Help with access to SMB drive on ASUS router

[nodrog]

I am trying to access a drive that I have attached to my router. I have been through the forums here and googled so I hope I have not missed anything too simple/stupid and that I have organized the material in a way that is useful to all of you:

Router: RT-AC68U, Merlin firmware version: 386.11.
DRIVE: NTFS drive with 2 partitions connected to the router USB 3.0 port.
COMPUTERS: The Macs (running Ventura) on the network recognize both partitions just fine via either a CIFS: or SMB: share. The windows laptop is running Windows 10 Home. It "sees" the router but can not see any drives there. When I try to connect I get error 0x80070035

Here is what I have tried:

1) I have enabled SMB 1.0 in windows 10 options (and tried it with this tick "off" as well).
2) I tried ticking on and off Guest account on the router. I even tried a hack I found on the Internet where you change the registry to allow guest account access in Windows and turning on Guest access after that.
3) I tried the other (USB 2?) slot on the router.
4) I tried just about every combination of options on the "USB Application - Network Place (Samba) Share / Cloud Disk" page (ie, SMB 1, SMB 2, SMB 1+2)"
5) I created a new user in addition to the default ASUS login SMB access user and tried that.
6) And I rebooted the windows laptop after the above changes .... just in case.
7) I have all of the recommended updates to Windows 10.
8) I tried accessing the drive with the user embedded in the link (\\user@192.168.1.1) and have tried accessing with both the IP address of the router and its name

I have seen some folks recommend reformatting the drive to (ext4?) but these drives have hundreds of GB of media and I would rather not reformat them.

The thing that seems weird to me is that the Mac laptop sees the SMB share so the router is doing it's job.

Anyway, I am very grateful for any direction here - I am far from a network programmer but I don't feel like I am a complete newb .... so quite frustrated.

Gordon

 

[ColinTaylor]

Post a screenshot of your router's Samba page.

 

[torch]

NTFS file format is not supported by Samba (which provides SMB):

https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/File_System_Support

https://www.asus.com/US/support/FAQ/1011279 I stand corrected (on the router)

 

[ColinTaylor]

NTFS is supported by Samba. I'm using it right now on multiple machines.

 

[bennor]

As previously suggested post a screenshot of your router's Samba configuration page.

On the problematic Windows PC check the Windows Credential Manager to see if the Asus router or it's IP address is already listed there. If so, remove it or delete it. Then reboot the computer and try accessing the router again via the Network Neighborhood.

Also check any firewall, anti virus, or malware software you are running on the PC. Its possible that software is blocking access to the Samba (file sharing) or to the USB drive on the router.

No issues using Windows 10 and 11 to access a USB hard drive on a RT-AC68U.

Other troubleshooting steps; try another hard drive. Try repartitioning the two partition drive to one single NTFS partition on Windows. Check the hard drive for errors on Windows if you haven't done so already. Try reformatting the two partitions on Windows. Check the drive to see which partition format it's using (MBR or GPT), repartition the drive to MBR if it's GPT.

 

[nodrog]

Thanks so much for taking the time!

1) There is nothing in the windows credential manager so I could not remove the router's settings

2) Attached SAMBA page for the router.

3) The only Firewall I have is the Windows internal firewall which I turned off temporarily which had no effect.

4) The things listed under your "other troubleshooting steps" (try another drive, repartitioning the drive, etc) I would try these - but am I confused - why would the Mac's on the network be able to access the drive and not the Windows machine if this were the issue? I will give it a shot though as I really would like to get this working.

I really appreciate people taking the time to volunteer their efforts on my personal problem.

gordon

 

[bennor]

but am I confused - why would the Mac's on the network be able to access the drive and not the Windows machine if this were the issue?

Different operating systems handle Samba/SMB (and it's settings) and handle accessing/viewing other network devices and drives on those devices differently. Its why so many questions and suggestions are being asked and made about your setup and settings.

At the end of the day however the router is a poor substitute for a real NAS. One should give serious thought to buying or building a real NAS if that is what they're trying to use a USB drive attached to consumer router for. Plenty of DIY guides out there on building a NAS out of spare parts or old computers or using SoC devices like Raspberry Pi's if one doesn't want to spring for a prebuilt consumer NAS.

Edit to add: To confirm, you have File and Print Sharing enabled on Windows? And to confirm, you have the network adapter's Network Profile in Windows configured for Private and not Public?

 

[ColinTaylor]

So to be clear, your mac laptops have no problem seeing and accessing the Samba shares? So this is purely a Windows problem. Do you have more than one Windows machine to test with?

If you bring up the "Run" dialog (Windows-R) and enter \\192.168.1.1 what do you get ?

 

[nodrog]

Different operating systems handle Samba/SMB (and it's settings) and handle accessing/viewing other network devices and drives on those devices differently. Its why so many questions and suggestions are being asked and made about your setup and settings.

At the end of the day however the router is a poor substitute for a real NAS. One should give serious thought to buying or building a real NAS if that is what they're trying to use a USB drive attached to consumer router for. Plenty of DIY guides out there on building a NAS out of spare parts or old computers or using SoC devices like Raspberry Pi's if one doesn't want to spring for a prebuilt consumer NAS.

Edit to add: To confirm, you have File and Print Sharing enabled on Windows? And to confirm, you have the network adapter's Network Profile in Windows configured for Private and not Public?

Yes. That scared me for a sec - but I do have the Private Network discovery and sharing on. The Guest or Public was turned off (I hunch that is not needed for a locally shared network drive?) but I turned it on and it did not help. Assuming I know where to look it seems the Network adapter is set to private (see attached).

Yeah I hear you about a "real" NAS. I suspect if I can't get this to work I will end up doing it. Maybe I am the only one - but it bugs me when something like this should work but can't. I've spent enough time lurking here to know how many different ways people can screw up (er, "customize") their local systems.

 

[nodrog]

So to be clear, your mac laptops have no problem seeing and accessing the Samba shares? So this is purely a Windows problem. Do you have more than one Windows machine to test with?

If you bring up the "Run" dialog (Windows-R) and enter \\192.168.1.1 what do you get ?

Yes. The 2 mac laptops see the SAMBA share. PAI don't think this is related but with GUEST ACCESS OFF I can't access the top most tier of the drives. With the GUEST ACCESS ON they appear perfectly. So, eg, If the drives are structured DRIVE/PART/FOLDER with GUEST ON I see PART1 and PART2 with all of the folders. With GUEST OFF I see FOLDER1 (and then a name in parentheses). Anyway, I am only mentioning this because I don't understand it and I suspect it has something to do with how ASUS handles the NTFS permissions. I have tried GUEST on and GUEST off and neither lets the Windows see anything at all.

And when I Win-R and enter \\192.168.1.1 it just hangs nothing.

Just a reminder (see attached) under Network I "see" the router (called ROUTER) but when I click it nothing comes up. Also when I try to explore it using ROUTER or 192.168.1.1 the system hangs and I get the error 0x80070035

 

[nodrog]

Whoops one other tidbit - I added a USB stick as another drive on the ASUS router and formatted it as FAT. I can access it from the Macs but not from the Windows. Not sure it helps ... but I tried.

 

[Jeffrey Young]

You are connected via wireless right? Your screen shot shows your one connection as Public. Perhaps that is messing with you.

Also, I have had Asus Samba refuse to connect on SMB 2 before dispite the router being set to SMB 1 or SMB 2. I had to set the router to SMB 1 and ensure SMB 1 legacy was turned on in Win10 before I could get it to work. Samba on the Asus box is version 3, and personally, I think it is a bit shaky.

This is a long shot, but sign into your win 10 computer as a different user. Create an account if you need to. Then try. I once had a win 10 computer that refused to connect to a SMB share. Did everything under the sun to troubleshoot. Then, out of desperation, I tried another account on the same machine and no issues. I ended up having to create a new account and migrate everything over to the new account. Wierd as all get out, but it was the only thing that helped get to that share.

 

[bennor]

Yes. That scared me for a sec - but I do have the Private Network discovery and sharing on. The Guest or Public was turned off (I hunch that is not needed for a locally shared network drive?) but I turned it on and it did not help. Assuming I know where to look it seems the Network adapter is set to private (see attached).

Yeah I hear you about a "real" NAS. I suspect if I can't get this to work I will end up doing it. Maybe I am the only one - but it bugs me when something like this should work but can't. I've spent enough time lurking here to know how many different ways people can screw up (er, "customize") their local systems.

On the Windows PC, do you have two network adapters connected to the same local network? One Ethernet and the other WiFi? If so why? Is one adapter set to public and the other adapter set to private? Are both network adapters using the same IP address subnet range or are they in different subnets? If you disable one of them does the issue persist of being unable to access the USB drive attached to the router? If using WiFi is it connected to the main LAN Wifi or the Guest Network Wifi?

Do you have another Windows PC available to test with?

Does the user account you are using to sign into Windows an Administrator account or a restricted user account?

 

[ninjoe]

5) I created a new user in addition to the default ASUS login SMB access user and tried that.
6) And I rebooted the windows laptop after the above changes .... just in case.
7) I have all of the recommended updates to Windows 10.
8) I tried accessing the drive with the user embedded in the link (\\user@192.168.1.1) and have tried accessing with both the IP address of the router and its name

I have seen some folks recommend reformatting the drive to (ext4?) but these drives have hundreds of GB of media and I would rather not reformat them.

The thing that seems weird to me is that the Mac laptop sees the SMB share so the router is doing it's job.

Anyway, I am very grateful for any direction here - I am far from a network programmer but I don't feel like I am a complete newb .... so quite frustrated.

I am trying to access a drive that I have attached to my router. I have been through the forums here and googled so I hope I have not missed anything too simple/stupid and that I have organized the material in a way that is useful to all of you:

Router: RT-AC68U, Merlin firmware version: 386.11.
DRIVE: NTFS drive with 2 partitions connected to the router USB 3.0 port.
COMPUTERS: The Macs (running Ventura) on the network recognize both partitions just fine via either a CIFS: or SMB: share. The windows laptop is running Windows 10 Home. It "sees" the router but can not see any drives there. When I try to connect I get error 0x80070035

Here is what I have tried:

1) I have enabled SMB 1.0 in windows 10 options (and tried it with this tick "off" as well).
2) I tried ticking on and off Guest account on the router. I even tried a hack I found on the Internet where you change the registry to allow guest account access in Windows and turning on Guest access after that.
3) I tried the other (USB 2?) slot on the router.
4) I tried just about every combination of options on the "USB Application - Network Place (Samba) Share / Cloud Disk" page (ie, SMB 1, SMB 2, SMB 1+2)"
5) I created a new user in addition to the default ASUS login SMB access user and tried that.
6) And I rebooted the windows laptop after the above changes .... just in case.
7) I have all of the recommended updates to Windows 10.
8) I tried accessing the drive with the user embedded in the link (\\user@192.168.1.1) and have tried accessing with both the IP address of the router and its name

I have seen some folks recommend reformatting the drive to (ext4?) but these drives have hundreds of GB of media and I would rather not reformat them.

The thing that seems weird to me is that the Mac laptop sees the SMB share so the router is doing it's job.

Anyway, I am very grateful for any direction here - I am far from a network programmer but I don't feel like I am a complete newb .... so quite frustrated.

Gordon

 

[ninjoe]

Don't know it you fixed it, but I was having the same issue. Did all what you did and more. Had it working years ago but had ATT for a couple year or so was using RT-AC68U as access point. Now have different ISP. Fixed it by eddying the registry.

1. In the Windows search, type Registry editor and hit Enter.

2. Now, Navigate the following path: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters

3. Locate the following on the right side and change its value data to 1: AllowInsecureGuestAuth

Note: Just right-click on any empty space on the right side of the given data that does not exist and Create New > Dword (32bit)

4. Rename it as AllowInsecureGuestAuth

5. Now, Double-click on AllowInsecureGuestAuth and change its value data to 1.

6. Now restart your PC to see if this fixes the issue or not.

It worked without restarting. I had AllowInsecureGuestAuth did not have to create it, but it was on 0 not 1. Change it to 1 click on router in windows and seen both hard drives.

 

[sfx2000]

It worked without restarting. I had AllowInsecureGuestAuth did not have to create it, but it was on 0 not 1. Change it to 1 click on router in windows and seen both hard drives.

And just like that - you've compromised your network...

It's time for the Router/AP vendors to just stop doing USB Filesharing from the routers - with all the ransomware and other things malware - it just puts folks at risk...

 

[kizzed]

I am a self taught network type guy... I did find an answer near that entry... maybe someone with more knowledge can explain why it worked. I think I know though lol I think the Master Browser got messed with and by taking the NAS path out you can access again... Please roast away guys... and gals? Cats? Crap...