Cannot access SMB From Android

[Harag]

Hello,

 

I use Undraid as a media host with an SMB workgroup share. Everything was working fine until today. Both of my android boxes started getting connection refused while using Kodi. My first box wouldn't play a movie so I switched it to the one that was working to figure out later thinking it was some setting. Then half way through the movie the 2nd box started getting refused. I completely factory reset the Nvidia Shields and did clean set ups. I cannot connect to an Unraid SMB share as a guest or with a username/password. Here is the kicker, I have Kodi on a Windows machine that appears to be working fine. As a step in my trouble shooting I updated to the lastest Unraid 6.8.1 from 6.8.0-rc6. 6.8.0-rc6 Had been working fine. No changes were made to the Shield TV's no updates etc. this happened mid video playback.

 

Checking the Kodi logs was akin to useless as they merely say the SMB address followed by "connection refused". I tried looking at the Unraid Syslog but its a bit beefier and im not sure I know what im looking for. 

 

While trying to research the problem and figure it out over the last 6 hours now I have come to find that the documentation when it comes to android is virtually non existent or buried in years old threads. Does anyone have any insight as to what may be occurring or advice on where to start? 

syslog.txt

[Frank1940]

SMB issues are SMB issues regardless of the OS involved.  SMB is a kludge held together with glue and hairpins. 

 

I was going to point at some Widows based threads but before doing that, I am going to suggest that you should ask yourself one question.  What has changed in my setup recently.  An upgrade to Unraid,  A new  release of Android,  An update to Kodi, etc...

 

Oh, I see that you did upgrade Unraid.    At this point, I would like to suggest that you go to  Settings    >>>   SMB    >>>  SMB Settings     and make sure that you try turning on both "Enable NetBIOS:"  and   "Enable WSD:" switches  IF they are not currently on.  (If they are on, you could try turning them off.   I seem to recall that these switches were added recently and I really don't remember what the default settings are at this point.  Mine are both 'on'.)

 

One thing I will point out is that a SMB server will only allow a single user login from each computer and it virtually impossible to get a logout. 

[Harag]

Thanks for the reply. As I mentioned nothing has changed. I was watching TV on both units last night before i went to bed. The server update happened AFTER the issues occurred. NetBIOS and WSD are both on. It's really frustrating me as I cannot fathom the cause. Windows works fine. Android cannot access it under any condition, plex even requires remote access rather than local. 

[Frank1940]

This is a bit of a long shot but try rebooting the whole network.  But first, setup your Unraid server to be the Local Master.   Settings   >>>   SMB   >>>   Workgroup Settings    Turn on  'Local master browser:'   Then, poweroff everything-- Unraid server, PC's Android boxes, Modem, router, switches for five minutes.  Restart the Modem, router and switches.    Wait until they come up.  Now start your Unraid server and wait for an other ten minutes.  Then add the other devices back in at five minute intervals.  Check and see if things are working.  (If not, wait another half hour.  SMB polling times are measured in minutes and it can take a long time to get a SMB network to stabilize as it is a peer-to-peer network!)

 

Are you using the server name   (\\Tower) or IP address  (\\192.168.1.235)  from the Android boxes to access the server?  Did you assign a static IP address to your server?  If 'yes', is the router aware of that address?  (Otherwise, it could be assigning that IP address to another device with DHCP.)

 

If things are still not working, post up your Diagnostics file    Tools    >>>   Diagnostics

 

 

[Harag]

I will attempt the power down today and see how it goes. As far as the SMB Local master, it was on auto and the server is the only SMB but I will turn it on. The server is on a static IP and that IP is reserved on the router for the server. 

[Harag]

No joy on the network reset. See the diagnostics file below. 

primemerlinianb-diagnostics-20200112-1143.zip

[Frank1940]

3 hours ago, Harag said:

it was on auto and the server is the only SMB

Understand that SMB is basically a peer-to-peer network.  Any SMB client can become the Local Master and periodic 'elections' are held to determine which SMB client will be the Local Master.  (A client may decide that it does not want to participate in the Local Master election-- hence, the option in Unraid.)

 

If you want a bit of background you can begin reading this thread:

 

    https://forums.unraid.net/topic/53172-windows-issues-with-unraid/

 

While much of the thread is about specific Windows issues, the first couple of pages do contain much background information.  If my first suggestion does not work, you might well be mostly on your own as yours is the first case of Android SMB problems that I have heard of.  be sure to follow the recommendation about installing the Dynamix Local Master plugin.  And adding the 'stuff' to the     Settings   >>>  SMB   >>>  SMB Extras   and leave the server on 24-7.

 

One quick question:  Does Android support NFS?  (NFS is no piece of cake either and may be as big a hairball as SMB...)

[Harag]

Technically Android does support NFS. I did some brief research into that and its just as bad if not worse than SMB. I appreciate the help I will update if I find a resolution. 

 

[Frank1940]

Do do some general googling on Android to see  if there was some update to Android or to the Kodi app that might be behind your problem.   

[Harag]

The net result to fix the issue wasn't a pleasant one. I ended up doing a clean install of my Unraid. To be fair I believe I started at the tail end of 3.0 and have been updating since, as well as my other boneheaded im sure decisions. There was no data loss, purely just time invested.