Hi All,

 

I'm new to Unraid and I'm trying to see and access my Unraid server in explorer. When I go to explorer > network, I get a banner pop up which says "Network discovery is turned off. Network computers and devices are not visible. Click to change..."

 

When I do that and enable the settings for network discovery and file and printer sharing under network & sharing centre, the settings immediately revert to off, and the banner just reappears.

 

I've tried the following:

- Enabled SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support under "Turn windows features on or off"

- Set the following services to automatic > DHCP Client / Function Discovery Provider Host / Function Discovery Resource Publication / SSDP Discovery / UPnP Device Host

- Checked that workgroup is matched between Unraid and windows (both set to WORKGROUP)

- Set up my shares and set them to export > yes

- Tried changing some registry entries that I've seen suggested.

 

After trying these things, I still cannot see anything under network other than the banner which just keeps reappearing.

I can access the Unraid web GUI by typing it's IP into the browser.

 

What else can I try to get network discovery and file and printer sharing settings to stick, and to see the server/shares in explorer>network?

It seems many people have trouble with this, is it even worth it? If not, what is the best alternative approach to see and access files on the server?

 

Many Thanks

 

6 minutes ago, Dominoes0522 said:

the settings immediately revert to off, and the banner just reappears.

That looks like a Windows issue, for Windows 10/11 up to 23H2, you shouldn't need to change anything to access Unraid over SMB, for Windows 11 24H2 see here:

https://forums.unraid.net/topic/177975-formatted-my-pc-and-installed-fresh-windows-11-now-cant-access-smb-shares/?do=findComment&comment=1478526

 

Thanks for replying. I'd like to use with signing enabled if possible. I use a local account in windows and my account name is in CAPS with a space in it. Do I create my user in unraid as the same name in lower case with no space? And can the user password in Unraid be anything or should it match the sign in password for the windows user?

 

Thanks

I'm not sure if Unraid accepts spaces in the name, you can try, if it doesn't, create a new user and add it to the Windows Credential Manager.

No Unraid doesn't like spaces in the user name.

Sorry to ask, but could you expand on exactly what I have to do?

Do you mean create a new windows user or new unraid user?

In credential manger I have options for web credentials and windows credentials. I assume it would be add a windows credential under windows credentials?

This wants a network address, username and password. What would I enter for these?

Sorry if this is dumb!

 

EDIT: I've made an assumption that you meant create an unraid user (with no spaces) and set a password. I've then added a new windows credential and given network address of tower, and the username and password of the unraid user. However after doing this, I still get the "Network discovery is turned off. Network computers and devices are not visible. Click to change..." banner in explorer.

 

Please let me know if I've missed the point of your suggestion.

Edited November 7, 20241 yr by Dominoes0522

UPDATE: I have also tried the approach of disabling SMB signing and guest fallback protection as documented in the link in the other linked thread:

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/filecab/accessing-a-third-party-nas-with-smb-in-windows-11-24h2-may-fail/4154300

 

Unfortunately this didn't work either - I'm still getting the same pesky banner in explorer "Network discovery is turned off. Network computers and devices are not visible. Click to change..." and every time I enable it, it reverts straight back to off. I've never seen anything (i.e tower) under network except for the banner.

 

Could this be anything to do with the fact that I'm currently using the trial of Unraid?

 

And should I be accessing via SMB or WS-Discovery? In unraid SMB settings I have enable netbios set to no, and enable WSD set to yes.

Edited November 7, 20241 yr by Dominoes0522

24 minutes ago, Dominoes0522 said:

Unfortunately this didn't work either - I'm still getting the same pesky banner in explorer "Network discovery is turned off.

That's not surprising, like mentioned, 

 

2 hours ago, JorgeB said:

That looks like a Windows issue

 

You should be able to enable network device discovery even without any server connected to your LAN.

 

Can you access the server if you type

 

\\tower

 

or the correct server name or IP in the Windows explorer address bar?

If I type the IP it takes me to the web GUI login page.

If I type \\tower it comes up with a dialog saying it can't access - check the spelling etc

Basically, windows explorer >> Network  has been broke since SMBv1 was turned off in Windows.  (And i believe it SMBv1 is turned in new installs of Unraid)  Read here on how to get things working:

 

     https://forums.unraid.net/topic/110580-security-is-not-a-dirty-word-unraid-windows-1011-smb-setup/

 

Be sure to read second paper in first post to set things.  And don't be afriad to use windows credential manger to set things. 

12 minutes ago, Dominoes0522 said:

If I type \\tower it comes up with a dialog saying it can't access - check the spelling etc

Make sure NetBIOS or WSD is enabled in Unraid, if it is, you likely have a network or Windows issue, use the IP for now, or add the IP and name to the Windows hosts file: e.g.

 

192.168.1.2       tower

 

Quote

Be sure to read second paper in first post to set things.  And don't be afriad to use windows credential manger to set things. 

Did you mean the second attachment titled "An Alternative Method to Network Neighborhood to Add Unraid Server(s) to Windows File Explorer/Manager" ?

I followed that and created and new shortcut on my desktop using the IP as the address and pinned it to quick access.  If I click on it, the results pane shows "This folder is empty"

 

Quote

Make sure NetBIOS or WSD is enabled in Unraid

Yes WSD is enabled but netbios isn't.

 

Thanks for your help on this so far guys, I appreciate it.

first goto  'Settings'  >>>   'SMB'   and make SMB is enabled.

 

Next,   goto   'Shares' tab.  Look at the User Shares.  Under the SMB column, for each share you want access, make sure the condition is not a '-'.

Enable SMB is set to Yes (workgroup)

 

Under user shares the SMB column is set to private for each share. The next column named NFS all have a minus (-) symbol for each share.

One more thing,  make sure that in windows 'Network and internet' settings that the type is set to 'Private' not 'Public'.

Yes I already checked. It is set to Private.

 

Would it make any difference if I'm connected to a VPN?

 

Another thing to note is that I'm connecting both the windows PC and server PC directly to my router which is running OPNsense router firmware. I don't have a network switch (yet) so I've bridged the three LAN ports in the OPNsense GUI to act as a switch in accordance with the OPNsense documentation. I don't see this to be a problem though as I can see the DHCP lease for both PC and server and can access the Unraid web GUI. I think that JorgeB is correct that it's a windows configuration issue.

Edited November 7, 20241 yr by Dominoes0522

10 minutes ago, Dominoes0522 said:

Yes I already checked. It is set to Private.

 

Would it make any difference if I'm connected to a VPN?

Sorry, notable to help with vpn setups..

Well I've managed to get the shares visible now. I still get the banner when on the explorer > network location, but if I click on the desktop shortcut or the pinned quick access item I can see the shares.

 

In case it helps anybody:

 

To get it to work I had to:

-Enable all file and printer sharing rules in my firewall (MWB windows firewall control) - some of them were disabled

-Set network properties to private under settings > network & internet > properties

-Start unraid array

-Create the user in unraid and set password

-Add the IP address of the server, and set the username and password the same as the unraid user (in credential manager > windows credentials > add new credential)

-Right click on desktop > new shortcut > \\IP of server > name: tower

-Right click on tower desktop icon > pin to quick access (some reason it shows it as the IP rather than tower, but that'll do)

 

I didn't need to:

-Turn on network discovery or file & printer sharing under settings > network & internet > advanced network settings > advanced sharing settings

-Change any windows services

-Add SMB 1.0/CIFS under turn windows features on/off

-Change any registry or group policy items

 

If I start my array, I can now see the shares via one of the links, even though network discovery / file & printer settings are off. Not sure if this is expected behavior but it's working.