"Connection failed" using smb to Win 7 64-bit shared folder

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"Connection failed" using smb to Win 7 64-bit shared folder

Hi,

I am a new Mac user and was unable to find any suggestion for a solution to the problem I am experiencing.

I use a folder on my PC to store video files. It is shared and the Mac connects to the address smb://biblioteket. This usually works fine, but sometimes I get a "Connection failed" error message. I connect through a gigbit wired ethernet connection.

Some other characteristics:
- If I restart my PC and reconnect, it works again - every time.
- I can connect to the PC using Teamviewer even if I get the error message, meaning there is a connection between the computers.
- The error will always show up if I try to copy large files from my Mac to the shared folder on the PC. I get a error message during file copying, after that the mounted drive is inaccessible and the "Connection failed" error message appears.

Any suggestions?

Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Aug 17, 2010 6:06 AM

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Answer 1

Mads B

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10 points

Aug 17, 2010 8:07 AM in response to bXMi

Hi there.

It seems to me that you have isolated the issue away from a I/O (Input/Output) failure.

What could be interesting is whether this issue occurs in a new user on the computer or not. Just create a new user on the machine and see if the issue continues. By doing that we quickly isolate the issue to a user issue or a issue with the system, some issues with Mac OS X is due to issues with the user and not the system and should be treated as such.

Please try the tip and report back with result.

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Answer 2

bXMi Author

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Aug 17, 2010 10:43 AM in response to Mads B

Hi,

So I did what I always do to get the error message. I moved about 25 files from the Mac to the PC. Total size was about 5 gb. About half way through, I get the following error message:

The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “(filename(.avi” can’t be read or written.
(Error code -36).

So I retry, but this time the mounted drive has disconnected and get the following error msg:

The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -41).

This happened with a new user (administrator). Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

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Answer 3

satcomer

Level 4

1,539 points

Aug 17, 2010 1:36 PM in response to bXMi

How is the PC formatted, NTFS or FAT32?

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Answer 4

bXMi Author

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Aug 17, 2010 2:14 PM in response to satcomer

PC hard drives are all NTFS.

Some additional information that might be useful - I tried to mount the Mac on the PC to copy the same files from the Mac to the PC in Windows. It worked flawlessly. So I can do the job on the PC, but moving the same files to the same location on the Mac results in an error.

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Answer 5

satcomer

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1,539 points

Aug 18, 2010 5:57 AM in response to bXMi

Try SMB by the IP address instead to see what happens.

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Answer 6

bXMi Author

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Aug 18, 2010 10:44 AM in response to satcomer

Wow, I connected by IP address and so far I have had no problems. I have tested transferring 25 gb of data so far. Will report back if the problem persists!

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Answer 7

bXMi Author

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Aug 18, 2010 10:45 AM in response to bXMi

Workaround for this issue seems to be to connect by IP address instead of computer name.

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Answer 8

satcomer

Level 4

1,539 points

Aug 18, 2010 6:06 PM in response to bXMi

bXMi wrote:
Workaround for this issue seems to be to connect by IP address instead of computer name.

Plus if you use the same Time Server on both machines will help also.

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Answer 9

bXMi Author

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Aug 19, 2010 2:21 PM in response to satcomer

Argh, it does not solve the problem, but I have not experienced it while copying files when I started to use IP address. However, it will disconnect after a random period of time, and I am not able to reconnect without restarting the PC.

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Answer 10

bXMi Author

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Aug 19, 2010 2:21 PM in response to bXMi

Further testing proved that the problem was not solved

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Answer 11

Aug 20, 2010 11:31 PM in response to bXMi

Maybe I can bump this in a way to help.

I'm trying to connect to a share on a Windows Home Server box that was accessible just the night before. I can access the WHS for Time Machine backups. I can access the interface to change settings on the WHS. I can even ping the IP, but the second I add the "smb://" (using IP or name) everything gives a "connection failed" message. The server appears to be accessible through every method except smb. The only change from last night when I could connect was turning off wireless and connecting via gigabit.

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Answer 12

bXMi Author

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Sep 11, 2010 2:07 PM in response to Xian Rinpoche

I just found a solution from a thread on this forum!

1. Open network preferences from your WiFi icon in the menu bar. Then click advanced. Delete the network that is giving you problems.

2. Open Keychain in the utilities folder of your hard drive. Find the passwords that are stored for your particular network and delete them. There may be multiple passwords for your network, so search carefully.

3. Repair permissions using the disk utility.

4. Reboot the computer.

5. Reenter your network data to log into the network.

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Answer 13

bXMi Author

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Sep 12, 2010 2:25 AM in response to bXMi

The solution worked yesterday evening while testing, but after the mini had been sleeping all night it again failed to connect to the smb share.

I am getting tired the buggy OS X, Windows 7 is a lot better, and this is not what I expected when buying a mac.

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Answer 14

Nov 28, 2010 5:49 PM in response to bXMi

Did anyone ever find a solution for this? I'm having the exact same problems. When transferring files from the Mac to the PC it will stop working and I get the "Connection failed" message. I can still ping the PC and connect to it with TeamViewer. It works again after rebooting the PC but then it inevitably fails.

I've tried disabling the wireless on both the Mac and the PC but I still have the same problem.

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