Why not just disable the election process on the NT boxes?
Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters
Set:
IsDomainMaster:REG_SZ:FALSE
MaintainServerList:REG_SZ:NO
If nothing else, this will end the election traffic and assist in further
diagnoses.
Michael J Welker Jr>------------------------------
>
>Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 16:11:45 -0800 (PST)
>From: Peter Stoddard <stoddard@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>
>To: samba@samba.anu.edu.au
>Subject: browser problem
>Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.95.981026155519.1535E-100000@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>
>
>The browsing capability in Network Neighborhood disppears periodically.
>Usually, double-clicking on Network Neighborhood gives us a list of all
>the NT and Unix/samba boxes on the network segment (i.e. in the
>Workgroup). When browsing disppears, all we see is *Entire Network*,
>which has nothing in it.
>
>We run a unix/NT network with 6 unix servers and about 80 NT clients. We
>are running NT Workstation 4.0 SP3 only ... not NT Server. All unix
>servers run Solaris 2.5/2.6 and Samba 1.9.18p10 with encrypted passwords
>enabled. Here is my smb.conf for our main file server. I have enabled
>preferred master on this one server, and increased the OS level on all
>unix servers to values ranging from 45 to 50.
>
>Restarting a unix server solves the problem temporarily, but it returns
>after a few days or a week.
>
>********************snip*******************
>
>When I run smbclient -L for any of the unix servers, here are the last few
>lines:
>
>**************snip***************
>
>This machine has a browse list:
>
>Server Comment
>--------- -------
>EMPM Samba 1.9.18p10 on empm
>
>This machine has a workgroup list:
>
>Workgroup Master
>--------- -------
>WORKGROUP JOHNSON
>
>**************snip**************
>
>Note JOHNSON is one of the NT Workstation clients.
>
>My hypothesis is that these NT clients are participating in master browser
>elections, and they are winning the elections, becoming the master browser
>and then cannot actually perform the duties of master browser. Based on
>this hypothesis I have tried to skew the elections in favor of the unix
>boxes with higher OS levels and by enabling preferred master on one of
>them. It doesn*t seem to be working.
>
>Restarting one of the unix serves solves the problem. Browsing returns to
>the network neighborhood and smbclient -L servername results in the
>following:
>
>**************snip************
>
>This machine has a workgroup list:
>
>Workgroup Master
>--------- -------
>WORKGROUP EMPM
>
>**************snip************
>
>Now the main file server *empm* is seen as the *Master* (Master Browser?).
>As I mentioned before, browsing has returned to the network neighborhood.
>
>Is my hypothesis correct? If so, how can I get my servers to win the
>browser elections?
>
>Peter Stoddard <stoddard@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>
>System Administrator
>Environmental Monitoring and Pest Management Branch
>California Department of Pesticide Regulation
>(916) 730-0490, (916) 324-4168 or (916) 324-4078
>
>
>------------------------------