# mount_smbfs -> can't get server address: syserr = Operation timed out



## dsavitsk (Jun 26, 2011)

I have FreeBSD 8.2 running as a guest in a VMWare player running on Windows7-64. Network is bridged, and both FreeBSD and Windows are DHCP clients.  I am trying to mount a Windows share on the FreeBSD machine with no luck at all.

Basically, I have created a shared file on Windows. On FreeBSD I use
[cmd=]mount_smbfs //USERNAME@WINDOWS_HOSTNAME/share /mnt/pnt[/cmd]
and I get the error

```
mount_smbfs: can't get server address: syserr = Operation timed out
```

I am able to mount a share on XP on a different machine. I also can ping the Windows 7 computer (though not when FreeBSD first boots -- but sometime later it starts working), I have disabled its firewall, removed all security from the share, etc. I have also done all the stuff mentioned in this thread: http://social.technet.microsoft.com...g/thread/ecda546e-5fa0-4c09-9f3c-3bd132c1be68

I can connect to the share from XP. I also have added the Windows 7 computer to /etc/hosts.

I recognize that this is likely a Windows issue, but any help would be really appreciated. Any thoughts on how to get around this? I am stumped.


----------



## dsavitsk (Jun 27, 2011)

I found _a_ solution for this, though it is not very satisfying.  First, I ping the Windows machine.  I get a response that the host is down for about 20 pings or so, at which point it starts responding. Sometimes I can ping the NetBIOS name, sometimes it seems to want the IP.  After that, doing

`mount_smbfs -I WINDOWS_HOSTNAME.my.domain //USERNAME@WINDOWS_HOSTNAME/share /mnt/pnt`

where WINDOWS_HOSTNAME.my.domain is in the /etc/hosts files seems to work. Seems not right, but works well enough for what I need, I guess.


----------

