SOLVED Cannot access FreeNAS Shares after Win7 Re-install

[Fordy]

Hi everyone,

I have had my FreeNAS set-up and running for the longest time. It is running FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE.

Everything was working on it and I was able to go and open up my win explorer and type "\\freenasname" and it would connect and display my folders.

I decided that my hard drive on my PC was not gonna cut it anymore storage wise and needed to upgrade to a bigger drive. So I did a fresh install of win7 on my new hard drive. Now when I try to type "\\freenasname" in win explorer, it returns "Windows Cannot Access \\freenasname" and when I hit the Diagnose button, it doesn't find any issues to fix.

Really, the only thing changed with my win7 install is the PC NAME. I don't think that would/should affect how I'm able to access my NAS box.

I am able to ping my nas box, using host name and ip address of nas box. I am also able to access freenas WebGUI by typing the ip address of the nasbox on my browser. Inside the webgui, I could also ping my pc's IP address without issues.

I am at a loss as to what the issue would be and I need you experts to shed some light. I have tried searching relevant threads but still no go.

Thanks.

 

[SavageAUS]

Have you tried adding your FreeNAS box to your windows hosts file?

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[Fordy]

Have you tried adding your FreeNAS box to your windows hosts file?

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No I have not. How do I go about doing that? Like what would be the syntax?

 

[SavageAUS]

You do it on your windows machine.
Open notepad as administrator, make sure you select all files in the bottom right. From the file > open menu browse to X:\windows\system32\drivers\etc and open the hosts file. At the bottom of the file add your box plus IP.

Example
FreeNASbox 192.168.1.21

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[Fordy]

You do it on your windows machine.
Open notepad as administrator, make sure you select all files in the bottom right. From the file > open menu browse to X:\windows\system32\drivers\etc and open the hosts file. At the bottom of the file add your box plus IP.

Example
FreeNASbox 192.168.1.21

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Thanks for the reply. I have done that but it still gives me the same issue. Tried both using the hostname and the ip address.

 

[SavageAUS]

Dis you reboot after editing the hosts file?

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[Fordy]

Dis you reboot after editing the hosts file?

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Yes I did. Rebooted both my PC and nasbox. Still no luck.

 

[farmerpling2]

Are you in domain?

Its just samba and you might have messed the credentials going to \\nasbox

Map a drive letter to your \\nasbox using your user credentials (force it).

More than likely wrong ones are on your news box.

 

[Fordy]

Are you in domain?

Its just samba and you might have messed the credentials going to \\nasbox

Map a drive letter to your \\nasbox using your user credentials (force it).

More than likely wrong ones are on your news box.

No. Not in a domain. Both my pc and my nasbox is on the same lan and have the same workgroup name.

Btw, I have just tried mapping the drive and forcing my credentials on it but to no avail. I have also tried creating a new user inside the freenas webGUI and tried using that to map/connect to the share that way but still the same error.

 

[Fordy]

Hi everyone. I just figured it out and fixed it!!

I finally found a thread on a different forum that a person suggested to check the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper under windows services.

I went in and checked mine and sure enough it was DISABLED/NOT RUNNING. So I went and ENABLED it and Started the service and BAM! Was able to connect to my nas shares without anymore issues.

So for those that are having issues like mine. Go ahead and check your services.msc.

Here's the thread that helped me with my issue.
https://superuser.com/questions/858067/freenas-cifs-samba-shares-visible-but-not-accessible