(SOLVED) How to get access to a shared folder on a Windows 7 machine.

[Laurentius]

Hello. Sorry, I know this is not a new question, and there are a lot of posts about this, but I am really confused.

I need help to restore access to a shared folder on a pc that runs windows 7 from my netbook with LM 18.1 XFCE.

Both Pc are connected through wired router (or switch?) via ethernet.

I installed Linux Mint on February and then I had access to the W7 pc’s shared folder, without need to install or configure anything.
Suddenly, from March 20th I have no more access.
When I click at “Browse network”, on the file manager I don’t see the other pcs listed, as it used.
Only the “Windows Network” folder. If I then click on it, I get this error message:
Failed to retrieve share list from server. No such file or directory".

If I enable wifi, I can see some other pc’s listed (all of them run windows), but not those connected to the wired network i use (where is the pc that has the shared folder)

Network printer/scanner and internet work fine through the router, and If I boot with windows a get access to the folder. But I prefer to use Linux Mint.
All I need to do is to be able to access from Linux to the shared folder at the windows7 PC and to their files. Do I need samba for this?

I don’t know what information should I give to get helped.
May be someone could point me to an network tutorial?

Thank you.

[altair4]

"Failed to retrieve share list from server. No such file or directory".

That's a name resolution problem. Please go through the checklist: Samba Browsing Problems Checklist

[Laurentius]

Hello.

I edited /etc/samba/smb.conf as suggested by altair4 and could restore access to w7 shared folder, adding this line to the [global] section of /etc/samba/smb.conf - right under the "workgroup" line

Code: Select all

name resolve order = bcast host lmhosts wins

When tried to restore samba i got an error message, so i rebooted.
Didn't worked then.

Today i edited again smb.conf adding three spaces to the line, which i had not done before, so it looks like this:

Code: Select all

[global]

## Browsing/Identification ###

# Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of
   workgroup = WORKGROUP

#added by lau on 15/05/17
   name resolve order = bcast host lmhosts wins

Then logged out and in.
And now it works.

Seem like the spaces are relevant.

Thank you for your help.

[Laurentius]

well, i dont't understand what happened, but the solution i thought i had reached didn't last much.
Only some days.
Then i lost access to the shared w7 folder.
I don't see any changes that could be related to this.
Suddenly, the machine i need to reach to is not there anymore (on the file manager). In fact, all of them had dissappeared.
Then, one day, suddenly, they appear again, for one day or two, And then they are off again.
The /etc/samba/smb.conf file remains the same as i had edited it on may.

to explain myself i attach some screenshots,:
#1 one for the day i had access to the machine and i can see all other machines on the network.

1-Access-to shared folder-ok-2017-08-14.png

#2 this is how the file manager looks when there is no access.

2-no-access.png

#3 this is what happens when, on the #2 situacion, i go into Windos network.

3-Inside-Windows-network-no-access.png

I need to access the machine that is called "SECRETARIA-PC". That is where the shared folder is. (windows 7 os)
All of other machines save mine, have windows, some win7, some win 8.1, some winXP.

As i said before, i'm on linux mint 18.1 XFCE
thank you

[altair4]

Do you have control over all these machines or at least the "SECRETARIA-PC" machine?

The best way to resolve this issue if to assign a static ip address to that machine and then bookmark it in Thunar. That can be done within the Windows machine or you could configure the router to assign a "static" ip address using what most call "DHCP reservation". Every time that machine enters the network the router will assign it the same ip address.

The reason I suspect this is happening is because you have too many machines in your network. The netbios method of host name resolution is overly complicated and relies on one of your machines becoming what is called the Master Browser of the network. Only one machine can take on that role but it's done by "election" between all of the hosts on your network. Every time a new host enters the network the election process starts all over again. Should the Master Browser machine itself leave the network the election process starts over again. While this election process takes place network browsing is disabled - sometimes for an extended period of time - and that time increases as the number of machines increases.

[Laurentius]

Hello.

I don't have control personally on the pc's, but i could speak to the network admin.
SECRETARIA-PC has dinamic IP. But i can find it out anytime.
Now, it is 172.16.2.142

Here's the output of some seconds of ping

Code: Select all

$ ping 172.16.2.142
PING 172.16.2.142 (172.16.2.142) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=1 ttl=128 time=2.58 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=2 ttl=128 time=0.533 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=3 ttl=128 time=1.02 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=4 ttl=128 time=1.00 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=5 ttl=128 time=1.05 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=6 ttl=128 time=1.09 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=7 ttl=128 time=0.556 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=8 ttl=128 time=1.03 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=9 ttl=128 time=0.489 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=10 ttl=128 time=1.05 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=11 ttl=128 time=0.980 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=12 ttl=128 time=0.523 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=13 ttl=128 time=0.589 ms
64 bytes from 172.16.2.142: icmp_seq=14 ttl=128 time=1.04 ms

Could i get to it through the file manager? How could i do that? I tried typing the ip on the adress bar of thunar, but with no success.

Thanks.

[altair4]

Open a terminal and type:

Code: Select all

thunar smb://172.16.2.142

[Laurentius]

Great!
It worked!

Code: Select all

thunar smb://172.16.2.142

did it.

In the meanwhile i've talked to the net admin and he changed the ip to static. Same adress.

Thank you very much.
This feature is a must in the office environment.