SAMBA problem: "Cannot copy file. The path is too deep."

[Stuart Abramson_2]

We set up samba on several of our HP-UX servers.

One of our uses has a problem on his Windows client:

If he copies a file from C:\blah.blah to X:\customer\1.0\reports\US

he gets the above error:

"Cannot Copy File. The path is too deep."

If he copies a file from C:\blah.blah to Y:\customer\1.0\reports\US

it works just fine

where "X" is one UNIX server and
"Y" is another UNIX server

In short the "X" SAMBA or server file systems aren't set up right, and I guess the "Y" server/file systems are set up correctly.

So, where will I look for this problem?

I'm going to start checking EVERYTHING: SAMBA setup and file system permissions all the up/down the tree.

[T G Manikandan · Accepted solution]

Just check the interface card configuration on both X and Y.

Speed and duplex settings

Just do a
#lanadmin

lan
dis
and check for the errors

[Stuart Abramson_2]

More information:

I can write a new file with no error messages.

When a "over-write" a file that already exists, that's when I get the above message.

BUT, the new file contents actually does get copied!

[Jeff Schussele]

Hi Stuart,

These type options are normally defined in the smb.conf file.
CIFS for HP loads this file in /etc/opt/samba, but it could be elsewhere.
Have a look in there for an option that defines max path length.

Else you may be hitting the POSIX limit of 255 chars for path length. The OS limit is 1023 chars, so I suspect you'd be topping out on the POSIX limit. Check to see how the Y: drive maps onto the HP system & add the path length from the M$ box & see if that exceeds 255 chars.

HTH,
Jeff

[T G Manikandan]

It could also be some symbolic links are pointing to each other recursively.

[Graham Cameron_1]

Check the smb.conf and the samba log files on both X and Y.

You'll have to find them first, they could be in one of several places.

If you know where the smb.conf file is (here it is on /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf) then it points to the log files (look for the log_file) entry.

-- Graham

[Darren Prior]

Hi,

Another point to check is the revision of samba or CIFS on systems X and Y.

regards,

Darren.

[Stuart Abramson_2]

These were all good thoughts, but none applies:

o..Not a lan problem.
o../etc/opt/samba/smb.conf the same on both UNIX servers.
o..No recursive links.
o..SAMBA version the same on all servers (bundled in with our 11.11 OE.)

HOWEVER: The copy/paste works on small files, but fails on files bigger than 16KB. But only in the "X:" share. Not in the "Y:" share.

Why would that be?

[Darren Prior]

I'd start checking out the CIFS logs. They may be set to the default value, in which case it's worth setting the debug level to 2 for a while. Try to repeat the problem (sound like that bit's easy enough!) and then look through the log to see what was happening on the HP-UX side.

fyi, the latest CIFS is A.01.10, available from http://software.hp.com - there are security issues documented on earlier versions.

regards,

Darren.

[Stuart Abramson_2]

Here's what the problem was. I almost don't believe it.

We saw "connection reset by peer" in the samba log for our Windows workstation. We found corresponding "connection reset by peer" in UNIXHOST:/var/adm/syslog/syslog.log

The problem was that "Autonegotiation" was set to "on" in the Windows workstation NIC card, and that allowed the windows workstation to renegotiate LAN speed periodically, and he would do it right in the middle of our SAMBA session! (I'm not a Windows guy..)

So, our Windows guy set the NIC card to "100 Full / autonegotiate off", and now we're fine.

I almost don't believe it...

Here's the syslog records:

Dec 17 10:22:31 wcshps06 smbd[29075]: read_data: read failure for 19168. Error = Connection reset by peer
Dec 17 10:25:21 wcshps06 smbd[6423]: read_data: read failure for 39608. Error = Connection reset by peer
Dec 17 10:35:02 wcshps06 smbd[6599]: read_data: read failure for 39608. Error = Connection reset by peer
Dec 17 10:52:06 wcshps06 smbd[7506]: read_data: read failure for 43704. Error = Connection reset by peer
Dec 17 12:26:30 wcshps06 smbd[9103]: read_data: read failure for 8142. Error = Connection reset by peer
Dec 17 12:34:28 wcshps06 smbd[17742]: read_data: read failure for 6690. Error = Connection reset by peer
Dec 17 13:19:24 wcshps06 smbd[22489]: read_data: read failure for 2310. Error = Connection reset by peer