SMB issue

Thank you very much for your assistance! I hope the other poster figures it out also.

 

I'm experiencing similar problems with losing the SMB connection on my Z9X to my two Synology NAS systems. I noticed that after rebooting the Z9X poster wall was empty, music links are stale, and picture album list is empty.

When I would browse to the folders from the Z9X GIU it would ask for the user name and password again. When I browse from the Zidoo mobile app when connected to the Z9X from the File Explorer it would enter the folders in question fine without asking for the credentials again. From that point on the post wall, music links, and picture albums would show in the Z9X again.

After I enabled the guest account on my two NAS systems and gave guest read access to the folders in question the problems were gone.

This suggests to me that the Z9X has a bug in its SMB connection routines as it seems to try and reconnect but does so anonymously while it should use the cached credentials. Only the mobile app File Explorer does it correctly. Enabling a guest account for anonymous access doesn't feel right from a security point of view. A proper SMB client should be capable of reconnecting in the background using full credentials.

Also note that this concerns traffic over IP and TCPIP is designed for network traffic not to be fully stable at all times. So the analysis that a poor connection like wifi doesn't sound correct to me. Unless the connection is very bad a proper client implementation should always be able to reconnect and also it should do so with the credentials it already has as long as those are still valid. The Z9X asking for credentials to reconnect when manually trying to access via the Z9X directly is evidence it doesn't handle the credential caching correctly. The enabling of a guest account on the server making the problem disappear adds even more evidence to this hypothesis.

Zidoo support, please, look into this and fix the firmware.

 

Does Zidoo support ever look at this forum and fix issues?

 

THANK YOU - I was going nuts, tried almost every thing. I had almost the same issue - I was using a share from my Windows PC, I had a power cut, the Z9X rebooted and said my SMB shared folders had nothing in them, but it could see them as empty folders???? - So as per your suggestion, I enabled guest sharing on those folders and bingo, it's all back. Poster wall APP seems to have an issue, as the built in file browser seen inside the folders with no issues.

 

I did the same on your advice. But unfortunately again unexpectedly one of the sources in HT reports as Invalid / empty. I have 4 sources (various folders) in HT, all pointing to the NAS. Every now and then, one of the folders (usually different from time to time) is reported as empty / unavailable. It doesn't matter if they are connected with nfs or smb. Strange.

 

And despite my previous post, the Guest fix, fixed the issue for a while and now it's back. I ain't solved it yet... if I do, then I will post an answer.

 

I always used NFS without any problems. When I started testing SMB on my Z9X, I remember having an issue with a Synology NAS. This is quite some time ago. Then, a factory reset of my Z9X didn't help.
I remember doing a factory reset PLUS changing the username & password for the Z9X in the Synology did the trick. It's a long shot, but maybe you can try that? Also be sure to use the latest DSM.

 

+1 with my ReadyNas NASs'

 

The vagaries of networking and specific combinations of hardware and settings I guess.

I run several Western Digital NAS drives of varying age and never have a problem with SMB. Some shares have passwords, some don't and are public.

Maybe the issues lie around authentication - try making the shares public (not a guest account).

 

Just an FYI, I created a shared folder on my Windows 10 pc and the Z9X seen it in SMB mode with no issues, great. Then one day it did not, so I created a guest account as somebody here said, wow it fixed the issue and the Z9X seen the share again and could connect. Then after a reboot or 5 of both my PC and the Z9X, I can not get the Z9X to see the SMB share. All the other devices on my local network can and so can ES file explorer that is installed on the Z9X with or without credentials needed. I'm at a loss and I'm no idiot when it comes to computers.

 

It has got to be something to do with the way SMB is handled, it's like the Z9X can sometimes lose the login credentials to shares and then when you try to re-input those credentials it can not do it, it might look like it does it on the GUI, but somewhere in the code, it does not actually change the login credentials and defaults to some other credentials that then prevents login to shares.

So to clarify, I have the latest firmware V6.3.35 and using either Home Theatre 4 or Media Center, when I do an accurate scan using SMB, I can see my home Windows 10 PC, I then get an onscreen pop up saying "Access: the name of my PC" then I am asked for a username and password and no matter what I try it can not see the share, but I know the share is working and was working. So Zidoo you need one of your tech guys to go through the code and figure out what this issue is, it has to be something to do with how the SMB credentials are stored and retrieved along with how it handles SMB default credentials.

 

Again, you're right, it could be authentication - have you tried a public share - not a guest account, an open share?

 

Yep tried that as well, Public share with no credentials needed, everything else on my network can see the public share and can see and play the content inside it, with no credentials needed. ES file explorer on the Z9X see's the folder, no credentials needed and will also play the content, but Media Center and Home Theatre 4.0 can not even get that far, it does not even see the share, it just pops up with enter credentials.

I have an older NAS and the shares on that are seen with no problems, but this older NAS is limited to SMB V1, my PC uses SMB V3 or 2, I'm not really sure. I have a feeling if I go back to using SMB V1 on Windows 10, then the share will get picked up again, but that does not feel very secure. I don't let my old NAS have internet access, so I don't worry about it being set to SMB V1.

So yeah, I conclude Zidoo need to fix how it handles SMB V2 / V3 on the Z9X, this is not a user fixable problem, it's going to take a Zidoo firmware fix, to sort it out.

 

Stupid question, but in Media Center, when looking at SMB you've done an "Accurate Scan"?

 

Yes I have done all the type of scans, all the IP's, all the things I can think of doing and then some... I give up, I am a programmer and I can see how this bug is working at a code level in my head, it's going to need someone at Zidoo, to look into how SMB versions are handled and how credentials are stored, that's my best guess.

 

The problem here is replication - if we can't replicate, we can't fix.

I have Win10 PC on my network here with authenticated shares.

I haven't browsed them for a long long time with a Zidoo and this box has been through many full resets so I just did an "accurate scan" and they are all available with no problem.

I've added a folder from one of the shares as a favourite - so in your experience should I now expect that to disappear at some point? And if so do you think there is a trigger?

 

I don't think it's something you can replicate, I believe it to be a bug that only happens under some conditions. This is something I think a coder will at some point, say oh look at that line of code it's not quite right and fix it. That's my best guess, I will switch to SMB V1 on my Windows 10 when I get a chance and see if that fixes it, I will let you know if I find a solution or if my SMB V1 trey works out.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

OK THIS IS WEIRD
So I enabled SMB V1 on my Windows 10 PC which has the share on - this made no difference.
Zidoo service got in touch via email and sent me the latest firmware
http://apidl.zidoo.tv/Z9X/v6.3.50/Z9X_P_v6.3.50_G_202111051744_ota-package.zip
So I installed it - this also made no difference, I could still not see the share when I scanned for it using Home Theatre 4 or Media Center.

ES file explorer on the Z9X still could - so it's not a network or a share issue.

So I loaded up ZDMC and added the share manually and ZDMC seen the share and it worked fine.

So I then went back to Home Theatre 4 and guess what - the share now shows up??????????
I am still playing around with all this and will post more details, when I can.

 

OK so to help others and maybe some Zidoo engineers -
So no matter what I tried including manually inputting the share address into HT4, it could not see the share.
SO:-
1. I am using ZDMC (KODI 18.9)
2. I went into ZDMC and went to file manager and went to Add source, I clicked browse and went to Windows network (SMB), clicked ok and then manually added the smb:// share address (192.168 etc)/ name of folder.
3. Then I went back to HT4 and clicked on Device Manger and bingo on the list - there was the share. I could access it with no problems etc.

Now then the share showed up on the first page of Device Manager, but when I clicked on + Add Device the share would not be on the list, no matter how I scanned for it or tried to input it manually.

So I loaded up ZDMC again and went to file manager and add source again, but this time I went to Browse, then smb:// rather than Windows Network (SMB), and entered in the share manually again.

Then I went back to HT4 and went to device manager and I could still see the original share on the first page, I then clicked on + Add Device and guess what, the share is there.

So I then do a RESCAN SMB using all the methods available, Accurate / Default etc and guess what the share disappears from the list.

So I close HT4 and then reload it, click on Device Manager, then on Add Device and guess what, the Share is there again back on the list, I click on all the ways to scan again and the share disappears from the list?

???????????????????

So I carried on testing
So I went to Media Center and scanned for the SMB shares (both of them) and tried - Accurate Scan / Default Scan / Quick Scan and even tried manual input - NOPE, no go, Media Center can not see the sames share that HT4, ES file explorer, ZDMC and all the other devices on my network can.

So in summary consider this:-
1. A bug report
2. A work around fix
3. A helpful guide for others suffering from the same kind of issue.

Hey Zidoo, I love the Z9X, but you need to fix this SMB bug and also when people have large collections, the loading time for the poster walls needs to be faster (next time add more RAM). Apart from that it's a great all in one media box. Also find a way to allow a key on the remote to switch in display settings between Auto and Mapping HDR 10

 

@gollygosh - excellent work, which I feel sure will help those with SMB issues.