Samba Share to Win XP - "Error Code -36. Could Not Be Read or Written"

[Kelmon]

Hi Guys,

I'm hoping that someone has some suggestions as to why I'm suddenly getting errors when attempting to mount shared folders from my Windows XP desktop on my OS X 10.4.2 PowerBook. I have 3 shared folders on the Windows XP machine that I have used without trouble now for about 18-months using Samba via the Finder (i.e. Go > Connect to Server > "smb://..."). Yesterday it all suddenly stopped working and I got the following message whenever I try to connect, where "..." in the SMB statement represents the DNS name of my XP PC and /MyDocuments is the share name:

The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "smb://.../MyDocuments" could not be read or written. (Error code -36).

Suffice to say that I have the necessary logon rights to read/write to the shares and my password has not changed. Reboots of both Mac and PC has made no difference to the results.

To the best of my knowledge, nothing has changed since last week. I am still able to connect to the PC via Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) and I can use Samba to mount shared directories on HP-UX servers without trouble.

This is a real problem for me as it greatly reduces my ability to use a Mac at work (which I shouldn't really but it beats the heck out of the Dell XP system that I am trying to connect to). Other postings on the Web haven't yielded anything worth knowing about and Apple's own Support site lists an article whose only suggestion is to end my password to the server unencrypted. This I am not prepared to do since it wasn't necessary for the past 18-months and it's a security risk.

A check of the Console, if it helps, provides the following 2 entries that may be of assistance to someone who knows what they mean:

Oct 11 08:57:43 marcus-powerbook kernel[0]: smbfs_smb_qfsattr: (fyi) share 'N?T?F?S?', attr 0xa, maxfilename 255
Oct 11 08:57:43 marcus-powerbook kernel[0]: smbfs_aclsflunksniff: (fyi) user sid S-1-5-21-1568272530-2059608485-4162814266-1500 didnt map

I'd be most grateful if anyone has any suggestions.

 

[baummer]

Did you restart the PC at anytime or have you had any power outages? Also, try connecting just to your PC from the Finder; NOT the My Documents folder, but just to the PC.

 

[stevep]

What if you try smb://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (ie the ip address) instead of using the share name, and then choosing the share from the resulting drop-down box? It sounds as though your share names aren't being recognised by the windows box, so the ip address might be a way of forcing the computer to recognise which shares are available.

 

[simie]

On the windows box, can you access the mac?

 

[Kelmon]

Hey Guys,

Thanks very much for the suggestions; it's much appreciated. Keep them coming and I'll give them all a try when I get into the office tomorrow morning.

 

[Kelmon]

Problem Solved - Windows Firewall Settings

Hi Guys,

Well, I've managed to resolve the problem. I'm sorry to say that none of you guessed the correct cause of the problem, Windows Firewall, but for anyone else who encounters this problem, here's what seems to have happened.

My Windows XP system has Service Pack 2 installed and the Windows Firewall enabled. It's had this for a while now so neither of these two components have changed in the last few weeks such that a problem should occur. The Apple Help for "Setting up a Windows computer to share files with Mac users" pointed me in the right direction by suggesting that "you may need to disable the Internet Connection Firewall in the Advanced pane of the [network] device's properties". I was sure that I had Windows Firewall enabled since I remembered having to unblock ports so that people could connect to my Internet Information Server instance that I started running last year, so figured that I might as well try disabling it to see if that helped. To my surprise, as soon as the Firewall was disabled the Mac was able to mount the various shared folders. The SMB port used by Windows (445 over TCP/IP) was on the Exception list for "File and Printer Sharing" of the Firewall but I noted that it was assigned a Custom Scope that only allowed a specified list of IP/Subnet combinations to connect - in typical nightclub fashion, "if your name's not on the list, you aren't coming in". It therefore looks as though my PowerBook, after 18-months without problems, has been unlucky enough to be assigned an IP address that wasn't on the list of permitted addresses. To avoid this problem again I have completely unblocked the port (Scope = Any) as this may now allow me to mount the shares even when I'm on a VPN connection or otherwise more distant in the network. Following this change I can mount the shares again whilst still running the Windows Firewall.

Thanks again for all your suggestions. I hope that this explanation of the problem will prove useful for anyone else who fall foul of the same issue.

 

[testMonkey]

Thanks!

I know it's been a while, but dude, that is the exact issue I was having and you have helped me solve it. Thanks for going back and adding the solution.

 

[Kelmon]

No problem. I figured that since I wasn't able to find the solution online and I was pretty sure that other people must have encountered this that it would be a good idea to write up my discovery. Glad that it was of assistance.

 

[surfstarchris]

Hmm. I'm STILL having issues. I've followed that initial thread and tried your suggestions listed above, and still no luck.

Not even with the Windows Firewall OFF.

I am stuck. Any help?

 

[Kelmon]

Hmm. I'm STILL having issues. I've followed that initial thread and tried your suggestions listed above, and still no luck.

Not even with the Windows Firewall OFF.

I am stuck. Any help?

Well, as usual, please post as much information as you can about what you are trying to achieve, with what and how. I'm happy to try and help, although I'll note now that the setup that was the basis for this thread has been replaced with a MacBook Pro running Windows via Parallels so replicating your situation may be very difficult, but I (and anyone else prepared to help) need as much information as you can provide in order to figure out where the problem lies and how it might be fixed. Be as detailed as possible.