OMG … I am a total … well, half… idiot …haha
Checking my files again, and mind you, I am a linux noob … for the auto.master file, I copied/pasted the /- /etc/auto.smb.shares --timeout 15 browse line in putty … but it seems the “15” part was not there.
added that … restarted autofs and I see my shares.
Apologies for my own error 
Now to just get my harmony remote working again (did the exact same thing as on the vero 4k, but so far no luck) … and I’m in business to test this baby