[SOLVED THE HARD WAY] failed to mount windows share: invalid argument

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ginahoy
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[SOLVED THE HARD WAY] failed to mount windows share: invalid argument

Post by ginahoy »

I have a Linux machine (LM 18.2 xfce) and two XP machines on my local network. Until today I could reliably access shared folders on both XP machines from the Linux machine (although I haven't yet figured out how to access Linux from XP, but that's another conversation). Now I can access my wife's XP laptop from Linux, but I can't access my XP desktop, even though I can access the desktop shares from the laptop. I rebooted both machines, no cigar. Here's the error I get when I attempt to connect:

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Failed to mount windows share: Invalid argument
I've completely forgotten how I originally got connected. No doubt involved learning from prior posts here in this forum! I would be grateful if someone could help sort out the immediate problem.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Linux Mint 18.2 Xfce x64 | ASRock Z270 Extreme4 | Core i7 7700K | Cryorig H7 cooler| 32GB DDR4 2400| modded legacy Evercase LE4252 | EVGA 450W B3 | ADATA SX8200 Pro SSD
ginahoy
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 223
Joined: Sun May 28, 2017 3:15 pm

Re: failed to mount windows share: invalid argument

Post by ginahoy »

Here's the error I get when I click on on Browse Network / Windows Network in the left pane on Thunar (the previously noted error is when I click on a bookmarked shared folder):

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Failed to open "Windows Network"
Failed to retrieve share list from server: No such file or directory.
Given this error, it's not surprising that I can no longer access my wife's Windows computer from my Linux machine.

Based on another thread I found, I discovered Samba is not running. I tried restarting, but get this:

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Failed to start smbd.service: Unit smbd.service not found.
Failed to start smbd.service: Unit smbd.service not found.
I'm unable to find any references to this error for Linux Mint, and I'm always hesitant to enter terminal commands unless they're being presented in the context of a LM install.
Linux Mint 18.2 Xfce x64 | ASRock Z270 Extreme4 | Core i7 7700K | Cryorig H7 cooler| 32GB DDR4 2400| modded legacy Evercase LE4252 | EVGA 450W B3 | ADATA SX8200 Pro SSD
ginahoy
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 223
Joined: Sun May 28, 2017 3:15 pm

Re: [SOLVED THE HARD WAY] failed to mount windows share: invalid argument

Post by ginahoy »

Since no one replied, I solved this problem the hard way. I restored the sda2 partition from a backup, and reinstalled all the upgrades since that backup. The fact that I have my /home directory path on a separate partition made this a lot less painful than it otherwise would have been. I guess I'll never know what broke the Windows share connection.
Linux Mint 18.2 Xfce x64 | ASRock Z270 Extreme4 | Core i7 7700K | Cryorig H7 cooler| 32GB DDR4 2400| modded legacy Evercase LE4252 | EVGA 450W B3 | ADATA SX8200 Pro SSD
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