Precedence Network Computer and NetManager
Other clients (PCs, MacOS)

  1. I get 'The Account is not authorised to login from this station' or I'm being asked to provide a password for a share called IPC$ when I try and connect a network drive from Windows to the NetManager.

    Recent versions of Windows won't allow connections to servers that request clear text passwords. To fix this, you need to add an entry to the registry. This can either be done by hand or by running a .reg file. Please follow the instructions below for the appropriate version of Windows

    After making any of these changes reboot the machine.

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  2. I'm still being asked for a password for IPC$ or being denied access for some users

    a.k.a.

  3. I get an 'Incorrect password' error for some users when logging on with LanManFS

    Due to some rather foolish assumptions, some Microsoft operating systems alter the case of the password before sending it. Windows for Workgroups always uppercases the password. Windows 95, 98 and ME uppercase the whole password if it contains any upper case characters at all. NT and 2000 are believed not to alter the password.

    Similarly, LanManFS (part of OmniClient) is not an NT client; it is a Windows for Worksgroups or LanManager client. As it was not designed for use with NT, it too uppercases the password if it contains any upper case characters at all. This is one of the many reasons why Precedence Technologies strongly recommend using LanMan98 (available from us) instead of LanManFS.

    NT is aware of this limitation and will happily accept such passwords. By default, the NetManager will not as to do so would reduce security considerably.

    The NetManager can be configured to automatically check different cases of the password. To switch this on:

    1. Log on as root
    2. Type joe /etc/smb.conf
    3. Look for the [global] line and add after it: 
      password level = 4
      Alter the number to the highest number of upper case characters to try. Do not set it higher than necessary as it can reduce security and slow your server down.
    4. Type Ctrl-K followed by X to save the file
    5. Type stopsamba ; startsamba

    Alternatively, if you are using NT as a client to your NetManager you may see problems if you are using a username over 12 characters in length. To work around this you will need to shorten the username.

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  4. How do I use a PC with the NCManager acting as a file server?

    You should first have a recent build (31 or later). This makes the [homes] share browsable. Your client PC must have TCP/IP installed and have it's IP settings correctly configured. If you have a defined workgroup that you want the NCManager to be part of, you will need to do the following to alter the NCManager configuration. However, this is not a necessity:
    1. Log in as root
    2. Type cd /usr/local/samba
    3. Type joe lib/smb.conf to edit the config file
    4. Look for the workgroup = MYGROUP line and alter accordingly
      If your workgroup is SCHOOL, the line should read: 
      workgroup = SCHOOL
    5. Save the config file (Ctrl-K followed by X)
    6. Type bin/stopsamba
    7. Type bin/startsamba
    You should log into your PC with your user name and password as used on the NCManager. Then by clicking on Network Neighbourhood, you should see the NCManager (called ncserver by default). You should be able to click on this to see the shares available to you including your home directory which is the same as your username. N.B. the NCManager does not support NetBEUI

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  5. How do I use a Mac with the NCManager acting as a file server?

    You must have installed the AppleTalk package on the NCManager (which installs a program suite called netatalk. If this starts successfully (e.g. see here for a possible error), then it should just work! Go into the Chooser on the Mac, click on AppleShare and you should see the NCManager (calling itself ncserver by default). Select this and log in to see your home directory.
    N.B. Due to a stupid limit in the MacOS Chooser, you can only specify 8 characters for a password. Therefore, you will not be able to access accounts with passwords that are greater than 8 characters in length.

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  6. How do I get Mac clients to access a shared read-only area on the NCManager?

    Firstly, it is presumed that you have installed the optional atalk package using the Software Options tool. If not, do it now and reboot the machine!
    The best way to have a shared area is to create a user whose home directory is shared. This means the shared area can be administered by logging on as that user. You can now log into the server from a MacOS machine from the Chooser as user macos. You may now alter the directory to your wishes (create folders, delete existing folders, copy software, etc.)

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  7. Appletalk on the NCManager dies with an 'addmulti:' error

    It is likely that the ethernet card you are using does not support multicast. For example, the Atomwide Ether3/5 (ea0) and EtherB (eb0) do not work. The Atomwide EtherM or i-cubed EtherLan 600 cards do work.

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  8. I'm using Terminal Server and while the first user has the correct personal access rights, subsequent users do not.

    Add the following registry value: MultipleUsersOnConnection (value 0) in 
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Rdr\Parameters
    Download and run WindowsTerminalServer.reg on your server. Read the SAMBA FAQ for more details.

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  9. I'd like a shared area that all PC clients can write to.

    1. Log in as root
    2. Create the directory with: mkdir /usr/shared
    3. Make it so that everyone can read and write to it: chmod 777 /usr/shared
    4. Share it by typing joe /etc/smb.conf and add the following at the bottom: 
      [Shared Area]
	path=/usr/shared
	force create mode = 0666
	force directory mode = 0777
	writable = yes
	browseable = yes
    5. Type Ctrl-K followed by X to save and quit the editor
    6. Restart SAMBA: stopsamba ; startsamba

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  10. I want to use Windows to edit the webpages on the NetManager.

    There are two methods of doing this. The first doesn't require any configuration changes on your server, but can be more work for the client, plus you will need to give a system username/password to anyone wanting to edit the webpages. The second method is much more flexible.

    1) Connecting to the home area of user www

    If you are using Windows 95/98/Me, you will need to log onto your PC as user www. You should be able to find a share called www in Network Neighborhood within your server.

    If you are using Windows NT/2000/XP, you can connect a network drive to \\ncserver\www as user www. N.B. This will not work if you have connected to any other home area such as root on the server

    2) Setting up a specific share for the webpages

    1. Log onto the NetManager as root and go to a command line
    2. Type: joe /etc/smb.conf
    3. Go to the bottom of the file with Ctrl-K followed by V
    4. Type in the following: 
      [Webpages]
	path = /usr/export/home/www
	public = no
	valid users = root www
	force user = www
	browseable = yes
	writable = yes
    5. Save the file with Ctrl-K followed by X
    6. Restart samba by typing: stopsamba; startsamba
    7. You will now be able to see a share called Webpages which will be accessible only by the users given on the valid users line. You can edit this line as required. To allow a whole group access put the group name in preceded by @ (e.g. valid users = root @staff).
    8. To make the share hidden change browseable = yes to browseable = no

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