NOTE: The above sources may also contain possible fixes
Eliminate each possible cause, one by one, until you find the actual cause
If you run out of possible causes
Go back and review your elimination of each possible cause; maybe you were too hasty on one or more of them
Expand your cause list
Once again, eliminate each possible cause, one by one, until you find the actual cause or set of causes
Fix/correct the cause(s)
Troubleshooting: No Samba shares on any Samba client
Probably the most serious and potentially the most complicated Samba problem
Initial investigation should isolate the problem to your Samba client(s), your Samba server or your LAN
Do so by first verifying your ability to file and print share on a server and client pair that are known to work
For example, use two (2) Windows 7 machines
Verify SMB/CIFS protocols on both machines and enable "Network Discovery" on both
Establish one (1) or more shares on the server
Should now be able to see the Windows server on the Windows client. It will appear as an icon in the "Network" folder in Windows Explorer. It will have the computer name (NetBIOS name) of the server
Should have access to those shares via the username and password on the Windows server
If all of the above is true, you should also see the Samba server shares, on the Windows client, and have access to them via the user account name and password you set up on the Samba server
If you can see and access the Samba shares, your problem is probably on the Samba client side. Please see Troubleshooting: Samba client problem, below, for additional steps
Test the physical connection between the Samba server and the Windows client
Determine the IP addresses of the server and the client
If either machine has a software firewall, configure the firewall to accept incoming and outgoing ping traffic (ICMP protocol)
Verify that you ping the Windows client from the Samba server, using "PING IP_C", where "IP_C" is the IP address of the client
Verify that you ping the the Samba server from the Windows client, using "PING IP_S", where "IP_S" is the IP address of the server
If your LAN has a hardware router, switch and/or hub, you may have to verify PING pass through by pinging the IP address of that hardware
Using the above steps, establish IP address communication to and from the Samba server and Windows client, using PING
Establish host name communication to and from the Samba server and Windows client via PING (NetBIOS name resolution)
If either machine has a software firewall, configure the firewall to accept incoming and outgoing ping traffic (ICMP protocol)
Verify that you ping the Windows client from the Samba server, using "PING Client", where "Client" is the NetBIOS name of the client; if not not successful please see Troubleshooting: Samba server problem
Verify that you ping the Samba server from the Windows client, using "PING Server", where "Server" is the NetBIOS name of the server If not not successful please see Troubleshooting: Windows client problem
Next, test for file and printer share traffic between the Samba server and Windows client
Temporarily disconnect the Internet from your LAN and disable the firewall, if any
If you can see the Samba shares on the Windows client, the problem is in your firewall configuration
If so, reenable your firewall and configure it to allow incoming and outgoing TCP packets on ports 135 and 445 and incoming and outgoing UDP packets on ports 137 and 138
Verify that you can still see the Samba shares on the Windows client
Reconnect the Internet
If, however, you cannot see the Samba shares on the Windows client, the problem is in the Samba server. Please see Troubleshooting: Samba server problem