diff -ru smbpwman-0.5.orig/smbpwcommon.c smbpwman-0.5/smbpwcommon.c
--- smbpwman-0.5.orig/smbpwcommon.c	2004-09-22 11:02:54.000000000 +1000
+++ smbpwman-0.5/smbpwcommon.c	2004-09-22 11:04:44.000000000 +1000
@@ -255,6 +255,8 @@
 	ssize_t len;
 	char result = 0xff;
 	char *password = 0;
+	int attempts = 3;
+	int delay = 1;
 
 	cs = smbpw_unix_connect(SOCKET_NAME);
 
@@ -260,7 +262,24 @@
 
 	if(cs < 0)
 	{
-		cs = smbpw_unix_connect(SOCKET_NAME);
+		while(attempts > 0)
+		{
+			attempts--;
+			sleep(delay);
+			delay = delay * 2;
+
+			cs = smbpw_unix_connect(SOCKET_NAME);
+			if(cs >= 0)
+			{
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if(cs < 0)
+	{
+		// could not connect to server
+		return password;
 	}
 
 	// retrieve