User 'documents', 'downloads' and 'desktop' folders can't be opened via network access

Question

User 'documents', 'downloads' and 'desktop' folders can't be opened via network access

Hi. I have a MBP and iMac, both running Catalina, and have had to create new user accounts on both because something in the old user accounts was upsetting Safari, despite resetting and deleting it's caches/prefs etc., several OS updates and Safari updates and security patches. Both original accounts were migrated from earlier OS versions, and the first user account for the MBP was originally migrated from the same source as the iMac. I found that migrating data to the new user accounts also migrated the Safari problems, so I've been trying to copy documents etc manually.

So far so good, BUT: on the MBPro I can access the iMac fine via local network (ethernet router), but from the iMac, the MBP shows up in the side bar, and I can connect to see the Home folder and folders therein, but NOT the contents of the three folders above. After several clicks, an error message reads "The folder... can't be opened because you don't have permission to see it's contents", and a little arrow appears at the bottom right of the folder icon (not the same as that indicating iCloud hosting). The original MBP user account (with the Safari problems) used to work perfectly via network access, but I had to delete it to free disk space before I'd discovered the network issue.

I've checked permissions of the Documents folder via 'get info' and applied to the folder contents. Both Macs use the same login and Apple ID, and both are on the same (latest) Catalina. I've also tried fixing user permissions from booting into Recovery mode (can't remember the terminal command to invoke it).

The documents were transferred from the old user accounts via 'Shared>dropbox' on BOTH computers, so no reason for any difference.

One issue, possibly relevant: on the MBP, file sharing wouldn't turn on via the System Prefs tick-box until enabled via Terminal "sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.smbd.plist" command, which then allowed the File Sharing tick-box to be used. This is apparently a fix for an issue introduced with a security update, but strangely was not needed on the iMac. If File Sharing is turned off in the System Prefs Sharing panel, it won't switch on again until the command is run again. File sharing only works vis SMB, and AFP will not stay on in prefs. Strangely, command-k form the iMac reveals the server as afp://169.254.xxx.xxx, but with smb://MacBook Pro._smb._tcp.local in the drop down box, whereas command-k on the MBP does not come up with any afp://... location, possibly because both SMB and AFP checkboxes are enabled on the iMac prefs, perhaps?

As a workaround to the file access issue, I created a 'Documents 2' folder on the MBP, and moved the original user docs to it, and the new folder and all content is visible/accessible via the network as expected.

I tried deleting the old, now empty 'Documents' folder, but this is blocked.

So, is there a better way to fix the permissions so the files CAN be accessed in the 'Documents' folder, or a way to delete the old Documents folder with a view to re-naming the new Documents 2 folder to replace it?

Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 18, 2022 8:22 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

martinnichols Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 20, 2022 4:11 PM in response to MartinR

Thanks to all those who took the time to reply.

I finally managed to get things working again by:

1 Re-installing Catalina from a USB drive PRIOR to the last security update (without erasing the hard disk);

2 Re-naming the MBP hard disk (strangely 'the original couldn't be found' when it's icon was clicked in the iMac sharing window, having logged in as a registered MBP user);

3 This allowed 'File Sharing' on the MBP to be turned off and on again correctly, as recommended in a different posting about similar issues, and also retain the SMB choice;

4 Re-launching 'Finder' on the iMac, which allowed correct two-way communication, as expected;

5 Only then installing the latest Catalina security update.

Hope this helps someone else.

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Answer 2

a brody

Level 10

82,991 points

Jun 18, 2022 6:44 PM in response to martinnichols

Your Users -> yourname -> Documents folder, Downloads folder, and Desktop folders are specific to your Users -> yourname folder. There is a Users -> Shared folder where you can store documents with other users who connect to your computer easier. Make sure Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Sharing -> File Sharing is checked before attempting to share with other Macs.

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Answer 3

Jun 19, 2022 4:24 AM in response to a brody

Thanks, but you haven't absorbed the whole scenario. File Sharing IS enabled, but the behaviour of the File Sharing System Prefs on the MBP seems erratic. The sharing is between my four different Macs on a LOCAL network (two MacPro 5.1's in addition, on Mavericks and Mojave respectively) - I only discussed the iMac and MBP to avoid an even longer post. File Sharing of user Home Folder>Documents etc., works perfectly between ALL computers, EXCEPT in trying to access the contents of the specific folders mentioned on the MBP. I have never needed to use the 'Shared/Public' method. I can access the new MBP user home folder from all the other computers, and see all these folders therein, just NOT their contents. I am the admin for all four computers, with the same password, and the OLD MBP user account used to network as expected, but had other issues, hence the requirement to migrate to a new user account.

I'm considering an OS reinstall currently.

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Answer 4

Jun 19, 2022 3:55 PM in response to martinnichols

169.254.0.0/16 is a self-assigned link-local IP address block. That usage is somewhat unusual here, and might indicate DHCP server issues.

If that iMac is using both wired and wireless, the IP router either needs to be aware of that, or using separate subnets and that particularly when there is more than one IP router in use.

Given the years’ accretions, I’d likely also back up, back,up,a second time, wipe, and re-install macOS and core apps, and manually transfer over files and documents, and install current versions of apps. Start over.

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Answer 5

Jun 19, 2022 4:59 PM in response to a brody

a brody wrote:

Too much info was in the post for me to see that. Good catch. 169. address is indicative of poor DNS management of the network.

DHCP and/or subnetting, probably not (initially) DNS.

mDNS/Bonjour is sorta-kinda working here, but likely running into IP addressing or subnetting.

For those following along at home, the DNS server address is usually either set manually, or can be set via DHCP or (with IPv6) DHCPv6. The mDNS/Bonjour network information is determined based on local network chatter, and without configuring or even needing a server.

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Answer 6

MartinR

Level 6

19,157 points

Jun 20, 2022 3:12 PM in response to martinnichols

I'm not able to pull apart all of the issues you raised, but the one I can address is that SMB is the only protocol you should use on Catalina.

AFP was deprecated back in macOS Mavericks and AFP server support was removed in Big Sur. In System Prefs > Sharing > File Sharing > Options, only SMB should be checked; do NOT check AFP even though the option appears there. If AFP is checked, un-check it, click Done and then restart your Mac.

Also, 169.254.xxx.xxx is a local, non-routable IP address that computers typically self-allocate when they cannot get an IP address from a router/DNS server - that may also be part of the problem(s). It may be there from having AFP enabled in Sharing options.

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