I have a system running MacOS 26.0.1. This is my only Mac on the network. There are several servers – most of which are Ubuntu 24.04 – running SMB. I can connect to any of these servers. But only one of them (“nasrefresh”) never appears in the Network section of finder unless I am already, currently connected. Here is an image of Finder with Network selected after a reboot of the Mac system:
If I choose Finder “Go / Connect to Server” I find the dialog already populated from its prior use (smb://nasrefresh…), and connection is successful. After this, of course, Finder shows the server under Network (until timeout disconnects it):
(Note: All of these servers are on the local network with 192.168.1.* addresses, and all servers including MaCOS have a subnet mask of 192.168.1.0 (or /24). Also, all of these servers including MacOS have a domain name of lovelady.com, with search lovelady.com being the default)
Now if I let that connection time out due to lack of use, it again disappears from the Network tab. Why would this inconsistency appear? I use virtually the same global settings in /etc/samba/smb.conf – with only the “volume” section definitions being necessarily different…
The reason this is an issue for me is that usually when I am looking for a file on nasrefresh, it is not Finder that offers me the path, but something else (say a text editor, on File/Open, for example) and the standard File Open dialog does not offer “Go / Connect to server” when selecting a file. If the connection to nasrefresh is “active,” then no issue. But if it’s timed out or not yet connected, I have to abandon that Open, go to Finder, connect, and then re-execute the “Open” in the text editor… a bit of a mess that leads to other problems.
What might cause such a problem? And/or how can I gather other useful information to help others understand and identify it?
Here is the entire /etc/samba/smb.conf file from nasrefresh with the comments removed:
[global]
workgroup = Pegasus Software
server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)
mangled names = no
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 1000
logging = file
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
server role = standalone server
obey pam restrictions = yes
unix password sync = yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
pam password change = yes
map to guest = bad user
[CDROM]
comment = NASREFRESH CD-ROM
read only = yes
path = /cdrom
guest ok = no
[SSDs]
comment = NASREFRESH SSDs
read only = no
; force grop = www
path = /SSDs
guest ok = no
create mask = 0775
directory mask = 0775
[Main-HDDs]
comment = NASREFRESH Main
read only = no
path = /Main-HDDs
guest ok = no
create mask = 0775
directory mask = 0775
nasrefresh runs Ubuntu 24.04.3
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="24.04"
VERSION="24.04.3 LTS (Noble Numbat)"
VERSION_CODENAME=noble
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="
SUPPORT_URL="
BUG_REPORT_URL="
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="
UBUNTU_CODENAME=noble
LOGO=ubuntu-logo
nasrefresh SMB status:
> sudo smbstatus
[sudo] password for dennis:
Samba version 4.19.5-Ubuntu
PID Username Group Machine Protocol Version Encryption Signing
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3500850 dennis dennis 192.168.1.32 (ipv4:192.168.1.32:62019) SMB3_11 - partial(AES-128-GMAC)
4686 dennis dennis 192.168.1.118 (ipv4:192.168.1.118:63249) SMB3_11 - partial(AES-128-CMAC)
Service pid Machine Connected at Encryption Signing
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main-HDDs 3500850 192.168.1.32 Thu Oct 23 07:42:06 AM 2025 EDT - -
Main-HDDs 4686 192.168.1.118 Wed Oct 22 12:52:34 PM 2025 EDT - -
Locked files:
Pid User(ID) DenyMode Access R/W Oplock SharePath Name Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3500850 1000 DENY_NONE 0x100081 RDONLY NONE /Main-HDDs . Thu Oct 23 07:48:18 2025
4686 1000 DENY_ALL 0x100080 RDONLY NONE /Main-HDDs . Wed Oct 22 12:53:09 2025
