CIFS share won't stay connected on laptop

[andrewjs18]

Hi all,

I set up a CIFS share a few weeks back using this guide to back up a few windows machines using the built-in file history utility in windows 10.

So far, everything has been working just fine on my desktop PC that is wired directly to my router. On my laptop, which is wireless, not so much.... I can easily find my CIFS share and connect to it using the username and password I set up on both machines.

The problem I seem to be having is when I map it as a network drive and reboot the laptop. Every time the laptop is restarted and/or shut down & powered on, it seems to forget the username & password, regardless if I tell it to remember the information or not.

Why does it keep doing this? Once I enter the username & password again, I can easily access the share as if nothing was wrong.

some info:
laptop & freenas server are both within the same LAN
laptop runs windows 10
freenas version: FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE-201501241715

freenas build (not sure if this is useful or not):
cpu- Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1230 V2 @ 3.30GHz
ram- Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600
motherboard- SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O
psu- SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W
hdd- HGST Deskstar NAS 3.5-Inch 4TB 7200RPM SATA III

any help is appreciated!

 

[diedrichg]

That's Windows for you! Press Start and type "Credentials". This will give you the credential manager. From here you can add and modify credentials. I've had some Windows installs remember the credentials with no problem and I've had Windows installations that couldn't remember a login even though it's in the credential manager.

 

[zoomzoom]

@andrewjs18 Unless required by a third party program, it's recommended to not map network shares as a drive, but instead to add a network location (i.e. \\<PC-HostName>\<Share>).

• To add a network location, right click on a blank area in This PC: Context Menu -> Add a network location
  • Do not use the IP address of FreeNAS, but instead the hostname of FreeNAS (i.e. not \\192.168.1.2\<Share>, but \\<FreeNAS-HostName>\<Share>
    • The reason why is IPs can change, and adding a share by hostname prevents having to re-add the share under a different IP should it change.

The issue you're experiencing could also occur:

1. If multicast broadcast traffic between PC <-> Router <-> FreeNAS is dropped or rejected by the PC or router firewall.
   • Try pinging the FreeNAS server before proceeding, by opening a CMD/PowerShell terminal, then issue ping <FreeNAS IP> & ping <FreeNAS-HostName> (If PS, change & to ;)
     • If either of the pings fail:
       • Check the PC firewall log. If it was never configured to log rejected traffic, save the current config, change the active config to one of the other defaults, then re-issue the above command.
       • If that fails, close any open browser windows, disable the PC firewall, and reboot.
       • If the share connects once rebooted [may take 2 -3 minutes depending on system hardware], it's firewall related; else once verified one way or the other, re-enable firewall.
   
   
2. Try flushing the Windows DNS cache.
   • Open an Admin CMD/PowerShell terminal, then issue: ipconfig /release & ipconfig /flushdns & ipconfig /renew & ipconfig /registerdns (If PS, change & to ;)
   
   
3. Less likely is something isn't configured, or configured incorrectly, in the router's DNS, DHCP, or firewall configs.
   1. Verify the router's Interface, DNS, and DHCP settings are correct.
   2. Check the router's firewall log to determine if any traffic to/from FreeNAS is being dropped/rejected, or if any multicast [IP] or broadcast [IP & NetMask] traffic is being dropped/rejected
   
   
4. If inconclusive:
   • Shutdown laptop -> Reboot router -> Remove laptop battery -> hold laptop power button down for 30s to discharge capacitors -> Reinstall battery -> Once router is fully booted (~60s - 90s), turn on laptop. Verify if issue is still present.

 

[andrewjs18]

thanks all for the replies!

@zoomzoom, is there any reasoning for this?

"Unless required by a third party program, it's recommended to not map network shares as a drive, but instead to add a network location (i.e. \\<PC-HostName>\<Share>)."

 

[zoomzoom]

thanks all for the replies!

@zoomzoom, is there any reasoning for this?

"Unless required by a third party program, it's recommended to not map network shares as a drive, but instead to add a network location (i.e. \\<PC-HostName>\<Share>)."

A network share mapped as a drive has the capability to create problems and inconveniences for the user depending on a host of factors that a network location won't have . If you google something to the effect of "windows network location or mapped drive", you should be able to find some forum discussions about it (I'd recommend searching on spiceworks as well). It ultimately comes down to personal preference and the environment(s) the device will be used in,

I personally have always had issues with Windows randomly believing a mapped drive is offline, even though it's online, and once this occurs a few times, it get's a bit irritating, especially when you can navigate to the \\hostname\sharename just fine in Explorer... simply put, it causes less headaches in the long run to simply add a network location and not map it as a drive letter.

There are select programs that require a network share to mapped as a drive in order for it to be used with that specific application... Google Drive is an example of this, as one can have their Drive folder synced to a network share mapped as a drive letter, but not to a network location.