[G4] Network Sharing Oddity

[DaleH]

Network Share Glitch

This question involves a small AppleTalk network of Macs running OSX 
10.3x, and the two methods for accessing shared volumes on the 
network. One method being through the "Connect to Server... window 
offering Guest and Registered User access, the other - and more 
problematic for me - being the SMB/CIFS Filesystem.

I am used to going to "Connect to Server..." while at computer A, 
selecting one of the icons for (say) computer B, and being able to 
log on as Guest or Registered User. All computers on the network 
demonstrate full sharing behavior, but occasionally, when I click one 
of the Network icons I get a window titled "SMB/CIFS Filesystem 
Authentication." After entering a password in the SMB/CIFS window I 
am only able to access files in the User Account of the targeted 
computer (computer B).

To make matters more complicated (for me), sometimes the Network 
window contains two icons for one computer - both identical. One icon 
leads to the SMB/CIFS window, the other to the Guest/Registered User 
window. Other times there is only one icon which can be for one 
method or the other. Other computers represented in the Network 
window may be represented by one or two icons as well, and if I 
choose the SMB/CIFS icon, I am able to quit and choose the other 
icon. Even if I manually enter the targeted computer B's afb server 
address, I am only able to access the user account.

If one computer is inaccessible from one location, I can go to a 
third computer on the network and achieve full sharing status with 
the computer in question. If I restart the computer from which 
connection is problematic, the problem goes away and I am able to 
connect.

The connection problem is one way only - inability to connect from A 
to B does  not affect connecting from B to A.

The bottom line - the problem is always corrected by restarting the 
computer from which the unsuccessful sharing attempt is being made, 
but sometimes that is not convenient.

Been wondering about this,
DaleH