unable to find server on network [SOLVED]

[fluffybutt]

good morning, ok im a total beginner at this networking server stuff.

i have searched just about everything on here trying to find an answer.

i am physically unable to find any trace of the serve on my network using win 10. i however can access it using its physical allocated network i.p. 

so any ideas on what im managing to get wrong ?

any help would be appreciated as at the moment im feeling like the thing will be junked off into the bin as its driving me so insane. 

thanks all

Edited August 25, 2018 by fluffybutt

[trurl]

1 hour ago, fluffybutt said:

i am physically unable to find any trace of the serve on my network using win 10. i however can access it using its physical allocated network i.p. 

 

 

Do you mean you can't access your server by name but you can access it by IP?

 

1 hour ago, fluffybutt said:

i have searched just about everything on here trying to find an answer.

 

Did you read this topic pinned near the top of this same subforum?

 

https://lime-technology.com/forums/topic/53172-windows-issues-with-unraid/

 

[itimpi]

3 hours ago, fluffybutt said:

good morning, ok im a total beginner at this networking server stuff.

i have searched just about everything on here trying to find an answer.

i am physically unable to find any trace of the serve on my network using win 10. i however can access it using its physical allocated network i.p. 

so any ideas on what im managing to get wrong ?

any help would be appreciated as at the moment im feeling like the thing will be junked off into the bin as its driving me so insane. 

thanks all

The problem is that the latest releases of Windows 10 have broken name resolution for SMB shares.   There are various workarounds for this, but the easiest is to simply use the IP address.    You can also add an entry to the ‘hosts’ file on the Win10 machine to be able to get the name resolved to the correct IP address.

 

Another option is to click on the server part in the Explorer address bar and drag it to the desktop.    This will create a shortcut that can be used to bring up the full list of shares.

Edited August 19, 2018 by itimpi

[fluffybutt]

thanks for the replies,

yes i have set the master as the thread said, even have dynamix local master installed .

 

the unit is discoverable by i.p set on the network, but i want to be able to physically access the information on the device not edit the server. hence needing it to be visible on the network.

the unit is physically attached to the router as is my pc, yet i can not find the shared folders on the unit.

have tried to drop the link onto desktop but that just shows the front page of the ui

 

many thanks.

[trurl]

38 minutes ago, fluffybutt said:

have tried to drop the link onto desktop but that just shows the front page of the ui

 

Not Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer

 

8 hours ago, itimpi said:

Another option is to click on the server part in the Explorer address bar and drag it to the desktop.

 

 

I'm having a little trouble parsing this bit. Could you elaborate?

39 minutes ago, fluffybutt said:

the unit is discoverable by i.p set on the network, but i want to be able to physically access the information on the device not edit the server. hence needing it to be visible on the network.

 

 

[fluffybutt]

9 hours ago, trurl said:

 

Not Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer

if i open on windows explorer it opens the front page on chrome...

 

9 hours ago, trurl said:

 

 

 

I'm having a little trouble parsing this bit. Could you elaborate?

if i type in the i.p. assigned to the unit it will go to the front page of unraid ui. no matter if i type in the i.p or the i.p./media . i need the share folders to be visible to any users on the network, also i can not add to the shared folders. if i can not add anything to the raid array then what is the point of it being there ?

sorry but as i stated im new to this, i have read alot and followed alot of online content to try to understand how it all works.

sorry ...

 

9 hours ago, trurl said:

 

 

[Squid]

 

\\ip-address to access the files via explorer. Not //

 

Then add a quick launch to the server or share

 

Sent via Tapatalk because my laptop doesn't fit in my pocket

 

 

 

[John_M]

22 hours ago, itimpi said:

The problem is that the latest releases of Windows 10 have broken name resolution for SMB shares.

 

I fixed it by going to

 

  Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Turn Windows features on and off -> enable SMB 1.0/CIFS Server

 

The tooltip explains that the server is used for browsing the network neighbourhood. You don't need to enable the client.

 

[Frank1940]

37 minutes ago, John_M said:

Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Turn Windows features on and off -> enable SMB 1.0/CIFS Server

 

I didn't double check but I believe that Win10 now has an automatic option (in ver 1803(?))  that will disable this setting if it is not used for some preset period of time (say 10 days).  This can make the problem suddenly reappear!  (By the way, solving Win10 problems is complicated by the fact that there are currently versions of Win10 (1803, 1709, 1703) plus the Home, PRO, Enterprise and Education variations.  What variation and version you happen to be running depends on many different factors that the user can and can't control.  It is minefield out there...)

[John_M]

I wonder if that automatic option can be disabled. Windows networking was broken from day one and has never been quite right. I don't personally use Windows all that often.

[Frank1940]

26 minutes ago, John_M said:

I wonder if that automatic option can be disabled. Windows networking was broken from day one and has never been quite right. I don't personally use Windows all that often.

 

Not that I have have seen.  MS is on a terror to get rid of SMB1 and they are determined. 

 

They are really after the guys like you who don't use it often.  They feel that the security issues make it necessary and they are probably right in the corporate world but us people who use it in a home environment don't have the same risk issues.  

[John_M]

9 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

MS is on a terror to get rid of SMB1 and they are determined. 

 

The way they have things at the moment means you can't browse the network neighbourhood unless SMB 1.0 server is enabled. If they get rid of it completely that feature will remain broken. It sounds like a knee-jerk reaction rather than something that has been thought through. Do you know what the official answer is? Maybe they should keep the browsing feature but strip out the file sharing code. Network browsing works fine on other operating systems.

[trurl]

6 hours ago, fluffybutt said:

if i type in the i.p. assigned to the unit it will go to the front page of unraid ui. no matter if i type in the i.p or the i.p./media

 

At least some of the problem you're having is really just about how to use Windows to access another computer on the network, and has absolutely nothing to do with unRAID specifically.

 

In Windows, another computer on the network is accessed by putting a double-backslash \\ in front of its name or IP. And, just like anything else in Windows, you use a single backslash \ to separate parts of a path. So, a share named media on another computer on the network would be something like \\ip-address\media. or \\computer-name\media.

 

The default name for your server is tower, so you could try \\tower\media, for example.

 

Or as Squid already said

5 hours ago, Squid said:

\\ip-address to access the files via explorer. Not //

 

Then add a quick launch to the server or share

 

[fluffybutt]

hey all , really appreciate the replies.. yes i have tried \\name\media but windows says it can not find it. make sure its turned on blah blah ..

its in slot 1 on the router, my pc is in slot 2 .. i can find it its there .. its connected and on .. i have reset the network on the main pc. i can access the main ui from my phone, ipad but not specific folders .

sorry (again) is it worth wiping and restarting ?

 

[Frank1940]

1 hour ago, John_M said:

Do you know what the official answer is? Maybe they should keep the browsing feature but strip out the file sharing code. Network browsing works fine on other operating systems.

 

I don't know the answer to your question?  What I can recall is that the Network neighborhood browsing function requires that SMB1 be running.  It simply won't work with SMB2 and SMB3.  (Probably the reason that it won't work with them is probably the root of the security issue.)

 

I can tell you I was having Network Neighborhood problems with Win7 because I was using a 'Workgroup' setup.  ('Workgroups' were intended for use in the Enterprise environment with Win7 so I suspect they 'got' the fix somewhere along the line.)   When I shift my Win7 computer to a 'Homegroup' setup the problems were fixed.  But I also seem to recall that Homegroup option is now gone with Win10.  

 

There are a couple of things that you can do without turning SMB1 back on.  

 

1) You can create a desktop folder with shortcuts to all SMB computers that uses the IP address of those machines.  If you are using DCHP to get the IP addresses, you might want to see if your router will assign a 'static' IP address to the MAC address of each of those computers.   I named the folder "Network View" and selected an Icon that shows three computers networked together.  You might be able to avoid the doing this static assignment as many routers tend to assign the same IP address when the lease is renewed.  I have attached screen captures of what these look like. 

 

 

 

2) I understand that adding the computers to hosts file will solve the problem also.  But remember that it is also dependent on the named computers having a fixed IP address.  

 

There is simply not a real good solution to this problem.  I am fairly certain that MS is not going to change their position.  I am not that certain that other OS might not follow their lead at some point in the future.  Remember that SMB is really a Microsoft's product that has been reversed engineered to give us Samba.  Samba basically follows Microsoft's lead...  

[Hoopster]

1 hour ago, fluffybutt said:

hey all , really appreciate the replies.. yes i have tried \\name\media but windows says it can not find it. make sure its turned on blah blah ..

its in slot 1 on the router, my pc is in slot 2 .. i can find it its there .. its connected and on .. i have reset the network on the main pc. i can access the main ui from my phone, ipad but not specific folders .

sorry (again) is it worth wiping and restarting ?

 

 

Perhaps some obvious questions, but, let's eliminate the obvious before going deeper into the issue.

 

1 - You have SMB enabled in unRAID, correct?

2 - Are your shares exported in unRAID? If Yes, are they Yes or Yes (Hidden)?

3 - What is the security setting on the shares (Public, Private, Secure)?  Or is it some combination based on share?  Specifically, what is the security setting on the Media share you are trying to access?

4 - Did you try what @John_M suggested and enable SMB 1.0/CIFS  server in Windows (this is what I did to expose my unRAID shares to a Windows 10 network), or, alternatively, did you add the server to the hosts file in Windows?

[trurl]

1 hour ago, fluffybutt said:

i have tried \\name\media

Did you also try \\ip-address\media? Do you know the ip address of your server?

 

If you just go to \\ip-address in Windows Explorer, you should be able to see any of the public SMB shares you have configured on your server. See Hoopster questions above.

[Frank1940]

7 hours ago, fluffybutt said:

hey all , really appreciate the replies.. yes i have tried \\name\media but windows says it can not find it. make sure its turned on blah blah ..

its in slot 1 on the router, my pc is in slot 2 .. i can find it its there .. its connected and on .. i have reset the network on the main pc. i can access the main ui from my phone, ipad but not specific folders .

sorry (again) is it worth wiping and restarting ?

 

 

I have also looked at your post and have the additional following comments:

 

You have to use IP addresses----    \\192.168.2.125\media    ---  to find the resource when SMB1 is turned off.  \\Tower\media    will NOT work!!!!    (Unless--- as I have been told ---  You have setup an entry in Windows'  hosts   files.) 

  

Second you have to use a file browser --  Windows Explorer   -- and not Internet Explorer or Chrome or Firefox.  Please note that you have to use the back slashes  \\   and  not forward slashes  //   in Windows Explorer.  Forward slashes in Windows Explorer will automatically try to open up that name in Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox.  Above all, don't mix forward and backslashes in the same expression.  Unpredictable results will happen! 

 

Three thing, SMB is very slow in topology undating.  It was developed back when a single 20Mhz Pentium processor was the King of the Hill.  It can take up to a half hour for any change in the network to propagate through it.  That is why it is always suggested that you setup your unRAID server as the Local Master and leave it on 24/7.  This will generally tend to midgrate these delay issues when compared to systems where the Local Master function rotates through several computers.   

Edited August 20, 2018 by Frank1940

[Hoopster]

8 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

Second you have to use a file browser --  Windows Explorer   -- and not Internet Explorer or Chrome or Firefox.

 

@fluffybutt This is an excellent clarification by @Frank1940

 

You use a browser (Firefox, Chrome, Edge, IE, etc.) to access the unRAID GUI for administrative purposes, but, you use a file explorer  (Windows Explorer, Mac Finder, etc.) to access the unRAID shares just as you would for browsing the contents of any storage location in your desktop computer or laptop.

 

Perhaps you are trying to access everything through a browser? 

 

Technically, you can browse the contents of your array disks/shares through the unRAID GUI, but, that is certainly not the preferred way of doing so.  It's meant more as a troubleshooting/maintenance function in the GUI.

[pwm]

4 hours ago, Frank1940 said:

They feel that the security issues make it necessary and they are probably right in the corporate world but us people who use it in a home environment don't have the same risk issues.

 

People who use it in a home environment doesn't have a CSO that works with the security. And they do not have any policy for what programs may, or may not, be run.

 

It really doesn't hurt to make use of a DNS for name lookup instead of having every machine wildly broadcast their names.

 

27 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

\\Tower\media    will NOT work!!!!    (Unless--- as I have been told ---  You have setup an entry in Windows'  hosts   files.)

 

Or unless the router runs a DNS that includes a lookup for the unRAID machine and the Windows machine is configured to use the router as DNS.

[Frank1940]

3 hours ago, pwm said:

Or unless the router runs a DNS that includes a lookup for the unRAID machine and the Windows machine is configured to use the router as DNS.

 

Most of the folks here won't even know what you are talking about and many of the rest won't know how to implement these changes--- particularly the part about setting up the router to do a DNS lookup for the unRAID server(s) and any other computer that may have a SMB share on it.  I would imagine that one can Google to find out how to config the PC to use the router for DNS.  

[pwm]

1 hour ago, Frank1940 said:

 

 Most of the folks here won't even know what you are talking about and many of the rest won't know how to implement these changes--- particularly the part about setting up the router to do a DNS lookup for the unRAID server(s) and any other computer that may have a SMB share on it.  I would imagine that one can Google to find out how to config the PC to use the router for DNS.  

 

To a big part, the routers needs to be better, and I think with the loss of SMBv1 more routers will introduce better support to handle this problem.

 

A router that shares the information between DHCP and DNS will be able to catch a DHCP request from the unRAID machine and automatically insert a DNS entry so you can find unRAID on name without SMBv1.

 

Next thing is that with a router with SNMP support, Windows Network Discovery can ask the router for information to find other equipment in the network so that Windows can enumerate the equipment in the network.

 

So it's a question of having decent routers that helps the Windows machines give the same functionality but without involving SMBv1. My firewall doesn't allow any SNMP but it does supply the DNS information so I can access equipment on name without SMBv1 and without use of any hosts file - the hosts file is the machine-local IP resolve for people not doing DNS-based IP resolve.

 

It really isn't Microsoft that is the bad party - it's lots of equipment developers who haven't bothered to configure and support alternative protocol solutions.

[fluffybutt]

if it helps the router is a virgin media 3 box ... 

recon thats the problem... although to be fair it finds my tv on the network and my tv finds the media folder on the unraid server, just can see it from my pc..

[trurl]

53 minutes ago, fluffybutt said:

if it helps the router is a virgin media 3 box ... 

recon thats the problem... although to be fair it finds my tv on the network and my tv finds the media folder on the unraid server, just can see it from my pc..

 

If you still need help, you need to tell us exactly what you have already tried and what was the result from the suggestions we have already given you, including those suggestions in the link I already gave at the beginning of this thread.

 

On 8/20/2018 at 12:50 PM, trurl said:

Did you also try \\ip-address\media? Do you know the ip address of your server?

[fluffybutt]

ok, sorry for the long delay in replying. work and recovering from someone parking a car into the back of your van dont mix..

 

i know the i.p. of the unraid server, its a static one assigned by the router, 192.168.0.30

no matter in what context i use \\ or// all i ever end up with is 

\\ device not found 

// unraid ui

i have tried the i.p. in windows explorer and internet explorer. along with the name of the unraid "tower" 

i am unable to find the storage drives in anyway or form on the network, although i can find the ui from any device i have tried, ipad, pc, android.

i do have a netgear 7000 that could be used as the router and make the virgin v3 as a modem only, although this also is not findable in windows explorer BUT is visible via netgear genie.

so thats where i am at the minute, im contemplating on a fresh install of windows on this pc can take an image via acronis as a backup, in case... 

as before all ideas welcomed.. and much appreciated