Some Linux- and Samba-based network storage appliances may not work with Windows Vista, writes Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols over at Linux-Watch.com. The solution is to configure Vista to use NTLM instead of NTLMv2 authentication, or else update the storage appliance to Samba server 3.0.22 or higher.

Vaughan-Nichols encountered the problem when testing Vista with his Linux/Samba based Linksys NSLU2 NAS gadget. However, the problem could prove to be widespread, given that Samba has become a mainstay in embedded Linux devices of all kinds.

For a quick fix, Vaughan-Nichols suggests invoking Vista's secpol.msc utility and setting the “Local Policies > Security Options > Network Security: LAN Manager” authentication level to “Send LM & NTLM — use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated.”

The better long-term solution, Vaughan-Nichols writes, is to update the device to Samba 3.0.22 or later, in order to take advantage of the NTLMv2's 128-bit encryption.

Since no official firmware updates were available for his NSLU2, Vaughan-Nichols looked around for a community-supported firmware upgrade for his device. He chose the community-supported Unslung Linux distribution; another approach might have been to simply install Debian, as the Debian “Etch” installer recently gained improved NSLU2 support.

More details can be found in the full Linux-Watch.com story, here.

Lots of Linux-based consumer devices that use Samba are listed in the Related Links below.

 
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