I’m sure this question has been addressed somewhere before, so if you can just point me in the right direction, that would be great. I have OpenSUSE running nicely as a standalone platform, but have wanted to be able to access other Windows 7 machines on my local (home) network, as well as my wireless Epson printer.
After considerable effort, I have managed to coerce Samba and Dolphin to the point that I can see my OpenSUSE machine from one of the other Windows 7 machines on the network, and can access a shared folder and see the contents. So, I believe I am making progress. This is only possible if I turn the SUSE firewall off.
But if I select “Network” and “Samba Shares” in Dolphin, while it will show me an icon called “Workgroup”, if I click on it, it goes to “Loading folder…” for some seconds and then pops up a dialog box saying “Timeout on server workgroup”. So, I cannot see anything else on the network from the OpenSUSE side, even though I can see OpenSUSE from the Win7 side. Am I closing in on the rabbit here?
Looking at my firewall settings, allowed services, I see:
Netbios Server
Samba Client
Samba Server
There are others that are not relevant.
I’m pretty sure that those entries were put there when I used Yast to configure a Samba server. I still have the firewall running, and my shares are visible on Windows. I set them to allow sharing without a password (anonymous sharing).
But if I select “Network” and “Samba Shares” in Dolphin, while it will show me an icon called “Workgroup”, if I click on it, it goes to “Loading folder…” for some seconds and then pops up a dialog box saying “Timeout on server workgroup”.
When I do that, I see a directory, and then files in that directory (from another computer).
Settings on the Windows computer:
The home network is set as a private network.
I did not configure a home group on Windows. Instead, I set it to use a workgroup for compatibility with older Windows version. And the directory that I see is shared to be visible to anyone without authentication, though I don’t remember the settings I used for that.
For now, the firewall is off, so I guess I can deal with firewall settings once I get it working without the firewall.
Yes, my Win7 settings are also just normal workgroup, not homegroup. All other Win7 machines can see each other on the network, as well as the printers, and can log in to one another with the proper username/password, so all that is working on the Win7 side. Perhaps I need to turn off firewalls on the Win7 side to get Samba Shares to show computers in SUSE? If so, I will need to figure out what settings to use in Comodo in the Win7 side to allow the Win7 machines to be visible to Linux.
Try configuring the win 7 computer like this: Setup Windows 7 to Share Resources on an openSUSE Samba Network
Make sure the win7 box has the same workgroup name as the openSUSE box. You should set up your openSUSE box this way:
Look at the file smb.conf and set [global] stanza like this:
[global]
workgroup = NAME_OF_WORKGROUP
netbios name = name_of_this_workstation
name resolve order = bcast host lmhosts wins
server string = ""
printing = cups
printcap name = cups
printcap cache time = 750
cups options = raw
use client driver = yes
map to guest = Bad User
local master = yes
preferred master = yes
os level = 65
usershare allow guests = Yes
usershare max shares = 100
usershare owner only = False
Change this to an appropriate name: NAME_OF_WORKGROUP (it has to be same in every box)
Make this as you like it: name_of_this_workstation (e.g.IloveLinux)
Now, in the file smb.conf are a lot of other interesting [stanzas], put there to tweak your interest. You don’t need them all, or even any. This might interest you:An openSUSE/Windows Network Primer
If you describe to me what you want to share on the network from openSUSE, I’ll tell you what to do next.
Just to absolutely clarify the firewall stuff: Do what nrickert said re those three parameters and also this
Place the network interfaces in the External Zone: You treat your interfaces as if everything external to an individual workstation is suspect, including your local LAN. Consequently you prevent all contacts except those that you specifically authorise. Hence the interfaces are placed into the External Zone. Go to Yast → Security and Users → Firewall → Interfaces. Check and if necessary change zones for your network interfaces to External Zone.
Then you should be able to turn it back on, but do that last, get it browsing properly first. That way you cut down on the complex logic of debugging the whole thing.