NAS Access in Catalina issues

I found in this website

https://www.techarp.com/software/macos-catalina-nas-failure/

that the issue could be due to Catalina dropping support for previous SMB protocols.

Requesting the NAS to avoid using SMB1 should at least allow to access the using the NAS name instead of the IP, like "smb://NAS-NAME".

However, I manage to access from Finder only with Ctrl-k, direct connection using the left panel in Finder does not work

> that the issue could be due to Catalina dropping support for previous SMB protocols.

I tried a while back to enable only SMB1, or SMB2, or SMB3 on the NAS, but this did not help. Also, the issue goes away (for a little while only -sad!) after a fresh reboot, so it cannot be related to dropping a protocol, otherwise the issue would be present always.

I’ll just add here that some combination of rebooting my router, restarting Finder, and rebooting my iMac fixed this for me. So the theory that it could be related to a router issue holds some weight.

So, I have 2 laptops on Catalina and a Mac Mini and MacBook Pro on Mavericks. The Mac's running on Mavericks: No problem using my NeadyNAS (NetGear). The Catalina Macs: One has no issues, the other: can see the NAS, and the shares, but won't list what's inside of the share.

Definitely flakey.

Are both Catalina Macs “connected as:” the same NAS user?

Also, do the network paths (folders) in Finder both display “eject” icons at each level? (Sometimes it seems like you have to “wake” these up by clicking each folder.)

in other words, are the network connection set-ups the same for both computers?

best regards,

OM2

I have the same issues with my WD Mycloud ex2 ultra device. Since my update to macOS Catalina, the connection with the network drive dropped often and no timemachine backups could be made, while the webinterface of my NAS could be reached at all times. The only difference was the macOS Catalina update.

Disabling AFS and using SMB did not fix the problem, neither did updating the firmware of the NAS and my network router. Ultimately I got it to work giving my NAS a fixed IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.254), connecting to my NAS in finder using Command+K to afs://192.168.1.254 and thereafter pointing to the share on that specific IP in timemachine settings. It’s not ideal, but it seems to work.

If you use a router to connect to your NAS, give it a re-boot.

Also, and I don’t know why, but re-starting your Mac seems to help. Maybe it removes “previous attempt garbage”!

Finally, in Finder, make sure you are “connected to:” the default user name of the NAS (it’s probably “admin” like my EX4).

if you think this set-up works for you, the final test will be to see if it survives a re-start of your Mac.

Good luck and best regards,

OM2

I was having the same problem (plus the additional one of my photos volume mounting randomly on its own) and was getting the runaround. Synology support said because the issue is fixed with restarting finder, the issue lies with Apple. However, Apple was telling me they don't support third party anything. At first I tried a full reinstall of the OS (after the latest patch), but had no luck. In the end, I fixed the issue by creating a new admin user. It seems the installation of Catalina somehow created some issues within the user preferences. I manually migrated all my files/folders over, including select preferences files, which only ended up being a small hassle - but much less time than I collectively spent with the different tech supports. Now, problem solved! Hope this solution might work for some of you as well. 

All,

i did read a lot and would like to contribute:

I have a New 2019 MacBook Pro and a 2012 MBP retina, both on Catalina.

"Connect to Server" (Apple + k) works in all combinations, means access and mapping of shared folders works

BUT

FINDER has super poor performance. Performance increases, when turning of "file preview" - which is too important than to turn it of ( manage Photos etc ).

Many Applications wait for hours, when you want to open files via "OPEN" in file menues.

The alternative ... select files in FINDER and DRAG to App-Icon in DOCK ... simplys kills you with showing no reaction at all.

Drag and DROP files between directories in FINDER, esp between different shares ( = different Volumes ) KILLS YOU with 2 minutes for to 30 MB in total 10 Files.

Also I tried to exclude NAS Indices ( require NAS <=> Communication to speed up searches ) did seem not to relieve the issue.

ALWAYS after a Reboot of Mac for a short while it seems quicker. At least when ONE Time the FINDER preview needs to do something - latest than the issue is back.

I have NOT YET tried to exclude the SMB1.

I am convinced, there are Issues IN AFP and the older SMBs along with the new FINDER Preview gimmicks

Proof to be published here.

APPLE guys ==> RETURN BACK TO THE GOOD, do not become a second Microsoft, please.

UPDATE:

Fresh Reboot in Mac.

Reboot of Router.

Disalowed SMB1 on Synology.

Connected to NAS-Share with smb://<user>@<nasname>.local , selected 19 Files ( PDF, 1 JPEG ) on share. Dragged them down to local folder ... super.quick

switched on NAS to subfolder and back, selected same Files to pull down on local Folder ... FINDER HANGS.

So the guys need to FIX the networks and probably FINDER Behavior as well => "Finder doesn not react"

I go down to the cellar and reactivate my 16bit Computer now.

I am so much with you.

And to me it appears so much inacceptable ... i somewhere her did write the same, saying: my 4k Bugs MacBook Pro is Slower than my Old of 2006 running El Capitan.

Furtermore it not anymore a concept: MacBOOKs NEED Storage ... and this is a NAS.

As ths Issue is with many NAS, it is the same behaviour as if Bentley does not care if Tires and Wheels not anymore fit on their cars .. user Issue: You do not need to drive, you can sit inside and have it warm. More dependent is, we sell you a music stream running on your bentley audio installation

==> WRONG Attempt.

Should we create e.g. a Facebook side and Post that stuff and invite as many poeple around the world we know?

Thanks @bsanders44, you seem to have had better luck with Synology than I had (maybe you were more persistant):

"... As you could realize, experiments that could solve your issue temporarily were performed on a Mac and not on the NAS. [Your] NAS and the SMB protocol having no problem with [your] other devices. I thus suggest you contact Apple, as we have done our best on our side."

> The problem is that the the connection to the NAS gets into a bad state after some amount of time passes.

Agreed. That time is rather small in my experience.

> Once in this bad state, the computer becomes unstable, and random apps [...] will hang

It's only really Finder on my Mac that exhibits the issue, other apps seem to be rather immune to the issue; but maybe I don't use that many.

Interestingly, I discovered accidentally that PowerPoint can mount shares from the NAS without any issue, even when Finder fails. Even better, I noticed that, quite ironically, apps from Apple, including Aperçu and Safari, can also mount shares from the NAS using the Save As... dialog... when Finder cannot. How come?... Does Finder have some new (broken) piece of code that other apps don't?

> I hope someone at Apple decides that this is embarrassing enough to prioritize a fix.

I decided to send an email to T. Cook this week-end. I encourage others to do the same. It's not guaranteed to help, but maybe this will help to push the issue over the bar.

I can confirm the same issue with MacOS Catalina Finder connecting to Synology NAS. I found that the best but still crazy workaround is Finder force quit. I hope Apple and Synology teams are working on it.

I am also convinced this is a MAC issue and not a Synology issue. I have the same problems with another type of NAS and a plethora of forums and discussions on the connection issues between NAS and MacOS Catalina after updating to this OS version can be found on the internet.

It would it really suit apple to take this problem a little more serious, instead of deleting posts in this forum.

Often when I force quit, Finder will not completely quit, and/or won't restart properly. I wind up with no icons on my desktop, and Finder generally non-functional. I have to do a complete reboot to get everything working again.