Hi,
first of all I just wanted to report that the problem already mentioned for rc2 (see link) still exists.
A samba restart, as suggested, solves it until the next reboot or next VM (re)start.
But I did a little more debugging and fiddeling (all with a Win 11 VM):
1. After a clean reboot of UnRaid, starting the VM where the wsdd2 discovery is needed, it doesn't work until you restart samba.
2. Restarting samba while in the VM (->discovery works), then restarting the VM, again, discovery does not work until samba is restarted.
3. Restarting samba right before starting the VM doesn't solve the problem.
-> All without any error messages in the log.
Looking at: https://github.com/Netgear/wsdd2/issues/36 it seems that the problem with wsdd2 has been introduced with the newer versions of wsdd2 and someone suggests to go back to the 2020 version to get it working again.
-> I don't know if Unraid is using this version of wsdd2 from this Git Repository but as this is the only one written in C++, I think I could be right.
-> unfortunately, I am no developer and have no idea how to compile an older version to test if this may work.
=> For me the used version is simply broken and either needs and update (in fact it is more of a downgrade...) or needs to be replaced by a working alternative...
After continued reading I found out that the discovery service wsdd is providing is completely independent of samba and even works without samba being started.
I also found this alternative: https://github.com/christgau/wsdd and thought: "give it a try". TL;DR: It works!
According to their issues tracker they faced the same problem but contrary to the wsdd2 they solved it as far as I can tell.
What did I do to test and verify:
1. Disabled WSD in the SBM Settings
2. Installed Python3 through the Nerd Pack
3. Restarted the server to ensure a clean system.
4. Downloaded the Python script from Christgau's Github and just put it somewhere (good enough for testing purposes)
5. Started the script without "daemonizing" it directly in the shell with wsdd -i br0 (this is my network interface)
6. Started the Array, started a Win 11 VM, started the File Explorer. And voilá the file server appeared instantanously under "Network".
7. Because in this case the Samba server was already running in the background on Unraid, so in my Win 11 VM I opened/created some files/directories all without problems.
8. I shut down the VM, restarted it and did the same test once again. And guess: All worked and still worked after trying several times.
=> This script works well and could be a (at least interim) solution for the problems with wsdd2 and sould be considered to be put into the next possible release.
Of couse, all I have done is a bad hack and a final implementation hast to be fine-adjusted by the Unraid developers.
The script includes rc.d instructions and behaves nearly the same as the the broken one in regards of the configuration so I believe this script could be implemented quite fast if it fits into the Unraid frame. But that the Devs have to decide.
In case there is no fast solution and some of you want to have this NOW, you could consider to run this script by using the go startup-file...
As I said, the wsdd discovery service is independent from Samba and you can turn the integrated wsdd off.
So two of the most important prequisites are already fulfilled and the rest doesn't seem too complicated to be put in the go file but I haven't tried this and will wait for a feedback from the Unraid Dev's first as how fast they are going to implement this if at all.
For those unsure about what to do:
I have chosen to report this problem as an Annoyance because even with the broken wsdd2 the Samba shares can always be reached by simply using \\myServer\ShareName in the Windows File Explorer and these shares can be mapped to a drive without any problem the same way.
Nevertheless, for those who are configuring a Samba share the first time, it could be a big hurdle NOT seeing the server and his shares in Windows at the first moment, thinking something must be wrong with their Samba setup and trying to figure out what the problem is. I think this is what annoying means here.
Additionally I have seen a lot of hints telling to (re)enable SMB1 protocol on these Windows machines to solve the problem - and in fact, it solves the problem.
But be WARNED, there is a very good reason why Microsoft turned off SMB1 after years of still enabling it because SMB1 is a #1 security risk!
So let's not use this bad hint at all and go for a better soultion than this which mine could be.
Have fun, with best regards
DaKarli.
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