For the life of me I cannot get my computers to communicate with each other.

I run three computers on my home network, All running Kubuntu 11.1.
1 desktop, 2 dell laptops

I duel boot with windoze on my laptops. But my linux machines can't see each other. I have a storage device plugged into my router and they can all see and use it. They all connect to the internet fine. Funny thing is windoze can access all of the linux boxes, even edit if need be. But Linux will not see anything else but itself. I can see my Samba shares on the other boxes but it times out when trying to access them. I've tried for days( I always research before asking), And I see things like NFS, or zeroconf. All the tutorials online are for previous versions of KDE and I can't follow them because what they tell me to do isn't within my machines settings.... I really like the OS and I just want a simple home network to access my storage drive on my desktop.

I am sure it's very easy, Maybe I don't word my searches properly. I think zeroconf is what I need. I did find that in the package manager but did not install it. I don't want to dig any deeper when a simple solution may be available. I understand NFS is a lot tougher to setup and much more complex.

Tell me what to do. I am comfortable at the command prompt, just ignorant as to what needs addressing. Should i go ahead and install zeroconf from muon?

Thanks ahead for all the help.

Can you please check that no firewall has been enabled on the Kubuntu boxes, either incoming or outgoing which is causing this?

Also, you might want to check your Samba configurations.

I checked all three machines and no firewall. Kubuntu does not install this by default, this is something I would have done manually after install? Or am I wrong about that? If that's the case then definitely NO firewall.

I thought Samba was for Linux machines to communicate to windoze. SMB/NMB <~~ this is info I pulled from the net, I am probably wrong. But I thought I needed an all linux network setup.

I will try that on all machines and use the Samba setup. I hear it's a bit slower, I don't really care as long as I access my storage on the desktop.

Thanks a lot. This ought to keep me busy.

I setup samba on all machines I also setup shares with *full control* on each machine. I still get a "server timed out" message.

It is my understanding that I should use zeroconf. I am such a noob with linux networking. The funny thing, before installing Samba I was able to access linux from my windoze OS. I must be overlooking something, it's a good thing I learned patience in my recent years.

I had a similar problem some months ago when I tried to access my brother's Windows share from my Linux. I could see the shares but when trying to access them I always got permission denied. I found that there is a bug in samba <= 3.5.5 that prevents user authentication from succeeding:

https://bugzilla.samba.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7577

Upgrading to samba 3.5.6 solved my problem. Maybe that is your problem too.

yeah I'm using 3.5.11

you would think it should have no problems talking to the same operating system. Especially because I used the same usb drive to install on all machines. I updated all the systems together so it must just be a screwy bug.

windoze xp and 7 both can communicate to my linux machines grrrrrrrrr.

I want to do away with my windoze.... but this is a hangup.

I know it can be done, I know it's not this hard. It'll be hard to convince my dad to change over with this much complication. I hope someone points out the obvious and I can get on with my networking life.....


Thanks for trying Lamarque

A native linux system would share files/folders using NFS. Do the Samba logs on either machine indicate why the attempt to browse the share from another Linux system is failing?

As root, please run "iptables -L", and post the output of it.
You may also want to try using tools like "smbclient" to rule out problems with the KIO Samba slave.

This is what I get using "iptables -l"

Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)
target prot opt source destination


I did look around the logs a bit. Most were blank. I did happen to find an individual log for each computer on my network though. These too, were all blank. The only on I found that actually had information that may help is as follows:

-------------------
~/var/log/samba/log.smbd
-------------------

[2011/12/14 07:20:54, 0] smbd/server.c:1141(main)
smbd version 3.5.11 started.
Copyright Andrew Tridgell and the Samba Team 1992-2010
[2011/12/14 07:20:54.290807, 0] smbd/server.c:1187(main)
standard input is not a socket, assuming -D option
[2011/12/14 07:23:55.060967, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 3330 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 07:36:55.466939, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 3357 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 07:49:53, 0] smbd/server.c:1141(main)
smbd version 3.5.11 started.
Copyright Andrew Tridgell and the Samba Team 1992-2010
[2011/12/14 07:49:53.592992, 0] printing/print_cups.c:109(cups_connect)
Unable to connect to CUPS server localhost:631 - No such file or directory
[2011/12/14 07:49:53.593258, 0] printing/print_cups.c:468(cups_async_callback)
failed to retrieve printer list: NT_STATUS_UNSUCCESSFUL
[2011/12/14 07:49:53.743176, 0] smbd/server.c:1187(main)
standard input is not a socket, assuming -D option
[2011/12/14 07:49:54.898864, 0] smbd/server.c:501(smbd_open_one_socket)
smbd_open_once_socket: open_socket_in: Address already in use
[2011/12/14 07:49:54.898960, 0] smbd/server.c:501(smbd_open_one_socket)
smbd_open_once_socket: open_socket_in: Address already in use
[2011/12/14 07:52:55.518475, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 1727 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 08:05:55.865336, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 1945 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 08:18:56.555907, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 2155 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 08:25:01.185032, 1] smbd/server.c:267(remove_child_pid)
Scheduled cleanup of brl and lock database after unclean shutdown
[2011/12/14 08:25:21.201751, 1] smbd/server.c:240(cleanup_timeout_fn)
Cleaning up brl and lock database after unclean shutdown
[2011/12/14 08:31:56.733906, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 2451 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 08:44:57.190368, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 3926 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 08:51:50, 0] smbd/server.c:1141(main)
smbd version 3.5.11 started.
Copyright Andrew Tridgell and the Samba Team 1992-2010
[2011/12/14 08:51:50.740151, 0] printing/print_cups.c:109(cups_connect)
Unable to connect to CUPS server localhost:631 - No such file or directory
[2011/12/14 08:51:50.740426, 0] printing/print_cups.c:468(cups_async_callback)
failed to retrieve printer list: NT_STATUS_UNSUCCESSFUL
[2011/12/14 08:51:51.478975, 0] smbd/server.c:1187(main)
standard input is not a socket, assuming -D option
[2011/12/14 08:51:52.957897, 0] smbd/server.c:501(smbd_open_one_socket)
smbd_open_once_socket: open_socket_in: Address already in use
[2011/12/14 08:51:52.957980, 0] smbd/server.c:501(smbd_open_one_socket)
smbd_open_once_socket: open_socket_in: Address already in use
[2011/12/14 08:54:53.103645, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 1731 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 09:07:53.608166, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 1737 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 09:15:13, 0] smbd/server.c:1141(main)
smbd version 3.5.11 started.
Copyright Andrew Tridgell and the Samba Team 1992-2010
[2011/12/14 09:15:13.642316, 0] printing/print_cups.c:109(cups_connect)
Unable to connect to CUPS server localhost:631 - No such file or directory
[2011/12/14 09:15:13.642469, 0] printing/print_cups.c:468(cups_async_callback)
failed to retrieve printer list: NT_STATUS_UNSUCCESSFUL
[2011/12/14 09:15:13.642814, 0] smbd/server.c:1187(main)
standard input is not a socket, assuming -D option
[2011/12/14 09:15:13.658758, 0] smbd/server.c:501(smbd_open_one_socket)
smbd_open_once_socket: open_socket_in: Address already in use
[2011/12/14 09:15:13.658853, 0] smbd/server.c:501(smbd_open_one_socket)
smbd_open_once_socket: open_socket_in: Address already in use
[2011/12/14 09:18:13.800978, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 1750 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 09:31:14.219977, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 2152 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 09:44:14.672480, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 2159 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 09:57:15.016347, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 2689 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 10:10:15.550903, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 2695 -- ignoring
[2011/12/14 14:47:42, 0] smbd/server.c:1141(main)
smbd version 3.5.11 started.
Copyright Andrew Tridgell and the Samba Team 1992-2010
[2011/12/14 14:47:42.751445, 0] printing/print_cups.c:109(cups_connect)
Unable to connect to CUPS server localhost:631 - No such file or directory
[2011/12/14 14:47:42.751659, 0] printing/print_cups.c:468(cups_async_callback)
failed to retrieve printer list: NT_STATUS_UNSUCCESSFUL
[2011/12/14 14:47:42.752027, 0] smbd/server.c:1187(main)
standard input is not a socket, assuming -D option
[2011/12/14 14:47:42.760165, 0] smbd/server.c:501(smbd_open_one_socket)
smbd_open_once_socket: open_socket_in: Address already in use
[2011/12/14 14:47:42.760258, 0] smbd/server.c:501(smbd_open_one_socket)
smbd_open_once_socket: open_socket_in: Address already in use
[2011/12/14 14:50:42.938758, 1] smbd/server.c:282(remove_child_pid)
Could not find child 1884 -- ignoring
-----------------------------

I also found this config file:
-----------------------------
~/etc/samba/smb.conf
-------------------------------------

#
# Sample configuration file for the Samba suite for Debian GNU/Linux.
#
#
# This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the
# smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed
# here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options most of which
# are not shown in this example
#
# Some options that are often worth tuning have been included as
# commented-out examples in this file.
# - When such options are commented with ";", the proposed setting
# differs from the default Samba behaviour
# - When commented with "#", the proposed setting is the default
# behaviour of Samba but the option is considered important
# enough to be mentioned here
#
# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command
# "testparm" to check that you have not made any basic syntactic
# errors.
# A well-established practice is to name the original file
# "smb.conf.master" and create the "real" config file with
# testparm -s smb.conf.master >smb.conf
# This minimizes the size of the really used smb.conf file
# which, according to the Samba Team, impacts performance
# However, use this with caution if your smb.conf file contains nested
# "include" statements. See Debian bug #483187 for a case
# where using a master file is not a good idea.
#

#======================= Global Settings =======================

[global]

## Browsing/Identification ###

# Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of
workgroup = WORKGROUP

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable its 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

# This will prevent nmbd to search for NetBIOS names through DNS.
dns proxy = no

# What naming service and in what order should we use to resolve host names
# to IP addresses
; name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast

#### Networking ####

# The specific set of interfaces / networks to bind to
# This can be either the interface name or an IP address/netmask;
# interface names are normally preferred
; interfaces = 127.0.0.0/8 eth0

# Only bind to the named interfaces and/or networks; you must use the
# 'interfaces' option above to use this.
# It is recommended that you enable this feature if your Samba machine is
# not protected by a firewall or is a firewall itself. However, this
# option cannot handle dynamic or non-broadcast interfaces correctly.
; bind interfaces only = yes



#### Debugging/Accounting ####

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

# Cap the size of the individual log files (in KiB).
max log size = 1000

# If you want Samba to only log through syslog then set the following
# parameter to 'yes'.
# syslog only = no

# We want Samba to log a minimum amount of information to syslog. Everything
# should go to /var/log/samba/log.{smbd,nmbd} instead. If you want to log
# through syslog you should set the following parameter to something higher.
syslog = 0

# Do something sensible when Samba crashes: mail the admin a backtrace
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d


####### Authentication #######

# "security = user" is always a good idea. This will require a Unix account
# in this server for every user accessing the server. See
# /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/ServerType.html
# in the samba-doc package for details.
# security = user

# You may wish to use password encryption. See the section on
# 'encrypt passwords' in the smb.conf(5) manpage before enabling.
encrypt passwords = true

# If you are using encrypted passwords, Samba will need to know what
# password database type you are using.
passdb backend = tdbsam

obey pam restrictions = yes

# This boolean parameter controls whether Samba attempts to sync the Unix
# password with the SMB password when the encrypted SMB password in the
# passdb is changed.
unix password sync = yes

# For Unix password sync to work on a Debian GNU/Linux system, the following
# parameters must be set (thanks to Ian Kahan <<kahan@informatik.tu-muenchen.de> for
# sending the correct chat script for the passwd program in Debian Sarge).
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .

# This boolean controls whether PAM will be used for password changes
# when requested by an SMB client instead of the program listed in
# 'passwd program'. The default is 'no'.
pam password change = yes

# This option controls how unsuccessful authentication attempts are mapped
# to anonymous connections
map to guest = bad user

########## Domains ###########

# Is this machine able to authenticate users. Both PDC and BDC
# must have this setting enabled. If you are the BDC you must
# change the 'domain master' setting to no
#
; domain logons = yes
#
# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of the user's profile directory
# from the client point of view)
# The following required a [profiles] share to be setup on the
# samba server (see below)
; logon path = \\%N\profiles\%U
# Another common choice is storing the profile in the user's home directory
# (this is Samba's default)
# logon path = \\%N\%U\profile

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of a user's home directory (from the client
# point of view)
; logon drive = H:
# logon home = \\%N\%U

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the script to run during logon. The script must be stored
# in the [netlogon] share
# NOTE: Must be store in 'DOS' file format convention
; logon script = logon.cmd

# This allows Unix users to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR
# RPC pipe. The example command creates a user account with a disabled Unix
# password; please adapt to your needs
; add user script = /usr/sbin/adduser --quiet --disabled-password --gecos "" %u

# This allows machine accounts to be created on the domain controller via the
# SAMR RPC pipe.
# The following assumes a "machines" group exists on the system
; add machine script = /usr/sbin/useradd -g machines -c "%u machine account" -d /var/lib/samba -s /bin/false %u

# This allows Unix groups to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR
# RPC pipe.
; add group script = /usr/sbin/addgroup --force-badname %g

########## Printing ##########

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

# lpr(ng) printing. You may wish to override the location of the
# printcap file
; printing = bsd
; printcap name = /etc/printcap

# CUPS printing. See also the cupsaddsmb(8) manpage in the
# cupsys-client package.
; printing = cups
; printcap name = cups

############ Misc ############

# 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
; include = /home/samba/etc/smb.conf.%m

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See smb.conf(5) and /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/speed.html
# for details
# You may want to add the following on a Linux system:
# SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
# socket options = TCP_NODELAY

# The following parameter is useful only if you have the linpopup package
# installed. The samba maintainer and the linpopup maintainer are
# working to ease installation and configuration of linpopup and samba.
; message command = /bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/linpopup "%f" "%m" %s; rm %s' &

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. If this
# machine will be configured as a BDC (a secondary logon server), you
# must set this to 'no'; otherwise, the default behavior is recommended.
# domain master = auto

# Some defaults for winbind (make sure you're not using the ranges
# for something else.)
; idmap uid = 10000-20000
; idmap gid = 10000-20000
; template shell = /bin/bash

# The following was the default behaviour in sarge,
# but samba upstream reverted the default because it might induce
# performance issues in large organizations.
# See Debian bug #368251 for some of the consequences of *not*
# having this setting and smb.conf(5) for details.
; winbind enum groups = yes
; winbind enum users = yes

# Setup usershare options to enable non-root users to share folders
# with the net usershare command.

# Maximum number of usershare. 0 (default) means that usershare is disabled.
; usershare max shares = 100

# Allow users who've been granted usershare privileges to create
# public shares, not just authenticated ones
usershare allow guests = yes

#======================= Share Definitions =======================

# Un-comment the following (and tweak the other settings below to suit)
# to enable the default home directory shares. This will share each
# user's home director as \\server\username
;[homes]
; comment = Home Directories
; browseable = no

# By default, the home directories are exported read-only. Change the
# next parameter to 'no' if you want to be able to write to them.
; read only = yes

# File creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create files with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
; create mask = 0700

# Directory creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create dirs. with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
; directory mask = 0700

# By default, \\server\username shares can be connected to by anyone
# with access to the samba server. Un-comment the following parameter
# to make sure that only "username" can connect to \\server\username
# The following parameter makes sure that only "username" can connect
#
# This might need tweaking when using external authentication schemes
; valid users = %S

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
;[netlogon]
; comment = Network Logon Service
; path = /home/samba/netlogon
; guest ok = yes
; read only = yes

# Un-comment the following and create the profiles directory to store
# users profiles (see the "logon path" option above)
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
# The path below should be writable by all users so that their
# profile directory may be created the first time they log on
;[profiles]
; comment = Users profiles
; path = /home/samba/profiles
; guest ok = no
; browseable = no
; create mask = 0600
; directory mask = 0700

[printers]
comment = All Printers
browseable = no
path = /var/spool/samba
printable = yes
guest ok = no
read only = yes
create mask = 0700

# Windows clients look for this share name as a source of downloadable
# printer drivers
[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /var/lib/samba/printers
browseable = yes
read only = yes
guest ok = no
# Uncomment to allow remote administration of Windows print drivers.
# You may need to replace 'lpadmin' with the name of the group your
# admin users are members of.
# Please note that you also need to set appropriate Unix permissions
# to the drivers directory for these users to have write rights in it
; write list = root, @lpadmin

# A sample share for sharing your CD-ROM with others.
;[cdrom]
; comment = Samba server's CD-ROM
; read only = yes
; locking = no
; path = /cdrom
; guest ok = yes

# The next two parameters show how to auto-mount a CD-ROM when the
# cdrom share is accesed. For this to work /etc/fstab must contain
# an entry like this:
#
# /dev/scd0 /cdrom iso9660 defaults,noauto,ro,user 0 0
#
# The CD-ROM gets unmounted automatically after the connection to the
#
# If you don't want to use auto-mounting/unmounting make sure the CD
# is mounted on /cdrom
#
; preexec = /bin/mount /cdrom
; postexec = /bin/umount /cdrom

----------------------------

The only thing I see there is within global settings:

# This will prevent nmbd to search for NetBIOS names through DNS.
dns proxy = no

To me that should be a YES..... Thank you for your time. You are awesome

domain logons should be yes or it will not authenticate users. You should also use different domain names (workground configuration in smb.conf) for each samba server or they will battle between each to take over control of the domain name.

I have 'dns proxy = no' in my smb.conf, usually you do not need this configuration when all samba and Windows machines are connected in the same network switch.

It's strange, that smb.conf is not configured to allow guest logins and since domain logon is disabled you should not be able to access the samba servers from Windows like you said you can in the first post.

How are you trying to access the samba server from the other Linux? I use two ways to do that:

1. smbclient -L <IP> -U <username>
then I type username's password. This will list all shares in the machine with IP. To access them I use smbclient //<IP>/share -U <username>

2. mount -t cifs //<IP>/<share> <mount point> -o username=<username>
for example: mount -t cifs //192.168.2.3/lamarque /mnt/lamarque -o -username=lamarque
it will prompt for my password, after I type it it will mount the share in /mnt/lamarque.

I usually use IPs here because I do not have access to the dhcp server here at home (seriously). My Internet provider has the password, but not me. That usually is not a problem for me, I can even use /etc/samba/lmhosts to add "IP name" pairs, like in /etc/hosts.

WOW ok I was trying to browse using dolphin.
when in dolphin I got to: Networks>Network> I get icons showing a globe and a harddisk but neiher do anything. When I goto: Network>samba shares>Workgroup I see my computers but it times out when trying to access them.

So there currently is no GUI for networking? I never tried accessing using the command prompt. That seems really hard to do that way. I must say it is discouraging and complicated. I wonder if there is another way. Is there something I can download from the software center. I just need access to my storage drive I don't care if the computers don't talk to each other. As long as all can access my desktop in one direction.

I also looked in my router settings and all seems ok, I don't believe there was a setting in there to stop communication.

Frankie T wrote:WOW ok I was trying to browse using dolphin.
when in dolphin I got to: Networks>Network> I get icons showing a globe and a harddisk but neiher do anything. When I goto: Network>samba shares>Workgroup I see my computers but it times out when trying to access them.

So there currently is no GUI for networking? I never tried accessing using the command prompt. That seems really hard to do that way. I must say it is discouraging and complicated. I wonder if there is another way. Is there something I can download from the software center. I just need access to my storage drive I don't care if the computers don't talk to each other. As long as all can access my desktop in one direction.

I also looked in my router settings and all seems ok, I don't believe there was a setting in there to stop communication.

If you do not use different domain names in your smb.conf your computers will be confused to which computer you are trying to access. Change the workgroup configuration to WorkgroupOne in your first computer's smb.conf and WorkgroupTwo in your second's. That should prevent the confusing.

I prefer to use command line than using Dolphin. Dolphin is the graphical tool for this job, I am just not used to use it

You can use Dolphin to do this. As a quick test, try "smb://<ip address of system>" and it should work. You can get Dolphin to show a URL bar by clicking the area to the right of the last item in the breadcrumb path you currently have.

Thank you,Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

Without changing anything in smb.conf, I tried your route using the dolphin address bar, and I can access all of them. This is such a relief that I can connect to all my computers both directions from each machine. You totally made my week! Thank you guys so much.

I was getting frustrated about this whole thing. I knew it had to be easier than what I was looking into. Now I can say I am a totally turned linux man. This forum is the best I've seen, the quality of the people and knowledge is unprecedented. It was so easy to link to them by simply dragging to my favorites and my desktop. I am so glad I asked, and again I am so happy that there are people like BCOOKSLEY and LAMARQUE. I can only hope that in the future I too am able to help users get their hands wrapped around this amazing software.

Cheers to you guys and I'll keep my eye on the unanswered threads. Maybe I can handle the easy stuff so you guys can work on the real problems that are out of my league. Any way I can help I will sure try. Thanks again.

It looks like the netbios name resolution is not working when accessing through Dolphin. I have this line in my /etc/samba/smb.conf to configure it:

name resolve order = host lmhosts bcast

host means look in /etc/hosts
lmhosts means look in /etc/samba/lmhosts
bcast means broadcast (ask all computers around).

Maybe you if you that line you can access them without using the ip address.