smb error code -36 when attempting to mount smb server

Question

smb error code -36 when attempting to mount smb server

Good morning.

I am attempting to connect to a smb share on a new iMac in our office. Whenever I try to connect to the server, it gives me the following error:

The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "smb://DESIGN" could not be read or written.
(Error code -36)

now this smb server can and is reachable by 3 other Macs in the office as well as 6 PCs.

Can anyone help me figure out why this new iMac will not connect?

Thanks

Gordon

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.10), brand new iPhoneish model

Posted on Aug 31, 2007 9:31 AM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,585 points

Aug 31, 2007 11:23 AM in response to Gordon K Werner

Hi Gordon, and Welcome,

Though -36 can be a sort of generic error, might have a look at this...

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301580

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Answer 2

Sep 12, 2007 1:57 AM in response to Gordon K Werner

Hi, I just started getting this same error at work when I try to connect to a Windows server share. It was working fine one day from my MBP, and then bang it just stopped. The following message appears in my console:

"mount_smbfs: negotiate phase failed: syserr = Software caused connection abort"

I got the same error when I tried from a different account.

However, I can successfully mount the same share through the terminal with:
"mount_smbfs -I server.host.edu //daniel@myserver/Users ~/smb/server"

When I tried this command I got the standard OSX keychain dialogue saying that mount_smbfs had been updated and did I still want it to use my keychain. I pressed "yes" and the share mounted fine. However, the Finder is still not mounting any of the shares on that server. Unfortunately I don't have another server that I can experiment with.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Thanks, Dan

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

239,585 points

Sep 12, 2007 2:12 AM in response to robot_dan

Apple needs to find a way to easily rid past aliases, failed logons, etc.

I've been fairly successful at deleting the..

automount, Servers, & static at root, but haven't been able to show anybody else how to do it! 😟

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Answer 4

Sep 19, 2007 8:18 PM in response to robot_dan

I've finally managed to solve my own issue, after a multiple calls to Apple support and escalation to engineering support.

I used to use the Finder's "connect to server" command and type in:
"smb://server.host.edu/Sharename"
and this worked fine for a long time. All of a sudden it stopped working, and I was getting the error I described above. I called Apple support and we went through all sorts of troubleshooting but still couldn't fix it. Weird thing was, was that I was able to connect via the terminal just fine, and I had an iBook that could connect fine to the same server via the Finder.

The solution:
I stumbled upon a post in this thread: http://www.macfixitforums.com/showflat.php?Board=tiger&Number=730956
which suggested a more complete format in the "Connect to Server" dialogue. So I tried this:
"smb://WORKGROUP;username:password@server.host.edu/Sharename"

Hey presto, my MBP connected! Even better, it will now connect using the old format: "smb://server.host.edu/Sharename" - weird.

I have a feeling the problem has to do with passwords and the keychain, because when it finally connected properly, I had a keychain dialogue pop up asking for permission to use the password for that server.

I hope this helps some other people out there.

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