Amigo, the following should solve your problem, at least in terms of being able to access a win2k box from win 98 machines. linux im not too hip on, so no tips there. basically, win 2k will no allow access to itself unless by an 'authenticated' user, meaning a user who has logged into their pc using a password and user id. so, when you get that error 'invalid password' its not asking you for a password, its telling you that you arent authenticated.......
If the computers can browse each other on the common protocol and in the common workgroup, you need to set up common user accounts:
For all of the computers that are running Windows 98, Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Users. Click Next. In the Add User dialog box, type a user name (preferably a one-word name: for example, type JDoe for John Doe), and then click Next. Type a password for the user account, and then type the password again to verify it. You can also leave the password boxes blank. The user name and password must be identical on the computer that is running Windows 98 and the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional. Click Next.
NOTE: Passwords are case-sensitive in Windows 2000 Professional.
Select any personalized settings for the account, and then click Next. Click Finish.
After you set up a user name and password on the computer that is running Windows 95 or Windows 98, create the same user name and password on the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional:
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Users and Passwords. Click the Advanced tab. In the Advanced User Management section, click Advanced. Click the Users folder. The current users are displayed in the right pane. On the Action menu, click New User. In the User Name box, type the user name that you created in Windows 95 or Windows 98. Type the same password (the password is case-sensitive) in the Password and Confirm Password boxes, or leave these boxes blank if you left them blank for the Windows 95 or Windows 98 user account. Click to clear the User must change password at next logon check box. You may want to click to select the User cannot change password check box so that users cannot change the passwords at a later time. Click Create.
If you receive an error message that indicates that the password does not meet the password policy requirements, click OK, and then make the password longer (use eight characters, and consider also using numbers). After you type a longer password, click Create again. If you modify the password in Windows 2000, you must also modify the password where that password is used in Windows 95 or Windows 98.
After you create a user account for each user who logs on to the network from a computer that is running Windows 95 or Windows 98, and then create a user account for the user of the computer that is running Windows 2000 Professional, click Close. Review the user accounts that you created, and then close the Local Users and Groups dialog box. Click OK in the Users and Passwords dialog box to close it.
ignore everything i say