I can confirm this is the case. I tried to access the shares with N800 having Diablo firmware and it doesn't work. (Just as it doesn't work with N810 having Chinook either.) Trying to access the shares from WinXP computer, it asks for username and password.

I do not see any visible differences between the shared files access between the firmwares.

You are correct that this is a Windows authentication problem, but it is pretty easy to fix. Vista defaults to using the NTLMv2 authentication. XP defaults to using NTLM or LM authentication. Since Samba 2.x doesn't speak NTLMv2, the NIT can't access Vista shares in Vista's default setup.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to fix this problem: Force Vista to use the NTLM protocol as well as NTLM2. To do that, use these commands:

Vista Business:
1) Click Start
2) Click Control Panel (not classic view)
3) Click System & Maintenance
4) Click Administrative Tools
5) Double Click Local Security Policy
6) On the left pane, click to expand Local Policies
7) On the left pane, click on Security Options
8) Now, on the right pane, near the bottom, click on Network Security LAN Manager Authentication Level
9) On the drop down, change the default setting (NTLMv2 only) to Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session if negotiated.

Vista Home (No access to Local Security Policy):
1) Edit the registry. Just change the value of: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Lsa\LMCompatibilityLevel from a 3 to a 1.

This will make Vista authentication identical to XP and allow the shares to be accessed by the NIT File Manager.

Let me know how it goes.

where is that file found and what do i use to edit it?

file huh?

You mean the registry change for Vista home?
Start regedt32, it's like gconfedit for windows. Go to that key, and change it.

oops , my bad , never edited the registry in windows before... i assume a reboot will be required for it to take effect?

I changed the value to 1 and it still doesnt work.

remove any password authentication from the vista shares and reboot. That should do the trick.

Also, Vista has new networking features... to allow access to the files on vista open the network & sharing center and:
1) make sure the network is set to 'Private' - public will not allow network discovery
2) Make sure that 'Password protected sharing' is off - if turned on you have to have an account on the host machine to access
3) Make sure the first 3 parts of the 'Network & Discovery' are turned on. Also make sure the proper exceptions are allowed through the firewall if any is installed.

never had any password protection on my shares , i verified all of the details you listed were correct , and they are. still no joy

any more ideas why it still wont work?