samba - Sep 1998 - HELP! Problem synchronizing samba and NIS+ password on Solaris

Dear all,

I have a problem synchronizing my Windows98 network password (i.e. samba
password)
with my Unix NIS+ password.  The Unix station is running Solaris 2.6.

This is a copy of what I have in smb.conf to enable password change:

password level = 2
domain logons = yes
logon script = %U.bat
debug level = 100
encrypt passwords = yes
unix password sync = yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd -r nisplus %u
passwd chat = *\n*login(NIS+)\spassword* %o\n New\spassword* %n\n
*enter\snew\sp
assword* %n\n *password*changed* \n *credential*changed*

The Samba server is also the NIS+ server, running on the same Unix box.  I
can't
seem to be able to change the password, not from Unix issuing the smbpasswd
when
logged in as the user, nor from the Windows 98 PC.

The debugging trace as a result of issuing "smbpasswd" when done by
the
user
himself returned the following messages in the log:

Doing SamOEMChangePassword
api_SamOEMChangePassword: Change password for <testuser>
get_smbpwd_entry: opening file /usr/local/samba-1.9.18p8/private/smbpasswd
get_smbpwd_entry: search by name: testuser
get_smbpwd_entry: skipping comment or blank line
get_smbpwd_entry: skipping comment or blank line
get_smbpwd_entry: skipping comment or blank line
get_smbpwd_entry: found by name: testuser
get_smbpwd_entry: returning passwd entry for user testuser, uid 1001
Password change for user: testuser
Dochild for user testuser (uid=0,gid=0)
response 1 incorrect

and on the user's login screen, he got the following error message:

/usr/local/samba-1.9.18p8/bin/smbpasswd: machine 127.0.0.1 rejected the
password change: Error was : The specified password is invalid.

My questions are:
1. If I enable password change on Samba (which I did during compilation),
will
   Samba changes the NIS+ (i.e. Unix) password as root or as the login
user.
   Why I'm asking that is because the response will be different between
root
   and a normal user if the command "passwd -r nisplus %u" is
executed.
2. My samba server is configured as the domain logon server.  However, if I
   tried to change the password on a Windows 98 client by:
     clicking control panel --> passwords
   It prompted me if I want to change the windows logon password or the
Microsoft
   network password.  I selected both.  I believe Microsoft network
password is
   my smbpasswd then.  However, I typed in my smbpasswd.  It keeps saying
that
   it is incorrect.  I don't seem to have any other password.  That really
   confuses me.  I'm not a PC guy and I almost scratch all my hair out of
my
   head.
3. What does the error message mean?  What is "reponse 1 incorrect"
and why
does
   it complain "The specified password is invalid"?

I've spent days on trying to figure out the solutions to the above problems
but
have no luck.  Please, please any advice or comment will be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Sandie