Vista not accessible on home workgroup

[steve1965]

Hi all
I have a small home network with 3 computers and 1 network printer with a BT Home Hub 2 router.
Computer 1 is PC with Vista home premium sp2 connected by Ethernet.
Computer 2 is PC with XP sp3 connected by Ethernet.
Computer 3 is laptop with Ubuntu 12.04 connected by wireless.

I can see and access everything from C1 (Vista).
I can see but cannot access C1 (Vista) from the other 2. I cannot ping Vista from either of the other 2 and have tried to allow pinging by setting various ICMP settings for this to no avail.

On C1 (Vista) I have Windows Firewall on
Vista settings for Network are:
Private Network
Network Discoveryn
File Sharingn
Public folder sharingn
Printer sharingn
Password protected sharingff
Media sharingff

I am pulling my hair out!
regards
Steve

 

[DelJo63]

Ping only tells you that the adapter ALLOWS ping and the system is up; no mapping or access is implied.

ALL systems must be on the same WORKGROUP name,
ports 137,138,139,445 must be open

the XP machine needs the LLPD protocol and library installed
Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder (KB922120)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...1D-EE46-481E-BA11-37F485FA34EA&displaylang=en

Vista --> Linux
see this story

Linux -->Vista is an Samba config issue

 

[steve1965]

Hi J O Beard
You misread my post;
I have file sharing on on Vista and can access Ubuntu from there but not the other way. It's the same with XP
XP is SP3...the LLTD responder you directed me to is for SP2! and the validation tool didn't work anyway.

Do I open those ports in Windows Firewall exceptions? Are they just for TCP? ANd do I set local subnet?

Thanks for your time
Steve

 

[DelJo63]

Ok. Linux accessing Windows is done with the /sbin/smbmount command (maybe /usr/bin/smbmount). You can use man smbmount to review the options.

I automated mine via the Linux startup scripts found at /etc/rc.d/*

Create rc.local there (chmod 755)
Then symbolically link K01local and S99local from the rc3.d/ back to ../rc.local

My RC.LOCAL script is attached as rc.local.txt. edit for the following and save as rc.local.

The summary of the directories are in rc.setup.txt

Edit RC.Local

mountpointA='/laptop';  #mount point on Linux must pre-exist
sysnameA='PCNAME';      #the Windows System name
sharenameA='Public';    #  where this SHARE name exists
 
winuserA='USERID';      #the user-id
winpwdA='USERSPWD';    #  and password of the share
winmodeA='rw';          #how Linux mounts the share
THEIP='192.168.0.5';    #the IP address of the $sysnameA

/laptop ->//windows/sharename
so if you need more than one sharename mounted in linux, create a separate script for each
and invoke them all insided rc.local

The system(linux) will perform a mount near the end of the boot sequence, like:

• smbmount //PC/SHARE /MOUNTPOINT MODE

and if necessary, you can do it manually via SU
/etc/rc.d/rc.local {start,stop}

enabling Windows File Sharing should be sufficient for both XP & Vista and should ALWAYS allow only the subnet, but if you must know

• 137,138,139 are UDP while 445 is TCP

Linux firewall is /sbin/iptables
to view, /sbin/iptables -L | more

I simplified to the subnet

• accept all -- subnet.address anywhere state NEW

 

[steve1965]

Hi JOBeard
Wow this seems very advanced and before I give it a whirl I need to ask...
Why can I fully access shares on XP SP3 and not on Vista?

Regards
Steve

 

[cliffordcooley]

Disabling password protected sharing usually works for me. It's located under "Advanced File Sharing".

I'm not sure why everyone keeps stating the machine has to be in the same workgroup. If the computer is in a different workgroup, it can still be accessed by searching for other workgroups. If you couldn't access a machine with a different workgroup name, there would be little reason in searching for different workgroups. Using the same workgroup name only makes things easier but not a requirement for accessing a machine.

 

[steve1965]

Hi Clifford
I have all the Vista settings set as they should be as I stated in my first post. All machines are on the same workgroup and have unique names.

All
My Linux smb.conf file if it helps;

#
# 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 = yes

# 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
username map = /etc/samba/smbusers
security = user
; guest ok = no
; guest account = nobody

#======================= 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

Regards
Steve

 

[DelJo63]

Disabling password protected sharing usually works for me. It's located under "Advanced File Sharing".

That gives access when the share has the <everyone> permission in the NTFS perms which typically you get set for you ONLY on the initial setup - - otherwise you have to add it manually. Frankly, I don't like <everyone> having access and prefer that they MUST know a user-id/pwd, but I'm paranoid.

I'm not sure why everyone keeps stating the machine has to be in the same workgroup. If the computer is in a different workgroup, it can still be accessed by searching for other workgroups. If you couldn't access a machine with a different workgroup name, there would be little reason in searching for different workgroups. Using the same workgroup name only makes things easier but not a requirement for accessing a machine.

The same workgroup name allows all the local subnet shares to be seen at one time under View Network without the necessity/wait for searching.

 

[DelJo63]

The Samba feature of Linux is how the linux system provides shares for other systems to access.
the smbmount is how linux accesses Mac or Windows shares. You can always do this manually via
SU smbmount .... (if you can recall all the parms), but I like having it all automated and scripted.

I'm now on Win/7 and I recall a setting for sharing that provided a list of user names permitted to have share access. Perhaps Vista adds that kink too.

Why can I fully access shares on XP SP3 and not on Vista?

good point and should solve
XP accessing Vista shares first, as that will correct the Vista settings for everything else.

 

[steve1965]

Hi JOBEARD
You will have to bear with me as I have little real knowledge of networks and linux.

I dont have a directory called /etc/rc.d/* - have you mispelled it?

I have the following folders in /etc/...rc0.d, rc1.d, rc2.d, rc3.d rc4.d, rc5.d, rc6.d and rcS.d
So where exactly do I create rc.local? Is it the file you supplied or a folder?
I assume symbolic link is akin to a windows shortcut.
I have no K01local and S99local files in rc3.d/!
If I did have these files would I use the same name for the symbolic link?

So If I want to set up a second share I just repeat the variable declarations and the switch statement or what?

As I said in my first post I did have file sharing and network discovery enabled on Vista.

Is the Linux firewall likely to be a problem in trying to access Vista shares? I ask because I can fully access XP SP3 from Ubuntu 12.04 wirelessly.

What is the purpose of rc.setup and when do I run it if at all?

Many thanks for being patient.
Steve

 

[DelJo63]

Ok, I can go through all of that, but first please verify that XP can access Vista shares

 

[steve1965]

XP cannot access Vista shares.

XP can see Vista in the network explorer but gets the usual ....path not found blah blah blah message when tring to gain access.

Cheers
Steve

 

[DelJo63]

That's what I feared - - need to solve this first.
Assuming you have a share like \users\all users\public, right click on public->properties->security.

• Under Group or user names, you should see all users with permission. You can also ADD the <everyone>
• to the list by
• Click EDIT->new popup->Add

As this is the Public share, adding everyone makes sense.

I ask because I can fully access XP SP3 from Ubuntu 12.04 wirelessly.

Not really.
Wireless is your connection to the router, not access to any system or shares.
Sharing involves two levels of access

1. Network Access
2. NTFS Access

(1) is where the firewall plays a part and the system sets up to listen on ports 137,138,139 & 445. This is
also where the workgroup name comes into play.

(2) is where the permissions on the share controls who gets access and in what mode (r vs rw).

It appears we are struggling with (2).

 

[DelJo63]

?? does IPCONFIG /ALL show NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled ??

 

[steve1965]

Sorry but you are completely confusing me.

I have 3 machines and I haven't a clue which one you are referring to at any point!

I have Vista SP2, XP SP3 and Ubuntu 12.04

I assume we are talking about Vista here...is that right?

Steve

 

[DelJo63]

Focus on VISTA first to keep you where you are the most familiar and that will simplify the Linux issues.
Yes, we're asking conf issues on Vista

 

[DelJo63]

To enable PING on Vista's firewall, get a command prompt and enter
netsh firewall set icmpsetting 8 enable

 

[DelJo63]

see also this

 

[DelJo63]

Verify restrictanonymous is ZERO: see this thread

 

[steve1965]

Restrictanonymous = 0.
enabled ping - but still cannot ping from either Ubuntu or XP

I had a serious malware infection in April. Broni on here fixed it and declared my Vista machine clean:

https://www.techspot.com/community/...-cryptic-dyr-infections-cannot-remove.179732/

Might that have caused my network settings to be wrong?

Steve

 

[DelJo63]

You're on Vista but this might lead to some results for your firewall

 

[DelJo63]

AHH! Here's the vista FW Setup

 

[steve1965]

Thanks for your reply.

In your first reply to me you seem to imply that ping isn't that important? Why was that? Why did you change you mind?

Here are the results from your 2 above suggestions.

1) It's for Win7 and not Vista. The page is just a lot of users not getting any joy from that particular solution.

2) I've already tried those ICMP settings and I said so my first post that I had tried it and it didn't work.

I have a feeling that I might have to reinstall Vista as networking is something that is just too complicated for humans to understand! I might just install Linux and have done with Windows altogether.

Thank you for your ongoing support
Steve

 

[DelJo63]

PING is not important for sharing nor does it assist in any access. Ping only says
the remote end is {a} active and {b} so configured as to allow a reply. Disabling PING reply
is one of many approaches to securing a system.

You're seen "Path Not Found" type messages and this is exactly where PING is of use.
So, why not find all issues with PING? New in Vista is the firewall default to disable ping reply - -
doesn't that prompt the question "What else is Vista doing?". I will not insult you by asking for TCP settings
for all your systems and will assume they're correct - - so it's got to be elsewhere.

I went from XP/Pro to Win/7 Pro without Vista. My experience with 7 has been interesting, but no where
as difficult as yours with Vista. As the XP hardware failed, I don't have another windows platform for these
settings, but my Macintosh and Red Hat Fedora sure love Win/7 and we share all three ways.

 

[steve1965]

Hi JOBEARD
I installed the LLTD Responder Hotfix for XP SP3 but still no pinging. All the machines were visible to each other before anyway.

I am attempting a reinstall of Vista to see what, if anything, that does.

Cheers
Steve