Can't connect via SMB

Prior to installing Lion, I would connect to our shared drives at work via SMB. Today, after installing Lion, I can't connect to my shared drives. The one SMB connection that works is to an FTP server. I connect via SMB to map the drive in my Finder rather than using an FTP program. This still works fine.


However, I can't connect to the shared drive for file sharing. In the Connect to Server box, I have "smb://PathToFiles" . Is smb:// the correct prefix to use now that Lion is funky with SMB support?


I'm sorry...I really don't know much about SMB connections, what kind of server it is that I'm trying to connect to, or much else. I know we run Windows Exchange, but I'm not sure if that's the server that hosts these shared drives...I just need to connect to get back to work. Any help would be AWESOME.

Posted on Jul 21, 2011 1:55 PM

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132 replies

Jul 26, 2011 6:33 AM in response to upeace

Ok, so here's an interesting update. I took some screenshots to help communicate what I'm trying to say.


There are two key folders that I'm trying to connect to via SMB. One is a public folder, which is accessible to anyone on our domain, and the other is a departmental drive.


Screenshot:

User uploaded file


Now, when I push "Connect," I get the folder that indicates that I do not have permissions to view the contents.


Screenshot:

User uploaded file


However, when I toggle the folder view, I can actually get into the folder. In other words, simply changing the view to thumbnail view instead of column view, the folder contents appear.


Screenshot:

User uploaded file


This little "hack" however, does not work when trying to access the departmental folder. I would have to guess that this is because my departmental content is two folder levels above "nyfiles" while the public content is only one level...?


Does this help any of you see what the problem might be? I'm really getting tired of having a PC sitting next to me all the time to move files back and forth that my Mac can't connect to. However, I'm scared to downgrade to Snow Leopard and potentially lose data. So, if anybody (maybe someone from Apple...hint, hint) can give some advice to resolve this, that would be amazing.

Aug 10, 2011 3:27 PM in response to upeace

I (or I should say, my IT guy) finally fixed my problem! I outline the solution in as much detail as I can on my blog: http://fatwalr.us/2011/08/solution-to-my-smb-connection-problem-in-lion/ .


Basically, all I need to do is go into my Terminal and manually mount the drive. I have no idea why this works though Terminal and not through the Connect to Server panel, but it does. Since it's so simple, I'm expecting a Software Update from Apple soon to fix the problem for good.


I hope this helps any of you who are in the same position as I have been (frustrated out of your mind).

Nov 3, 2011 8:49 AM in response to upeace

Hi, I have Active Directory on Windows Server 2008 with DFS file share, some Windows and some MAC computer. Till 10.6 using dfs via finder cmd+k and smb://server/share works fine for all user.


Now with LION my Windows-Admin-Account works still fine. No problem.

BUT if I login with another account (maria) with less rights I got errors on some shares. I find out that maria has no read right for the root folder on the problem-shares.


OK-Share: maria has at least read right on the root folder! ( Traverse folder / execute file )

Problem-Share: maria has only the following rights on the root folder.

List folder / read data, Read attributes, Read extended attributes.

For some subfolders has maria of couse more rights.


User uploaded file


We use this settings, because nobody should see folders where he/she have no access rights. With other words everybody see only the folder where he/she has access rights and the other folders not.

Till Lion a good solution ;-)


Now I map the share ( with errors ) and Finder can´t access the share. But with Terminal or muCommander I can access all sharefolders.


Hope Apple bring a fix soon.


kkausu

Apr 28, 2012 8:02 AM in response to upeace

User uploaded file

@ Eduardo


Regardless of their reasons for ommision of a proper bona fida SMB process, it is INEXCUSABLE that it hasn't been fixed yet. Apple are acting so irresponsibly in dealing with this and many other issues with Lion.


To release this pile of cat crap to unsuspecting business users who can now no longer access centralised company resources other than by utilising USB keys and the like is quite frankly shocking. We have a ridiculous scenario where we have had to set up ad-hoc folder sharing on OSX and manually place files via USB keys into these folders because we can't access out €3000+ NAS drive.


Our NAS drive is on a FIXED IP address. So how the **** can it not see the file share? Linux can connect, android phones can connect, PC's can connect, even an old Atari ST can connect, but can the €2000+ iMacs? Can the Mac Pro's? Well, yes some of them still running 10.6 can connect, anything using 10.7 are useless.


Pathetic, there is no other way of describing their behaviour.


Apple, if you are listening, keep the **** away from industry, you are starting to remind me of my Windows 3.1 days. I have a new catch phrase for Apple, "It just won't work"

Sep 11, 2011 4:18 PM in response to upeace

Cross posting from: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3196311?answerId=15810135022#15810135022


~~~~~~~~~~~


After several full Saturdays and Sundays chasing this down (and about 300 restarts), I have my Windows to Apple SMB Share connectivity issue narrowed down and worked around. This applies to OSx 10.7.0 and 10.7.1 on a MacMini (7/2011 Server w/SSD) with Shares under SMB, being connected to by Windows 7.


Basic Environment:


IF

1) you restart OSx and your Windows systems CANNOT connect because you get a prompt for userid/password or a not accessable message AND

2) after 2 or 3 minutes you can Start and Stop SMB Sharing with either Server.app (File Sharing) or Preferences/Sharing/File Sharing/Options/SMB on/off (individual IDs do _not_ have to be turned on / off) AND

3) the userid and password are exactly the same on both the client (Win7 or OSx) and the Sharing system AND

4) then Windows sytems can connect


Then the problem is a Race Condition in the Services Startup of OSx. The SMB service is dependent on some security process (guessing) which is completely late in the startup cycle.


You can test this with the following commands in a terminal window (AFTER the system is up and quiesced):

sleep 60

sudo serveradmin stop smb

sleep 5

sudo serveradmin start smb


After talking to Apple Enterprise Support to confirm the issue, I moved the above commands into a launchd script as a work around (this is NOT recommended unless you know what you're doing). Note the initial 60 second sleep - 30 seconds was not long enough. This has been filed with Apple Enginering, they'll figure out what to do about it going forward.


Part of my problem, is that I'm on a new MacMini (7/2011) which boots from local SSD, it just boots up too fast. If you're on a slower older system - this should not be an issue.


Some other things which I learned on this journey:

1) Do not use unload/load of the SMB plist - that does not work for this issue

2) OD accounts do not work. Wish they would, they dont

3) Hacking the windows registry as in previous versions to support the previous Samba SMB release (10.6.x and lower) is NOT the problem with any 10.7 release. OSx 10.7 Supports SMB2, as does Vista and Win7.

Jan 11, 2012 11:54 PM in response to john-mac

page 2 of this link

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3197723


And here is the text that I wrote in it in case you still can't see it.


I had problems with this a few months ago so I took time off to not think about it. Now, I've returned to this and I must have had magic under my fingertips.


For my Lion to Windows XP Pro file sharing, it looks like I found a fix on my end.


1. First, I went into Sharing > File Sharing

I added my Public folder since I must have removed it some other day.


2. Next, I went into Network and removed my existing Wifi connection and created a new one.

Then I went into Advanced, TCP/IP > set Using DHCP > Renew DNS Lease and then added my WINS Workgroup name.


3. I went to Go>Connect to Server>entered my PC's local IP address as smb://###.###.#.###/ and BINGO! I have a connection. It connected to my PC as a Guest even though my Guest login is turned off on my PC.


It didn't ask me for a login info like it used to under Snow Leopard.

Now, I'll wait and see if my connection disconnects. So far, it's been 15 minutes and still have a connection.


I hope this helps someone else.




>>> Note: Since finding this solution, my network connection with Windows XP Pro SP3 has not been lost. It's been 8 days and my Mac is still connected to a Windows share folder as I write this <<<

Aug 14, 2011 7:26 AM in response to Skazzy

Skazzy,


In my case, the SMB share I am accessing is hosted by a Linux box. The changes must be made on the server hosting the share you wish to access. Here are the steps I took:


  1. Using terminal, SSH into the Linux box.
  2. Type (without the quotes): "sudo vi /etc/avahi/services/samba.service"
  3. Arrow down until you get to the section of XML included in my post
  4. Press the letter i to enter insert mode
  5. Change <port>139</port> to <port>445</port>
  6. Press Esc to return to command mode
  7. Type :wq to write your changes and quit.
  8. Restart the avahi service using whatever method your Linux distro supports
  9. Exit the SSH session
  10. Mount your SMB share in Finder as before.
  11. Have a beer.

Jan 13, 2012 11:10 AM in response to Daryl12345

Our Windows7 computer always has issues connecting when it's turned on. We are able to log in every time if we do the following:


  • press Windows + Break key
  • change settings
  • select network ID
  • select this computer is not part of a domain
  • enter "WORKGROUP" as the workgroup name (or whatever your workgroup is for both Mac and PC)
  • restart the computer
  • the computer should connect with any account on Lion Server (username/password)


This is painful, but it works everytime for us. Apple is aware of this and working on improving SMB.

Aug 1, 2011 1:59 PM in response to upeace

For those of you trying to access SMB shares, I found a free and easy solution.


Since a lot of people report they are able to access their NAS using apps other than the Finder itself, I decided to look for a free Lion-compatible File Manager to use instead of Finder.


I have found muCommander ( http://www.mucommander.com/ ) and indeed it works fine. All I did was click on the button highlighted bellow, go to "bonjour services" and select my NAS. It prompted me for my username and password and voilá, it works fine.


User uploaded file


I keep Finder for everyday use and just load muCommander when I want to access the NAS. At least now I don't have to start my WinXP VM anymore just to access it.


Hope it helps you all.

Jul 22, 2011 8:59 AM in response to upeace

Okay, so here's some follow up info after talking with my IT department.


The server that I'm trying to connect to is 2008 Windows File Server. We employ Active Directory for permissions and validation.


My IT guy thinks that the reason that I can connect to the FTP side of things via SMB is because, in that case, I have root-level access to the content. In all the other directories that I'm trying to access, I do not have root level access. Something with the way Lion is connecting is not properly working with Active Directory and denying me access to the folder. He said that this same problem existed on OSX 10.4, but had gotten significantly better in 10.5 and 10.6. In his opinion 10.7 is a major step backwards. I would have to agree.


Obviously, the solution to this problem is not to have IT give me root level access...that defeats the purpose of permissions. I also cannot expect my IT department to recalibrate settings on our server to help me fix a problem that Apple caused.


I'm leaning towards reverting back to 10.6 Snow Leopard to solve this problem. I'm definitely kicking myself for jumping on Lion so early...I just wish that I had known about this problem before installing.

Jul 22, 2011 9:12 AM in response to upeace

Hi,


I'm a Network Manager/Engineer, in an AD Domain, and SMB works fine for everyone that needs to be able to access their shared drives. "Root Level, or not". I've not had a single complaint about Lion, with mapping drives, dropping WiFi connections, etc - so far it all works as advertised.


You might want to rejoin the domain, and see if that helps. We didn't have to do anything here, and it all works fine, in Lion.


Cheers,

M.

*****

Jul 22, 2011 11:55 AM in response to Monty1945

Hi Monty, thanks for chiming in.


What if my machine is not on the domain? I ask that question because...it isn't.


We are a very PC-centric organization, so Macs have always been more "tolerated" than anything. If we can get them to work on our network, that's usually good enough. For that reason, none of the Macs in our building are actually on the domain.


As Rob asked, have you tried any machines that are non-domain?

Jul 22, 2011 12:06 PM in response to upeace

Hi, I've got a similiar problem after I set up Lion...


I've got a PC, running Windows NT (I know, it's old, but I can't change/update it) and with Lion I can't access to its SMB sharings... No problems with Snow, no problems with Windows XP, and no problems with Windows 7 Pro (but I had to change this settings in Admin Tools http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738867(WS.10).aspx)


There is a way to enable access to old sharings?

Or a way to "downgrade" to Snow Leopard's Samba?


Thanks, have a nice day...

Jul 25, 2011 6:42 AM in response to upeace

I have something to add:


connecting with Lion to a "Windows Server 2008 R2 SMB Share" without a Domain works just fine in our local network.


We have several locations we are connected with through a VPN tunnel. When trying to connect to a "Windows Server 2008 R2 Share" with or without domain in a remote network, that does not work.


In our VPN here there is nothing blocked, all ports are going through. But since there is no difference between a 2008 R2 IN a Domain or NOT in a Domain I would blame the VPN and not the Domain.


But since every port is open I can't pinpoint where it comes from.


So, any help apreciated, and hopefully my information helps getting answers for other as well!


Have a nice day

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Can't connect via SMB

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