After battling Samba configuration across multiple platforms for years, I've finally cracked the code for creating truly public shares. Here's the definitive guide that actually works.

For a completely open share, your smb.conf needs these essential parameters:

[global]
   workgroup = WORKGROUP
   server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)
   security = user
   map to guest = Bad User
   guest account = nobody
   socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
   passdb backend = tdbsam
   usershare allow guests = yes

[public]
   path = /media/shared
   browsable = yes
   writable = yes
   guest ok = yes
   read only = no
   create mask = 0777
   directory mask = 0777
   force user = nobody
   force group = nogroup

When dealing with NTFS partitions (common in Windows migrations), add these mount options to your /etc/fstab:

/dev/sdb1 /media/disk1 ntfs-3g defaults,permissions,noatime,uid=65534,gid=65534 0 0

The uid/gid 65534 typically maps to 'nobody/nogroup'. Verify with:

id nobody

For Windows 7+ clients that still prompt for credentials, try these registry tweaks:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters]
"AllowInsecureGuestAuth"=dword:00000001

When troubleshooting, always check:

testparm -s
smbstatus
tail -f /var/log/samba/log.*

Ensure your shared directories have correct permissions:

chmod -R 777 /media/disk1
chown -R nobody:nogroup /media/disk1

Remember that Samba permissions combine both filesystem ACLs and Samba configuration rules.

After wrestling with Samba configurations across multiple platforms for years, I've finally cracked the code for creating truly public shares. The standard documentation often misses critical details when dealing with mixed Linux/Windows environments and NTFS-formatted drives.

The complete solution requires attention to four key areas in your smb.conf:

[global]
   workgroup = WORKGROUP
   security = user
   map to guest = Bad User
   guest account = nobody
   unix extensions = no
   ntlm auth = yes
   client ntlmv2 auth = yes

[public]
   path = /media/shared
   browsable = yes
   writable = yes
   guest ok = yes
   guest only = yes
   create mask = 0777
   directory mask = 0777
   force user = nobody
   force group = nogroup

When sharing NTFS partitions from Linux:

# Edit /etc/fstab for proper NTFS mounting:
/dev/sda1 /media/disk1 ntfs-3g defaults,permissions,noatime,uid=nobody,gid=nogroup 0 0

For Windows 7/10 clients, ensure these registry settings (create a .reg file):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters]
"AllowInsecureGuestAuth"=dword:00000001

Run these commands to verify your setup:

# Check Samba configuration
testparm -v

# Monitor real-time access
sudo tail -f /var/log/samba/log.*

# Test from Linux client
smbclient -L //homeserv -U%

For mixed RWX permissions on NTFS:

[disk1]
   path = /media/disk1
   force create mode = 0777
   force directory mode = 0777
   inherit permissions = yes
   inherit owner = yes
   store dos attributes = yes
   vfs objects = catia fruit streams_xattr

After implementing all changes:

1. Restart services: sudo service smbd restart && sudo service nmbd restart
2. Unmount and remount NTFS partitions
3. Clear client-side credentials (especially on Windows)