Unable to see Windows share hostnames in Nautilus when on WiFi

Bug #252245 reported by James Walters
28
This bug affects 4 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
samba (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned
Declined for Hardy by Mathias Gug
Declined for Intrepid by Mathias Gug
Declined for Jaunty by Mathias Gug

Bug Description

*****EDIT 2008-11-08 *****

I have now done a completely fresh install of Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex. For the first time or two, it seemed the problem was fixed. However, not long after that it came back. I have discovered something though: I plugged into a hardwired network connection, and it worked like a charm. But as soon as I unplugged the network cable and went back to using wireless, the problem came back. Therefore, I can conclude that the problem is _probably_ wifi related, and it is in Intrepid Ibex. If anyone else can confirm that they can get it to work with a hardwired network connection, we may be on to something here!

***** End Edit *****

UBUNTU VERSION: 8.04.1

Ok, I used to be able to connect to shared files on my Windows pc's in the network (a Windows network) and transfer/print files. But now, when I go to Places > Network, I see "Windows Network" (as shown in attached pic), but when I enter it, nothing, not even a workgroup. No changes have been made to the network. I can ping other pc's in the network. I posted about this on Ubuntu Forums, and a user said he was having the same problem for about three weeks now AFTER AN UPDATE. He gave me a workaround, and it allows me to access the shared files, but I still can't print. The workaround can be found in detail at:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=869514

Can someone please help? Thanks a million!

Revision history for this message
James Walters (iamjameswalters) wrote :
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Christian Mangold (neversfelde) wrote :

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please answer these questions:

 * Is this reproducible?
 * If so, what specific steps should we take to recreate this bug?

 This will help us to find and resolve the problem.

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James Walters (iamjameswalters) wrote :

Well, I can't guarantee it, but here are my conditions:

Running Ubuntu 8.04.1 on Toshiba Satellite A205-S5804 laptop, which is using a Realtek RTL8187B wireless card. The wireless router is a D-Link DIR-615 Rev. A. The network is a Windows Network. The workgroup is MSHOME. The machines I am trying to access run Windows XP, and the printer is set up as a network printer. I believe the bug was caused by an update. Because I had not used my laptop for three weeks, I can't say which update it was. According to Geeth, at this thread on Ubuntu Forums, http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=869514 , he also is suffering from the same issue, which he says was caused by an update about three weeks ago. I am able to ping all the other pc's on the network. Also, when I go to Places > Connect to Server, I can select "Windows Share", enter the IP of a machine, and access the shared files that way. I hope this helps, and thank you so much for looking into this problem.

NOTE: I think perhaps it may have been a Samba update. Have there been any Samba updates recently?

James

Revision history for this message
James Walters (iamjameswalters) wrote :

I believe I've been able to narrow the bug down to Samba. I can access the files through Nautilus using SMB, a protocol that Samba employs. But when, for example, I try to explore my network with an app that uses Samba, I get nothing.

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Jonathan Jesse (jjesse) wrote :

in kubuntu 8.04.1 i have no problems browsing samba shares through konqueror. either server 2003, xp, or vista shares. is it a nautilus bug?

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dAF2000 (david-daf2000-nl) wrote :

I don't know if this is the recent bug report about browsing windows network pc's, but I can confirm this bug. In 8.10 browsing windows network shares (samba) fails.
My windows shares are even no windows shares, but just smb shares from xubuntu 8.04.1 and smb shares from an embedded Linux device. It used to work in 8.04.1. Clicking the icon "Windows Network" just shows nothing even after a few refreshes. If I go to "Connect to server" is works fine.

Some info:
david@toshiba:~$ smbtree
Password:
DAVID
 \\EPIA Syntax
  \\EPIA\hd /media/hd
  \\EPIA\wd500 /media/wd500
  \\EPIA\root root filesystem
  \\EPIA\mp3 mp3
  \\EPIA\website
  \\EPIA\dreamboxbackup
  \\EPIA\dvd
  \\EPIA\pli7000 /home/david/pli7000
  \\EPIA\IPC$ IPC Service (Syntax)

I had a shortcut created during 8.04 to access that //EPIA share. Now I get the error message:
"Could not open location smb://epia/" "No application is registered as handling this file"

Revision history for this message
James Walters (iamjameswalters) wrote :

Please note the edit I posted to the bug details!

James

description: updated
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James Walters (iamjameswalters) wrote :

Confirmed by dAF2000

Changed in samba:
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
James Walters (iamjameswalters) wrote :

Alright, seeing as I've sort of been able to narrow down where the problem is, and since it has been confirmed in Hardy and Intrepid by dAF2000 and I, I've decided to nominate it in Hardy, Intrepid, and Jaunty. Hope to see progress soon!

James

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jorritlinnert (jorrit-linnert) wrote :

Maintainers, you can add Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic (at Least 64 Bits) to the list, as it cannot browse the network either. Interestingly enough ii gives exactly the same error message whether the Win98SE-PC containing the share is attached to the network or not.
I've tested with by booting to WinXPSP2 on the same box where the error occured on. With WinXPSP2 I can see the Win98SE-share normally and access it.
The error message on my Karmic is:
"Unable to mount location - Failed to retrieve share list from server"

Revision history for this message
jorritlinnert (jorrit-linnert) wrote :

additional info on post #10:
ii => it( line 3).
The machine was recently upgraded from Jaunty 64 Bits and has all the fixes to date applied.
This bug is marked as having low priority, but the majority of people considering the switch to Ubuntu would have serious doubts of keeping it on their machines if they have any Windows shares, which brings to mind Bug #1: "Windows has a majority Windows Share". I would therefore like to raise the priority of this bug to "Normal", especially because it has been around for such a long time.

Revision history for this message
Ankur Joshi (pharmankur) wrote :

I have shifted to Ubuntu 9.10.
When i was using 9.04 I had no problem in connecting to Windows network.
Also when i freshly installed Ubuntu 9.10 i Did NOT have any issue.
But as i applied updates & also installed samba, then the problem started
It is giving the message
"Unable to mount location - Failed to retrieve share list from server"

& when i want to use shared printer, I do not see the list of the Windows network printer via SAMBA

Therefore i am UNABLE to access my windows XP network also I cannot use the shared printers

Revision history for this message
Ankur Joshi (pharmankur) wrote :

When I try to Connect to Windows printer via samba --> Browse
I get the following...

No Print Shares
There were no print shares found. Please check that the Samba service is marked as trusted in your firewall configuration.
To do this, select System->Administration->Firewall from the main menu.

Actually there is a share printer available, & in System->Administration, there is no option of 'Firewall'

Revision history for this message
Ankur Joshi (pharmankur) wrote :

As I have mentioned in my ^^^ above posts, I am using Ubuntu 9.10 & was having problem with accessing windows network & shared printers
But now with little bit of attempts it seems that my issue is --> SOLVED !!! . . . At least for me ...

Now I Can access both windows network as well as shared printer !!!

Here's what i did (Although its empirical, but its worked for me) -->

1) opened Synaptic package manager
2) typed 'smb' in in quick search
3) List all packages appear ... then i selected for each package 'Mark for removal'
4) Clicked on 'Apply' button
5) when changes are done i typed 'Samba' in quick search
6) Installed Samba package
7) Before finalisation of installation it asked me whether to maintain present .config file or replace with installer file .... I selected replace with installer file (Make new samba config file) ... Done with Samba installation
8) Then I typed 'smbclient' in quick serch box of Synaptic
9) installed 'smbclient' package

Done !!!
Now I can access to my Windows share network

Revision history for this message
Laszlo_Lebrun (lazlo-lebrun) wrote :

I was full of hope and tried:

"3) List all packages appear ... then i selected for each package 'Mark for removal'"

The removal of smb-client is however dependent of the removal of ubuntu-desktop.
Didn't you notice the same dependency?

Laszlo

Revision history for this message
Matt Jones (mjones41) wrote :

I am having the same problem with a fresh install of 9.10, I used to be able to connect to shares with 9.04, and now cannot with 9.10. I hope "pharmankur" can be a little more specific about the packages to be removed because am having the same problem as Laszlo.

I will comment back here if I find a solution. It looks like it should be prompting for authentication, but it is not getting that far.

Cheers
Matt

Revision history for this message
Matt Jones (mjones41) wrote :

Sorry, it was not a fresh install (above post), it was an upgrade. I could not fresh install because my Evolution backup file will not be read by 9.10, but that is a separate issue.

Cheers
Matt

Revision history for this message
Matt Jones (mjones41) wrote :

sorry mistake to above, it was an upgrade, not a fresh install.

Revision history for this message
Matt Jones (mjones41) wrote :

OK I have a solution that now works for me. If I use;

smb:///192.168.48.5/ <- which is the default that comes up in 9.10, 3 / 's and it does not work

but

smb://192.168.48.5/ <- with just 2 / 's, works for me, YaY!

Does that help anyone else?

Cheers
Matt

PS sorry about all the posts above, no idea how to delete them

Revision history for this message
gigaSproule (benjaminsproule) wrote :

Using the above method, I could connect succesfully, but not any other way. I think the system puts in too many / in?

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Baditaflorin (baditaflorin) wrote :

2012-05-05 and we still have this problem. Clean install of Ubuntu 12.04 .
I tried first with the upgrade but it did not work.

We will never in a milion years pass bug 1# if we can allow users to interact with windows in the first place.

Revision history for this message
penalvch (penalvch) wrote :

James Walters, this phenomenon is verified in Trusty attempting to discover a Windows 7 share with Nautilus via a WiFi router connection. Strangely enough, if I spun up a Vista virtual local to the Trusty install (which uses a virtual switch, not a router) I could see its share by hostname with no modification.

What allowed me to see the Windows share over WiFi:
sudo nano /etc/nsswitch.conf
hosts: files wins

Restarted and now the Windows 7 share is discoverable via hostname in Nautilus.

Thank you for reporting this to Ubuntu. Please feel free to report any future bugs you may find.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

Changed in samba (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Invalid
summary: - unable to connect to windows network pc's
+ Unable to see Windows share hostnames in Nautilus
penalvch (penalvch)
summary: - Unable to see Windows share hostnames in Nautilus
+ Unable to see Windows share hostnames in Nautilus when on WiFi
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