OS X Samba file sharing continuously asks for password

Question

I'm trying to share my MacBook's files via Samba sharing. I've set it up in Settings, but can't connect to the machine from another computer!

On the other computer I set up the connection with the correct IP address, username and password. Then when I try to connect, it shows a dialog in which the server asks for password. Then I enter the correct password, and shows the dialog again and again. If I dismiss the dialog, the client shows a this message:

Logon failure: incorrect username and password

However I'm sure the username and password are correct. (If it matters, the client is just an android tablet with a samba client app. The same app handles Windows shares without any problem.)

Has anyone faced a similar problem?

^{My OS X version is Mavericks.}

Answer 1

Samba passwords are managed separately from your regular account password. Have you set-up your user to enable samba sharing in the options menu? You need to do it once otherwise the login won't work.

In the File Sharing preference pane tick the checkbox next to the user you want to enable file sharing for and a window will pop-up asking you to authenticate.

As soon as this is done you should be able to login from your android tablet.

UPDATE

The root cause of the issue might be that 10.9 uses a new SMB2 Stack completely written by Apple (SAMBA is not used anymore). Apple's SMB2 implementation is not compatible with many other SMB2 NAS products on the market today while Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 work just fine. In short, it's an Apple bug.

As a workaround you can force OSX to use SMB1 instead of SMB2 using a configuration file:

1. Open up the Terminal

2. Paste the following line followed by a return key (command should be one single line)

   echo "[default]" >> ~/Library/Preferences/nsmb.conf; echo "smb_neg=smb1_only" >> ~/Library/Preferences/nsmb.conf

Explanation:

1. A file called nsmb.conf is created in your home directory at the path ~/Library/Preferences/
2. It adds the lines to force the use of SMB1 protocol instead of Apple's SMB2 (this is slower but more stable)

Answer 2

If it's an option for you, you could possibly install SMBUP which replaces OS X's Samba (and it tries to be more or less compatible in the environment of Windows machines too). Of course, there are some caveats but when I had nearly the same issues with sharing Mac files over SMB it helped me out. Worked well in Leo - can't confirm if it works in Mavericks at all though.

Here are some more words on SMBUp:

• http://donmorris.com/on/smb-and-mac-os-x-lion
• https://discussions.apple.com/message/17495509#17495509

Answer 3

Click more options. Select connect as another user from the Windows machine. Give your OSX login name. (The default is to use your Firstname Lastname) and the password, and it should work.

I just had this issue a a few minutes ago.

Answer 4

In OS X User & Groups settings enable Guest account. Then select "Allow guest users to connect to shared folders". In "Sharing" setting select File sharing On