Smb net scans problems

Apple did indeed change the SMB software they use after Mac OS X 10.6.8 which used SAMBA. Later versions now use Apple's own SMBx software. This has historically caused various problems particularly with multifunction printer/scanners.

The first thing to do is to install any available firmware updates for your multifunction printers i.e. Xerox etc. Not all of them will have updates that fix these issues but some hopefully will do. I remember that we had to install multiple updates to our Xerox to get it fully updated and compatible as it had previously not been updated for ages.

The next thing is to look at what authentication options your multifunction printer supports, it may offer options to adjust settings to make it compatible with Apple's settings. Apple have over time changed their settings with the aim of making it more and more secure. You may have to either consult the relevant support team e.g. Xerox etc. for their advice. By now they should all be well familiar with these issues.

The third and most recent change was implemented by Apple in El Capitan 10.11.5 and turned on another new security setting which again has caused connectivity problems with some systems. This is to require 'signing' SMB network packets. This can be turned back off on your Mac server by editing the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.smb.server.plist and setting the key SigningRequired to false. This can be done as follows.

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.smb.server SigningRequired false

Note: I have seen a report that using SMBUp in El Capitan did fix a Xerox compatibility problem. You obviously need to make sure the built-in SMB is turned off. While SMBUp is usable on a Mac client I am not sure if it is on a Mac server running Server.app.

Instead of using SMB to connect to the Mac from the MFD you could use FTP. The Canon MFD's support this protocol for sending documents to a shared folder and I would expect that the other brands do as well.

The first step is to enable FTP on the Mac, however the FTP service is not a user selectable option in the System Preferences > Sharing > File Sharing pane. So to enable FTP you can open Terminal and type;

sudo -s launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ftp.plist

Then press Return. You then need to enter the Mac's admin password and press Return again.

Now that FTP is enabled on the Mac, you can then create an address book entry in the MFD. The following example is for a Canon imageRUNNER (iR) copier

Protocol: FTP

Hostname: IP address of Mac

File Path: path to folder from Home folder

User Name: Full user name of the account owner of the destination folder

Password: Password for the account above

An example of the iR address book configuration to a Mac with an IP address of 172.17.4.33 and a user of Paul and a folder called Scans located on his Desktop would be;

Protocol: FTP

Hostname: 172.17.4.33

File Path: Desktop/Scans

User name: Paul

Password: password