Indeed, that is how I worked around the problem.
The system is running Intrepid. samba, samba-common and libpam-smbpass are all at version 2:3.2.3-1ubuntu3.
$ find /var/lib/samba/ -ls 2766950 4 drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Nov 1 22:57 /var/lib/samba/ 2766990 4 -rw------- 1 root root 696 Jul 6 17:38 /var/lib/samba/ntforms.tdb 2766969 4 -rw------- 1 root root 4096 Jul 6 17:38 /var/lib/samba/group_mapping.tdb.upgraded 3662964 80 -rw------- 1 root root 77824 Nov 1 22:57 /var/lib/samba/group_mapping.ldb 2766988 4 -rw------- 1 root root 4096 Jul 6 17:38 /var/lib/samba/ntdrivers.tdb 2766951 4 drwxr-xr-x 10 root root 4096 Oct 30 17:52 /var/lib/samba/printers 2763491 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/samba/printers/COLOR 2763515 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/samba/printers/W32PPC 2763493 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/samba/printers/W32ALPHA 2766962 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jun 30 16:56 /var/lib/samba/printers/WIN40 2763516 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/samba/printers/x64 2763492 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/samba/printers/IA64 2766961 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jun 30 16:56 /var/lib/samba/printers/W32X86 2763494 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/samba/printers/W32MIPS 2763497 4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Aug 9 21:26 /var/lib/samba/winbindd_idmap.tdb 2766975 36 -rw------- 1 root root 36864 Nov 25 10:13 /var/lib/samba/registry.tdb 2766967 8 -rw------- 1 root root 8192 Nov 25 16:06 /var/lib/samba/secrets.tdb 2766976 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jul 6 17:38 /var/lib/samba/perfmon 2766970 4 -rw------- 1 root root 4096 Oct 30 17:31 /var/lib/samba/account_policy.tdb 2766947 20 -rw------- 1 root root 20480 Nov 25 15:25 /var/lib/samba/share_info.tdb 2766989 20 -rw------- 1 root root 20480 Nov 25 10:13 /var/lib/samba/ntprinters.tdb 2766968 12 -rw------- 1 root root 12288 Nov 25 16:06 /var/lib/samba/passdb.tdb 2766971 4 drwxrwx--T 2 root sambashare 4096 Nov 17 14:33 /var/lib/samba/usershares 2763489 4 -rw-r--r-- 1 theuser theuser 102 Nov 17 14:33 /var/lib/samba/usershares/somefile
Indeed, that is how I worked around the problem.
The system is running Intrepid. samba, samba-common and libpam-smbpass are all at version 2:3.2.3-1ubuntu3.
$ find /var/lib/samba/ -ls samba/ntforms. tdb samba/group_ mapping. tdb.upgraded samba/group_ mapping. ldb samba/ntdrivers .tdb samba/printers samba/printers/ COLOR samba/printers/ W32PPC samba/printers/ W32ALPHA samba/printers/ WIN40 samba/printers/ x64 samba/printers/ IA64 samba/printers/ W32X86 samba/printers/ W32MIPS samba/winbindd_ idmap.tdb samba/registry. tdb samba/secrets. tdb samba/perfmon samba/account_ policy. tdb samba/share_ info.tdb samba/ntprinter s.tdb samba/passdb. tdb samba/usershare s samba/usershare s/somefile
2766950 4 drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Nov 1 22:57 /var/lib/samba/
2766990 4 -rw------- 1 root root 696 Jul 6 17:38 /var/lib/
2766969 4 -rw------- 1 root root 4096 Jul 6 17:38 /var/lib/
3662964 80 -rw------- 1 root root 77824 Nov 1 22:57 /var/lib/
2766988 4 -rw------- 1 root root 4096 Jul 6 17:38 /var/lib/
2766951 4 drwxr-xr-x 10 root root 4096 Oct 30 17:52 /var/lib/
2763491 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/
2763515 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/
2763493 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/
2766962 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jun 30 16:56 /var/lib/
2763516 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/
2763492 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/
2766961 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jun 30 16:56 /var/lib/
2763494 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 15:12 /var/lib/
2763497 4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4096 Aug 9 21:26 /var/lib/
2766975 36 -rw------- 1 root root 36864 Nov 25 10:13 /var/lib/
2766967 8 -rw------- 1 root root 8192 Nov 25 16:06 /var/lib/
2766976 4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jul 6 17:38 /var/lib/
2766970 4 -rw------- 1 root root 4096 Oct 30 17:31 /var/lib/
2766947 20 -rw------- 1 root root 20480 Nov 25 15:25 /var/lib/
2766989 20 -rw------- 1 root root 20480 Nov 25 10:13 /var/lib/
2766968 12 -rw------- 1 root root 12288 Nov 25 16:06 /var/lib/
2766971 4 drwxrwx--T 2 root sambashare 4096 Nov 17 14:33 /var/lib/
2763489 4 -rw-r--r-- 1 theuser theuser 102 Nov 17 14:33 /var/lib/