Re: New to Netgear ReadyNAS and can't access existing shares

otf · ‎2021-06-01

Someone who is long gone set up our ReadyNAS model 212 storage device. We have not been using it but it is still connected to our network. When trying to access the various shares from a Win10 local PC Admin user it won't accept the credentials. We can no longer access the shares except by logging directly into the NAS itself. How do we fix this credentials problem so we can access the shares from our Win 10 PCs? (We're running the latest NAS firmware - 6.10.5)

StephenB · ‎2021-06-01

@otf wrote:

Someone who is long gone set up our ReadyNAS model 212 storage device. We have not been using it but it is still connected to our network. When trying to access the various shares from a Win10 local PC Admin user it won't accept the credentials.

Look on the accounts page on the NAS to see if there are any NAS user accounts set up there. If there are, then that is likely what the original admin intended folks to use to access the NAS.

otf · ‎2021-06-02

Thanks fotr the reply Stephen. The only user listed on the Accounts page of the web interface is "admin" with UID 98 and part of thre admin group, but we have no password for that account and it has no info associated with it, like answers to recovery questions, etc. How do I reset the credentials for this admin user so I can use it for accessing the data folders?

StephenB · ‎2021-06-03

@otf wrote:

The only user listed on the Accounts page of the web interface is "admin" with UID 98 and part of the admin group, but we have no password for that account

You must have the password, since you are using it to log into the web interface. Perhaps check your browser to see if the credentials are stored there.

While you can use the NAS admin credentials to access the shares, it's not the best practice. You can create another account in the users group, have people use that. You'd need to check the file access tab and network access tab for each share, and make sure that account as read/write access.

Another approach is to enable "everyone" access on both the file access tab and the network access tab of every share. Either way, you should click on the reset control on the file access tab whenever you adjust file permissions. That will apply the settings to every folder and file in the share.

otf · ‎2021-07-23

Thanks for your answers. I'm still having trouble with my ReadyNAS account and access settings. Besides the default "admin" I have created two accounts in the users group (not in the admin group). In Shares I have given each of those accounts permissions to access certain folders/files. In each case I have given the user read/write permission under Network Access and File Access (and have hit Apply to both). However, via File Explorer, Win10 is still telling me that the user has not been given permission to access the folder.

I have rebooted my PC and the NAS device and no change. I'm wondering if the Folder Owner and Folder Group fields under File Access have anything to do with this problem. I have them set to the user name and users group respectively. What else am I not doing right?

StephenB · ‎2021-07-24

@otf wrote:

I have them set to the user name and users group respectively. What else am I not doing right?

I suggest setting them both to "guest". Also check the "grant rename" box, and click on the "Reset" control on the left.

Also, make sure that the PC has classified the network connection as "private". If you have internet security software running on the PC, temporarily disable it.

@otf wrote:

Thanks for your answers. I'm still having trouble with my ReadyNAS account and access settings. Besides the default "admin" I have created two accounts in the users group (not in the admin group). In Shares I have given each of those accounts permissions to access certain folders/files. In each case I have given the user read/write permission under Network Access and File Access (and have hit Apply to both). However, via File Explorer, Win10 is still telling me that the user has not been given permission to access the folder.

If the suggestions above didn't help, then try these tests:

Run CMD on the PC (just enter CMD in the windows search bar, and it should show up as an option). This will open a black text box on the screen, where you type Windows commands.

Enter these two commands - being careful on the typing. Spaces and the two different slash directions are important.

net use * /delete /y
net use t: \\nas-ip-address\data /user:admin nas-admin-password

using the real NAS IP address and admin password.

The first command will terminate any active network sessions, and the second will attempt to mount the full NAS data volume as drive letter T. That will confirm that you can access the NAS.

You can then try a similar test using the two user accounts.

net use * /delete /y
net use t: \\nas-ip-address\sharename /user:username user-password

This won't work with data - you need to use one of your NAS shares.

Let us know what happens with these tests.

Sandshark · ‎2021-07-24

@StephenB went over the potential solutions, but here is something to thnk about as to why, and how that may affect you down the road.

For many situations (including most home installations), you can just use network access to control everything and ignore file permissions. If you do use file permissions, adding a new user doesn't go though and apply that to every file and folder currently in the share. To do that requires the permissions Reset @StephenB suggested. So if you don't have a specific reason to add protection with file permissions (which doesn't really add a lot, at least if you exclusively use SMB for access), set those to everyone and you'll not have to reset permissions if you add a user.

I did have mine set up with file permisisons, and twice they got changed for reasons I do not know and I had to go in and do a reset -- once on only one share and another on several. I was pulling out my hair trying to figure what broke before I figured it out the first time. After the second time, I switched to using just network permissions (with one last reset to everyone file access).

otf · ‎2021-08-03

Stephen - Thanks for your input. When I run the net use command with the NAS IP address and password, I get system error 86 - network password is not correct. I'm using the same admin password as used to log into the NAS web interface, so this doesn't make sense.

After further work, I've adjusted folder access and file permissions. We only have two users so I have made them both admins (not guests). I had to reset the NAS credentials for one of the PCs that had old credentials. Now I have access to all folders and files on both PCs and have succesfully mapped network drives on both. All seems well.

This NAS device sure seems flaky in terms of access, permissions, etc, and it doesn't seem that it should be necessary to make all users admins to get the job done. But its working the way I now have it set up, so I'm not inclide to mess with it any further.

Thanks again for your replies.

otf · ‎2021-08-03

Thanks for your input. You can see my reply to Stephen. My approach worked and I'm going to leave well enough alone for now, but I appreciate your reply.