20.04.3 Unable to browse to windows network/shares from Gnome Files

[mr-mike-hawkey]

I am trying to browse to a windows share attached to a WiFi router from Gnome Files.

I have visibility of the IP address of the WiFi router. I can access the web interface of the router.

I have added the following lines to my smb.conf file and restarted my machine.

client min protocol = NT1
server min protocol = NT1

When I open Files and select + Other Locations, the only thing that comes up is On This Computer.
I don't see a Networks tab and I can't select Windows Network.

When I type in to the Connect to server field `smb://192/168/1/200/usbdisk`, the box and the text turn RED the moment I type the colon. I'm assuming that indicates some sort of error.

I have search the internet, including this forum, however I don't see anyone else having the same issues as me.

I have `sudo apt update`d and installed `cifs` and `samba` and `smb-client`.

Asking for help is my next option.

What other information do you need to help point me in the correct direction?

Thanks,
Mike

[Morbius1]

First:

When I type in to the Connect to server field `smb://192/168/1/200/usbdisk`

That's the wrong syntax, right?

It's:

smb://192.168.1.200/usbdisk

As far as this goes:

When I open Files and select + Other Locations, the only thing that comes up is On This Computer.
I don't see a Networks tab and I can't select Windows Network.

And this:

...the box and the text turn RED the moment I type the colon.

I can reproduce all those symptoms by uninstalling gvfs-backends, logging off, then logging back in again.

Do the reverse:

sudo apt install gvfs-backends

Then logoff and log in again.

[SeijiSensei]

Run

smbclient -L name_of_server

Depending on how you have name service configured, you might need to add the "-I" parameter to specify the server's IP address:

smbclient -I 10.10.10.10 -L name_of_server

You should get a list of available shares.

$ smbclient -L server
Enter WORKGROUP\seiji's password: 

        Sharename       Type      Comment
        ---------       ----      -------
        homes           Disk      Home Directories
        raid            Disk      
        IPC$            IPC       IPC Service (Samba Server Version 4.9.0pre1-GIT-6a59619)
        seiji           Disk      Home Directories
SMB1 disabled -- no workgroup available

I have "min protocol = SMB2" and "max protocol = SMB3" in the server's smb.conf. I can see the shares from Linux and Windows 10.

smbclient has a lot of parameters that you might use for testing. See "man smbclient" for details.

[threecleartones]

Interesting - I've been troubleshooting this as well, trying to connect my new Ubuntu PC to my Windows server shares via Files (or a variety of file managers) with no luck. I've tried a bunch of things per googling. The really weird thing is, I installed Ubuntu via a USB thumb drive, and if I use that same USB stick as a live drive, I'm able to see/browse/read/write to my Windows shares from Files just fine, but if I then boot up normally into Ubuntu, no luck (?!?)

When I try your smbclient -L name_of_server suggestion I'm immediately prompted for my Windows password and then the shares are listed for me in the Terminal. But still no luck if I try to use a GUI file manager like Files, Nautilus, Dolphin, etc. I added your min/max protocol lines to my smb.conf, still no luck. I feel like the answer is soooo close!

UPDATE: scratch that - Dolphin is now working for me (but Files is still just spinning). This is great because I prefer Dolphin anyway. It must hav been those two protocol lines for smb.conf, thanks!!!!