[smoothy]

OK... this might be an easy one for you Linux Gurus. I built two file servers (different machine types). I used FreeNAS 8 Stabile. With a boot drive, and two data drives. Very basic Windows and Linux shares.

One machine works perfectly fine... I can see it via both a linux based media player and my windows 7 machine... but the other one while I can access the web based menu without problem every try, I can not see any shares from it, either in linux or via Windows. I don't see the machine at all other than by direct IP web acess.

Both are configured identically. And I mean identically. Differ slightly only by name and by one IP number. (Static IP, not using DNS) Been beating my head over this for two weeks now, 4 reloads and zero progress, many cold reboots as well) .

Any ideas?

[Curlyben]

Go back and check the silly things.

CAPS in the name
Subnet mask/default gateway properly bound to eth
Stop/restart sharing services (SMB)
Pingable by IP and/or name ?

As a side, why not build as an NFS instead.
Simple and I found it easier to setup than FreeNAS
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/serverg...le-system.html

[smoothy]

Go back and check the silly things.

CAPS in the name
Subnet mask/default gateway properly bound to eth
Stop/restart sharing services (SMB)
Pingable by IP and/or name ?

As a side, why not build as an NFS instead.
Simple and I found it easier to setup than FreeNAS
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/serverg...le-system.html

Yeh, wasn't caps... subnet mask was correct. Has to be properly bound because I can actually log into the server remotely, so it CAN be reached via the intranet... without issue. I can try stopping and restarting Samba again, but like I have said, I've wiped the boot drive and reloaded everything from scratch a bunch of times (more than 4).

I've gone down through the web configuration interface step by step comparing the working machine to the non-working machine. (two browsers side by side) my screen is 2048 X 1152 on a 24" monitor.

I've dabbled with the Ubuntu server (Version 10.10 AND 11.04) but think the FreeNAS is simpler to set up for a Linux Neophyte. I never really got Ubuntu Server to run and share. Run yes, share no. I'm lost at a linux command prompt.

These servers will be operated without a monitor, keyboard or mouse once set up.

Didn't figure out Mandriva Server 5.2 either at all. Windows Home server will work, but I prefer the lower overhead of a Linux server, to use as a media server.

I've been a Microsoft guy for over 25 years... and a VAX-VMS guy before then (I've forgotten all I knew of that in the last 20 years) along with a couple long obsolete ones. But have only dabbled with Linux. Even ran OS/2 back in its day (no I didn't like it much).

I like the ZFS on the share drive(s) which appear as one (multiple 2 terrabyte drives). At least on the machine that works right.

But with that said I'll have another go at it again tonight... just to make sure its not something I've overlooked somehow a number of times. I know all too well about making assumptions.

[Curlyben]

That's the weird thing.
I tried FreeNAS and failed BIG time, but commend prompt NFS worked like a charm.
Now I'm in no was a linux admin, so it was simply a case of following the ubuntu KBs.
I even managed to team the NICs for failover on one static IP.
Never done it before, but worked.
I used it on my VMware ESX cluster, now as the backup data store.

Grab the bull and give it a go, you never know ;)

The stop/start samba is something I need to do on my own ERP system.
It's config'd to auto start, but doesn't.
Weird but can't get that one fixed either.

Just came to me, PERMISSIONS.
If in doubt throw them wide open and lock down from there.

[smoothy]

Since I'm on a firewalled home network I did basically put it wide open on permissions, allow guest and no passwords. Then once I got it working, lock it down to anything but certain machines IP addresses which are fixed and known, and limited to my own machines, TV's and media players.

FreeNAS practically works out of the box. Just basic configurations to set up the shares. I did have trouble with it previously, but based on the one I got working I was overthinking it and set things that apparently didn't work like I thought they would. It took a few tries before I figured out what I was doing wrong.

I'm sure its something simple. Eventually I'll be more familiar with this O/S, but until then its damned frustrating, since I'm the guy everyone at work comes to ask when they are stumped on Windows issues and I have no one local that does know this.

Heck at this point... I've got nothing to lose giving Ubuntu server another try on that machine..

[smoothy]

OK, update... got busy at night last few days, so finally went to sit down and try a relaod on Saturday after checking it's configuration one last time... but noticed it finally popped up on my Windows 7 machine??

This machine was online days and actually more than a week without it not being seen on shares by anything.

I have to tear it down anyway... it isn't happy booting to the current boot drive location. Requiring an F1 action to complete a boot (Its a Dell). Not good as I want this to run headless.