Can't access SMB on Mac OS Catalina, time for a NAS?

[westy2174]

I currently have one of these plugged into my router via ethernet cable;

Lenovo F800 Multi-Mode Hard Drive (WiFi, 1TB Storage, Power Bank)
Lenovo F800 Multi-Mode Hard Drive (WiFi, 1TB Storage, Power Bank)
www.amazon.co.uk

I've had this a good few years and it has worked flawlessly- my tv's pick it up via wifi and all our apple devices in the house can access it via smb or dlna via VLC on ipad. However, I've now got a 2020 Macbook air with Catalina which seems to have changed the compatibility with SMB shares. I've spent the afternoon googling and trying all the fixes suggested but have had zero success so right now I have no way to transfer files to it short of plugging it in physically which I don't want to to do everytime. While I could return the macbook and stick with my previous macbook running Mojave, that would mean I couldn't ever upgrade to Catalina or get a newer machine.

So, can someone suggest an alternative set up that won't cost me a fortune. I don't really need 1TB, 500GB would do as all I use it for is to transfer movies to view on my TV or ipad. I'd rather not get an apple tv for example, as then I'd have to stream from my macbook or ipad. I like being able to turn the tv on, go to the dlna and just choose what I want to watch.

I've heard of NAS drives, but don't really know where to start with them and don't want to get something that's overkill for my needs.

 

[mickevh]

There's a few versions on SMB now and some don't play nice with each other. Also, have a look at your storage and see if it also offers NFS shares. Since NFS descends from a Linux heritage, Mac's (which are derived from Unix under the covers) might be happier with NFS.

 

[westy2174]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

When I access the HD via ip address in my browser, the settings offered up in there are very basic, the samba sharing is basically on or off, there's nothing else that I can change. So frustrating that it works absolutely fine on all my other devices

 

[mickevh]

The cheapest replacement, is probably a similar device with a more up to date SMB version. However, that's not "guaranteed" fix. Though that's likely to be not much less than a basic entry level "proper" NAS.

Even cheaper would be to persist with "fixing" you new Mac so that it can talk to your incumbent storage. I haven't used a Mac a years, but in Windows boxes there used to be a few options to run the older versions of SMB for inter-operability reasons.

 

[westy2174]

I've been through god knows how many pages of google, reading endless forum posts which generally cover about 3-4 possibly fixes but none of them work. The attached shows how basic the options are on my hd! I've ordered one of these in the hope it runs a newer SMB version;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TV2B561/

If it does then I can sell the lenovo and offset a little of the cost.