Resolved [HELP] Can't get file sharing to work

[dastinger]

Hi,

I always had issues with file sharing on my home network. Sometimes it works sometimes it just doesn't.

I own a 2007 iMac and a 2012 rMBP.. both are running Mavericks at the time (same build). I have file sharing turned on on each one of them with both AFP and SMB on.

First of all, in Finder, I can't see the iMac on the Shared section on the sidebar nor I see the rMBP on the iMac. If I try to connect to the server directly I always get this error:

I may try connecting using the 'xxxxxx-iMac.local' server name, 'afp://xxxxxx-imac.home' or 'smb://xxxxx-imac.home' and I almost always get the same error.

Yesterday I tried and it worked fine.. today I tried and it doesn't. Here's my configuration.. it is the same on both Macs:

Please help..

 

[squeakr]

Have you tried setting the MAC addresses assigned to static ip addresses in your router to assure that the machines are seen and routing is always defined within the routing tables?

Have you tried connecting the two machines through Bonjour and see if that works?

 

[dastinger]

Have you tried setting the MAC addresses assigned to static ip addresses in your router to assure that the machines are seen and routing is always defined within the routing tables?

Have you tried connecting the two machines through Bonjour and see if that works?

Thanks for the quick reply.

My router only lets me filter MAC addresses, not assign specific IPs to specific MAC addresses.

Sorry but I never used Bonjour and I really can't find out how to do that

 

[squeakr]

You should have some sort of way to assign DHCP reservations (these are static assignments for the various devices and it uses mac addressing as it is the only way to truly differentiate devices on a network). What router do you have?

When you go to file sharing, what does it say for other users connecting to that device (an ip address or a name) and do you have it limited to whom can connect?

 

[dastinger]

I searched for that and I can assure you that that option is not available. It's a ****** router with a specific ISP firmware and they removed that possibility which is ridiculous. There was a way to access those advanced options before but it was "fixed" on newer firmware versions. The router works well when it comes to wireless but it's very limited.

As you can see on the second screenshot, I gave Read and Write access to my user name. I now changed the 'Everyone' tab to Read Only but the same thing happens. Also, on the iMac, Everyone always had access and I still have the same issue.

 

[Bruno09]

Did you have a look at "Options" in System Preferences / Sharing ?

 

[dastinger]

Did you have a look at "Options" in System Preferences / Sharing ?

Yes. Both SMB and AFP are turned on as I stated on the OP.

--EDIT--

Ok, on that Options window there is a Windows File Sharing section. I turned on my username and input the password and, bam, working. I never touched this options because it specifically said Windows.. why was this the issue?

I won't mark as solved just now. Yesterday I did not have this option turned on and I still managed to connect so I don't know if this actually solves it or not.

Anyway, I want to thank both of you for helping

 

[Bruno09]

I think you should first try to ping one Mac from the other.

In System Preferences / Network you can see the IP address of the first Mac.

From the other Mac, try to ping that address (from the Terminal or with Network Utility).

Don't you have an option in your router to "isolate" the users ?

Also just to be sure : do you have the same user name on the 2 Macs ?

 

[dastinger]

I think you should first try to ping one Mac from the other.

In System Preferences / Network you can see the IP address of the first Mac.

From the other Mac, try to ping that address (from the Terminal or with Network Utility).

Don't you have an option in your router to "isolate" the users ?

Read my edit above, please.

 

[Bruno09]

Ok seen your edit.

You should be able to connect using afp only anyway...

 

[squeakr]

I apologize as somehow I had missed the second screen shot, so was asking questions based on information right there ini front of me, LOL!!

Also it makes sense that the option would be removed in an ISP supplied router (or at least driven under the specific admin password. I have the same issue with my ISP supplied modem/ router, and when the tech came to set it up, I knew more than he did, so he wired the house, gave me the root password, and I set it up while he was completing the wiring. He told me it would be easier for me to set it up with my network already in place and I knew more then he did. Not sure that is saying much, but then again I do IT support for a living. )

As for why this might make a difference is that in Mavericks, the file sharing is defaulting to SMB2 protocol. I am not saying this is the reason that it is now working after those changes, just a possibility (as by setting the other protocols you should have made it work as well)??

 

[dastinger]

Ok seen your edit.

You should be able to connect using afp only anyway...

Right now I won't think much about this. If it keeps on working for a few hours, I'll mark as solved.. Later I will also try to reboot both Macs and see how it acts. If it starts acting up again, I'll let you guys know. And, yes, I have the same username on both Macs.

 

[Bruno09]

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13...fp-file-sharing-to-smb2-in-os-x-109-mavericks

 

[dastinger]

I apologize as somehow I had missed the second screen shot, so was asking questions based on information right there ini front of me, LOL!!

As for why this might make a difference is that in Mavericks, the file sharing is defaulting to SMB2 protocol. I am not saying this is the reason that it is now working after those changes, just a possibility (as by setting the other protocols you should have made it work as well)??

Ahah, no problem at all. Thank you for helping!

Yes, I read about that change in Mavericks but I had both protocols turned on so I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Yes, maybe, by turning that last option on, I managed to make it work. And here the problem is that the text on the Options window is misleading.. SMB was turned on anyway but then there was an option that specifically talked about Windows sharing. That should be turned on as well due to this change in Mavericks even if you're sharing between two Macs.

As I said, let's see if it keeps on working.

----------

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13...fp-file-sharing-to-smb2-in-os-x-109-mavericks

Exactly. I edited my last post but that's exactly the issue. On the Options window it talks about Windows sharing but now it affects Mac sharing as well.. also, SMB sharing turned on alone will not work.. you need to turn on your username and input the password for it to work. Apple needs to change those misleading instructions.

----------

I apologize as somehow I had missed the second screen shot, so was asking questions based on information right there ini front of me, LOL!!

Also it makes sense that the option would be removed in an ISP supplied router (or at least driven under the specific admin password. I have the same issue with my ISP supplied modem/ router, and when the tech came to set it up, I knew more than he did, so he wired the house, gave me the root password, and I set it up while he was completing the wiring. He told me it would be easier for me to set it up with my network already in place and I knew more then he did. Not sure that is saying much, but then again I do IT support for a living. )

As for why this might make a difference is that in Mavericks, the file sharing is defaulting to SMB2 protocol. I am not saying this is the reason that it is now working after those changes, just a possibility (as by setting the other protocols you should have made it work as well)??

Ok, I did not see the second paragraph of your post. You probably edited it. I can and know how to access the configuration page but that option was removed. Back in 2009 when they started using this routers, you only needed the link for the advanced options page to access it but, after the firmware updates, they removed that possibility. Maybe with a specific admin login I would be able to do that but I read some threads about it on portuguese forums and no one got to a solution or at least no one wanted to share. Since the firmware is ISP specific, I don't think you could help with that, could you? Because there are other options that I would love to be able to change...

 

[Bruno09]

You could anyway give the iMac a static IP address : there is no reason to use DHCP for a desktop machine.

I have a Portuguese friend who use a TM'N 3G router, I helped him setting it up but.
Would be happy to help if I can, but if your router doesn't allow assigning fixed addresses, it doesn't.

 

[dastinger]

You could anyway give the iMac a static IP address : there is no reason to use DHCP for a desktop machine.

Yes, I know but I have an iMac and a MBP and I share files from one to another.. the server is not always the same. Anyway, the options I'd like to have access to on the router are not directly related to this now

 

[squeakr]

Ok, I did not see the second paragraph of your post. You probably edited it. I can and know how to access the configuration page but that option was removed. Back in 2009 when they started using this routers, you only needed the link for the advanced options page to access it but, after the firmware updates, they removed that possibility. Maybe with a specific admin login I would be able to do that but I read some threads about it on portuguese forums and no one got to a solution or at least no one wanted to share. Since the firmware is ISP specific, I don't think you could help with that, could you? Because there are other options that I would love to be able to change...

I did edit it, probably while you were typing other responses. You are right in that I probably couldn't help. I know with mine the options are not there unless you enter through a different portal. With mine you need to type the IP address and then follow it with /admin and this causes it to issue a popup log in box. You type the admin username and password and then you have unbridled control over every setting possible to the designers. It is a very powerful section and I can see why most should not be in there, In fact I don't even think the installer gave me the regular password, he just gave me this one as he didn't want to go into the settings for my two servers and network of computers to address everything (yes at the time was running OS X SL server with all the options, a Windows SMB server with full exchange, and at least 6 clients of various configurations throughout my HOUSE! LOL Something he didn't want to address and screw up).

 

[dastinger]

I did edit it, probably while you were typing other responses. You are right in that I probably couldn't help. I know with mine the options are not there unless you enter through a different portal. With mine you need to type the IP address and then follow it with /admin and this causes it to issue a popup log in box. You type the admin username and password and then you have unbridled control over every setting possible to the designers. It is a very powerful section and I can see why most should not be in there, In fact I don't even think the installer gave me the regular password, he just gave me this one as he didn't want to go into the settings for my two servers and network of computers to address everything (yes at the time was running OS X SL server with all the options, a Windows SMB server with full exchange, and at least 6 clients of various configurations throughout my HOUSE! LOL Something he didn't want to address and screw up).

LOL I bet he felt nervous just by installing the router

I ended up digging a bit more and found the admin username and password but it did not give me any more options (unless the possibility to bridge port 4). This router really sucks lol.. I'll dig up some more but I don't think I'll find something. At least now I have an easy to way to bridge the connection when I buy a good router

Thank you once again

 

[Bruno09]

Yes, I know but I have an iMac and a MBP and I share files from one to another.. the server is not always the same.

And ? What is the problem ?

Having a (local) static IP address would not change the behaviour of the iMac in the local network.

 

[dastinger]

And ? What is the problem ?

Having a (local) static IP address would not change the behaviour of the iMac in the local network.

Yes, I know. But I would be assigning a static IP address on OS X configurations, not on the Router configurations and then I would end up having ip conflicts when the same IP address is already assigned to another device when I turn on the iMac. Unless I assign a bottom of the range address, of course.

 

[Bruno09]

Of course, when you assign a static IP to a computer, you choose an address that is not in the range of addresses that the router assigns.

Example for those who are reading the thread in case I am not very clear :

My router is : 192.168.1.1

If the router's DHCP server assigns addresses from 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.100, I can use static addresses from :

- 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.9 or/and

- 192.168.1.101 to 192.168.1.254

 

[squeakr]

Yes, I know. But I would be assigning a static IP address on OS X configurations, not on the Router configurations and then I would end up having ip conflicts when the same IP address is already assigned to another device when I turn on the iMac. Unless I assign a bottom of the range address, of course.

Exactly, which is why I assign through my DHCP servers and duplicate onto the routers so that I can control the routing tables and makes sure that the collisions are minimized due to ip conflicts. I am running the ISP modem/ router with a static assigned and only as a bridge, then running three separate routers (and Airport Extreme AC and latest version, Airport Extreme 4th generation, and Airport Express 4th and latest generation, all mirroring the settings handed out by my DHCP server assignments on the OS X Mavericks server, this way if the server or a router is down for maintenance the routing tables are still intact on the others and available for the rest of the entire network to maintain correct usage and flow).

----------

Of course, when you assign a static IP to a computer, you choose an address that is not in the range of addresses that the router assigns.

Example for those who are reading the thread in case I am not very clear :

My router is : 192.168.1.1

If the router's DHCP server assigns addresses from 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.100, I can use static addresses from :

- 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.9 or/and

- 192.168.1.101 to 192.168.1.254

Yep but this is what most people don't understand and just decide to haphazardly assign their static IPs through the networking settings and then wonder why when they wake from sleep they never connect to the internet or have all sorts of issues. They think just assigning the static makes it magically work, then they go to another site and have all sort of issues as they are trying to get their same static on another network. I prefer the DHCP assigned setting, and having statics assigned through the DHCP server/ router by MAC addressing, this way when traveling onto other systems no changes are required on my part to connect and obtain an address and conflicts are avoided and no need for separate hope and away profiles.