samba - Jul 2006 - can't contact domain

Hello everyone,

Once again I'm trying to set up our Samba server to operate as a PDC, now 
that I've verified that I have a clean install of the Samba 3 
software.  However there are some difficulties with this.  On my client 
machine when I try to set the domain name in the system control panel, I 
get an error message saying that the domain could not be contacted.  I've 
set up my client with the IP address of the Samba server as a WINS server 
in the network control panel.  I have a machine account for the client set 
up in the /etc/passwd & shadow and the smbpasswd.  I thought I had 
everything set up that I need, but it must be the case that I'm still 
overlooking something that is needed in order for the client to recognize 
the domain.  I'm not seeing any error messages appearing in my samba.log 
file.  Anyody have any suggestions for further things I could check to see 
why my PC can't see my domain?

Thanks very much,
Eric

PS,
Here's the smb.conf:

[global]
         socket address = 128.253.175.155
         socket options = TCP_NODELAY
         invalid users = bin daemon adm sync shutdown halt mail news uucp
         max log size = 100
         print command = /bin/lp -d%p %s; sleep 5; rm -f %s
         printer = 128_1
         printing = SYSV

         wins support = yes
         netbios name = pleiades
         workgroup = PLAB
         passdb backend = smbpasswd
         os level = 33
         preferred master = auto
         domain master = yes
         local master = yes
         security = user
         domain logons = yes
         logon drive = h:

         log file = /var/log/samba.log
         log level = 2
         max log size = 50
         debug timestamp = yes

[homes]
         browseable = no
         read only = no
         writeable = yes
         guest ok = no

[amanda2]
         path = /usersp/amanda2
         browseable = no
         read only = no
         writeable = yes
         guest ok = no
         valid users = amanda

[khoisan]
         path = /usersp/khoisan
         browseable = no
         read only = no
         writeable = yes
         guest ok = no
         valid users = amanda,eric

[nu]
         path = /users/Nu_Archive
         browseable = no
         read only = no
         writeable = yes
         guest ok = no
         valid users = amanda,johanna,eric,laura,andrea,nina,andrew,howell

Thanks Craig & Vincent for your suggestions.  It seems that there is 
definitely some kind of WINS problem but I still don't know exactly why the 
WINS serving is not working as it should.

I should also mention that I'm occasionally getting error messages that say 
"winbindd: idmap uid range missing or invalid" and "winbindd:
cannot
continue, exiting".
>on samba server command line...try
>
>smbclient -L pleiades -U Administrator
This command returns the following:

Domain=[PLAB] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.0.22]

         Sharename       Type      Comment
         ---------       ----      -------
         ADMIN$          IPC       IPC Service (Samba 3.0.22)
         IPC$            IPC       IPC Service (Samba 3.0.22)
         scripts         Disk
         ikalanga        Disk
         berber          Disk
         serbian         Disk
         ling420         Disk
         netlogon        Disk
         _default        Printer
         128_1           Printer
         root            Disk      Home directory of root
Domain=[PLAB] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.0.22]

         Server               Comment
         ---------            -------
         PLEIADES             Samba 3.0.22

         Workgroup            Master
         ---------            -------
         PLAB                 PLEIADES
>and see what happens
>
>if you have problems, you might try deleting wins.dat and restarting
>samba services
Yes, this seems like a good suggestion, but I tried this and I'm still 
having the problem with the client not recognizing the domain.
>lastly does nmbd.log reveal that pleiades is the master?
It would seem so.  Here is the most recent output from the log.nmbd 
(although I'm not so sure about what that last error message means):

[2006/07/11 11:19:38, 2] 
nmbd/nmbd_browsesync.c:announce_local_master_browser_to_domain_master_browser(110)
   announce_local_master_browser_to_domain_master_browser:
   We are both a domain and a local master browser for workgroup PLAB.  Do 
not announce to ourselves.
[2006/07/11 11:19:38, 2] nmbd/nmbd_browsesync.c:sync_with_dmb(154)
   sync_with_dmb:
   Initiating sync with domain master browser PLEIADES<20> at IP 
128.253.175.155 for workgroup PLAB
[2006/07/11 11:19:40, 2] 
nmbd/nmbd_become_dmb.c:become_domain_master_stage1(173)
[2006/07/11 13:09:26, 0] nmbd/nmbd.c:main(727)
   Netbios nameserver version 3.0.22 started.
   Copyright Andrew Tridgell and the Samba Team 1992-2006
[2006/07/11 13:09:26, 0] nmbd/nmbd.c:main(746)
   standard input is not a socket, assuming -D option
[2006/07/11 13:09:26, 2] nmbd/nmbd.c:main(751)
   Becoming a daemon.
[2006/07/11 13:09:26, 0] nmbd/asyncdns.c:start_async_dns(151)
   started asyncdns process 965
[2006/07/11 13:09:26, 0] lib/pidfile.c:pidfile_create(91)
   ERROR: nmbd is already running. File /usr/local/samba/var/locks/nmbd.pid 
exists and process id 758 is running.

As for Vincent's question, yes I have 'wins support = yes' in my
smb.conf
and I have the address of the Samba server (WINS server) defined in my 
client's network control panel in the list of WINS servers.  Vincent, I 
think you have a good point about the address of the WINS server that's 
showing up in the samba.log though.  Why is the WINS server coming up as 
127.0.0.1 instead of as its regular IP address?  It seems to me that if 
Samba is taking the IP address of the WINS server to be 127.0.0.1 instead 
of its real IP address then that would explain my whole problem, because 
obviously the client is not going to be able to locate the WINS server then 
by its IP address.  So the question I have is, how in the world do I get 
the Samba server to attach the real IP address, 128.253.175.155, to the 
WINS server instead of the localhost address?  Is there some smb.conf 
configuration statement that does this that I am overlooking?

Thanks a bunch,
Eric