Backup Connection Error

Hi
I see this problem filling numerous threads here. It's really amazing this NAS - ostensibly a backup device - is so dismal at getting past square 1 - just making the connection.

I have a Windows PC running XP with a ReadyNAS Duo attached. I have the radical ambition to have the NAS backup from my PC from time to time. YOu know, with it supposedly being built expressly to be a backup device. I have had my NAS over a year and whenever I have a spare day or two I try to get it to 'see' the PC. Of course I try:-
Host:
Every combination of the IP address and the computer name, with all diretions of slash before it, sometimes after it too, and even a colon following it.
Path:
Every combination of C:, c$, Shared/ shared/ SHARED (um, yes, I am trying to backup what anyone would recognise as c:/Shared)
with every combination of slashes in either and both directions before and/or after it. Frankly I might as well write the names of the six wives of Henry the Eigth into the boxes for all the good it does me. It's heartbreaking. I had to work really hard to buy the ReadyNAS Duo, scrimping and saving because my income is low. I thought it would backup my PC. I feel cheated and incredibly sad.

Rocket Man.

try this:

use \\(servername etc.) and test the connection. In my case it works - although backups still fail.
Once the connection works then remove the \\ and use the pathname as shown in the help. This makes the Test connection fail, however the backup will work.

I now have working backups under Win7 64 bit, but Test Connection fails.

(also disabled the firewakk for thes backup testing, then re-enabloed it once all was working).

David

Rocket Man: Can you access the shared folder from another PC? Is it possible that your issue is on the Windows side?

Hi Gang

Thanks for that. David, I tried your suggestion but nothing will make the test connection work. I even switched off my firewall and made the PC share visible to the internet - eek! But I needed to rule out everything. So by the way StephanB, yes, the share is very visible. I can usually acccess it from my laptop over the home wifi.

On thing - David mentions 'server'name. My PC isn't a server, it's just an ordinary household PC. Does that make a difference?

Going back to David's suggestion, using the following prefixes:
\\
//
and no prefix
I have tried adding every type of name to the Host: field, including:
192.168.0.2 (my IP for that machine, obviously!)
Hard-Disk (the drive name on the PC)
$c (I got that from another part of the forum discussing this issue)
c (the usual hard disk designation)
c: (as above)
GABRIEL (the PC's name - at one time I had 4 computers each named after an archangel. I'm not religious but it amused me to name my wireless network 'Seraphim').
Nothing works. Of course following David's experience, it might be the case that one of these non working configurations might produce a working backup, but life's too short, and with none of them producing a single instance of a successful test connection it's completely discouraging. If there are any other configurations / names / aliases / runes you can think of that I might try, feel free to suggest. Thanks for trying guys.

Regards

Rocket Man.

Ok.

Assuming you want to back up the entire share, the name of the share goes into the "path" field - no slashes of any kind. That would be Shared I guess (based on your original post).

Per the help, the host name field itself should be either //GABRIEL or //192.168.0.2 Though it seems plausible that 192.168.0.2 with no slashes would also work.

I believe that your problem is on the Windows side - that Windows is denying access to the DUO (at least when you were using the above names).

Here are some alternative things to try:
-checking the "workgroup" name on the DUO under global settings. This should match the workgroup name used in your windows system.
-putting your windows login information into the login and password fields
-creating a guest account on the PC, and using the guest account credentials in the DUO login/password fields. (If you do this, you need to check the share and file permissions to ensure that the guest account has access).

Make sure that you are logging into your pc as an Administrator, make sure that pc is sitting on your lan at a fixed ip address, and make sure that you have set sharing on that particular folder that you want backed up.

Go into the backup services section of Frontview on the nas and simply enter that pc's fixed ip address (nothing more and nothing less).

Enter the name of the shared folder in the box below that address (again- nothing more and nothing less- just the name that you called the share when you set that folder's sharing).

Example- under address, I have simply 192.168.10.90 which is the address of my pc which holds my music files.

I've set sharing on the folder containing my music files as a folder called "My Music" so in the box below the address, I have simply typed My Music (nothing more and nothing less).

This keeps it all very simple and it works really well- give it a try.

Here are some alternative things to try: -checking the "workgroup" name on the DUO under global settings. This should match the workgroup name used in your windows system.

THIS THIS THIS!

Especially for those who have recently switched to (or re-installed) Windows 7 - Homegroup is not the same as Workgroup, and if you had a 'custom' workgroup set up on your old XP, you'll need to update either your new Win 7 or the ReadyNAS to the same Workgroup.

Was tearing my hair out for at least an hour straight trying to get the NAS to fricking acknowledge that my server even existed, when every other PC on my system had absolutely no problem seeing it (and my server could see the ReadyNAS shares just fine...) Turns out that we didn't update the default Workgroup identifier after re-installing Windows 7, and since we no longer have any XP systems on the network, it wasn't an issue...until our backups started failing out.

Utterly aggravating issue, but Stephen B's post should be stickied, highlighted and underlined, particularly the above sentence.

I have been trying to solve the same problem as others on this (and other) threads for some time. I am trying to set an automatic backup from a Windows 7 source to Ready NAS Ultra 2. I have tried all of the suggestions I can find including:
1. Checking Workgroup is the same on both machines,
2. Setting up another user with its own password and setting sharing permissions in some test folders.
3. Setting up a specific user for the NAS with its own password.
4. Opening sharing of folders I want to share and those in the test/guest account to 'everyone' and the special NAS account. These folders are all available to other computers on my home network.
5. Setting Login and Password to match my admin login or guest/test login or login for the specific NAS user.
6. Every possible permutation of Host and pathname with each of the above (just in case).
7. Updating the latest versions and windows patches.
8. Disabling my firewall (temporarily).
9. Renaming my Workgroup and restarting both machines then trying the various account settings above.

Still no luck whn I press 'Test Connection' I get ... Error connecting to //*****whatever path I have tried****.

I note that a number of people seem to be having the same problem but they have not come back to this or other forums, so I assume they have fixed it and there is a simple solution I am missing. I chose this NAS because is scored well for ease of use and it was recommended for those not accustomed to setting up a server. Must be a simple solution I am missing???

It will seem wrong, but have you tried putting the path in without starting with // or / - just put the path in without that nomenclature and see if it works for you...

No thanks - I assume it is something simple that I am missing, but that did not work. I have tried various versions of //, with or without using the Source computer name or IP address.

I am thinking it can't be the NAS or the software but rather must be some setting in windows. As mentioned above, I have tried various combinations of setting access rights to the folders, either in the directories I want to share or in a fake directory I set up in a new temporary user. I tried sharing single folders or all the directories up to "Users" either with the NAS, everyone or the administrator (including putting each of these users passwords/user names into the form in the backup screen). I can see and access these folders from other computers in the network, but the NAS software still gives an error when I try Test Connection.