Corruption on mdbs with multiple clients

Binary package hint: samba

Ubuntu 8.04 / Samba 3.028a

when sharing a Microsoft Access mdb file for read AND write access to at least 2 clients on different PCs your mdb may get corrupted (in my case it always does in a few days or weeks). It took me months to figure this out but now I finally have a clear test case which fails in a few seconds every time it is performed against samba/ubuntu when on the other hand it never fails on smb/windows.

My test case involves repeatedly calling a part of a complex Microsoft Access front-end application that simulates intensive user read/write activity against an mdb back-end which is placed either on an Ubuntu Server or on a Windows 2003 server (actually running on a VM within that Ubuntu Server). If it's necessary I can share that application (you'll need two windows clients to run it). Executing the application from two clients in a specific order[2] results in the two clients getting an Access error[1]. The exact same test never fails if I'm sharing the back-end mdb on a Windows 2003 server.

Haven't yet tested on newer versions of Linux.

_________________
[1] The two clients are creating records with an auto-number field which is supposed to be incrementing by one for every new record. At the point of failure the auto-number field is 100 but client A thinks it's 90 and tries to create a record with id 91 and client B thinks it's 95 and tries to create a record with id 96 (and of course both attempts produce an error).
[2] The order is this:
   a) start the application on client-A (the app begins rapid and continuous reading/modifying/creating records on more that one tables)
   b) start the same application on client-B
   c) quit the application from client-B
   d) restart it