Bug in macOS Ventura is breaking some networks

Posted:
in macOS edited February 2023
An unknown number of macOS Ventura users are reporting that previously working network connections between Apple devices, or Apple and Windows ones, are now not working well -- or at all.




It's not clear how widespread the problem is in terms of numbers of users, but those affected range from Enterprise-scale networks, to individuals just connecting an iPhone to their MacBook Pro. In every case it's a SMB connection, but reports are too varied for a more specific issue to be identified.

Individual Mac users can connect to networks or other machines directly from the Finder's Go menu, using the Connect to Server... option. This File Sharing expects a Samba connection, so a general problem with macOS Ventura and this protocol should be affecting all users, yet it isn't.

"I use the SMB file sharing system to access files on my MBPro from my iPhone 12, on my local network. Until now, this has been robust, reliable and fast," wrote user tresinnoctem on Apple's support forums back in November 2022. "After updating my MBPro to Ventura 13.0 and my iPhone to iOS 16.1 I cannot connect the laptop to the phone or to my old iMac, running Monterey 12.6."

"Connections between the old iMac and the iPhone work just fine," continues the user. "Settings on the MBPro show that file sharing is enabled, but it is clearly not working."

Others with the problem include ones who have contacted AppleInsider directly, operate 10-Gigabit Ethernet networks with a mixture of Macs including the Mac Studio and Mac mini.

Turning file sharing off, then restarting, then turning file sharing back on seems to help
Turning file sharing off, then restarting, then turning file sharing back on seems to help


AppleInsider has not been able to reproduce the problem. And, some enterprises we spoke to don't have the issue either. Two small business we spoke to on Friday morning did, though, and have reverted to shuffling around flash drives.

Possible workaround

In each case the situation appears clear that it's to do with macOS Ventura, since reverting to macOS Monterey fixes the issue. So that is one possible solution, but far from a straightforward or quick one.

There is a quicker, easier workaround, but it's inconsistent. Some users with the issue report an improvement after simply restarting either their Macs or toggling file sharing off and on again, but the consensus appears to be that slightly more is needed.

Specifically, the workaround that is currently seeing the best results is when a user first switches off file sharing, then restarts the Mac, then turns file sharing back on.

That has fixed the issue for some. Others say they have to repeat the process every day, while still others say the fix only works for a few hours.

Apple has not responded

The first report in Apple's support forums appears to have been in early November 2022, but the thread continues to today. That means the issue seemingly introduced with macOS 13, has not been fixed in macOS 13.1 or possibly even 13.2.

However, it is affecting at least some and seemingly Apple has yet to issue a response, let alone a bug fix update.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    We've been having this issue. We run a server on an M1 Mac mini and connect with Macs via SMB. Since updating to Ventura, file sharing will randomly stop working and require the restart/toggle steps mentioned in the article to get it working again. The 13.2 update did not help, in fact it seemed to make it worse. Reverting to Monterey fixed the problem. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 18
    I have lately had issues like that. My MacBook Pro makes Time Machine backups to an iMac with a 4-drive RAID attached via USB-3. Both are on Ventura 13.2. When I try to do an smb:// connection from that MacBook Pro to the iMac, trying to browse to a specific directory on the iMac causes the Finder on the MacBook Pro to stop responding. I have not looked into this further, but this seems to have started with 13.2, because it was working for a while after setting up the iMac with Ventura.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 18
    I had to roll my brand new Mac Studio back to Monterey from Ventura within 24 hours of owning it, due to SMB not working at all. It’s apparently been an issue for many people since Ventura came out (look it up), and there’s a lot more to it than this article mentions

    Now, under Monterey, all of my sharing services (except SMB) stop working after about 15 or 20, requiring me to talk to them off and on again (screen sharing, remote management, media, sharing, etc. are all affected). I don’t know if this is a new issue in the latest release of Monterey, as I was upgrading from Catalina on a 2010 Mac Pro, but it has been a major issue for what I specifically bought this computer to do. (home server + creative workstation).

    I am severely disappointed in Apple, their software is buggy and borderline garbage these days. They need to stop pushing out, major OS releases every year, and focus on reliability and use ability.

    As of right now, I give their hardware five stars, and their software one star. That’s really bad, considering that most people gravitate towards a Mac for reliability and ease-of-use.
    MBeartokyojimu
  • Reply 4 of 18
    rnb2rnb2 Posts: 61member
    According to a Reddit thread, the SMB issue seems to be connected to custom icons on the network shares. Once I mapped my shares directly to folders instead of the drives (which have hard-coded custom icons via SoftRAID), hunted down any custom icons within the shared folders, and removed any custom icons from the backup jobs that copy from my MacBook Pro to the shares on my Mac mini server, SMB started working reliably for me again. I only encountered the issue after upgrading to 13.2. 
    racerhomie3watto_cobraFileMakerFellerAlex1N
  • Reply 5 of 18
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    rnb2 said:
    According to a Reddit thread, the SMB issue seems to be connected to custom icons on the network shares. Once I mapped my shares directly to folders instead of the drives (which have hard-coded custom icons via SoftRAID), hunted down any custom icons within the shared folders, and removed any custom icons from the backup jobs that copy from my MacBook Pro to the shares on my Mac mini server, SMB started working reliably for me again. I only encountered the issue after upgrading to 13.2. 
    That may be one aspect of it, but the small businesses we spoke do don't have any custom icons at all, for anything.
    rnb2watto_cobraapplecreativeproAlex1N
  • Reply 6 of 18
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    I wonder whether using static or reserved IP addresses on the servers/shared computers would help? I always setup mine that way for convenience with Remote Desktop and VNC. It should not make a difference ... but. My HomeKit devices shouldn't mysteriously disappear from my Home app while still showing up under "Speakers & TVs" either, but the state of Apple's software seems to be somewhat shaky these days. 
    edited February 2023 watto_cobraFileMakerFellerAlex1N
  • Reply 7 of 18
    plovellplovell Posts: 824member
    Same problem on my Studio (Ventura 13.2) and MBP (same). Connecting to Monterey Mini is fine. But this looks up Finder big-time.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 18
    rnb2rnb2 Posts: 61member
    rnb2 said:
    According to a Reddit thread, the SMB issue seems to be connected to custom icons on the network shares. Once I mapped my shares directly to folders instead of the drives (which have hard-coded custom icons via SoftRAID), hunted down any custom icons within the shared folders, and removed any custom icons from the backup jobs that copy from my MacBook Pro to the shares on my Mac mini server, SMB started working reliably for me again. I only encountered the issue after upgrading to 13.2. 
    That may be one aspect of it, but the small businesses we spoke do don't have any custom icons at all, for anything.
    Yeah, it sounds like some are experiencing something different that started with 13.0. Maybe only the 13.2 issue is connected to custom icons?
    watto_cobraapplecreativeproAlex1N
  • Reply 9 of 18
    Since Ventura 13.2 update, backups to Time Machine keep failing and shutting iMac down prematurely. Problem has been escalated to Apple engineers and now waiting for solution. 
    watto_cobraAlex1N
  • Reply 10 of 18
    I don’t have this issue with the latest Ventura update, but the search function in Calendar no longer works properly. 
  • Reply 11 of 18
    Thanks for covering this. Problems persist for us with all custom icons removed. Perhaps the hard coded icons from SoftRAID is the issue. Can connect to the volumes but then it all hangs and demands a restart. Reddit has a big thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/10k7070/ventura_132_cannot_connect_with_smb/

    I’ve wasted too much time on all the “solutions” and now my team are working a shift system on the server :-(
  • Reply 12 of 18
    rnb2 said:
    According to a Reddit thread, the SMB issue seems to be connected to custom icons on the network shares. Once I mapped my shares directly to folders instead of the drives (which have hard-coded custom icons via SoftRAID), hunted down any custom icons within the shared folders, and removed any custom icons from the backup jobs that copy from my MacBook Pro to the shares on my Mac mini server, SMB started working reliably for me again. I only encountered the issue after upgrading to 13.2. 
    That may be one aspect of it, but the small businesses we spoke do don't have any custom icons at all, for anything.

    Well, it is not just connected to custom icons in particular but to folder/files metadata in general.

    It is hard to know when there is some metadata forced by third party apps in a jungle of files and folders. Removing metadata (which includes custom icons) do the trick for some. It may not be the only cause, though.

    Apple please fix this!
    rnb2
  • Reply 13 of 18
    Have had this same problem with Mojave network of MacPro 5,1’s, connecting to an SMB Server on a MP 5,1 Server.

    All are upgraded 5690 3.46 Xeons, we’ll spec’d with NVMe Boot Drives, loads of RAM and all on Gigabit Ethernet.  

    Needs a restart maybe once a day when accessing an NVMe Server Volume on the Mojave Server over SMB.  Quick restart on the server sorts it without touching File Sharing.
  • Reply 14 of 18
    jeromecjeromec Posts: 190member
    Dooofus said:
    I was upgrading from Catalina on a 2010 Mac Pro
    Apple says you need a 2017 Mac Pro to run Ventura, but sure.
    Yes. But you can use OpenCore Legacy Patcher to install Big Sur, Monterey and Ventura on older Macs. 
    It had been very stable with Monterey for sometime and I now use it to run Ventura on a mid-2012 Mac mini without any issues. 
    And I do not have any SMB issues with 3 Macs running Ventura and a Synology NAS. 
    Then again, I do not use custom icons for files or folders
    😊
  • Reply 15 of 18
    I have this problem too on two different Macs running Ventura 13.1 and 13.2. Finder locks up when I connect with an admin user, and trying to connect with Guest always results in "Connection Failed" or "There are no shares available or you are not allowed to access them on the server." when using Connect to Server in Finder and the smb://192... address directly.

    More details here: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/454437/basic-file-sharing-from-mac-to-mac-not-working-when-connecting-as-guest-conne

    I spent hours on the phone with Apple. They did not provide any solution. At this point File Sharing is unusable for me.

    I tried setting up File Sharing on a Mac Mini running Big Sur, and that works without a problem. Even when connecting from Ventura.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    I recently purchased a M2 Pro Mac Mini and OWC Thunderbay. Mac Mini came installed with Ventura (I have not upgraded to Ventura on our other machines, usually wait until at least x.3). I had the issue of not being able to connect to the Mac Mini. I did a factory reset of the Mac Mini and reinstalled Ventura and this seemed to resolve the connection issues. What was more concerning (for me) is that permissions do not seem to be respected in Ventura 13.2. Users without access to the connected drive could view folders/files freely despite permissions set for no access. Apple are aware and I have an open case. May be related to SoftRAID? Further information is on a discussion on the Apple Community.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 17 of 18
    Apparently, someone found a potential workaround: remove extended attributes from shared folders (e.g. using "xattr -c /path/to/dir")

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254343578?answerId=258675926022#258675926022
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