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Can't connect to USB drive connected to my Router from macOS

PEVO

PEVO

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 5, 2019
49
17
I have a USB stick connected to the router at the path "\192.168.1.1\VendorCo_ProductCode_1_d7a9". I can connect to this address from Windows 10 and see the data inside the USB stick. On macOS, I have tried to connect to the same address using smb://192.168.1.1 and smb://192.168.1.1\VendorCo_ProductCode_1_d7a9, but it gives me a connection error. What can I do?

edit: I can access to the server “smb://192.168.1.1” from File app on iPhone and iPad on the same network. It’s a macOS issue
 
Last edited:
PEVO said:
With the latest macOS update 13.3 it has the same issue :(
Click to expand...
That's a shame -- I was hoping it was the same issue.

PEVO said:
edit: I can access to the server “smb://192.168.1.1” from File app on iPhone and iPad on the same network. It’s a macOS issue
Click to expand...
I think you're right that it's a macOS issue.

You could try these commands in Terminal.app on the client Mac. Maybe it will give some clue as to what is wrong.

smbutil view 192.168.1.1

or, to make a mount point and try to mount:

mkdir my-mount mount_smbfs //192.168.1.1/VendorCo_ProductCode_1_d7a9 my-mount/

You should get prompted for a password if one is required.
Note: you would *not* use backslashes "\" in the resource name or path.

(These macOS commands worked right away for me when a Windows machine was hosting the SMB resource, but I had difficulty getting the to work when a Mac was sharing with SMB. I finally got them to work: it is necessary (on the SMB host Mac) to go into System Prefs-->Sharing-->FileSharing-->Options and put a checkmark for the user account doing the sharing. I'm just mentioning this if others read this in the future -- it doesn't apply for your case, since it's not macOS doing the hosting.)

Don't know if they'll work with your router doing the sharing...
 
Hi there, I have exactly the same issue. Succesfully connecting to a USB drive connected to my router via Windows machine and Samsung My Files app on phone but on my Mac machine, same issue as OP describes.

Brian33 said:
That's a shame -- I was hoping it was the same issue.


I think you're right that it's a macOS issue.

You could try these commands in Terminal.app on the client Mac. Maybe it will give some clue as to what is wrong.

smbutil view 192.168.1.1

or, to make a mount point and try to mount:

mkdir my-mount mount_smbfs //192.168.1.1/VendorCo_ProductCode_1_d7a9 my-mount/

You should get prompted for a password if one is required.
Note: you would *not* use backslashes "\" in the resource name or path.

(These macOS commands worked right away for me when a Windows machine was hosting the SMB resource, but I had difficulty getting the to work when a Mac was sharing with SMB. I finally got them to work: it is necessary (on the SMB host Mac) to go into System Prefs-->Sharing-->FileSharing-->Options and put a checkmark for the user account doing the sharing. I'm just mentioning this if others read this in the future -- it doesn't apply for your case, since it's not macOS doing the hosting.)

Don't know if they'll work with your router doing the sharing...
Click to expand...
Tried the commands here. 'smbutil view 192.168.1.1' produces 'Invalid parameter. Please correct the URL/Path and try again: Invalid argument' and 'mount_smbfs //192.168.1.1/[name of my share according to router] my-mount/' produces 'No such file or directory' error. Looks like there is a load of Samba issues in Mac OS so is hard to pin down exact issue but this thread seems to fit. Appreciate any other help! Thanks.
 
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colinfromaccounts said:
Hi there, I have exactly the same issue. Succesfully connecting to a USB drive connected to my router via Windows machine and Samsung My Files app on phone but on my Mac machine, same issue as OP describes.


Tried the commands here. 'smbutil view 192.168.1.1' produces 'Invalid parameter. Please correct the URL/Path and try again: Invalid argument' and 'mount_smbfs //192.168.1.1/[name of my share according to router] my-mount/' produces 'No such file or directory' error. Looks like there is a load of Samba issues in Mac OS so is hard to pin down exact issue but this thread seems to fit. Appreciate any other help! Thanks.
Click to expand...
UPDATE: (I can't seem to edit my post)

As an experiment I tried connecting to the router USB stick with ftp:// at the start and I actually get the user login box. When I enter the admin user & password (or try guest) I get the error:

Code: 
This file server will not allow any additional users to log on. Try to connect again later.

In case this helps any future reader to further diagnose... Thanks
 
No, am still stuck! I'd been working with a WD Mycloud but it became unreliable so I thought i'd just go for the simple USB drive into router option (which was great with all systems except Mac!). I guess if there isn't a fix from Apple on this then I'll have to look into other NAS options (I'll be steering clear of WD but Synology and others are pricey!).
 
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Do you know if Apple are working to correct this issue in the next macOS releases?
 
PEVO said:
Do you know if Apple are working to correct this issue in the next macOS releases?
Click to expand...
No idea sorry. I have no idea how many users our particular issue affects. Though there seems to be many various complaints of Samba in recent Mac releases of a different nature. I've given up hoping for a fix and am looking into a NAS solution. I had a WD My Cloud but it was pretty rubbish and unreliable. Apparantly Synology is the way to go but it seems pricey for just the simple wifi accessable harddrive solution I'm looking for. Raspberry PI nas looks like an option but they don't seem to be affordable as they once were and am not sure how reliable a solution it is. Good luck!
 
PEVO said:
Do you know if Apple are working to correct this issue in the next macOS releases?
Click to expand...
You would be better to ask your router vendor about the issue. It may well be that the router uses an early version of SMB which is not supported by macOS. What router?
 
Have done. It's from my broadband provider (Vodafone). They're useless and not helping. But you could be right, that the router is the problem. Works on windows tho.
gilby101 said:
You would be better to ask your router vendor about the issue. It may well be that the router uses an early version of SMB which is not supported by macOS. What router?
Click to expand...
 
gilby101 said:
You would be better to ask your router vendor about the issue. It may well be that the router uses an early version of SMB which is not supported by macOS. What router?
Click to expand...
It works on Windows and on iPhone/iPad. The problem it's just macOS
 
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PEVO said:
It works on Windows and on iPhone/iPad. The problem it's just macOS
Click to expand...
Your problem is with macOS. But I suggest it is not a bug. macOS does not support all SMB versions. If you won't say what router, there is little anyone can do to help.
 
gilby101 said:
Your problem is with macOS. But I suggest it is not a bug. macOS does not support all SMB versions. If you won't say what router, there is little anyone can do to help.
Click to expand...
Have put my router:
colinfromaccounts said:
Have done. It's from my broadband provider (Vodafone). They're useless and not helping. But you could be right, that the router is the problem. Works on windows tho.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks. I think Vodafone do as the only brand name I can see says Vodafone and under 'Manufacturer:' it says Vodafone. The model says THG3000
 
colinfromaccounts said:
The model says THG3000
Click to expand...
This https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Oth...HG3000-uses-unsafe-SMB1-Protocol/td-p/2642227 says that it uses SMB1 which is generally considered to be insecure. So I am not surprised that your Mac fails to connect. The post also says that Vodaphone do not support the use of the USB ports!

Windows is prepared to fall back to older less secure SMB.

I suggest you give up hoping to use the USB ports on your router.

PEVO said:
It works on Windows and on iPhone/iPad. The problem it's just macOS
Click to expand...
You haven't said what router, but likely your problem is the same as for @colinfromaccounts.
 
gilby101 said:
This https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Oth...HG3000-uses-unsafe-SMB1-Protocol/td-p/2642227 says that it uses SMB1 which is generally considered to be insecure. So I am not surprised that your Mac fails to connect. The post also says that Vodaphone do not support the use of the USB ports!

Windows is prepared to fall back to older less secure SMB.

I suggest you give up hoping to use the USB ports on your router.


You haven't said what router, but likely your problem is the same as for @colinfromaccounts.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Interesting that Windows still allows access then. I wish Mac would give more informative errors on this. Thanks for looking into this. I guess i'll go back to exploring other NAS options and will certainly be avoiding Vodafone in future!
 
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