macOS Sierra Connection Issues

[mthaynes]

Prior to upgrading to Sierra, I was always connected to my Buffalo NAS Drive.  I would click on the link and immediately be able to access the subfolders on the drive. 

After upgrading I now have to sign into the drive “Connect As” to access the drive.

Once connected the connection does not last and disconnects after a few minutes or an hour.  Once disconnected I am unable to reconnect to the drive until I reboot. 

Time machine is also impacted.

This issue exists in normal and safe mode. 

I think this is a macOS Sierra issue, but wanted to see if other people were having the same problem. 

[lkaufman]

I am having the same issues.  Connection keeps dropping. When I try and enter password says it is invalid even though it works thru the user interface.  Not sure if this is a Sierra issue or a NAS firmware issue

[Texturtle]

What model NAS?

[lkaufman]

ls-wvl/e

[niemepet]

My Time Machine started this morning to notify me, that it can't backup my iMac to my Buffalo Linkstation (LS441D).

I look at the problem and it has started 10 days ago, when I upgraded MacOS to Sierra.

I can mount the network drive from LinkStation and copy files manually, but the Time Machine cannot reach it. Time Machine service is on, I checked it from Buffalos Admin page.

I have also restarted iMac several times and done the PRAM restart, but no luck.

I wish somebody could help me. Or is there anything else to do than wait that Apple fix the MacOS Sierra?

[jamesnb]

I was about to create a new thread for pretty much the same issue but after reading this thread, I have decided to put my issue together here, with a slightly difference.

I have LinkStation Duo LS-WXL running latest firmware 1.71. I have an iMac running MacOS Sierra and, from Mac desktop, I can "map" the network drive using CMD+K and fill in the IP address and name of the shared folder(s). Of course it will ask for username and password but I was able to map the shared drive(s).

However, Time Machine is totally disfunction. The Time Machine setup function from Apple Preference does see the shared folder from the pop-up windows however, it cannot connect to that folder. The Time Machine setup dialog keeps saying that the server (NAS) "...does not exist or is not available at the moment..." I have tried to delete and re-create the Time Machine folder but still no luck.

Not sure if it's because of the MacOS Sierra or because of the outdated firmware of the NAS?

Thank you for all of your helps. Any idea are welcome.

Regards
James

[niemepet]

I managed to get Time Machine work in MacOS Sierra. The key is not to use smb, use afp instead!

1) Open Finder. Hit command-k
2) Type "afp://buffalo/TMBackup" (Write without quotation marks. Replace "buffalo" with your server name or IP address. "TMBackup" is of course your Time Machine folder in your Buffalo)
3) Authenticate with your Buffalo's user ID

[Andre77mi]

BIG THANKS!
I had the same issue after upgrading to Sierra for both my iMac and my wife's MacBook: my LinkStation was working perfectly as a hard disk, but I wasn't able to use Time Machine anymore.
I've updated the firmware to the last version, tried lots of workaround but none of them worked. Time Machine still didn't find the NAS, as it didn't exist on the network.
But now, THIS is the solution... I proceeded as you described, and magically Time Machine now detects my Buffalo NAS and does the backups without any issue.
You're the man.

Thank you

Now I hope to read some official bulletin from Buffalo, as this issue is affecting lots of users and I didn't ever read something from the producer helping to find a solution.

I managed to get Time Machine work in MacOS Sierra. The key is not to use smb, use afp instead!

1) Open Finder. Hit command-k
2) Type "afp://buffalo/TMBackup" (Write without quotation marks. Replace "buffalo" with your server name or IP address. "TMBackup" is of course your Time Machine folder in your Buffalo)
3) Authenticate with your Buffalo's user ID

[jamesnb]

I managed to get Time Machine work in MacOS Sierra. The key is not to use smb, use afp instead!

1) Open Finder. Hit command-k
2) Type "afp://buffalo/TMBackup" (Write without quotation marks. Replace "buffalo" with your server name or IP address. "TMBackup" is of course your Time Machine folder in your Buffalo)
3) Authenticate with your Buffalo's user ID

Thank you very much for your tips. This really works and bring back the Time Machine!!!

[rgarjr]

Can't seem to get to install the latest NAS Navigator on Sierra.

[jamesnb]

Can't seem to get to install the latest NAS Navigator on Sierra.

Download the Navigator dmg, mount it then drag-and-drop the program to your Applications folder. For some reasons, maybe with Sierra, double-click on the installer will not work.

Hope it helps

[rgarjr]

Can't seem to get to install the latest NAS Navigator on Sierra.

Download the Navigator dmg, mount it then drag-and-drop the program to your Applications folder. For some reasons, maybe with Sierra, double-click on the installer will not work.

Hope it helps

Yeah that did the trick, thnx.  Just needed to drop the NASNavigator app into the App Folder instead of clicking install (which is the part that fails on Sierra). 

[Steerpike58]

I managed to get Time Machine work in MacOS Sierra. The key is not to use smb, use afp instead!

1) Open Finder. Hit command-k
2) Type "afp://buffalo/TMBackup" (Write without quotation marks. Replace "buffalo" with your server name or IP address. "TMBackup" is of course your Time Machine folder in your Buffalo)
3) Authenticate with your Buffalo's user ID

So the implication here is that SMB used to work (pre-Sierra), but after upgrading to Sierra, Time Machine only works with AFP?   I presume this means you have to enable AFP on the Buffalo, in addition to SMB.

This is interesting because I was reading about AFP and SMB, and how apple have deprecated AFP in favor of SMB. So it makes no sense that Sierra would suddenly require AFP for Time Machine.  So this would appear to be a bug in Sierra perhaps? I'm not a user of Time Machine personally, but did Yosemite and El Capitain Time Machine work just fine without AFP?

This article talks more about it

This Apple discussion speaks of similar issues with other NAS devices.