from server -connection timed out.

Should I mark this thread as solved, or continue trying to resolve this last problem here?

[altair4]

Can you connect to MrBig by ip address:

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nemo smb://192.168.0.1xx

Depending on how you shared your folder you may need to pass a username:

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nemo smb://username@192.168.0.1xx

[krasnit]

altair4:
When I try nemo smb://192.168.0.8 or the other with my usernae I still get:
Unable to mount location -Failed to retrieve share list from server -connection timed out

Mr Big was the only machine that could see the Mint machine before when nothing else worked. Now it no longer does, but the other Windows machines do see and can access Mint. The pendulum has swung the other way!

I checked the network settings on Mr Big, and they are no different from the other Windows machines. I turned off the firewall and anti-virus on Mr Big, but no change.
The other Windows machines and Android phone (DLNA) can access Mr Big with no problems.

Doing a smbtree shows all the Windows computers and their shares, but Mr Big is not listed.

[altair4]

When I try nemo smb://192.168.0.8 or the other with my usernae I still get:
Unable to mount location -Failed to retrieve share list from server -connection timed out

there is something fundamentally different with that machine.

Install this package:

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sudo apt-get install nmap

Then run this command:

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sudo nmap -sS -sU -T4 192.168.0.108

You should get something back that includes:

PORT STATE SERVICE
139/tcp open netbios-ssn
445/tcp open microsoft-ds
137/udp open netbios-ns
138/udp open|filtered netbios-dgm

[krasnit]

altair4:
Only got this:

ted@ted-Presario ~ $ sudo nmap -sS -sU -T4 192.168.0.108
Starting Nmap 6.00 ( http://nmap.org ) at 2013-07-29 12:03 EDT
Note: Host seems down. If it is really up, but blocking our ping probes, try -Pn
Nmap done: 1 IP address (0 hosts up) scanned in 0.59 seconds
ted@ted-Presario ~ $

So also tried this with -Pn:

ted@ted-Presario ~ $ sudo nmap -sS -sU -T4 -Pn 192.168.0.108
Starting Nmap 6.00 ( http://nmap.org ) at 2013-07-29 12:05 EDT
Nmap done: 1 IP address (0 hosts up) scanned in 0.56 seconds
ted@ted-Presario ~ $

Something on that computer is blocking access to Samba

[altair4]

Typo on my part sorry about that:

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sudo nmap -sS -sU -T4 192.168.0.8

[krasnit]

altair4:
I should have seen that typo too.

Well, I solved the problem with accessing Mr Big. I wonder if Windows is built with code that purposely makes things difficult for Linux. All I needed to do was to cold reboot Mr. Big. And by cold I mean cutting off the power after shutdown since otherwise the net card may still have power supplied to it.

For your info now that everything works:

ted@ted-Presario ~ $ sudo nmap -sS -sU -T4 192.168.0.8
[sudo] password for ted:

Starting Nmap 6.00 ( http://nmap.org ) at 2013-07-29 12:19 EDT
Nmap scan report for 192.168.0.8
Host is up (0.0074s latency).
Not shown: 994 open|filtered ports, 987 closed ports
PORT STATE SERVICE
80/tcp open http
135/tcp open msrpc
139/tcp open netbios-ssn
443/tcp open https
445/tcp open microsoft-ds
554/tcp open rtsp
1025/tcp open NFS-or-IIS
1026/tcp open LSA-or-nterm
1027/tcp open IIS
1028/tcp open unknown
1030/tcp open iad1
1037/tcp open ams
2869/tcp open icslap
3306/tcp open mysql
5357/tcp open wsdapi
5906/tcp open unknown
10243/tcp open unknown
137/udp open netbios-ns
5353/udp open zeroconf
MAC Address: C8:60:00:DA:CC:25 (Asustek Computer)

Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 16.24 seconds
ted@ted-Presario ~ $

So here is the solution that finally worked for me:
Shut down with power off all computers in the workgroup
Boot up the Mint machine(s)
Boot up the Windows machines

Windows keeps a log of the available computers in the workgroup, so this probably only has to be done once.

Thank you all for your time and effort. The solution would not have been possible without your help since it lead me to try things that sometimes worked with Windows machines for me over the years. This help is very impressive and makes me want to install Mint on all my machines. Actually, I will fool around with Wine to see how possible this is.

[altair4]

5353/udp open zeroconf

You have an mdns port open for business!

You should be able to access mrbig ( if that is it's real name ) using an mdns qualified expression. As in:

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nemo smb://mrbig.local

You just have to make sure avahi is running on Mint:

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sudo service avahi-daemon status

Then you can bookmark it and it will show up on the left side of Nemo just like a "mapped" drive does in Explorer.

[silvanet]

Am I glad I came across this post. I had posted a similar problem recently and this solved it for me. I will reference this solution there. Thanks so much.

[dpbaril]

THANK YOU! After banging my head against this one for a couple of days, I finally got to the bottom of the thread and found the suggestion to completely power off all of the Windows machines and restart them after firing up the Linux box. So simple! I am now able to see the media repository and printer on my old XP machine from my test Linux Mint machine. I'll now check to make sure the visibility is reciprocated and extends to new Win 8.1 desktop and then proceed to convert the old XP box to Linux Mint.

In the meantime, I learned more about SAMBA that I'll ever need to know!

David Baril, Almonte ON
LInux Newbie - Week One