Thunar problems with Samba shares

toothandnail · 2017-02-13 04:25:30

I've been running Xfce for quite a while, starting with Slackware, then Salix, now mainly Arch Linux, though I do have an active copy of Sparky and also an active Xubuntu. Still my DE of preference.

I recently spent some time tracking problems with Samba shares on an Ubuntu server, not in my normal local network but at another site. While doing this, I ended up with a problem using Thunar to attach to a Samba share on the Ubuntu server, which has escalated to being a problem attaching to any Windows network using Thunar. In each case, I can manually mount the share using "mount -t cifs", so it is not the network layer itself which is broken.

The error I was getting was that the "Windows network" icon would come up, but double clicking on it would result in nothing further. Eventually I would get a time out error:

 Failed to open "/" on ".
Timeout was reached

When I went home, I found that I was not getting the same error on my own home network. I don't use Samba much at home, just keep some active shares on my server for test purposes and for the odd occasions when I have a Windows machine on the network. I found that I was able to access Samba share normally on my own network, but later, I would get an error on the share I had been accessing.

This has now progressed even on my own network to the point where clicking on the Browse Network icon in Thunar does nothing, then eventually returns the same timeout error.

While this has been going on, I've had an upgrade to Thunar - "about" is currently showing "Thunar 1.6.10git-97b3ae5c". That may have been the point at which I lost all access to samba share, not sure..

I've tried creating a new user and trying to access the network from the new user account, but I'm getting exactly the same error. At the same time, I have another, fully updated install of Arch on my laptop which is not having any problems with Thunar and Samba. So I'm fairly sure that my attempts to track the original Ubuntu server related problem has broken something in Thunar. But I have no idea where to look...

I'd really like to fix this, and I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction to find the source of the problem.

zaken · 2017-07-10 17:57:07

I have absolutely the same issue. 'Browse Network' times out with that error. Running on Arch. I haven't installed anything new. Only updates. I guess it's an update that broke it. Google around and none of the topics solve the issue. Hope we get some help on this.

ToZ · 2017-07-10 19:19:37

Make sure you have gvfs-smb installed. Also test with the firewall disabled.

For browse network to work for me I need to allow in all traffic from the server. It appears that there is some communication between the two that needs to be allowed through the firewall. I haven't had the time to identify exactly what is required. Check journalctl while trying to connect to see the firewall blocks.

toothandnail · 2017-07-10 20:48:15

ToZ wrote:

Make sure you have gvfs-smb installed. Also test with the firewall disabled.

gvfs-smb is installed (in fact I reinstalled it to see if something in it had become corrupted). No firewalls on any of the boxes when it comes to internal traffic.

For browse network to work for me I need to allow in all traffic from the server. It appears that there is some communication between the two that needs to be allowed through the firewall. I haven't had the time to identify exactly what is required. Check journalctl while trying to connect to see the firewall blocks.

I've done a bit more searching since I originally posted. I installed PCmanFM. Like Thunar, it works sometimes, and not others. I also installed gigolo (which I've not used for a long time). It has similar problems, though it does seem to be able to connect at times when Thunar won't. It also has another problem - once its connected, any attempt to open a remote folder results in vlc starting. I wondered if that might be some problem with the thumbnailer, but I have no idea how to check that out.

For me, the problems are how inconsistent the error is. Sometimes, browse network doesn't work at all, just comes up with the timeout. Other times, I get as far as seen the Windows network, but can't view the individual machines in the Widnows network. Yet others, it shows me the individual shares, but won't open them. Or will open them only when I try a second time (and then, sometimes a considerable time later, comes up with a timeout on the share it has just opened).

So I don't think Thunar itself is the problem. I'm not sure if it is Xfce or simply one of the backend programs has become corrupted. To make things even more annoying, I have another Arch install on my laptop, plus Sparky Linux and Xubuntu 16.04. Only one install exhibits this problem, and it did work at one stage....

If I get time later this week, I'll install an alternate DE and see if the problem exists in it as well. At least that will eliminate (or otherwise) Xfce or any of its support packages. I may install Mate or Cinamon, though only for experimental purposes - I much prefer Xfce to any of the other DEs that I've used.

The other annoying thing is that there is no sign in any of the logs, or in the systemd journal file of what is going wrong.

Last edited by toothandnail (2017-07-10 20:53:02)

ToZ · 2017-07-10 22:15:29

It also has another problem - once its connected, any attempt to open a remote folder results in vlc starting. I wondered if that might be some problem with the thumbnailer, but I have no idea how to check that out.

It sounds like vlc may be setup as the default application for remote directory browsing. What does the following return:

cat ~/.config/mimeapps.list | grep vlc

toothandnail · 2017-07-10 22:25:54

ToZ wrote:

It also has another problem - once its connected, any attempt to open a remote folder results in vlc starting. I wondered if that might be some problem with the thumbnailer, but I have no idea how to check that out.
It sounds like vlc may be setup as the default application for remote directory browsing. What does the following return:
cat ~/.config/mimeapps.list | grep vlc

I wondered about that. This is what I get:

[paul@altair ~]$ cat .config/mimeapps.list | grep vlc
video/x-msvideo=vlc.desktop;
video/mp4=vlc.desktop;
video/mpeg=vlc.desktop;
video/x-matroska=vlc.desktop;
application/octet-stream=vlc.desktop;medit.desktop;
audio/mpeg=vlc.desktop;
application/octet-stream=vlc.desktop
audio/mpeg=vlc.desktop

octet-stream is the only thing that looks as though it might apply. Though it suggests that the connection isn't working the way it should. Just had a quick look at the working Arch setup - it shows the same list, though not in the same order.

zaken · 2017-07-11 06:33:01

This thing is crazy. Right now I can Browse Network just fine. I did reinstall a bunch of packages. Reinstalled 1 by 1 and rebooted after to see if anything changes. Here's expac:

2017-07-10 18:58:12	perl-parse-yapp
2017-07-10 18:58:13	samba
2017-07-10 19:05:16	gksu
2017-07-10 19:05:16	libgksu
2017-07-10 19:23:36	dnssec-anchors
2017-07-10 19:23:36	fuse3
2017-07-10 19:23:36	ldns
2017-07-10 19:23:36	openssh
2017-07-10 19:23:36	sshfs
2017-07-10 19:33:28	libblockdev
2017-07-10 19:40:04	gnome-online-accounts
2017-07-10 19:40:04	gvfs-goa
2017-07-10 19:40:04	gvfs-google
2017-07-10 19:40:04	libgdata
2017-07-10 19:40:04	liboauth
2017-07-10 19:40:04	rest
2017-07-10 19:40:04	telepathy-glib
2017-07-10 19:50:52	gvfs-smb
2017-07-10 19:50:52	thunar

And what is crazy is it still didn't work, but I woke up today and everything works. What is going on

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#1 2017-02-13 04:25:30

Thunar problems with Samba shares

#2 2017-07-10 17:57:07

Re: Thunar problems with Samba shares

#3 2017-07-10 19:19:37

Re: Thunar problems with Samba shares

#4 2017-07-10 20:48:15

Re: Thunar problems with Samba shares

#5 2017-07-10 22:15:29

Re: Thunar problems with Samba shares

#6 2017-07-10 22:25:54

Re: Thunar problems with Samba shares

#7 2017-07-11 06:33:01

Re: Thunar problems with Samba shares

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