XigmaNAS

I've been ignoring this problem for about 6 months since I set up N4F because I'm out of my depth, but my partner started using the server now and it's driving him crazy.

I have a basic HP Proliant home server running N4F 9.2.0.1 (943). We have various home computers running windows XP and 8.1 all in one workgroup.

In a nutshell, to be able to see or access the server files from a windows computer I have to log in to the server and switch the 'local master browser' on or off, save and restart samba and then it's visible until a computer is started or restarted. It doesn't seem to matter whether I switch the local master browser on or off, just making the switch and forcing the Samba to restart makes it accessible.

I can always login to the server webgui, my squeezeboxes which run from a jail on the N4F can always access the server. The server used to run on Freenas 7, and I vaguely recall this can cause some sort of conflict with the master browser setting (I can't find the info on this, I think it was on the old forum).

Could anyone help, please?


....so I've done a little digging since I posted this. The windows computers seem to becoming master browser when they get switched on, but the N4F is still showing as master browser as well. I am checking which computer is master browser using nbtstat -a in command line from windows. But, I've checked the N4F log too, which never shows any change in whether it is mb or not unless I have performed the change instruction to the N4F. Does this help shed any light?

So you need to disable the master browser service on the Windows boxes. Right?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/135404/en-us

Thanks, sorry for delay in replying, I'm still struggling with this. Yes, it is some sort of communication issue between Windows and N4F.
@kenZ71 do you mean I should set the MaintainServerList and/or IsDomainMaster to No/false? ( I still need the windows computers to speak to each other when the server isn't on.)

I have discovered that whether the N4F shows up in the network or not, it is still available by typing \\N4F IP Address so I think it's just something stupid that is wrong.

I checked the IsDomainMaster in the registry for the win8 laptop and there was no entry, so I created one and set it to auto. It didn't help.
I've checked the workgroup naming, the new laptops were set to WORKGROUP and old PCs and N4f were set to the wifi network name, so I have tried making the all the same, and have tried both names, but this didn't work either.

I've changed the Netbios name in N4F to the same thing but all in capital letters. No difference.

I've checked DNS server setting for N4F, which was different to what the router says (even though it was right at the time of setup??), so I corrected that, but it didn't help.

Now I'm sometimes getting system error 53 and 6118 when I do 'net view' in command prompt (in win8) to check who is master browser.

I'm all out of ideas now.