I have been using unRAID for many years without issue.  I've also been running v5.0 since it came out.  Recently, two of my Windows 8.1 PCs are constantly losing their ability to connect to Tower via hostname through windows explorer for access to file shares.  Browsing to \\Tower does not work, but \\ip address does work, and I can also ping "tower" and it does resolve the correct IP address!

 

I've tried a number of things to troubleshoot including:

- add Tower to hosts file

- ensure Tower is set as local master

- reset router, switch, etc.

- registry tweaks to prioritize NetBT name resolution (http://hackupdates.blogspot.ca/2008/01/host-resolution-priority-tweak.html)

- static IP addresses on both unRAID and on the PC

- flush DNS cache on PC

 

None of these adjustments make any difference once I lose connectivity via hostname.  The only thing that will fix this problem when it occurs is to disable and re-enable the NIC on the affected PCs.  Once I do that, I can access Tower by name again, usually for an hour or two, and then all of a sudden, browsing by name will just randomly stop working again.

 

Also a very interesting observation is that even when browsing to Tower stops working by name, from the affected PCs I can STILL browse to other PCs on my network by name which is leading me to believe that this is an issue with unRAID and not on the Windows side...

 

This is getting to be really frustrating because one of my affected PCs is my HTPC and so now almost every time I go to watch a movie I get a popup saying that \\Tower\.... cannot be found and I have to reset the NIC to make it work again.

 

Can anyone help me figure out what is wrong?

 

 

Have you recently changed your router?    ... or modified the router's configuration?

 

One simple fix for DNS related issues is to simply use a static IP for your UnRAID server ... then update your shortcuts that refer to it (or do a persistent drive mapping).

 

This problem is one that I don't recall seeing before.  One thing, I would suggest checking is seeing if all of the Workgroup names are the same.  It may be best to use all Caps for the workgroup name as I seem to recall that years ago, Windows converted the lower case letters to Caps for all file and resource names.  Linux uses both cases and, as a result, a resource named "HOME" is that the same as one named "home".  Linux treats them as two different resources and Windows as one. 

 

Second, if you have media players on your network, Turn them off for a half hour in case one of them has ended up as the Master Browser.  (The Master Browser, in the Windows Networking scheme, serves like a DNS for the Windows network.)  If you have a Windows machines that is on WIFI and on most of the time, turn it for a half hour in case it has ended up as the Master Browser.  What you really want is for your unRAID server to end up being the Master Browser.

 

Third, check to see that all of the assigned IP addresses are high in the allocation table or you have added those addresses to the router's table of excluded IP addresses so that the router does not assign those fixed addresses to another computer as it performs its DHCP function. 

Guys thanks for the tips but I've already tried all of this.

 

- Had the same router running for years with no issues.

- I use static DHCP for pretty much everything including all of my PCs and unRAID box so technically my unraid box already has a static IP address.

- I do have a WD TV Live running on WiFi and it did become the master browser at one point but I have since rectified that and now I have a dedicated Windows Server 2003 box that runs 24/7 and is always my master browser.

- Workgroup names are identical

 

This issue is only with the unraid box and nothing else.  The PCs can initially access \\Tower but after a short period of time they cannot and I can only browse to it by IP address.  Mapping a drive is not an option for my HTPC as all of my movie links use the \\Tower prefix.

 

Also as I stated, when I lose connection to \\Tower I still can browse the network and see other PCs and shares on the network....

When your Windows 8.1 computer can't access the unRAID server, can the WD TV box access the server via SMB?

You could always make an entry in the hosts file.  This is not a solution to the actual problem (whatever it is) but should work.

Yes, when the Windows 8.1 PC cannot access \\Tower the WD TV Live can still access via SMB.

 

I've also already tried putting an entry in the hosts file (and rebooting the PC of course) but it has no effect!

 

And also just to point out again, this is happening on two different Windows 8.1 PCs on my network....

 

Now that I think of it, I can't recall if this started happening after I upgraded them from 8.0 to 8.1... but in any case I have two other 8.1 PCs on the network that can access \\Tower just fine all the time (one wired one wireless) yet these other two (both wired connections) continue to have this intermittent problem.  Does anyone know if Windows 8.1 changed anything regarding SMB?

 

I've just tried upgrading the unraid box from 5.0 to the latest 5.0.1.  \\Tower is working right now but I will check again tomorrow and report back if this helped or not.

There may be some issue with your workstations and SMBv3. Here's a Microsoft KB article on how to temporarily disable it for troubleshooting http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2696547.

 

Also you might also try turning off the Windows Firewall if you haven't already.

Thanks for the KB article... but if I were to disable SMBv3, what kind of test would I then run?  I assume that disabling would kill all connectivity to unRAID?

Ned, I have had the same problem for a little while now.

 

I can get to the server through telnet, but it's very slow. The webGUI some times shows up, but it's has been reboot after reboot to get it show up.

 

I have come to conclusion that my problem could be something to do with ESET firewall, do you have some firewall on those problem PC's?

 

I remember that ESET has had problems with web access protection crashing emhttp. The ports 80 and 8080 are scanned by it by default and it does get a lot of updates witch can somehow affect the unraid weGUI having that same port.

 

I cannot verify it ATM. I think I'll try to change the port (if possible) when I get the time.

 

I assume that disabling would kill all connectivity to unRAID?

I think the idea is to disable smbv2 and smbv3 but continue to use smbv1 which would be more in line with what unRAID uses.

Ned, I have had the same problem for a little while now.

 

I can get to the server through telnet, but it's very slow. The webGUI some times shows up, but it's has been reboot after reboot to get it show up.

 

I have come to conclusion that my problem could be something to do with ESET firewall, do you have some firewall on those problem PC's?

 

I remember that ESET has had problems with web access protection crashing emhttp. The ports 80 and 8080 are scanned by it by default and it does get a lot of updates witch can somehow affect the unraid weGUI having that same port.

 

I cannot verify it ATM. I think I'll try to change the port (if possible) when I get the time.

 

 

I don't have any firewall running other than Windows firewall.  And for that I have tried disabling it completely on both private and public networks for good measure and still the issue persists.

 

I assume that disabling would kill all connectivity to unRAID?

I think the idea is to disable smbv2 and smbv3 but continue to use smbv1 which would be more in line with what unRAID uses.

 

Oh I get it now... I was thinking that unRAID might be using an older version of SMB as you say... but I thought that periodically Limetech updates the code with the most recent versions of it in new code releases...  I'll give it a try and see what happens.

I've disabled SMB v2/3 on my two affected PCs (you can't selectively disable one or the other by themselves).  Things are working right now but I will know soon if something breaks.

 

FYI, I noticed in the release notes (http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Release_Notes) that since 5.0rc1, SMB V2 is now the default in unRAID...

Thanks for clearing up which version unRAID is running! I'm glad to hear you are able to connect.

 

Since disabling SMBv2/v3 seems to have helped, it makes sense to now go back and enable it, reboot, and see if the problem comes back. If it does, then there may be some settings in Win8.1 that's causing the issue. I know MS is all about security and maybe they've tightened up things regarding SMB connections. Well, that's the theory anyway.

 

After going back and reading your OP it would seem to be more a netBIOS name resolution problem and since you can ping it by IP and host name (as well as browse by IP), browsing to the share on unRAID should be working. So maybe there's a problem with Windows' browser service. Another old trick to try would be to use the Run command. It used to be "click Start, then click Run....." but Win8 has kind of changed that. So, I think Run now is an "app;" the point here is to see if the Run app and typing in \\tower\ and <Enter> do your unRAID shares start showing up? Better yet, typing \\tower\unRAID-share-name <Enter> should bring up an Explorer window with files.

 

If that fails, well I guess there's always the Microsoft Community Support forum.

I am away for a few days and haven't had a chance to confirm 100% if disabling SMB v2/3 has helped beyond the initial 1/2 day or so after I made the change.  Things were looking promising but the real test will be to see if things are still working when I return home!

 

FYI, doing those "run" commands also did not work when things were broken... It's basically the same thing as typing that path in a file explorer window.

 

I will be sure to report back on my findings when I get home...

 

If this turns out to be the "fix"... I wonder who is to "blame" here though?  If unraid is now supposed to support SMB v2 then why is it having issues with a v2/3 client machine?  Is it changes on the Windows 8.1 side that broke things or is it an issue with the unraid implementation of the protocol?

Probably the best way to really see what's going on between the two boxes is to install Wireshark, an Ethernet packet analyzer, on your Win 8.1 box and capture the traffic when you try and connect to unRAID.

 

I didn't find too many hits here on this forum about using it, but I would think it would give you some good answers to your question!

Ned ----

 

You have a real issue and the resolution of it is probably not going to be simple.  (I had a networking issue with Vista networking to Windows XP machines on an MS only network that was never solved.  And a friend of mine had the same problem!) 

 

First, you have to realize that Samba (SMB) is sort-of  part of the Linux distribution.  There is an entire group devoted to its development.  So it is not really LimeTech's problem to fix. 

 

Second, it would not surprise me that MS did something in the Windows 8.1 release that broke Samba.  Now getting them to admit it and resolve the issue is not a task for the faint of heart.  (MS appears to be using the end-users as beta testers with Windows 8.X--- and the early adopters are paying the price.)

 

Third, if it is an issue between Samba and Windows 8.1, more users than those in the unRAID community will be effected.  There is always the possibility that the Samba developers will address the issue and come up with a fix.  If this happens, there will be an update to the samba package.  If this should occur, until LimeTech  includes the update in some future release of unRAID, you may have to patch your server yourself.  (Many of us did this with an earlier unRAID beta release.)

I thought I'd better put my money where my mouth is  and installed Wireshark on my Win8 workstation. Installation was quick and it comes with a "helper" screen to do most tasks (like start a capture). So I captured some traffic between Win8 and my unRAID server during share browsing.

 

So yes, I can verify SMBv2 is used by unRAID because I can see the negotiation between the two systems. I spent a little time trying to figure out what Windows does when you open "Windows Explorer" and look at the Network; it seems to do a DNS check followed by a check for NetBIOS name servers and then broadcast for the name.

 

Windows 8 may be a bit picky with workgroup names and hosts; meaning it seems to ask for "hostname.workgroup" rather than "hostname." So I think it's probably a good practice to make sure unRAID is part of the same workgroup as Win8 and that it is local master.

 

Well, I've only just cracked the surface of network packet sniffing. Hopefully someone can chime in with some good Wireshark tips! I encourage the OP to give it a try!! Come to think of it, the captures can be saved and posted for others to analyze.

Hey guys thanks for all of the comments and suggestions, I really appreciate it.

 

Just wanted to report back that it looks like disabling SMB v2/3 on the Win 8.1 boxes has solved my issue.  Knock on wood but it has been working ever since I made the change and one of the two PCs has been running continuously all week.

 

Could I ask two favours please....

 

1) If anyone else was having this same issue and you fixed it by disabling SMB v2/3 in Win 8.1, you please reply to this post and let me know?  I would think that I can't be the only one...

 

2) While I agree that it must be the fault of (silent) changes in Win 8.1 that caused this issue, I would really appreciate it if Limetech could weigh in on this subject just to get his perspective...

 

Thanks again for everyone's help.  This forum and its members are great.

Just to let everyone know, all of my Windows 8.1 PCs still consistently exhibit this behaviour.  The only fix is to disable SMBv2/3.  I have yet to find any downside to disabling those protocols so I am leaving it that way for now...

 

Also FYI... I just upgraded from 5.0.1 to 5.0.4 which had some SMB updates but still the same issue :-(

Thanks for the update!

No problem.

 

But seriously though... am I the only one running Win 8.1 and having this problem??  I find this really hard to believe.

I would like to bring this topic to light again as I have now set up 4 different Windows 8.1 PCs on my network (fresh installs) and not a single one of them can access \\Tower shares by hostname.  As I stated earlier, the only fix for this is to disable SMB v2/3 on those PCs.

 

The problem with doing this is it kills my file transfer speeds between the PCs and unRAID - on average I see speeds fluctuate between 6-10MB/s when I used to get as high as 20!  So this is not a good solution nor a permanent fix in my view...

 

I would like to bring this issue to the attention of LIMETECH as I seriously doubt that I can be the only one experiencing this issue.  Limetech, can you please look into this and let me know your findings?  I can very consistently and easily reproduce this behaviour...

 

Thank you!

I've also already tried putting an entry in the hosts file (and rebooting the PC of course) but it has no effect!

 

Instead of hosts, create an lmhosts file in \windows\system32\drivers\etc\.  There should be a lmhosts.sam file in that dir with syntax instructions.

 

EDIT: This is how I would solve it in Win 7 anyway, I don't have any Win 8.  Hope it helps!

Hi ljm42,

 

I appreciate the tip however if you read back to the beginning of this thread, adding \\Tower or any share name to the hosts file has no effect in solving this problem.  It is a SMB protocol issue.

 

Judging by the fact that there are over 500 views on this thread, I still believe that I cannot be the only one with this issue on Windows 8.1...