Connecting MB Pro w/OS 10.8.4 to other network computers hangs

I've got a very similar situation.

MBP running Mountain Lion 10.8.4, on a network with 4 other Mac Pros. 3 runninging Snow Leopard, one running Leopard.

Until recently, I could access any computer from any other computer on the network.

Now I cannot access any of the Mac Pros from the MBP, but it does work the other way around. I CAN access the MBP from the Mac Pros.

Nothing else has changed other than the Mountain Lion update.

Hopefully the next update will fix it.

I should add that in the finder on the MBP, all 4 Mac Pros are listed under "Shared" as usual.

However, when I click on any of them, it tries to connect for a little while, then the "connect" button vanishes leaving only "Share screen".

If I click "share screen", it hangs for a little while, and then the "Shared" listing in the left column vanishes all together.

This behavior happens is happening on both my home and work networks. 2 different physical locations - same behavior.

Home network has a Mac Pro also with Mountain Lion though, and I can't connect in either direction there.

Are you doing this via screen sharing?

On the MacBook Pro

Try a restart.

Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application uninstaller. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode

Safe Mode - About

General information.

Isolating issues in Mac OS X

Troubleshooting Permission Issues

Step by Step to Fix Your Mac

Good thinking Eric, but still no joy.

Under the clean admin account, the other shared Macs are not even listed in the Finder sidebar. Presumably because they'd never been connected before.

Under my usual user account, the other Macs are listed in the sidebar, but as I try to access them, they disappear.

Also, I'm doing this directly, not via screen share, FWIW.

Under the clean admin account, the other shared Macs are not even listed in the Finder sidebar. Presumably because they'd never been connected before.

They should still show up. In the new account, check Finder/Preferences/Sidebar/Devices & Shared to make sure the correct items are selected.

For your normal account - you need to look in your user Library/Preferences for the .plist. Hold down the option key while using the Finder “Go To Folder” command. Enter ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist. Move the plist to your desktop.

Force quit Finder (command - option -esc, select Finder). After it relaunches, test. If it works okay, delete the plist(s) from the desktop.

If the same, return the .plist to where you got it from, overwriting the newer one.

If you prefer to make your user library permanently visible, use the Terminal command found below.

Show User Library

You might want to bookmark the command. I had to use it again after I installed 10.8.4. I have also been informed that if you drag the user library to Finder it will remain visible.

The other Macs are now showing up in the sidebar, before I even had a chance to make any changes in the Finder preferences.

But the behavior remains.

When I select a server, and press "Connect As...", it hangs for a little while, then the "Connect As..." button vanishes leaving only the "Share screen..." button.

When I press "Share Screen..." it hangs for a little while and then the server disappears from the SHARED sidebar all together.

I get a completely different screen when I select the computer in the sidebar???????

That's basically the same thing I get but you're viewing in the Finder's column mode, where mine is in lines mode.

I just tried connecting via the menu bar Go To Server command, and typed in afp://(ip address), and was able to successfully connect my Mountain Lion MBP to SL MP, in both directions using that method.

Screen share is still elusive though.