My ReadyNAS does not show up as a Network Computer

[sharpycl]

Can someone tell me if the ReadyNAS is supposed to show up as a Network Computer? I can mount it as a Network Drive but no matter what setting I have tried it will not show up as a Network attached computer. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[BaJohn · Accepted solution]

Please have a quick (if you can) look at https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS/windows-not-showing-ReadyNAS-name-in-network/m-....

Although the solution MAY not apply to you, there are lots of pointers and ideas in it.

I am not saying it will give you the solution (although it might), but we don't want to reinvent the wheel again, do we?

Regards and good luck on your quest.

Good night.

[StephenB]

With Win7 and Win10, all mine show up under both the "computer" and the "storage" categories.  The ones with DLNA enabled show up again as "media storage".

This is frankly hit-or-miss.  A poster this morning had trouble getting them to show up in his network list, but power-cycling his switch resolved it.  I created shortcuts on my wife's laptop, just to make sure she had a consistent way to get to the shares she uses.

[sharpycl]

I'm on my second day of owning the ReadyNAS and I just tried another power cycle but still it's a no show under network computers. The mounted drives work great but I'd love to also have the network places working too. I wonder if an update will fix this in the future? I'll cross my fingers 🙂

Thanks so much StephenB. 

[BaJohn]

Just to add my 2 pennith ...

With Win7 and Win10, my NAS shows up ONLY under the "storage" category.

I do not believe that I have ever had it show up under the "computer" category.

I do however have a share from the NAS attached as the A: drive on my PC.

If you say which OS you are running, others MAY be able to give a more definitive answer.

[sharpycl]

Hi BaJohn,

Sorry I guess I should've mentioned that I am currently running Windows 10.

Thanks for any help you might be able to give. 

[StephenB]

---

@sharpycl wrote:

Sorry I guess I should've mentioned that I am currently running Windows 10.

---

Some users here get microsoft "insider" builds, and they say that Microsoft is putting in some fixes for this problem.

BaJohn's reply illustrates my point though - He sees only storage, and I see both computer and storage...  It is hit-or-miss for reasons that aren't that well understood (and the device categorization is done by Microsoft's stack).  It also isn't persistent -  the behavior will change w/o warning.

You can waste a lot of time on it - personally I think its best to use desktop shortcuts, or to manually add network locations into file explorer.

[BaJohn]

Just to say StephenB is one of the experts on the ReadyNAS, whereas I still consider myself as inexperienced.

I threw my info 'into the pot' to reduce your expectations on what to achieve.

Windows 10 (which I like ... although I loved Windows 7) does seem to be slightly 'chaotic' on the network front.

I have noticed that other items in the 'network folder' seem to disappear and reappear on a not to irregular basis.

My printers (both WiFi) in particular are prone to being displayed differently at different times.

My answer might lay with the WiFi router (Netgear) and my bad local network (LAN) and the terrible clash

I have with the over 20 local networks all competing for air time.

I think that if you get the NAS showing in at least one of the categories that is an achievement, and don't fret

too much over the others if other links and access to the NAS are working.

[BaJohn]

Just to add .... and I do not claim any credit for it, but it is quick and MAY work for you on Windows 10.

Try this:-

Right click start menu and choose "Control Panel", then "Programs"
Under 'Programs and Features' select "Turn Windows features on or off" (this requires admin rights)
If "SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support" is not enabled, enable it and reboot.

Let us know if this helpd:)

[jmacedo]

I've spent two hours trying every trick listed here...the ReadyNAS Duo v2 has never showed up in Win10 networks using a Microsoft login (ie most of them). The one machine with a local account can see the NAS in Network just fine.

Thanks to this thread I noticed the NAS does appear in Network Locations under This PC in Win Explorer... so I can access it in Windows, it's just clunky. The big problem is I cannot access This PC when using the file dialog in Lightroom, a common photography app. So the main storage for all my image files is inaccessible from my main machine! I got around this before by having legacy mapped drives. Unfortunately with a recent rebuild, I've lost these and cannot reestablish them.

HELP!

Win10 64 bit , have tried adding Windows Credentials for both admin account and new user account. Typing \\[ReadyNAS] into Win Explorer or a browser simply opens RAIDiator. Ditto entering the IP address.

OlympusNAS Duo v2 running RAIDiator 5.3.11

RAIDar sees the NAS fine

Thanks chaps. To save time, if there isn't an obvious solution, I'd rather bin the unit and get a certified Win10 compatible one, and transfer the data so I can access it.

[sharpycl]

Hi BAJohn,

Thanks for the suggestion. I looked under Programs and Features and "SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support" was already checked off and installed. So I unchecked, restared, then rechecked and restarted again but still no ReadyNAS under Network computers.

Was a great idea. I may try installing the insider build (using one of the Mods suggestions above) on an old PC and seeing if that PC can see the drive. I'll let everyone know-here if it works.

Thanks everyone!

[sharpycl]

@jmacedo

Have you tried searching for the NAS using the searchbar in explorer and then righclicking on the drive and mapping it? That seems to work for me. I'm also able to navigate to it in all apps that i use. 

hope that helps. 

[jmacedo]

Yes, I have. I get "Cannot find..." dialogs. And all the Windows troubleshooter can suggest is that the router is broken...

[StephenB]

---

@jmacedo wrote:

Yes, I have. I get "Cannot find..." dialogs. And all the Windows troubleshooter can suggest is that the router is broken...

---

Does \\nasname work in the file explorer address bar?

If not, does \\nasipaddress work?

[jmacedo]

yes, tried both and neither works.

[StephenB]

---

@jmacedo wrote:

yes, tried both and neither works.

That is very different from not seeing the NAS in the right storage category.  

Looking back at your original post, you said that you ended up in the browser when you entered \\nasname in windows explorer.

Usually that happens when you use the wrong slash (//nasname).  Can you try that again, just to be certain you did use the correct \\

[BaJohn · Accepted solution]

Please have a quick (if you can) look at https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS/windows-not-showing-ReadyNAS-name-in-network/m-....

Although the solution MAY not apply to you, there are lots of pointers and ideas in it.

I am not saying it will give you the solution (although it might), but we don't want to reinvent the wheel again, do we?

Regards and good luck on your quest.

Good night.

[sharpycl]

Thank you so much!!! The suggestion to check out this thread https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS/windows-not-showing-ReadyNAS-name-in-network/m-... lead me to a post that suggested I check the workgroup name under Accounts>Authentication and make sure it matches the Workgroup name of your computer by typing in sysdm.cpl in search and comparing workgroup names. If they are different change it to the workgroup name of your computer and BAM!! My problem was solved. I can now see my ReadyNAS under Network. I now have to remount my shares but that isn't a big deal and EASILY fixed.

Thanks @BaJohn for linking me to this thread and @StephenB for writing the post in this thread. You guys are the best!

[jmacedo]

Thanks @BaJohn. Nope, workgroup names were the same, one of the first things I checked.

However, after trying a bunch of things yesterday and coming back to the machine this morning, the NAS appeared in Network! On both the machine I was working on, and the other Win10 machine with a Microsoft account. Interestingly, the only thing I had done on the second machine was add a Windows credential to match a user account on the NAS. Perhaps it took time for the Windows network to sort out the permissions?

I still needed credentials to actually access the shares. Frustratingly, entering the newly created NAS user account details - or admin login - doesn't work. What seems to have worked - and is replicable - is allowing Anonymous access to the shares, and specifying the IP addresses of the computers that are allowed to connect. Which then leads one down another rabbit hole of assigning static IPs to all the machines... but at least is doable!

Might not work for everyone, but good enough for me where I HAVE to have a mapped drive to a NAS share.

[jmacedo]

@StephenB I confirm I used backslash for the name and the IP in both Win Explorer and a browser, both directed to the NAS admin login.

However I think I have solved it for my circumstances - see other post

[BaJohn]

I am just pleased to have had a hand in you finding the solution to your problem.

Regards

[StephenB]

---

@jmacedo wrote:

@StephenB I confirm I used backslash for the name and the IP in both Win Explorer and a browser, both directed to the NAS admin login.

You should of course use the forward slash (/) in the browser and the back slash (\) in windows file explorer.  

Entering the back slash in my browser (chrome) results in the browser converting the URL to file://nasipaddress/, and displaying "ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND".  

Entering the forward slash in windows file explorer results in file explorer launching the browser (which of course does give me the NAS login screen)

---

@jmacedo wrote:

However I think I have solved it for my circumstances - see other post

I'm glad it is accessible, but it sounds to me like something is still wrong.  You shouldn't need the host list (or switch to static addresses).  

FWIW it is better to reserve addresses in the router than assign static addresses - that has the same effect, but gives you the benefits of central management (avoiding inadvertant IP address conflicts, and allowing you to more easily change to a new IP address range).

[sharpycl]

Here's an update to my original solution. 

The NAS drive was showing up under Network computers fine for a few hours yesterday but now it has disappeared again. I've checked the Workgroup names and they are still the same. 😕

[BaJohn]

---

@StephenB wrote:
 

FWIW it is better to reserve addresses in the router than assign static addresses - that has the same effect, but gives you the benefits of central management (avoiding inadvertant IP address conflicts, and allowing you to more easily change to a new IP address range).

Both on my Win 7 and Win 10 I have always used reserved addresses in the router and found it is very useful.

As I do not allow any 'spare' addresses, this works as another minor barrier to access from 'unknown' machines.

It does mean a little bit more work when one of the family wants to change iPhone or gets a new 'caster' for the TV.

You also have to allow for 'dual' access on both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz channels (if used).

Thus 10 systems MAY (not necessarily) require 20 records to be setup in the Router.

[StephenB]

---

@BaJohn wrote:

---

You also have to allow for 'dual' access on both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz channels (if used).

Thus 10 systems MAY (not necessarily) require 20 records to be setup in the Router.

---

I also reserve all my addresses.  WiFi capable systems do have 2 addresses (one for wifi and one for ethernet).  

All my dual-band equipment uses one mac address for both bands - I've not seen a case where wifi addresses are needed for each band.

[BaJohn]

---

@StephenB wrote:

---

I also reserve all my addresses.  WiFi capable systems do have 2 addresses (one for wifi and one for ethernet).  

All my dual-band equipment uses one mac address for both bands - I've not seen a case where wifi addresses are needed for each band.

---

Interesting .... my equipment is probably a few years old, and YES I find it a pain that I have to enter both MAC addresses if I want the hardware to operate on both bands.

It may be worth me investing in some more up to date equipment, which also might be a bit faster.

I will need to investigate further as I am surprised at what you say (I don't doubt that you are correct).

MAC addresses are associated with the individual chips in devices and each is unique in the world.

What it means is that the manufacturers have built both systems at different frequencies on the same chip.

I suppose that is progress, as the chips get smaller, easy to install, hence cheaper etc