NAS Access in Catalina issues

SPOILER ALERT: this is not a solution but a "working" WORKAROUND

My actual situation:

• I'm able to access to my NAS (SMB shares) through finder left sidebar only after a reboot
• I'm Always able to connect to my SMB shares by "command K"
• my NAS implements SMB v3_2 protocol

My workaround (tested working after several working time or sleep):

• reboot the mac
• connect to NAS through sidebar network shortcut. This will mount shares on the desktop
• drag the shares icons on your desktop on finder sidebar but in "favorite" section (as in attached picture)

Now, every time you need to access these shares use these links on favorite sections instead of the one in network.

This definitely demonstrates that is not a "protocol connection issue" but a Finder specific issue.

I addressed my NAS connection issues related with macOS Catalina with Apple support here in the Netherlands. (Apple, if you're reading along, it is case number 101007771756).

At first they appeared willing to help: a support engineer did a remote connect to my MacBook, we did a screen recording and a dump of the network traffic when recreating the connection problems with my NAS. It then remained quiet. After sending a reminder to Apple I got the anwser that 1) Apple does not support NAS and 2) I should contact the manufacturer of my NAS.

I find this very disappointing (understatement), since Apple claims to support NAS connections https://support.apple.com/nl-nl/HT202784 on their own support site and since it has been clearly ruled out that this problem is related to my specific NAS (WD mycloudex2ultra), since:

1. There is no problem in previous versions of macos
2. There is no problem in windows
3. There is no problem in HTTP connections to my NAS
4. The problem persists when doing a clean install or setting up a new user under MacOS Catalina

I would like to ask Apple to take action, as this is clearly a fault in macOS Catalina. I would like to ask those reading this forum and struggling with the same issue to contact Apple support and ask for a solution. Maybe if there are sufficient cases, it will be fixed. The mantra "It just works" currently doesn't apply to macOS Catalina.....

P.s.

I installed Catalina 10.15.3 update yesterday and the problem has not been fixed....

@Remulus:

• Upgrading from Catalina 10.15.5 to 10.15.6 SOLVES the problem which is initially described in this thread = accessing NAS from Finder.

• The TM problem that I mention has nothing to do with Apple but is directly linked to Norton 360 (see link from @Martin above). My screen capture and error message is completely different than yours, check it here --> https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250794335?answerId=253038015022#253038015022

• The TM problem that YOU mention is completely different, the error message is not the same than the one we experience with Norton 360

Fly

I have confirmed with both Apple and Synology that this is a known issue with OSX Catalina. Supposedly their engineers are working together on a fix, but Synology tells me that it's a low priority for Apple, since it only affects a small subset of their users (i.e. those using NAS.)

From Synology:

"...At this point it is a waiting game with Apple and our developers as they work together for a resolution. Unfortunately, there is not an ETA that we are aware of. I know Apple is dealing with a few issues with the Catalina release mostly having to do with 64bit vs 32bit application support so I am not sure where this falls on their priority scale..."

I hate to be the buzzkill regarding some of the "fixes" posted on here, but restarting does not resolve this issue. Nor does setting the minimum SMB version to SMB 2, and the maximum to SMB 3.

The problem is that the the connection to the NAS gets into a bad state after some amount of time passes. Once in this bad state, the connection cannot be fully disconnected and thus reconnected, even by terminating the connection from the NAS side. Some access, such as TimeMachine, may continue to work, while other access, such as in Finder, will not. Once in this bad state, the computer becomes unstable, and random apps (even those that don't seem to need access to the NAS), including Finder, Safari, and third-party apps, will hang, and cannot be completely force-quit and restarted. The only reliable solution at this point is to reboot the computer, after which things will work ok for a while before the issue reoccurs.

This really sucks, as it makes my new $4k 16-inch MacBook Pro less stable than my old 2010 one. I routinely have to reboot my computer while I work, and sometimes wind up losing data because I cannot properly shut down apps or the OS.

Apple has fallen very far indeed if it no longer bothers to test its OS against popular devices and network setups. I hope someone at Apple decides that this is embarrassing enough to prioritize a fix. Otherwise this will definitely be the last MacBook I purchase.

Synology support says the opposite... I suggest people to also file a radar with Apple. This will increase the probability that it gets fixed soon.

Here's the link:

https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/

Hello,

I have the same and exact problem described here, but so far, I did not find any solution to solve it...

MacBook Air brand new (almost - end 2019)

Mac OS 10.15.4

Synology DS218+ brand new

SMB works fine with Windows 10 on my laptop, but no way on MacBook Air, it frequently disconnect and I am unable to reconnect (or very difficult by rebooting all devices)...

Any news on this topic ? Ideas ?

I read tomfrombamford solution (Link to his Post), but I do not know how to disconnect from all drives (when clicking disconnect, nothing happen, the Server is still listed in the left pane sidebar "Emplacement" (in French)...

Thanks,

Fly

Wanted to share my workaround for this annoyance I have successfully been using for the last few weeks:

Create Shell Script

I have written the attached shell script "mountshares" to mount my shares. Replace placeholders <> with your server and share names. SHARES is an array, so you can adjust the number of space-separated entries to your need. Note also the NAS user name, which in my case is the same as my Mac login user name.

Store the script in your home directory. I have added the folder "bin" there. So the script has the path:

/Users/<your-user-name/bin/mountshares

Make the script executable and secure access (open Terminal and enter run this command):

chmod 700 ~/bin
chmod 700 ~/bin/mountshares

Now, when you run this script (you may run it from Finder too). All your shares are mounted under /Volumes, which is the standard location.



Store passwords in KeyChain

I store my sudo password (which is your login password) and the server password in Keychain access.

Create a new entry in Keychain access with the name mountshares and one for the server with the name of the server (SERVER.local). The last one is normally created by Finder too, so you may have it already in your KeyChain.

When you run the script, it will ask for permission to access your Keychain like any normal app. You may give permanent permission to the script, if you wish.

Run script at login - Create Login Item

I wrap the script in an Automator Application like this (Note unchecked check box "Show this action ...").

Add the Automator Application to your Login Items ( > System Preferences > Users & Groups > your user > Login Items

From the next time log in again (i.e. you have to log out properly, not just lock the screen), your shares will be automatically mounted.

Finder adjustments

I have added /Volumes to my Finder sidebar. In Finder:

1. Press Cmd-Shift-G and enter "/Volumes". Press return.
2. Press Cmd-Ctrl-T to add the Volumes-folder to the sidebar.

Now you can access your shares through the sidebar item Volumes without Finder failing. In case the mounts are gone (can happen, because of whatever Finder reasons), you re-run the script or - better - Automator application and the mounts appear again.

If you have any suggestions for improving the script (securing and fail-proving), please do not hesitate to share.

Update: Yesterday, I followed Cemento's approach (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250794335?answerId=252112800022#252112800022) of dragging the networked drive(s) to the desktop and then back to the sidebar under Favorites.

If I reboot my Mac (2019 16-inch Macbook Pro), the computer does not reconnect to the NAS automatically for some reason. This results in the drive icons disappearing from the desktop, and clicking the new links to the drives in the sidebar does nothing. I have to manually reconnect via the link to my NAS under Locations in the sidebar, but after that, the icons reappear on the desktop and the new links to the drives in the sidebar become functional again.

In the past 24 hours, I have let the computer sleep several times, including overnight, and have shut and reopened the computer, gone off wi-fi, and other normal activities that can interrupt network connections. The icons and new links have continued to work. I have also restarted the NAS, with no problem.

It is far too soon to tell if this approach is going to work long-term for me, but at least the results are promising thus far. Having to manually reconnect after reboots is annoying, but if this approach eliminates the hangs and crashes caused by the disconnection issue, then I shouldn't have to reboot often.

I'll continue to keep the group updated here on my experience....

Update: I've been using Cemento's approach (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250794335?answerId=252112800022#252112800022) of dragging the networked drive(s) to the desktop and then back to the sidebar under Favorites since June 4 (2 days ago). After some period of time, the networked drives disappear from my desktop. Each time when this has occurred, clicking on the new links under Favorites in Finder's sidebar has immediately remounted the shares, with the icons appearing again on the desktop. I am then able to browse the shares without any issues. Since implementing this approach, I have not had any popups or errors indicating a failed connection, so that seems to be a major improvement.

I'll continue to update over the coming weeks...

Update: I've been using Cemento's approach (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250794335?answerId=252112800022#252112800022) of dragging the networked drive(s) to the desktop and then back to the sidebar under Favorites since June 4 (one week ago). Overall it still seems to be a viable workaround/mitigation approach, although it isn't perfect.

In the past week, I've had the disconnect popup/dialog appear twice. Both times, I've clicked "Ignore". I've also had the icons on my desktop disappear several times, but clicking on the new links under Favorites in the sidebar has brought them back. On the most recent occasion, the new links displayed question marks when clicked, but after several seconds reestablished the connection. On a previous occasion, Finder displayed the spinning icon for several minutes, while it (apparently) tried to reestablish the connection, and eventually succeeded in displaying the contents of the remote drives.

So, there have been some hiccups, but on the upside, my machine has remained stable, Finder has not crashed or become completely unresponsive, and I've been able to reconnect to the NAS in Finder, typically within a few seconds, by clicking on the new links. I've also not had to restart my machine even once. This is a DRAMATIC improvement over what was happening before. So, at least for now, it appears that Cemento's workaround is viable for me. YMMV, and so it would be helpful if other users here can confirm that this approach is still working for them.

I'll continue to update as more time passes....

@lexvo

I think the disconnect popup/dialog can appear legitimately if the device's network connection is lost. It's only on Catalina, so far, that I've seen it happen due to the underlying connection issue.

I suggest that everyone who is having success with Cemento's workaround go and mark his response as helpful, so it shows up first for users coming into this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250794335?answerId=252112800022#252112800022

Unfortunately, the IP address approach has also been marked as helpful, but doesn't work longterm for many people. Anyone who's marked that as helpful, but has had the issue recur, should go back and unmark it to avoid confusion.

Just wanted to post an update re: Cemento's workaround (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250794335?answerId=252112800022#252112800022)

It's now been 3 weeks, and it's still working for me. As I mentioned before, there are still some hiccups with this workaround, but nothing compared to what I was experiencing before (i.e. having various apps crash/hang, and having to reboot my computer every day.)

@VikingOSX, I am not a pristine Mac user but a Unix and macOS veteran. I had this working just the way you said since at least 10.5. But it stopped working shortly after I upgraded from to 10.15.1 (or maybe 10.15 but I did not really noticed or kept track at the time). I did not remember having this issue in 10.15 beta 7 (but maybe it was there unnoticed).

This is happing on a MacBook Pro 13" TouchBar 2018 shipped by Apple with Mojave and that I upgrade to 10.15. Nothing else has changed in my environment and yet I am seeing this issue. Obviously, something must be different between our 2 configurations if you are not seeing this; but trust me, the problem does exist.

Others are seeing this too and for no apparent reason:

• https://community.synology.com/enu/forum/1/post/129160?page=1&sort=oldest
• https://mariushosting.com/connection-problem-between-synology-nas-and-macos-catalina/

My NAS even no longer appears in the Finder sidebar since I've cleared the ARP table; and my MacBook Pro keeps trying to connect to my wife's MacBook Pro (still under Mojave fortunately) and popping up a connection dialog every 30 seconds (which disappears almost immediately), also since I've cleared the ARP table. And yes, I've rebooted!

As a system developer, this feels like something maybe small but fundamental has changed in the internals of macOS and it's starting to surface and it does not look pretty. I will file a radar shortly.

It's been a weird day and I am not sure what to make of the results. It sometimes work, and sometimes it doesn't. Like if there was some race condition that was triggering the bug.

• (Summary from yesterday, I finished the day where access to the NAS was no longer working from Finder nor Safari, [except by using the IP address directly].)
• When I resumed my computer from standby this morning, everything worked perfectly: Finder, Safari. Yet nothing obvious had changed during the night in the environment and the MacBook Pro had not even been rebooted.
• Back at lunch time, access to the NAS in Finder was no longer working, but access to the NAS via http://mynas.local/etc was still working from Safari.
• Back in the evening, access to the NAS in both Finder and Safari were working again. The MacBook Pro had been in standby the whole afternoon. But then suddenly access to the NAS via Finder stopped working. Access via Safari was still OK though.
• I then rebooted in Safe Mode. Access to the NAS in Finder was OK.
• After I rebooted in normal mode, access to the NAS in Finder was still OK. But after a few minutes the infamous: "The operation can't be completed because the original item for "Shared Folder" can't be found." Access to the NAS via Safari was still OK.

Here is what the Console says when I cannot connect to the NAS using Finder:

22:10:41.224447+0100 NetAuthSysAgent boostrap_port name = com.apple.netauth.user.auth

22:10:41.224602+0100 NetAuthSysAgent Check In succeeded

22:10:41.224647+0100 NetAuthSysAgent Source created

22:10:41.227348+0100 NetAuthSysAgent Process 447 is not sandboxed and is allowed to mount a shared volume (0).

22:10:41.227380+0100 NetAuthSysAgent quarantine check returned 1

22:10:41.227462+0100 NetAuthSysAgent Proxy Mount Share: request 51144390-D91B-422F-8724-29386D3A656F from sharingd (447)

22:10:41.227514+0100 NetAuthSysAgent Mount share = xxxx

22:10:41.227596+0100 sharingd SDNetworkResolver: handleMountCallBack returned -50

Any idea what might be causing this issue?

PS. Yes, my Synology NAS is running the latest DSM.

I have recently had a long dialogue with Synology regarding my own unit. I think they would appreciate hearing from you on this

Go in via the GUI on your unit and contact support through that route, giving them as much data as you are able.

Their help is encapsulated as follows:

• Use SMB, and connect the IP address, not the NAS name (use fixed IP)
• Ensure Bonjour credentials are being broadcast by the NAS
• Add your backup to Login Items on your Mac user

For me this now works. Your mileage may vary

It worked perfectly under Mojave. Catalina has been a negative enhancement! NAS vendors like Synology are now wrestling with the hows and whys of the changes, which is why your inout will be valuable