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We've been using a seagate ext hdd for over a year (maybe two years?) via the back usb port as a readyshare drive. Had worked without troubles on wife's work computer (work's from home, win10) from day one until recently. i had mapped it as the T: drive from day one. puter is connected to R6400 via ethernet cable. internet connection has never ceased.
skip to the "summary" at the bottom if you want short version of where i'm at, everything in between is the details of tests i'vedone so far, to develop that summary.
First round of troubles (included for to be thourough): a couple of months ago, wife's work computer suddenly couldn't connect to T drive. I was at work. I had her unplugged drive, replug. no go. reboot router. no go. remove hdd and plug it directly in to computer's usb port. it worked, so she used in that fashion for the rest of the day. I got home, plugged it back in to the R6400. computer still did not connect to T drive, but I did see the readyhare folder available in the Network section of explorer. I removed old maping. remapped it and it worked fine again until ....
Second and present round of troubles: this week connection to mapped drive ceased again, readyshare was not available in network section of explorer. today I attempted some troubleshooting.
- (1) while monitoring network section of explorer as well as ready share section of netgear genie: unplug, replug hdd with computer and router on.(observation 1*)in netgear genie, drive went away and came back appropriately. no connection to mapped drive nor presence in network section of explorer ever appeared, despite refreshes.
- (2) plugged hdd directly in to usb port of computer. it blossomed as E drive, could be read fine.
- (3) plugged hdd back in to R6400, same observation as (observation 1*) above
- (4) wanted to reboot R6400, but noticed a firmware update was available. updated to V1.0.1.36_1.0.25, and let the reboot in this process count. once back on same as (observation 1*) above
- (5) just for fun, repeated step (1) and noticed something new. when I unplugged hdd from R6400 the 'media device' called "r6400" in the network section of explorer. went away, and came back when I plugged hdd back in. (has this been happening all along and I didn't notice?!?! because it wasn't called readyshare?!?!). when i double click this 'media device' called "r6400", it opens the 'basic' \ 'home' screen of netgear genie in my browser (chrome). no access to files still.
- (6) in netgear genie, if i 'edit' the readyshare device, and click the 'browse' button, a list of file folders does appear in the pop up window
- (7) stuck....
soo....
summary: the computer is connected to the router and has internet access. the r6400 can see and read the hdd just fine when plugged in. also when hdd is plugged in to the router computer sees a 'media device' in the network section of explorer called "R6400", but you can't access files via this. nothing else called "readyshare" in 'network' like there used to be. hdd works fine when plugged in to computer directly.
I should edit that first paragraph a bit. to clarify... "... Had worked without troubles as readyshare device via R6400 to wife's work computer (work's from home, win10) from day one until recently. ..."
I have the same issue. I've done a factory reset and have tried multiple usb drives. IThe lights are flashing and I can see the usb drive when I go into routerlogin.net and go into "ReadySHARE". I created an "Available Network Folder" and it forces the "U" drive to be set. However if I go into WIndows explorer and type "\\readyshare" it can't be reached.
Going into the horrible Netgear Genie App, if I go to ReadyShare, it doesn't see the drive --- it tells me that I need to plug in a drive..even though it is lit up and accessible through routerlogin.
Hyperlink provided: I tried that before posting to the community; it did not work.
Have the CIFS/SMB 1.0 Client feature installed and enabled on your WIndows 10 system? And the CIFS/SMB 1.0 Automatic Removal feature disabled to avoid the unexpected?
Potential reasons to stop using CIFS/SMB 1.0 would be vulnerabilities - multiple on Windows systems, and one on SAMBA. That much about the theory.
1. Most Netgear routers only support SMB 1.0. So without an SMB 1.0 client, there won't be any luck.
1a. I would assume Netgear has patched the vulnerability on older routers where they have not added SMB2.x/3.0 support - no idea. Only Negear could answer this. For how long do we request more complete release notes dear Netgear?
2. While Microsoft has migrated from the NetBIOS host discovery and name resolution to WDS, there is no more need for CIFS/SMB 1.0 and NetBIOS when only Microsoft systems are in the play. So they had a wonderful idea for automatically phasing it out and implement an Automatic Removal feature. If SMB 1.0 is not used for a certain time, the Automatic Removal feature does automatically remove the SMB 1.0 Client and Server feature.
2a. Microsoft dos not tell the user that this feature removal does also remove the NetBIOS name resolution.
2b. Netgear has updated SAMBA on some Nighthawk router models, and added also SMB 2.0/3.0 support (admin selectable). With the Windows CIFS/SMB 1.0 Client feature removed ("...no longer required blah..."), the access would be possible only by IP address, not by conveniently clicking on the "ReadySHARE" server or use the \\readyshare name. This is because of Netgear has still not added WDS to the routers. 2c. The CIFS/SMB 1.0 Automatic Removal feature should be disabled, especially when using on ReadySHARE routers (and NAS, and Linux SAMBA, ...) even if their servers support SMB 2.0 or 3.0. Because the feature does only look for SMB 1.0 usage - not for the continued NetBIOS name resolution. Microsoft "logic".
That's all - now everybody should understand why and under what conditions the CIFS/SMB 1.0-Client feature might have to remain in place. And at the same time it's advised to disable the CIFS/SMB 1.0 Automatic Removal feature.
I am sorry, but you have to realize that I am a program manager who knows a little about computers, but networking isn't part of that knowledge; that response didn't really help me.
For what it is worth, the readyshare does not work. I don't know the steps to make it work.
And now I have to create another thread because I can't make my netgear R6400 work with OpenDNS. Sigh.
This is marked as solved, but it is not solved. I still cannot get the readyshare to work, NOR can I get the OpenDNS functionality to work. I've tried calling the "backdoor number" but no one ever picks up --- and when I try to click on a response to the open ticket, I get "invalid token" in the netgear website.
In that way you stand a better chance of catching the attention of someone from Netgear. They may not have time to check on a discussion from three months ago, especially when it is marked solved.
This is marked as solved, but it is not solved. I still cannot get the readyshare to work, ...
If you insist having SMB 1.0 disabled on your WIndows system (which does include the NetBIOS host discovery and name resolution), and considering there is no support for anything beyond of CIFS/SMB 1.0 on this router, there won't be any luck for making it work again.
Assuming your USB storage device is recognised, with the CIFS/SMB 1.0 Client feature enabled on a current Windows 10 , you can call \\[Router-LAN-IP-address] like \\192.168.1.1 to see the shared folders available in Windows Explorer.
Starting from Windows 10 1803, to get the NetBIOS host announcement and name resolution workable, you have to enable the CIFS/SMB 1.0 Server feature enabled. This should (for me it's a hit and miss) make the router under it's configured name (default is readyshare) visible in the Windows Explorer -> Network. Alternate, typing \\readyshare should bring up the shared folder(s) configured.
Some Netgear routers got updates including SMB 2.0/2.1 and SMB 3.0 protocol support - however the name resolution is still stuck on NetBIOS, so the above feature enabled requirements remain. The Windows system will negotiate to use the highest available SMB version when connecting.
This should give you some guidelines to test explain a little bit more than "can't get it to work" - my crystal ball is on a holiday.
I've tried calling the "backdoor number" but no one ever picks up --- and when I try to click on a response to the open ticket, I get "invalid token" in the netgear website.
Whatever number that should be. No idea how it comes the Netgear IT kids are playing and developing on what is supposed to be a live support system. All you can do is retry the same access on the support platform some hours or days later.
This is a good question on forum net-etiquette. If someone opens a thread and 5 others say they have the same problem, but then a fix comes out and it fixes the 1st person who asked, but it doesn't solve the other 5 people, should they open up a new thread - especially if it is marked solved?
My readyShare does not work -- AND -- the router does not seem to be utilizing OpenDNS correctly. I think I did add to my OpenDNS thread, but wanted to recheck the ReadyShare problem because that issue still exists for me.
1. "if you insiste having SMB 1.0 disabled on your Window system...."
I do not insist on this.
2. "Assuming your USB storage device is recognised..."
I can see the USB device in the netgear web-app (and in the Netgear Genie); however I cannot see the USB device through a web browser nor windows explorer.
3. I cannot see \\readyshare when I use windows-explorer
Do you think there is a BIOS issue where I should check to see if I need the latest BIOS for my system? It's just odd that this stopped working (seemingly) randomly.
This is a good question on forum net-etiquette. If someone opens a thread and 5 others say they have the same problem, but then a fix comes out and it fixes the 1st person who asked, but it doesn't solve the other 5 people, should they open up a new thread - especially if it is marked solved?
I would do that. The last thing you should do is turn up and say "Oh no it isn't fixed".
There are several reasons for starting a new discussion. The most important is that the handful of Netgear representatives do not have limitless time so they may well skip over messages in discussions that started three months ago and are marked as "solved".
Some discussions run on for years, with very interesting messages that have nothing to do with problems and answers. Netgear's team isn't paid to chew the fat like that.
A sensible approach would be to start a new discussion and to include links to the "solved" discussions that didn't work. In that way you reduce the risk that someone will point you at that "solved" stuff.
@djhurlburt wrote: I can see the USB device in the netgear web-app (and in the Netgear Genie)
What is the "netgear web-app"?
And which genie is this? Desktop (for Windows/Mac)? Mobile (Android/iThing)?
The best place to diagnose this issue is in the Readyshare area of the browser interface. That is where you need to check the visibility of the drives and their mapping and share name.
Check page 75 in the manual somewhere at the end of this link:
1) Enable SMB1 on Win10 to operate with Readyshare SMB1 support on the R6400.
2) Buy a router with Readyshare SMB3 support, like the R7800.
#2 does still require the installation of the CIFS/SMB 1.0 Server and Client feature (starting from Win 10 18xx) resp. CIFS/SMB 1.0 Client (earlier Win 10) to gain the device discovery and name resolution (for \\readyshare) as there is no WSD implementation on any Netgear Nigthawk router, even if SMB 2.0/2.1/3.0 are available - as they are stuck on pure NetBIOS. Appears Netgear does not really understand things to say it nicely.
