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Couple of irritating Ubuntu 16.04.1 + Samba issues


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Old 12-12-2016, 13:05
PsychoTherapist
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I've set up a PC running Ubuntu 16.04.1 and set up and configured Samba etc. I can share stuff from the Ubuntu PC to my Windows machines (all running either 10 Pro or 8.1 Pro). But I'm having some issues the other way around, namely sharing files TO the Ubuntu PC.

First issue, my Windows shares are set up with a Username, but no password. There's nothing confidential or private on these shares (just audio & videos) and they've been set up this way for years with no issues. Upon trying to connect to them on Ubuntu via Nautilus, it just keeps asking for the password over and over again.

Additionally to this, I'm also unable to connect to shares as Guest (I should be able to, as some of my shares allow Guest access). There is no Anonymous option.

I tried adding an additional user account on 1 of my Windows systems, that had a password. This worked, but is not ideal and I shouldn't have to do this just to appease Ubuntu!

Trying to mount via the terminal (mount -t cifs etc) without a password works if I access shares using the IP address only. If I try via the computer name (non-domain), I just get "mount error(115)". I'm guessing that is a WINS issue and some config file needs editing? Winbind is installed and configured in nsswitch.conf & smb.conf.

The second issue is in relation to Nautilus. Clicking on "Windows Network" doesn't work, nothing is displayed, not even the workgroup - just a blank screen. I have to connect to shares by using "Connect to Server" or the terminal as mentioned above.

All systems are using the same workgroup.

I can't believe such a simple feature like this isn't working on Ubuntu, so I'm guessing I must be doing something wrong, any ideas?
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Old 12-12-2016, 15:37
PsychoTherapist
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I seem to have narrowed the password thing down to "gvfs" not accepting blank passwords for security purposes. Is there any hope for this, or is Linux simply not fit for purpose?
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:40
TelevisionUser
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My own experience is that trying to diagnose what's wrong is very often better done by an actual examination rather than an online or telephone call diagnosis. Nevertheless, I'd suggest seeing if this guide here helps: http://www.technig.com/share-file-be...u-and-windows/
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:52
PsychoTherapist
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That guide is no good I'm afraid, as it only covers setting up samba shares on the Ubuntu system to share with a Windows system and not the other way around.

Ubuntu (& Mint 18, which I also tested and probably others too) has serious issues with such a simple task as browsing & mounting network shares.
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Old 12-12-2016, 19:58
emptybox
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I can't really give you any help, except to say that it'll almost certainly come down to tweaking your Samba configuration in some way.

Years ago when I started fiddling with Linux I always tried to get everything to work, including mutual networking, and spent ages trying different configurations for Samba.
Nowadays I'm happy if all my computers can access the shared drive connected to my router, and that can act as the intermediary between Linux and Windows.

Usually the default samba config will allow me to do that in Nautilus, wiithout needing IP addresses etc.
If it does ask for a password I try both my Linux and Windows usernames and passwords, and usually some combination works.

In Windows I always set up file and printer sharing such that no password is needed, but Linux still sometimes asks for one. Before now I've found that using my Windows username and Microsoft password has worked. No idea why.

Another thing to remember is that quite often in Linux even the 'Public' folder isn't shared by default, until you right click and set up the sharing options.

But when I look at the network from a Windows computer, sometimes my Linux boxes pop up and sometimes they don't.
Networking can be a mystery. Well, to me anyway.
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Old 12-12-2016, 21:28
TelevisionUser
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That guide is no good I'm afraid, as it only covers setting up samba shares on the Ubuntu system to share with a Windows system and not the other way around.

Ubuntu (& Mint 18, which I also tested and probably others too) has serious issues with such a simple task as browsing & mounting network shares.
In which case, I would suggest raising your issue on the specific Ubuntu forum here: https://ubuntuforums.org/index.php
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Old 17-12-2016, 13:07
PsychoTherapist
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Still having no luck with this issue. Posted on the ubuntu forums, not a single reply.

Guess I'll have to make do with the Terminal workaround, though it doesn't help with stuff that relies on this same method for connecting to samba shares (ie. trying in Kodi is just as useless as via the rest of the GUI).

If it wasn't for the fact that the software I'm testing needs a Unix based OS (web server based stuff), I wouldn't have touched Linux with a barge pole, never seem to have anything but trouble with it!
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Old 19-12-2016, 22:40
TelevisionUser
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Still having no luck with this issue. Posted on the ubuntu forums, not a single reply.

Guess I'll have to make do with the Terminal workaround, though it doesn't help with stuff that relies on this same method for connecting to samba shares (ie. trying in Kodi is just as useless as via the rest of the GUI).

If it wasn't for the fact that the software I'm testing needs a Unix based OS (web server based stuff), I wouldn't have touched Linux with a barge pole, never seem to have anything but trouble with it!
I am sorry that no one was able to help but would this networking guide be of any assistance? https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/network.html
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