Lots of time in Google didn't help at all in solving my pain with iTunes and my Samba server, but this morning I had a flash of insight and replaced SAMBA with NFS Client for Windows. Life is good.

Maybe I've been giving Apple a bum rap. Recent antitrust investigation of Apple for country restrictions seems misguided at best. I still won't by DRM-protected content, but I'll quit blaming Apple for all iTunes ills.