Arrgh! Samba 3 ships with Fedora Core 7 which is where I’ve noticed this problem, it may affect other distros I don’t know.
Setup server, setup Samba shares, connect to network…hmm can’t see server or shares. Ping server - OK. Connect to share using full path - OK. Check & recheck Samba configuration to make sure shares are visible/browseable - OK.
Solution - for some bizarre reason starting Samba does not start the nmb daemon. If you have this problem the fix is easy:-
From a root permissions terminal type in
chkconfig nmb on
service nmb start
or if you are a sudo person from a terminal
sudo chkconfig nmb on
sudo service nmb start
or from X
System|Administration|Server settings|Services
Tick the box next to nmb, save settings, use tool button to start nmb