Ventura 13.2 File Sharing broken

After the update to Mac OS Ventura 13.2 none of my Macs are unable to access each others' files. I am using iMacs, Macbook Air M2 and MacMini M1 on my network and everything was working flawlessly for years until this update (including latest additions of MBAir M2 and MMini M1).

The said, affected machines are still able to access the files on other Macs, on the same network, that have previous versions of Mac OS.


Sometimes, after turning off File Sharing and restarting the machines and turning back on File Sharing I am able to access the shared folders on internal SSD, but never on external disks. All of these external disks I've been using all the time shared between all of the machines.


Anyone?


I reported this, presumable, bug to Apple.

MacBook Air (M2)

Posted on Jan 26, 2023 4:03 AM

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Posted on Feb 3, 2023 5:09 PM

I just got off the phone with Apple. The fix I used was this:


  1. Shut down the effected Mac mini that was being used as the file server (not running server software).
  2. Restart.
  3. Turned File Sharing 'Off' on the Mac mini that was sharing the files.
  4. Quit system settings (SS).
  5. Restart the Mac mini again.
  6. Turned File Sharing back 'On'
  7. Quit SS
  8. Went to each of the other 3 iMac's needing to share those files, and then was able to reconnect to the Mac mini as we always did.


Now everything is working as it should (for the last couple hours I should say—so far, so good).

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171 replies

Feb 15, 2023 7:54 AM in response to ctphoto1

I have no idea how to get Apple to fix this issue. I had an open ticket with Apple at the end of December about this and was speaking with someone about it. However, when I followed up a couple weeks later their reply said "Thanks for reaching out to me. As we discussed, I’m looking into your case and working on your request." I went to follow up a couple weeks after that and it appears as if my case number is now closed. So....not sure what to do. This is extremely frustrating

Feb 15, 2023 7:57 AM in response to zoranm

Now that I've upgraded both host (Mac Studio) and guest (MacBook Air M1) to Ventural 13.2.1, still File Sharing does not work normally. However, the work-around I previously reported, namely, browsing to smb://xx.xx.xx.xx on the guest does work. (Here xx.xx.xx.xx is the address shown when you click the Information "i" icon in System Settings > General > Sharing > File Sharing.)


Let it never be said that "it just works!"

Feb 15, 2023 8:10 AM in response to cactusgoeswest

The only fix for now seems to be the downgrade to Ventura 13.1 on the server side. This is a real pain, I know. But when I actually did it, it was less difficult than I feared. You need a good backup; I always have two. The server's on board SSD disc needs to be wiped, which will lead to a reinstall of the system with which it was delivered, in my case Monterey. From the most recent backup (i.e. under Ventura 13.2), I recovered settings, applications and data towards the Monterey 12.3.6 server. I had a couple of issues with apps not loading, but traced it back to some incompatibilities between settings under different versions: Ventura settings running under Monterey. But a reinstallation of Monterey fixed those.


Some days later, I decided to upgrade the miniMac server to Ventura 13.1. All is still working normally.


No point going to Ventura 13.xx.xx until we are sure full network SMB functionality has been restored.


Feb 16, 2023 4:42 AM in response to stevewyn

Here it happens regardless of what kind of disk is used. When we Share from internal disks, Finder or Forklift etc crash with the ever-loving beachball. External 48TB LaCie Raid does also crash when trying to access it directly or via SMB share. All devices in each direction. Tried to copy files from an MBP to MacStudio yesterday with 13.2.1 and both crashed when trying to copy a folder, no matter which device we used to copy the files with.

In the end, we used an external SSD to copy the files to and fro. As it wasn't a problem in 13.2. and affects all Macs, Intel or M1, MacBooks, iMacs or the Studios, in SafeMode as well as in RegularMode and utterly regardless of everything we tried to fix it, this probably is something much deeper than CustomIcons or SMB2/3...

Feb 16, 2023 10:53 AM in response to murrayE

OK, got this working with Forklift 3, except that:


(1) I never saw a window like you showed that asks for the protocol. I saw my host's name in the left column of the window, under "Shared", clicked that, and got a login dialog that asked only for my username and password. No request for protocol.


(2) Some files will not copy over from host to guest using Forklift 3 (purchased, not free copy!) -- even though they do transfer if I browse in Safari to smb://xx.xx.xx.xx (with the IP address of my host there), allow that to open in Finder with login, and simply drag the file from the now-opened window showing the host to a window in the guest.

Ventura 13.2 File Sharing broken

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