Local network error: Connection Failed.

Question

Level 1

19 points

Local network error: Connection Failed.

I get the following error message when trying to access any of the computers on our local netwrok:

Connection failed.
The server may not exist or itnot operational at
this time. Cjecl tje server name or IP address and
your network connection and try again.

The computers on the network show up in the Finder under Shared, but when I choose one of the icons, it shows up as Connection Failed - and nothing happens when clicking Connect As.

iMac Intel Core Duo | MacBook Pro | G5 Dual | iBook G3, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jun 10, 2009 5:45 PM

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Answer 1

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jun 10, 2009 6:00 PM in response to J and F__

Have you tried manually connecting to a shared Mac by its IP address?

from the finder press command +K then enter the IP address of the mac you are trying to connect to.

this would rule out an issue with ipv4 networking.

then using the same method use the macs bonjour name. This is the computer name specified in that servers sharing preferences followed by .local

eg.

imac.local

This would find out if the issue is with bonjour networking.

Also in an earlier thread a mac could not connect to any shared computers and this was resolved by the procedure shown in Mac OS X 10.5: "The text entered does not appear to be a recognized URL format" alert when connecting to server or Time Machine

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Answer 2

J and F__ Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 11, 2009 12:27 PM in response to Tim Haigh

I can connect via Connect to Server, using aft with either the IP address of the specific Mac or with the computer name (... .local).

Still, when I disconnect and try to connect again via Shared, the computer icon will show up, but it will display Connection failed right away and when clicking Connect As, the same error mesage pops up again ...

I had tried the URL format fix, as well - did not work out my problem ...

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Answer 3

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jun 12, 2009 2:02 AM in response to J and F__

What does your console application report when this happens?

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Answer 4

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jun 12, 2009 4:07 AM in response to Tim Haigh

Also what does the firewall log on the server sbow when you try connecting from the finder sidebar?

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Answer 5

J and F__ Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 12, 2009 2:24 PM in response to Tim Haigh

I am not very familiar with Console, but it seems these log listings refer to the [unsuccessful] network connections:

6/12/09 12:41:27 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder[107] SharePointBrowser::handleOpenCallBack returned 64

6/12/09 12:41:30 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder[107] SharePointBrowser::handleOpenCallBack returned 64

I am not sure where to find the firewall log ...

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Answer 6

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jun 12, 2009 3:50 PM in response to J and F__

The application firewall only logs if the firewall is turned on. So to rule out the firewall on the macs you are trying to connect to goto their system preferences-->security and then firewall.Then set to 'allow all incoming connections'

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Answer 7

J and F__ Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 16, 2009 3:50 PM in response to Tim Haigh

No firewall is set on any of the computers linked to this network, but it is the same problem with each failed connection: I can see the computers in the Finder window, I can hit the Connect As button, but then it will say Connection Failed.

Only when going via Connect to Server and putting in the computer specific server address am I able to establish network connections.

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Answer 8

doyle84

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2009 12:26 AM in response to J and F__

Hey guys,

After quite a bit of searching to solve a similar problem (connection failed on local network) I found this fix which resolved it for me:

sudo rm /System/Library/Filesystems/afpfs.fs
sudo ln -s /System/Library/Filesystems/AppleShare/afpfs.kext /System/Library/Filesystems/afpfs.fs

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Answer 9

J and F__ Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 22, 2009 11:23 AM in response to doyle84

Hello.

This sounds very promising.
Could you specify what exactly you did to resolve this issue?
Are these commands to use in Terminal?

I just checked - it looks like the afpfs.fs file in my Filesystems folder is just an alias ...

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Answer 10

direwolf8

Level 4

1,286 points

Jun 22, 2009 11:48 AM in response to J and F__

That's what ln -s does. It creates a soft link (alias).

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Answer 11

J and F__ Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 22, 2009 3:27 PM in response to direwolf8

Unfortunately, this did not do the trick for me ...

I put the above into Terminal on both ends of the network: an Intel iMac & G5 Tower, both running the latest Leopard.

I still see the other computer under Shared, but still get the Connection Failed error whenever I try to connect via the Finder window. Connection works fine via AFT local ...

Message was edited by: J & F

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Answer 12

not@work

Level 1

5 points

Jul 16, 2009 7:50 AM in response to J and F__

After the thermal module on my Air was replaced yesterday, I have these exact symptoms. Connections to the shared hosts worked fine the day before (without an operational fan), but no longer. No firewall and the symbolic link is fine. Any other ideas...?

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