Windows 7 sharing issues [SOLVED]

[jasonw]

Hi,

Firstly I want to say what a fantastic unit I am very impressed with its capabilities so far. I have just one issue that is making me pull my hair out. I have shared a folder on my pc and I have tried and tried to get the shortcuts to my shares working with no success.

On my host machine I am running Windows 7 Ultimate, I can see the shares with my Vista laptop and with another desktop machine running WINXP, I have created a separate user on my host machine to authenticate to the share and I have also tried removing password protected sharing. All the machines on the network are able to connect to the shares with and without user authentication activated, when I try and access the share from the Mede8er I constantly get "Authentication Failed".

I have also tried all the steps mentioned above but I still am unable to connect to the shares.
I am going to try and connect to my host machine with a cross-over cable to bypass my ADSL router incase the firewall on it is causing issues, is there anything I have missed that I can try to resolve this issue?

I am convinced it is just a simple setting somewhere causing all my grief.

Thanks,

Jason

[Insomniac]

Win7 (and Vista) has some issues broadcasting its availability on a network.
You could try these changes to your Win7 box:-

Firstly, configure Sharing and Discovery:

1. Navigate to the Network and Sharing Center via the Control Panel
2. Click on the down arrow icons and select ON/OFF as follows:
        Network Discovery - ON
        File Sharing - ON
        Public Folder Sharing - OFF
        Printer Sharing - ON
        Password Protected Sharing - OFF
        Media Sharing - OFF

Next, configure the folder you want to share:

1. Select the folder
2. Right-click and choose 'Share' from the menu
3. From the drop-down box select the Everyone (All users in this list) account, making sure permissions are set to 'Reader'
4. Click the buttons Add, Share and Done.

Here are some further registry 'tweaks' if this doesn't work:

WARNING: This requires editing your PC's registry which, if edited incorrectly, can cause Windows systems to become unstable and unusable. So, follow the instructions below at your own risk. - we are not responsible for any damage caused by following these steps.

1. Navigate to the following location in the registry editor.
        MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\
2. On the right side, double-click on 'everyoneincludesanonymous' and change the 'Value data' from '0' to '1'
3. Double-click on 'NoLmHash' and change the 'Value data' from '1' to '0'
4. Navigate to the following location in the registry editor:
        MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanManServer\Parameters
5. Double-click on 'restrictnullsessaccess' and change the 'Value data' from '1' to '0'
6. Close the registry editor

Finally, restart your PC.

Here's a Microsoft 'File Sharing Essentials' link that was written for Vista, but it should be applicable to Win7 too.

[Mede8er1]

Thanks Insomniac -- Just installed Windows 7 and your guide worked for me.

[jasonw]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply Insomniac worked like a charm.

[Maudrid]

Hey, does this not mean that the mede8er networking is not working properly?
If I have to set the share to be accessible to 'everyone'  and enable guest access, what is the point of the username and password dialog in the UI?
In my case I don't want to share my media to everyone on the network, I set up one specific user that has access to the share.
This even works on the samba client that is part of MPlayerCE that I have installed on my Wii, but not with Mede8er.

[Insomniac]

Hi Maudrid,

Please bear in mind that this is a generic guide for home use, using guest access.
If you have the knowledge to set up a specific user and share it on your network and you are a Windows 7 pioneer then go for it - set it up and share a tutorial on the forum.

The Mede8er networking configuration does work and it works well - the issue being addressed is simply that of Win7 turning off sharing and not broadcasting itself on a network by default. These configuration settings are hidden all over the place and this is merely a basic guide to getting this to work.

[Maudrid]

OK, thanks. I'll see if I can get it working.

[andrewyn]

Hi There, Awesome product !

I am not sure what is going on with this networking,
Windows 7 and all settings as laid out in this post. Mede8er then connects fine and all is well. then for some
reason it refuses to see anything. !

Sometimes it help if i reboot my PC. now for the past 2 days the mede8er refuses to see the shares or pc's on the network,
I even created a user and trying using this .. still nothing. Am i doing something realy wrong ?

Can it be Windows and or rooter ?
I am currently on fromware 1.2.2, going to go back to 1.1 and see if I still have the problem.

Is there some trick.:
1.) set the settings, share password off, everyone added to shares + security network discovery ect...
2.) mede8er use NFS ? NET ? NET suppose to show the workgroups->Pc's->Shares and then should just be able to access them ... right ?

This is driving me abit nuts, as this player is doing the same as my MVix 760HD

[andrewyn]

PS !,

Will Win 7 Homegroup networking feature effect it some how ?

[Insomniac]

Hi Andre,

This appears to be a Windows 7 'security' related issue where the Windows workgroup is not being broadcast to non-Windows clients - that's why Win7 shares sometimes don't show up and then sometimes they do (it kinda depends on the way you hold your mouth when you press the remote ).
One workaround it to create a 'shortcut' to your shared PC, as detailed in this post, as follows:

Media Library > NET/Network > My Shortcuts
Press MENU on the remote and ADD your shortcut with your User-name, Password and IP address of the share.

Now if the workgroup doesn't show up, simply go into 'My Shortcuts' and access your share from there.
The share is working, it's just that Windows 7 is hiding it - the 'fixes' as detailed in the second post above should resolve this though.

[Insomniac]

Here's another Windows7 'fix' should you not want to enable the Guest account:

1. Open a command prompt (cmd.exe), type mmc and <enter>
2. Windows7 will prompt you for elevated security access for MMC - allow this
3. When MMC loads, under "File", select "Add or Remove Snap-In"
4. From the list of Snap-Ins, highlight "Group Policy Object Editor", select "Add"
5. A dialogue box will appear, select "Local Computer"
6. Hit 'OK'. You now should be back at the MMC panel
7. In the explorer window, expand "Console Root" > "Local Computer Policy" > "Computer Configuration" > "Windows Settings" > "Security Settings" > "Local Policies" - Click on "Security Options" under "Local Policies"
8. Under "Security Options", make the following changes:

Network access: Allow anonymous SID/name translation: Change to "Enable"
Network access: Do not allow anonymous enumeration of SAM accounts - Change to "Disabled"
Network access: Do not allow anonymous enumeration of SAM accounts and shares - Change to "Disabled"
Network access: Let Everyone permissions apply to anonymous users - Change to "Enable"
Network access: Restrict anonymous access to Named Pipes and Shares - Change to "Disabled"
Network access: Shares that can be accessed anonymously - Added your root share name here
Network access: LAN Manager authentication level - Change to LM & NTLM, send NTLMv2 if negotiated

9. Close MMC
10. Reboot the PC

[Shamus]

Hi, I've just got my mede8er and I love it but I am also having network issues with win 7. I am running 3 pcs, 1 winxp, 1 vista 32 bit and 1 win7 64 bit. All the pcs can see and access each other and all can see and access the mede8er. The mede8er can see all the pcs and can access the xp and vista machines but gives a logon failed message when trying to access the win 7 machine. I have tried all the above but no success, as well as turning off the firewall and the AV. I have also tried creating a shortcut on the mede8er to the win7 pc but it still says logon failed. Does anyone know if this is because the win 7 is 64 bit or is it something else that I am doing wrong?
Thanks in advance
Shamus

[Mede8er1]

Hi Shamus

I have noticed that when you access a Windows 7 PC it prompts you for a User Name and Password. Just leave both fields blank and select OK. If his works for you just do it again and select "save to shortcuts".

Mede8er Admin     

[Shamus]

Hi, thanks for the quick response. I have tried leaving the name & password blank as you suggested but still not able to log in. Any other ideas that I can try?
Regards
Shamus

[Mede8er1]

Hi Shamus

You can send me a mail at technical@mede8er.com with your contact details and I will call you. I would personally rather use NFS as you get much better speed with no login or security issues.

Mede8er1