how to join a Windows network?

[ferrari2001]

ferrari2001
Results:

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robert@robert-System-Product-Name:~$ smbclient //surface3.local/users -u robert
Try "help" to get a list of possible commands.
smb: \> ls
  .                                  DR        0  Mon Aug  3 17:44:57 2020
  ..                                 DR        0  Mon Aug  3 17:44:57 2020
  Default                           DHR        0  Mon Aug  3 18:00:28 2020
  desktop.ini                       AHS      174  Sat Dec  7 01:12:42 2019
  Public                             DR        0  Mon Aug  3 18:37:51 2020

		14992361 blocks of size 4096. 1379864 blocks available
smb: \>

As you can see that works as expected. Can you not see the share the same way (same credentials) when using Thunar (file manager)? Trying to understand your issue.

[Robert Hiebert]

When I am in Thunar, type the text "smbclient //surface3.local/users -u robert", then press "Enter", nothing happens.

This morning the Windows Gods are in a good mood and everything is displayed in Windows Explorer under Network. All the Windows machines will talk to each other and LM Thunar can talk to them, after doing the authorization and password thing, with the exception of surface3.
In the terminal I am able to change directories to Users but after I don't know how to deal with anything in the terminal.

[ferrari2001]

When I am in Thunar, type the text "smbclient //surface3.local/users -u robert", then press "Enter", nothing happens.

The 'smbclient' is a CLI (commad line interface) utility, used in a terminal.

For thunar, you would type (in the location bar)...

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smb://surface3.local/users

You should get an authentication window pop-up. Does this happen for you?

If not, it may be because you have auto-login to your desktop enabled. With autologin, the keyring is not unlocked and so applications may fail silently when they cannot access the keyring. Just a thought.

In the terminal I am able to change directories to Users but after I don't know how to deal with anything in the terminal.

I requested that you use smbclient just so we could see what was happening. Is has a number of commands that you can use to access and manipulate files. Here's a simple guide...
https://www.computerhope.com/unix/smbclien.htm

[ferrari2001]

When I am in Thunar, type the text "smbclient //surface3.local/users -u robert", then press "Enter", nothing happens.

The 'smbclient' is a CLI (commad line interface) utility, used in a terminal. Not for use in thunar.

For thunar, you would type (in the location bar)...

Code: Select all

smb://surface3.local/users

You should get an authentication window pop-up. Does this happen for you?

If not, it may be because you have auto-login to your desktop enabled. With autologin, the keyring is not unlocked and so applications may fail silently when they cannot access the keyring. Just a thought.

In the terminal I am able to change directories to Users but after I don't know how to deal with anything in the terminal.

I requested that you use smbclient just so we could see what was happening. It has a number of commands that you can use to access and manipulate files. Here's a simple guide...
https://www.computerhope.com/unix/smbclien.htm

Beyond the scope of this thread though.

[Robert Hiebert]

I tried that in the Thunar location bar and it worked perfectly. Once. When I closed it and tried again, no joy. After lots of experimenting I found the only way to establish contact again was to reboot everything.

So, it looks to me like I have multiple issues, most probably Windows related, and perhaps I'm doing something wrong in LM. Bottom line is I can get things to work sometimes if I experiment enough. I don't expect to be doing a lot of file transfers so I don't want to waste any more of your time and I can live with the situation as it is. Thanks for your help, and I'll check out the link on the smbclient.

[ferrari2001]

I tried that in the Thunar location bar and it worked perfectly. Once. When I closed it and tried again, no joy. After lots of experimenting I found the only way to establish contact again was to reboot everything.

Hard to understand the issue with Thunar at a distance, but it would help if you can answer these questions succinctly:

1) Do you get an authentication window pop-up when first accessing the Windows share?
2) Do you have auto-login (into your desktop) enabled?

[Robert Hiebert]

This morning all computers appear in Explorer under Network. All Windows computers will talk with each other with no passwords required. I can access all Windows computers from LM Thunar with the exception of Surface3.

To answer your questions:
1 - I do get an authentication window pop-up when first accessing the Windows share on all Windows computers, except for Surface3. When I double click on the Surface3 icon, nothing happens.
2 - None of the Windows computers are on auto log in.

[ferrari2001]

This morning all computers appear in Explorer under Network. All Windows computers will talk with each other with no passwords required. I can access all Windows computers from LM Thunar with the exception of Surface3.

To answer your questions:
1 - I do get an authentication window pop-up when first accessing the Windows share on all Windows computers, except for Surface3.

Ok, the authentication pop-up is as expected. Not sure what the issue is with your surface 3 though. Check the Windows firewall on that machine perhaps.

2 - None of the Windows computers are on auto log in.

No, I was referring to the Linux Mint machine.

[Robert Hiebert]

In the log in window, allow manual log in is off, hide user list is off and allow guest sessions is off.

[ferrari2001]

In the log in window, allow manual log in is off, hide user list is off and allow guest sessions is off.

The thought behind this was some reading online that suggested when using auto-login, the keyring (that holds passwords) might not be opened automatically, leaving Thunar to fail silently with the authentication process. However, as the authentication pop-up appears and you enter the SMB credentials manually, I guess we can discard this as a potential issue.