Purging Underscored Hostnames in Linux/XP Pro Local Network

[W. Watson]

I'm trying to get a linux and xp pro machine to talk with one another via Samba and
to just do time synchs. When I first set the hostname in Linux, I made the mistake of
using an underscore in the hostname. That gave me some trouble with Network Places
(XP). I believe I removed them from Linux by giving various variable new names. The
odd thing though is that every one in awhile when I'm looking at the two machines in
Network Places, the old underscore names reappear. Which machine is at fault for
this, and how do I get rid of the oddity? Yes, there are times when I cannot access
the Linux machine from XP. I have to play around with booting and use of Network
Places to get them to act civilly.
--
Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet

Web Page: <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>

 

[Anthony Ewell]

I'm trying to get a linux and xp pro machine to talk with one another
via Samba and to just do time synchs. When I first set the hostname in
Linux, I made the mistake of using an underscore in the hostname. That
gave me some trouble with Network Places (XP). I believe I removed them
from Linux by giving various variable new names. The odd thing though is
that every one in awhile when I'm looking at the two machines in Network
Places, the old underscore names reappear. Which machine is at fault for
this, and how do I get rid of the oddity? Yes, there are times when I
cannot access the Linux machine from XP. I have to play around with
booting and use of Network Places to get them to act civilly.

Hi W.,

On your Linux computer, in your /etc/smb.conf file, make sure
your workgroup name matches your XP computer's workgroup. Also,
change your machine name to what you like. For example:

workgroup = Watson
server string = W. Watson Samba Server

volume = White Box Enterprise Linux 3, %v
comment = Samba (NetBIOS) Server on wlinux
netbios name = wlinux
netbios aliases = All_Hail_W


Then, restart Samba with
/etc/rc.d/init.d/smb restart

(You don't have to reboot Linux all the time, like you do
Windows.)

HTH,
--Tony