Network Access Question (Mixed Lan)

[t-vercetti]

hey everyone,

my 1st post in the linuxmint -forum!

my issue is probably dealt with many times and i've read some tutorials and various guides so far, but sadly i haven't come up with any solution yet. ok here it goes:

in my w-lan network i have a linux mint 7 laptop, and 2 others running winxp.
from linux mint i can view the shared folders/files on the win pcs. i can read and write, so i got full access.

the other way around (using the win pcs) i can see the folders of the linux mint laptop and also open them making the files visible. the problem is, i cannot read the shared files or write anything into the folders.

to configure the workgroup, shared folders, etc. i'm editing the smb.conf file in /etc/samba.
i set the "read only" option to "no", so i don't know why i can't read or write from the win pcs.

the only things i changed in the smb.conf file are:
1.) workgroup (they are now all in the same workgroup)
2.) i added the following lines at the end of the file:

[share]
path = /home/my_username/Shared Files
read only = No
guest ok = Yes


what do i have to edit/do in order for the winpcs to access (read/write) my shared files on the linux mint laptop?


thx for your time,
vercetti.

p.s. i would be grateful for a solution without having to add users, groups and passwords (unless this is impossible to avoid). a compromise would be setting a password and allowing every guest to access files after entering this password.

[altair4]

You could try the default method for file sharing in Mint. It does not use smb.conf and it modifies the permissions automatically which I believe is your current problem. Here's a HowTo:

Simple File Sharing in Mint: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=23169

Short Version:
Open Nautilus
Right Click on the folder you want to share
Select Sharing Options
Select Share this folder, Allow other to write, and Guest access.

You would need to "unshare" the share you created using smb.conf first though and issue a sudo service samba restart in a terminal.

[t-vercetti]

hey altair4!

thx, i'll try out the nautilus way for sure - it seems promising and looks nice and easy. the only problem: i was planning on sharing a folder on my fat32 partition which i set up for this specific reason and like you said, nautilus will only handle folders/files i own.

can you help me out with my fat32 partition as well?
all i know is that:
the fat32 partition is dev/sda8 and appears under my compter as /media/SHARES

what i don't know is:
- how to add the line in smb.conf that refers to a share on dev/sda8 (what is the correct path for a the following folder "/media/SHARES/shared files"?)
- if i need to somehow have this partition be automatically mounted in order for the winpcs to be able to access it and how this would work (i suppose adding a new line in /etc/fstab).
for this i found the following line: "/dev/sda8 /mnt/"shared_folder_name" vfat users,owner,rw,umask=000 0 0"
-> does this mean i have to create a folder named "mnt" on my fat32 and in there i put the folder i want to have shared? so would the line then have to be:
"/dev/sda8 /mnt/shared files vfat users,owner,ro,umask=000 0 0"?

sorry if my matter is confusing, i hope you understand!

thx for any help!
vercetti.

[t-vercetti]

ok altair4,

stop all your thoughts, most of it has just been solved thanx to your hint!

i guess i don't know what "owned" folders/files are because i gave "nautilus" a try and being the linux n00b i am, i realized that i was in fact able to share folders on my fat32 partition (what are owned folders and what are not - could you explain?). i also created a folder in /root/desktop in nautilus just to see if this would also work.
to my surprise both folders showed up on the winxp pc but i could only access the one on the fat32 (read and write). perfect!
i was denied access to the folder on /root/desktop though, which -in my case- is ok (i only need the fat32 share to work).

so now the only thing left is how i can automatically have the fat32 mounted when i boot linux. until i mount the fat32 in linux it stays unavailable for network share.

what would be the correct line to add in /etc/fstab to have the fat32 auto-mounted?

the fat32 partition is dev/sda8 and it shows up as /media/SHARES under my computer. the folder i want to have shared is "/media/SHARES/shared files"

i found this line in a tutorial: (after personalizing it) is it what i need and how must i edit it?

/dev/sda8 /mnt/win1 vfat users,owner,rw,umask=000 0 0

thx for your help!

vercetti.

[t-vercetti]

ok,

got my last issue solved too:

automounting the fat32 partition was done by using a little tool named "pysdm" (gui for editing fstab).
everything works great now!

all issues solved,
thx for your help,
vercetti.