Unable to connect to a macOS High Sierra share from Catalina

[carlsson]

I have a file server on macOS Server 10.13.6 High Sierra that I am unable to connect to with macOS 10.15.6 Catalina.

I understand that this is because of different SMB versions on these systems. I am unable to use AFP because the High Sierra Mac is formatted with APFS.
I am also unable to install macOS Mojave because the server is located at another place and Teamviewer don't allow me to connect during the configuration process.
Therefore, I want to make these macs comatible with each other.

I have installed the /etc/nsmb.conf file to no avail.
I have restarted both computers several times.
I have tried all other tips I could find regarding this issue, with no luck.

I still am not able to reach the server. I know the server is working because I tried with one of my older macs, and it could connect with SMB flawlessly.

I'm out of ideas and just want to kill myself. Any ideas on a workaround?

 

[DeltaMac]

Could there be a problem because you are running 10.15.6, the current Catalina beta?

Catalina current official version is 10.15.5, so I would probably begin by booting to a current Catalina installer, and reinstalling macOS 10.5.5. I don't know if that will help your SMB issue, but I think it's a good place to start.
( I won't give you any ideas to help you kill yourself It's just a computer!)

 

[carlsson]

Thanks for the input! 👍
I also thought that the beta could be the issue, so I tried a normal Catalina Mac. It worked, until it didn't. Which means, I could connect one time, then after a reboot it didn't work anymore...

Gaaah....

 

[carlsson]

The stranginess continues... I managed to upgrade the server machine to Catalina with a little help from a local and Teamviewer.

I still have the exact same issue. Ie, my Beta Catalina MBP cannot connect, my non-beta Catalina iMac cannot connect, whilst my High Sierra Mac Mini *can* connect.
All are trying SMB against the same IP.

Do I have to open more ports on the firewall? Currently port 445 and 139 are the only open ones. Does Catalina uses some other ports in this strange situation...?

 

[carlsson]

**SOLVED** (almost)

I found the reason: MY router has some kind of weirdness not allowing me to connect. I tried another network, and now it works. I don't have the time to actually finding the problem in the router now.

HTH anybody else in the future (no killing needed 😂 )


Thanks for your time.