NetBIOS browsing issue

[Whattteva]

So, I noticed this issue whenever I change CIFS configuration.

Whenever I restart the CIFS service so that configuration changes can take effect, my NAS box would no longer show up on the network browser (or net view command) and only a reboot would make it appear again.

I searched around the forums and found this thread. I tried the suggestion on the second post of the thread and it didn't seem to work for me.

This issue is not really a big deal on computers where I can simply map network shares by typing in the UNC path. However, it is a real issue on appliances that rely solely on the network browser.

Any ideas or perhaps commands that I can use to somehow get the box to rebroadcast itself whenever the CIFS service is restarted?

 

[cyberjock]

I believe if you give it about 15 mins it should show back up. When a server comes online it isn't required to show up on the list until about 15 minutes after it announces itself to the network. The 15 mins is the Windows default and other devices may behave differently. Does it not? Also what happens if you reboot the local machine? I know years ago we had a bunch of Windows machines that would "lose" servers and workstations if they went from online to offline to online and the only fix was to reboot the Windows machine itself.

The main problem with networking stuff is you sometimes have to know if this is an issue with the local machine's software or the remote. Makes for fun times!

 

[Whattteva]

Actually, I found out that it just goes away overtime; I don't even need to restart the service. Once it disappears, it doesn't matter how long I wait. I could check back hours later and it still would not appear. I've tried also rebooting the windows machine and it doesn't seem to help either.

 

[cyberjock]

Hmm. I just checked my Windows machine, turned off CIFS and turned it back on. It reappeared after about 5 mins.

If it disappears after a while something is going on to block it. Maybe firewall software is thinking the FN server is rogue? I know SEP would sometimes label my FN VM as trying to attack my Windows machine because of some packets.

 

[Whattteva]

I checked the network from another machine and it's not able to see it either. It may be related to a specific version? My version is 8.3.0-RELEASE-p1-x64(r12825).

 

[cyberjock]

That's my version. Trust me, as much as people turn CIFS on and off if there was a bug with it there would be alot of people complaining. Somehow you have something setup(or incorrectly setup) that is causing the problem.

 

[Whattteva]

It just doesn't make any sense. I have 5 machines on the network. 4 of them have no trouble seeing each other and yet the FreeNAS one would only show up about an hour or so after a fresh boot.
I'm guessing that you are correct in that there is some setting that I may have messed up; in which case, I need help figuring out what setting it would be.

 

[ProtoSD]

Under Services->CIFS, try making FreeNAS the Master Browser by checking the box, see if that helps.

 

[Whattteva]

I've tried with that option checked and unchecked. It doesn't seem to make any difference either way.
Also, I'm not sure whether or not this info would help; but according to nbtstat command, my router is the master browser (which makes sense because it is the one that has the longest up time).