ownership and sharing for pre-existing files and folders

I'm glad you are making progress

byronkw wrote:
... but i still have other issues such as getting my Windows Media Centre (and D-Link extender) to access that share.

The D-Link WiFi extender is used to connect your Media Centre to your home network? Are you using Windows File Sharing (CIFS) in the Media Center to access the media? Or possibly DLNA???

byronkw wrote:
...what does "actual linux file permissions" refer to? are these the permissions Linux assigns to my files...

The NAS itself is Linux, and the files stored on its disk are saved using a file system called ext4. Permissions and owners/groups are metadata that Linux attaches to each file and folder. Windows does something similar with NTFS.

When you access your files over the network, you are using a "network file protocol of some kind. There are several different ones the NAS supports - CIFS, AFP, NFS. All of these have their own way of communicating permissions and owner/groups. The NAS has to present the linux permissions (which is all it knows) to your PC using these various protocols. iHartley is saying that that this sometimes gets messed up, and that the linux attributes aren't set the way they should be.

byronkw wrote:
...this 'mount' idea also confuses me...

When you use Windows explorer, you can either enter \\NAS\folder into the address pane, or you can create a "mapped drive". This looks like a hard drive to Windows users (and is assigned a drive letter, just like your C drive). Other systems (including linux) have something similar to this "mapped drive' approach. The general idea of the mapped drive is also called "mounting" the file system.

byronkw wrote:
...when i try to use Windows Explorer address line (\\nasname\admin) the admin share shows up in the structure (that's new) but i don't get offered a window to sign in.

You see the admin share because you are using the NAS admin account to access the shares. If you look in Credential Manager (Windows control panel) you will likely see that Windows has stored your admin logon/password there.

byronkw wrote:
...if i double-click on the admin share i eventually got a window asking me to 'Select Certificate' - but neither of the 2 offered are related to the ReadyNAS. eventually a user/password box pops up, but entering admin and passwords seems to bring back the same 'Select Certificate' prompt.

I'm not sure what is happening here.

byronkw wrote:
if i use the Windows Explorer "Network" section and double-click on the ReadyNas NV+ listed under "Storage" devices, i see the same (web browser) Dashboard frontpage as using Radiator Setup takes to me to (but without a prompt for a password - very scary! - although other users don't seem to have access).

The lack of a password prompt is most likely because you told your browser to remember your NAS log on and password. Most browsers will let you see the saved accounts/passwords if you want to check this. What browser or you using?

byronkw wrote:
...are you saying DO NOT use Raidar and it's Setup button to access the ReadyNAS while i configure shares?... is there a difference between using either mode of accessing the Dashboard?

No. There are actually three ways - you can use RAIDar, the double-click on the "storage device" or go to https://nasname/admin in your browser. They are all just different ways to get to the same place.

byronkw wrote:
...either way, i don't see an "admin" user or group, or the admin share when i log into the Dashboard. nor does the Dashboard configuration show the any of the private user shares - although they have been created and are accessible to others users...

Correct. The NAS creates the private shares when you create the user accounts. There's no way to change the configuration settings, etc. via dashboard. Sometimes that gets in the way (in my view Dashboard should show the admin that stuff).