After Ventura 13.3 update, MacBook Pro cannot connect to Mac mini server on network

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After Ventura 13.3 update, MacBook Pro cannot connect to Mac mini server on network

I have a Mac mini (model 9,1 Apple M1 chip, 2020) set up to host a 4TB backup drive that I use with my two MacBook Pros. Since the Ventura 13.3 update (and despite the 13.3.1 update) I cannot connect via the network from either MacBook Pro to the mini, even though I can connect from the mini to the Pros, and from all devices to an older mini on the same network. I have tried various things to fix the problem including reboots of all devices and the network hardware, manually reconfiguring SMB service, etc., but still get the "server may not exist ..." message whether I try to connect from a Finder window or from the Finder Go/Connect to Server... menu.

Mac mini, macOS 13.3

Posted on Apr 13, 2023 1:31 PM

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Answer 1

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LarryW-PDX Author

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24 points

Apr 13, 2023 5:27 PM in response to LarryW-PDX

Found a solution to my problem from osxdaily:

Open the “System Settings” app on Mac from the  Apple menu
Go to “General” and then to “Sharing”
Find the switch for ‘File Sharing’ and toggle it OFF
Restart the Mac by going to the  Apple menu and choosing Restart
Upon reboot, return to the Sharing system settings panel and turn “File Sharing” back to the ON position

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Answer 2

Apr 13, 2023 2:19 PM in response to LarryW-PDX

Works fine for me with a nearly identical setup. M1 Mac Mini as a server with Ventura 13.3.1 and multiple M1 / M2 / Intel Macs also on 13.3.1 and one Monterey 12.6.5 that can all access the SMB shares on the M1 Mac Mini.

You should be able to ping the M1 Mac Mini from each of your MacBook Pro's by it's IP address and by it's Bonjour hostname. 192.168.1.123 and m1.local (hostname.local is the bonjour/zeroconf syntax).

On the M1 Mac Mini go to File Sharing in System Settings, click the little ' i ' near the ON/OFF toggle. Here is where you specify the folders you wish to share, select the folder and ensure you have appropriate users/groups assigned for Read/Write and Read Only access.

This might be your problem:

Click the Options button and you will see the users listed for Windows File Sharing. Make sure they are checked ON. You may wish to uncheck them, click Done then go back in and check them ON. It will ask for the SMB password which is distinct from the Mac user password. It can be the same password but it can also be different and when you change your macOS password this SMB password is unlikely to be changed.

While trouble-shooting turn off the Firewall if it is on. Once you get it working you can turn the firewall on and allow the traffic for SMB file sharing.

Open Finder and click on Network on the left sidebar. You should see the M1 Mac Mini listed. Double-click on the M1 Mac Mini and click Connect As and enter your username and password. If that works, you should see the share folders.

Via Finder press ⌘ + K to open the Connect to Server dialog.

The syntax is as follows: (not all options apply)

smb://Domain;User@Server/ShareName/FolderName

Domain only applies if you are on a Windows Active Directory or Samba managed domain.

Short version would be:

smb://m1.local/ShareName/FolderName

smb://192.168.1.123/ShareName/FolderName

That assumes that you are logged on as the user with access to the share. If that is not the case you can specify the user.

smb://User@m1.local/ShareName/FolderName

smb://User@192.168.1.123/ShareName/FolderName

Another item to check would be an incorrect saved password in the keychain.

You can also try mounting via Terminal:

ping m1.local
mkdir -p ~/mnt/ShareName
mount -t smbfs //m1.local/ShareName ~/mnt/ShareName

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Answer 3

LarryW-PDX Author

Level 1

24 points

Apr 13, 2023 4:56 PM in response to James Brickley

You should be able to ping the M1 Mac Mini from each of your MacBook Pro's by it's IP address and by it's Bonjour hostname. 192.168.1.123 and m1.local (hostname.local is the bonjour/zeroconf syntax).

Ping doesn't work, fails whether 192... or m1... syntax is used

On the M1 Mac Mini go to File Sharing in System Settings, click the little ' i ' near the ON/OFF toggle. Here is where you specify the folders you wish to share, select the folder and ensure you have appropriate users/groups assigned for Read/Write and Read Only access.

User/groups hasn't changed, and is as expected

This might be your problem:

Click the Options button and you will see the users listed for Windows File Sharing. Make sure they are checked ON. You may wish to uncheck them, click Done then go back in and check them ON. It will ask for the SMB password which is distinct from the Mac user password. It can be the same password but it can also be different and when you change your macOS password this SMB password is unlikely to be changed.

Made this change as suggested, no change in connection behavior

While trouble-shooting turn off the Firewall if it is on. Once you get it working you can turn the firewall on and allow the traffic for SMB file sharing.

Firewall is off. Turning it on or off (at either end) doesn't change connection behavior

Open Finder and click on Network on the left sidebar. You should see the M1 Mac Mini listed. Double-click on the M1 Mac Mini and click Connect As and enter your username and password. If that works, you should see the share folders.

Clicking on 'Connect As' does not raise a dialog to enter username and password. It is apparently using a saved un/pw, and I don't know how to make it forget that data and ask for un/pw again.

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Answer 4

LarryW-PDX Author

Level 1

24 points

Apr 13, 2023 5:11 PM in response to James Brickley

Another clue:

I tried to add a new shared folder (larry). When I look at the info for the folder, the Server is listed as smb://Old Mac Mini._smb._tcp.local/larry. When I use Folder on the MacBook Pro and open the 'Old Mac mini' server, I see the folder from 'LarryMacMini'. So SMB seems to think my LarryMacMini is actually named 'Old Mac mini'. Any suggestion as to where this data might be stored and how to correct it?

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Answer 5

LarryW-PDX Author

Level 1

24 points

Apr 13, 2023 5:21 PM in response to LarryW-PDX

One detail of the previous comment was wrong. The 'larry' folder from 'LarryMacMini' is not visible under 'Old Mac mini'. But the rest of the comment is correct - a shared folder on LarryMacMini is assigned the wrong SMB server name

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Answer 6

Apr 13, 2023 5:37 PM in response to LarryW-PDX

Well if you can't ping the IP nor hostname.local of the M1 Mac Mini from one of the MacBook Pro's and things work on Old_Mac_Mini. That's a problem that needs to be fixed first. Make sure they are all on the same network. Compare the IP address ranges. See if they are in the same subnet or not.

See if the M1 Mac Mini can ping the MacBook Pro's. See if the Old_Mac_Mini can see the new M1 and the MacBook Pro's.

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After Ventura 13.3 update, MacBook Pro cannot connect to Mac mini server on network

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