Mac will connect to Windows or NAS file share via SMB

Hello,

I have the following problem. I need to connect to a NAS, I go to Finder - Go - Connect to a server and put the IP (no password / user are required) and I got this error message:

There was a problem connecting to the server “xx.xx.xx.xx”.

Check the server name or IP address, and then try again. If you continue to have problems, contact your system administrator.

I tried:

  • Ping the IP but it works
  • Boot in safe mode no changes


OS: High Sierra 10.13.2


Any suggestion?


Thanks!

MacBook Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Posted on Jan 16, 2018 2:27 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 16, 2018 2:52 PM

You need to tell the connection what TCP "port" you wish to connect to as well as the IP address. SMB connections usually would be done like this from the Finder "Go" menu command:


smb://xx.xx.xx.xx


where xx.xx.xx.xx is the IP address of the NAS device. For more info and a screen shot example take a look at:


How to connect with File Sharing on your Mac - Apple Support


Good luck...

11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 16, 2018 2:52 PM in response to Isildur

You need to tell the connection what TCP "port" you wish to connect to as well as the IP address. SMB connections usually would be done like this from the Finder "Go" menu command:


smb://xx.xx.xx.xx


where xx.xx.xx.xx is the IP address of the NAS device. For more info and a screen shot example take a look at:


How to connect with File Sharing on your Mac - Apple Support


Good luck...

Jan 17, 2018 9:03 AM in response to Isildur

You could try to use wireshark or some other network protocol analyzer to see what is happening exactly (you may need to get permission to use a tool like this on a network that you don't own). Are you certain you have the correct IP address of the SMB server? Do other people connecting to this server have any problems? Do any others use Mac's? Perhaps try from another account on your mac (use the "Users & Groups" in System Preferences to create a new account). Are you sure the NAS is up and running correctly? What is the model and brand of NAS box? Have you tried to talking to the system admin person responsible for the NAS box or your network? When was the last time you successfully were able to login to the NAS box and what has changed since then?


Good luck...

Jan 18, 2018 3:47 PM in response to Isildur

The important info is contained in the packet contents which is part of the window below the list of packets (which is the part displayed above). From what I see above, the source IP address is 93.50... and the destination address is 192.168.1.103 and the first packet in red is of type 445 which is SMB.. so that would appear to be part of the reply from the 93.50... server to the 192.168.1.103 client?? You should highlight the packet 7 and then 8 and see what the contents show you... You might want to set up some filters to show only traffic between the NAS server and the client (your mac) so that you con more easily show just that information (busy networks make this sort of filtering crucial). I'm not good enough with SMB protocol but you seem pretty sharp and able to do a bit of research and see what is expected and what you end up getting. Might even want to do the same thing on the Mac that is working so you can see what a successful SMB connection looks like.


Good luck...

Jan 20, 2018 2:11 PM in response to Isildur

Doing this sort of network analysis is very difficult via these discussion forums. What I would recommend for you is to understand the SMB protocol and use wireshark to look at a successful SMB protocol exchange and then look at what is different in the SMB failing system.


With the filter suggestion I gave above (substitute the real IP address of the SMB server and the working Mac and then the failing mac) look for differences and similarities. You can save the contents of a session and have two instances of wireshark running on both the working SMB client as well as the failing client and then see where they diverge.


Do a little research on how the SMB protocol works in order to recognize the key packets from/to the server and the client. Perhaps you have a co-worker or friend who can help in person? Wish I could help more than give some suggestions, but this sort of thing can take a while, so be patient and learn as much as you can as you try and solve the problem.


Maybe look around on youtube for some video's that use wireshark to help solve smb problems?


Good luck...

Jan 18, 2018 4:44 PM in response to dot.com

Filter something like:


ip.src == 93.50.xx.xx or ip.dst ==93.50.xx.xx


where you put the real IP address of NAS server would get all the traffic from and to it. Might want a bit more restrictive filter if there are lots of systems with connections to NAS server.


(ip.src == 93.50.xx.xx and Ip.dst == 192.168.1.103) or (ip.dst ==93.50.xx.xx and ip.src == 192.168.1.103)


would get traffic between only the NAS server and the 192.1698.1.103 system


Good luck...

Jan 18, 2018 2:54 PM in response to Isildur

If it works fine from another Mac, then possibly the NAS server is setup to only allow certain computers as well as only certain users to access the system. Are you the admin person for the NAS server box? If not, then you should talk to that person and describe your problems and see if they have any suggestions.


Good luck...

Jan 19, 2018 2:42 PM in response to dot.com

Thanks for your time. This is the content of one of the rows, I tried to read across them, but I have not been able to find any hint.


12 5.831728 93.50.182.30 192.168.1.102 TCP 54 445 → 49632 [RST, ACK] Seq=1 Ack=1 Win=65535 Len=0



Frame 12: 54 bytes on wire (432 bits), 54 bytes captured (432 bits) on interface 0

Interface id: 0 (en1)

Interface name: en1

Encapsulation type: Ethernet (1)

Arrival Time: Jan 19, 2018 23:34:32.588261000 CET

[Time shift for this packet: 0.000000000 seconds]

Epoch Time: 1516401272.588261000 seconds

[Time delta from previous captured frame: 0.197872000 seconds]

[Time delta from previous displayed frame: 0.197872000 seconds]

[Time since reference or first frame: 5.831728000 seconds]

Frame Number: 12

Frame Length: 54 bytes (432 bits)

Capture Length: 54 bytes (432 bits)

[Frame is marked: True]

[Frame is ignored: False]

[Protocols in frame: eth:ethertype:ip:tcp]

[Coloring Rule Name: TCP RST]

[Coloring Rule String: tcp.flags.reset eq 1]

Ethernet II, Src: HuaweiTe_65:6e:92 (ac:cf:85:65:6e:92), Dst: Apple_8c:4d:22 (a8:86:dd:8c:4d:22)

Destination: Apple_8c:4d:22 (a8:86:dd:8c:4d:22)

Address: Apple_8c:4d:22 (a8:86:dd:8c:4d:22)

.... ..0. .... .... .... .... = LG bit: Globally unique address (factory default)

.... ...0 .... .... .... .... = IG bit: Individual address (unicast)

Source: HuaweiTe_65:6e:92 (ac:cf:85:65:6e:92)

Address: HuaweiTe_65:6e:92 (ac:cf:85:65:6e:92)

.... ..0. .... .... .... .... = LG bit: Globally unique address (factory default)

.... ...0 .... .... .... .... = IG bit: Individual address (unicast)

Type: IPv4 (0x0800)

Internet Protocol Version 4, Src: 93.50.182.30, Dst: 192.168.1.102

0100 .... = Version: 4

.... 0101 = Header Length: 20 bytes (5)

Differentiated Services Field: 0x00 (DSCP: CS0, ECN: Not-ECT)

Total Length: 40

Identification: 0xe0ed (57581)

Flags: 0x00

Fragment offset: 0

Time to live: 250

Protocol: TCP (6)

Header checksum: 0x0a83 [validation disabled]

[Header checksum status: Unverified]

Source: 93.50.182.30

Destination: 192.168.1.102

[Source GeoIP: Unknown]

[Destination GeoIP: Unknown]

Transmission Control Protocol, Src Port: 445, Dst Port: 49632, Seq: 1, Ack: 1, Len: 0

Source Port: 445

Destination Port: 49632

[Stream index: 2]

[TCP Segment Len: 0]

Sequence number: 1 (relative sequence number)

Acknowledgment number: 1 (relative ack number)

0101 .... = Header Length: 20 bytes (5)

Flags: 0x014 (RST, ACK)

000. .... .... = Reserved: Not set

...0 .... .... = Nonce: Not set

.... 0... .... = Congestion Window Reduced (CWR): Not set

.... .0.. .... = ECN-Echo: Not set

.... ..0. .... = Urgent: Not set

.... ...1 .... = Acknowledgment: Set

.... .... 0... = Push: Not set

.... .... .1.. = Reset: Set

.... .... ..0. = Syn: Not set

.... .... ...0 = Fin: Not set

[TCP Flags: ·······A·R··]

Window size value: 65535

[Calculated window size: 65535]

[Window size scaling factor: -1 (unknown)]

Checksum: 0xaea4 [unverified]

[Checksum Status: Unverified]

Urgent pointer: 0

[SEQ/ACK analysis]

[This is an ACK to the segment in frame: 10]

[The RTT to ACK the segment was: 0.197993000 seconds]

[iRTT: 0.197993000 seconds]

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Mac will connect to Windows or NAS file share via SMB

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