samba - Jun 2000 - Won't connect at start with Wndows 98 and storage of profiles

Hi list,

I've got Samba 2.0.6 running on Yellow Dog Linux with a 2.2.14 kernel.  When
I start the PC, it displays the login screen (I have 3 user profiles) and I
enter the username and login domain (ie the one operated by Samba).  I get
an error message stating that the domain login server can't be found.  If I
then cancel the login, go to the start menu and log off, then login there is
no problem.  Any clues as to why my PC won't authenticate at power up but
seems happy to later?

I was also quite dismayed at the size of the "Outlook.ost" file
created in
the user directory on my Linux server - about 57Mbytes for no discernable
content!  Can I do anything about this?

I'm no Windows expert (my other computers are Macs) so all this seems a bit
mystifying.

  Iain Stevenson

[Iain Stevenson <iain@IainStevenson.com>]
> When I start the PC, it displays the login screen (I have 3 user
> profiles) and I enter the username and login domain (ie the one
> operated by Samba).  I get an error message stating that the domain
> login server can't be found.  If I then cancel the login, go to the
> start menu and log off, then login there is no problem.  Any clues as
> to why my PC won't authenticate at power up but seems happy to later?
Sounds like a browsing problem.  The PC is sending out requests for a
domain controller and not getting replies back soon enough.  Eventually
it gets the reply so the next time it will know where your server is.

The various browsing options are confusing, but when faced with
browsing problems, two things stand out to me: (a) Thou Shalt Not Run
nmbd From Inetd; (b) When in doubt, run WINS.  (A WINS environment is
?bereasy to set up -- one parameter in smb.conf, plus either one setup
field on each Windows box or one line in your dhcpd.conf.)
> I was also quite dismayed at the size of the "Outlook.ost" file
> created in the user directory on my Linux server - about 57Mbytes for
> no discernable content!  Can I do anything about this?
Besides switching to a different email client, I don't know.

Peter