Network: "" can't be opened because the original item can't be found

[super_kev]

I have a network that's been going kinda funny lately, I've rebooted the router and all computers around. When I click on some computers in my network (all iMacs or Mac Minis, running 10.9, 10.10, or 10.11) I get the "Computer can't be opened because the original item can't be found." All computers are hardwired. I've rebooted the router (running Tomato) and computers. I also noticed that if I use connect to server and do afp://computer.local I can connect, but after entering name/password it won't mount. Using the the direct IP I get the same problem.

This didn't used to do this, and it's been fine for 3-4 years on the same network, then this just popped up. What's going on?

 

[satcomer]

Have up up tried SMB or CIFS strings to see if you can connect?

 

[super_kev]

Sorry, forgot to respond here. Yes I can connect with SMB. But I would like to be able to just click on the computer icon in the finder and connect like I used to do, or use AFP for Time Machine sparesbundle access.

 

[satcomer]

Sorry, forgot to respond here. Yes I can connect with SMB. But I would like to be able to just click on the computer icon in the finder and connect like I used to do, or use AFP for Time Machine sparesbundle access.

Then mount any way to the Desktop! While that share is mounted, drag it to the right side of your dock. Also save you connection password to your Keychain. Now in the future just click to Dock share shortcut and mount the share!

 

[super_kev]

No, Time Machine won't use an SMB share to backup to, and since I have a computer with a RAID array serving up space that others connect to, I need to be able to pull up sparsebundles via AFP, which I can't. So that's why I'm asking, if nothing else changed, why is my network messed up now?

 

[1madman1]

My MacBook started doing the exact same thing a few days ago. Happens with all network devices listed in Finder, including my Time Capsule. It started just after I installed the 10.11 beta, so I figure it's related. My other 3 Macs are still on El Capitan and network devices open just fine on them.

 

[super_kev]

I don't want a workaround; I want to know what's going on and what's the cause of the problem. Not your typical mainstream medical response of "here's a pill to cover your symptom". I want to know why my network has the symptom so I can fix the problem to make the symptom go away. I have a mix of 10.9, 10.10, and 10.11, and all have that problem. So thanks for the workaround satcomer, but that's not what I'm looking for. And I know Time Machine has it's quirks; I also use Carbon Copy Cloner to do more critical backups, but for some of the computers TM is easier to use.

 

[DJLC]

I assume OS X is being used for the server?

I'd try turning file sharing off and back on and/or disable and re-enable the AFP protocol. Unfortunately we're in this sort of limbo where AFP is deprecated and occasionally flaky while SMB is "current" but not reliable. I'd hazard a guess that a system update broke things to begin with.

Failing that double check your authentication mechanism. Are you using a directory service?

 

[DumasAyala]

I don't want a workaround; I want to know what's going on and what's the cause of the problem. Not your typical mainstream medical response of "here's a pill to cover your symptom". I want to know why my network has the symptom so I can fix the problem to make the symptom go away. I have a mix of 10.9, 10.10, and 10.11, and all have that problem. So thanks for the workaround satcomer, but that's not what I'm looking for. And I know Time Machine has it's quirks; I also use Carbon Copy Cloner to do more critical backups, but for some of the computers TM is easier to use.

So... you found a solution? I'm having the exact same problem too.

 

[sharris007]

So... you found a solution? I'm having the exact same problem too.

Solution: https://www.cnet.com/news/fix-shared-computer-not-found-in-finder/

 

[louisellul]

Solution: https://www.cnet.com/news/fix-shared-computer-not-found-in-finder/

Worked for me. Thanks!

 

[MACmiNN]

Solution: https://www.cnet.com/news/fix-shared-computer-not-found-in-finder/

This worked like a charm.. Thanks a lot..

 

[jagooch]

Solution: https://www.cnet.com/news/fix-shared-computer-not-found-in-finder/

Doesn't work for me. The problem is on my Macbook Pro 13" Early 2015 laptop running High Sierra 10.13.2. I can reboot the laptop for a temporary fix, But the problem eventually returns.

 

[ILIV]

Solution: https://www.cnet.com/news/fix-shared-computer-not-found-in-finder/

Worked for me on macOS Sierra 10.12.6 by relaunching Finder with Option+Right Click on Finder icon in Dock and then clicking Relaunch.

In my case AFP and SMB servers may be affected by this problem from time to time but if I have a shortcut to a share served by the servers under Favorites in Finder's sidebar, it will work even though I can't browse a server and see which shares it has because "... can’t be opened because the original item can’t be found."

Now I wish Finder was able to do gracefully handle this problem on its own.