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User profile for user: zachi
zachi Author
User level: Level 1
7 points

Can't mount AFP Volume - "There was a problem connecting to the server"

Hi,


I have a weird problem i never encountered in 20yrs of using MacOS.

I can not mount my NAS volumes on a certain Catalina System.

It does work from Mojave and from a Macbook Pro with Catalina.


On the said system, when I do cmd-K and enter afp://diskstation.local

then the small window pops up where you can select the server volume you want to mount.

then after selecting one, I just get this :

"There was a problem connecting to the server "diskstation.local".
Check the server name or IP address, and then try again.
If you continue to have problems, contact your system administrator


On all other systems in that network I can mount those volumes without problem.


I tried rebooting the Mac and the NAS, checked / disabled all Firewalls, nothing special in /etc/hosts, ...


Anyone with an idea what to do here?

Current Pro Desktops

Posted on Feb 3, 2021 9:49 AM

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User profile for user: Tesserax
Tesserax
User level: Level 10
152,302 points

Posted on Feb 3, 2021 1:42 PM

Just to let you know, today basically the only device that requires using AFP for file transfers is the Time Capsule (no longer being produced by Apple) for Time Machine backups. As I mentioned AFP has be deprecated by Apple in their newer macOS versions and now fully support SMB v3.x. However, as you know, Apple still supports AFP, even with macOS Big Sur.


Regardless, using AFP with a NAS, typically means that device must have the latest firmware to continue to support AFP. FWIW, I have a Synology DS916+ NAS that I had previously configured to use AFP ... and was successful doing so even with my Macs running Big Sur. I since disabled it as I didn't have any network requirements that required it.


From your console log:

  • NetAuthSysAgent is a macOS process to obtain user authorization, over a network, with the provided access credentials. Should this process fail, as it did your case, it would most likely be due to permission issues. They are either incorrect or missing.
  • diskarbitrationd is a macOS process that handles mounting disks, typically when inserted directly into the computer via a physical port. As you can see from your console log, it was attempted multiple times and resulted in a failure after three tries.


Without performing a data capture, using something like Wireshark, it will be a bit difficult to see where the AFP process is failing between this particular Mac and your NAS to be able to offer any further assistance with this matter. I would suggest that you double-check the permissions settings for the shares on this NAS that this Mac is attempting to connect with.

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User profile for user: Tesserax
Tesserax
User level: Level 10
152,302 points

Feb 3, 2021 1:42 PM in response to zachi

Just to let you know, today basically the only device that requires using AFP for file transfers is the Time Capsule (no longer being produced by Apple) for Time Machine backups. As I mentioned AFP has be deprecated by Apple in their newer macOS versions and now fully support SMB v3.x. However, as you know, Apple still supports AFP, even with macOS Big Sur.


Regardless, using AFP with a NAS, typically means that device must have the latest firmware to continue to support AFP. FWIW, I have a Synology DS916+ NAS that I had previously configured to use AFP ... and was successful doing so even with my Macs running Big Sur. I since disabled it as I didn't have any network requirements that required it.


From your console log:

  • NetAuthSysAgent is a macOS process to obtain user authorization, over a network, with the provided access credentials. Should this process fail, as it did your case, it would most likely be due to permission issues. They are either incorrect or missing.
  • diskarbitrationd is a macOS process that handles mounting disks, typically when inserted directly into the computer via a physical port. As you can see from your console log, it was attempted multiple times and resulted in a failure after three tries.


Without performing a data capture, using something like Wireshark, it will be a bit difficult to see where the AFP process is failing between this particular Mac and your NAS to be able to offer any further assistance with this matter. I would suggest that you double-check the permissions settings for the shares on this NAS that this Mac is attempting to connect with.

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User profile for user: zachi
zachi Author
User level: Level 1
7 points

Feb 3, 2021 10:56 AM in response to Tesserax

@ Tesserax

  1. Nope --> % open afp://192.168.1.2 doesn't work, either. same error after selecting the volume
  2. Nope, I would not know how to do that... In the router?


SMB does work, but my macbook pro (also Catalina) can AFP mount the volumes without problem.

it seems like something is messed up, and i would like to fix it.


the console tells me

default	19:31:20.069694+0100	NetAuthSysAgent	ERROR: AFP_Mount - theEnumerator->Mount failed 6
default	19:31:20.069982+0100	diskarbitrationd	<private>
default	19:31:20.070015+0100	diskarbitrationd	<private>
default	19:31:20.070049+0100	diskarbitrationd	<private>
default	19:31:20.070262+0100	NetAuthSysAgent	Mount failed 6
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Can't mount AFP Volume - "There was a problem connecting to the server"

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