Vlc 3.2.2 local network problem

[glnz]

Still no fix.

[glnz]

A week later - no fix.
VideoLan on iOS cannot access video files on a LAN using SMB2.
Other apps have no problem.

[glnz]

 
Five weeks later and still not fixed.
 

[bobiusz]

Hi,
You need to install version 3.1.6, set up a password, and then upgrade to the latest version. It works for me.

[glnz]

bobiusz - I'm already at 3.2.6. So, how do I install 3.1.6 per your post above? I would love to be able to downgrade below 3.2, as would most other users of VideoLan. And then I'd stay there.

Also, do you mean set up a password on my user account on my Win 10 PC to be entered at every bootup, or only on the VideoLan on my iPad? At home, my PCs do not require passwords for their user accounts - I don't want to be bothered, and they're always on anyway so I can access them from work using TeamViewer or AnyDesk (which apps require their own passwords to connect).

Since we're here, it remains astounding that VLC has not fixed this SMB problem with VideoLan after many months of complaints. Proof that the organization has lost talent.

[net83it]

https://get.videolan.org/vlc-iOS/
all videolan versions

[glnz]

net83it - Thanks. Unfortunately, we saw those folders before -- I think they are mentioned weeks ago on this thread -- but none of us has figured out how to install any of those ipa files on our iPads.

I'm not a tech - how does one install those ipa files? Have you done it yourself?

[net83it]

sorry, i don't know how use these files, i'm an android user and i was able to install an old version of vlc on my amazon firetv using downloader and enabling unverified source file installation

[glnz]

Hey VLC team - so net83it can downgrade to VideoLan 3.1.x on his android, but those of us with iPads are stuck.
Why won't you give us iPad owners the option of re-installing the last subversion of 3.1.x?

By the way, I just noticed I have version 3.2.7, but it does not fix this problem with SMB2.

[glnz]

Just got a message on my iPad from VLC "Developer" that SMB2 has been working for "quite some months". No, it doesn't. I just tried again, and VideoLan for iPad will NOT connect to the Win 10 Pro 64-bit PC (version 1909) on my home LAN using SMB2. VideoLan will connect ONLY with SMB1, which is not secure. However, other apps on my iPad connect to my Win 10 PC with SMB2, so this remains VLC's big hot mess.
VLC - stop arguing and FIX THIS.

[xfinalheavenx]

I can confirm that SMB2/3 and network does not work with iPad and Win 10 PC 1909. I just tried again using VLC 3.2.9. It used to work long ago. Is there a fix coming? It has been recommended that SMB1 be disabled and it is no longer enabled by default by Windows due to security issues.

Edit: PlayerXtreme (another iPad app) works fine with SMB 2 network.

[glnz]

 
Over eight months, more than 23,000 views of this thread, other apps have no problem with SMB2, and STILL VLC HAS NOT FIXED THIS.

Something is wrong in France.
 

[djdaveathome]

Exactly the same problem. From what I can gather, since windows no longer uses 'homegroups', networking doesn't work.

[debaron541]

for anyone having issues on ipad, make sure the homegroup is blank, then it works fine.

[summit48]

@debaron541
What version of iOS and VLC-iOS are you running on your iPad?

I am on iPad 4 with iOS 10.3.3 running VLC-iOS 3.2.11 and CANNOT connect(SMB) to a Mac running OS X 10.11.6 or a DELL running Win 10 Pro-1909.

Interestingly I can download files to the iPad using the 'Sharing via WiFi' from both the Mac and the DELL.

I have the same issue with iPhone 5 with iOS 10.3.4 running VLC-iOS 3.2.11 NOT connecting(SMB) to the same mac and DELL.

I have a ATV-4K, tvOS: 13.4.6 (17L570), VLC-tvOs: 3.0.10 (392) and it connects(SMB) to the Mac and DELL. There are issues with saving credentials, but at least they connect.

VLC-iOS 3.2.11 SMB share for both the iPad and iPhone is BROKEN.

[summit48]

UPDATE

I tested again today after powering all devices down overnight and obtained slightly different results to my previous post.

From the iPad 4 VLC-iOS 3.2.11 connects to mac OS X 10.11.6 and macOS 10.15.6

From the iPad 4 VLC-iOS 3.2.11 CANNOT connect to Win10 Pro-1909

From the iPhone 5 VLC-iOS 3.2.11 connects to Win10 Pro -1909

Conclusion:
SMBv1 is not installed by default in Windows 10 version 1709, Windows Server version 1709 and later versions
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... in-windows

Windows 10 Pro no longer contains the SMBv1 client by default after a clean installation.

It is most likely that iPad VLC-iOS 3.2.11 has a problem with SMBv3 on Win10 Pro-1909.

While VLC-iOS 3.2.11 on iPhone does not have a problem with SMBv3 on Win10 Pro-1909.

[xfinalheavenx]

Any updates on a fix for iPad VLC to connect to windows 10? [not using SMBv1 since its been deprecated]

I have been unable to get it to work, however, other apps such as PlayerXtreme is able to connect my network using the same iPad and win10 computer.

I have tested it with iPad VLC 3.2.11 and Win10 Pro-2004.

[cee]

I was having issues with IOS/iPad and SMB to my Qnap NAS.

I noticed authentication issues via Qnap logging so did some tests:

I enabled SMB3 only on my NAS with strict authentication (no guest connection/share enumeration)

Both client and server are on the same subnet. Server (qnap is wired and IOS is wireless obviously, via a Unifi AP)

I created a new RO account with only 'everyone' qnap group membership (username:a password:1 - this is my test account for this example)

Connection profile to the NAS is FQDN (not using a .local domain as IOS uses this for bonjour - I use .lan so the FQDN for me is qnap.homeoffice.lan, DNS checked and working - I have a local zone 'homeoffice.lan' specified on my adblock DNS server on my network - the correct NAS IP for A record 'qnap' is populated in this zone and the correct DNS server is specified to my IOS device from the DHCP server on my home network)

Port not specified
Username: a
Password: 1
With or without Workgroup it authenticates OK and I can browse the folders I allowed for the user 'a' on the qnap.

If I add the authentication source as described in the iPad connection dialog (qnap;a or for another test qnap\a) it does not work and I get an authentication error on the qnap, plus I am repeatedly prompted for a username/password on the connection dialog.
If I add the port source e.g. 1025 in the iPad connection dialog it does not work and the IOS client immediately quits the connection.


My conclusion so far is SMB3 can work from IOS but there seems to be issues, maybe its with my Qnap compatibility around account source (qnap;a or 'qnap\a' in traditional SMB nomenclature) and the port definition dialog does not work for me.

However a basic connection setup works for me as described above.

[glnz]

cee - it's not likely that non-tech users like myself can duplicate what you have done. But really impressive!!!
What do you recommend for us?
It's still a shame that VLC has so badly screwed this up and left us with security risks, when it worked 14 months ago.

[cee]

Dear ginz, yeah I can sympathise with the VLC developers as SMB prior to v3 is totally rubbish! However as users we just want things to work without major headaches and here lies the problem as there are so many versions and settings as to make testing a monumental task. So the idea from a forum VLC user like myself is to simplify the setup and to get the connection predictable and working. However:

I did do some tests with SMB 2 only enabled, and it does indeed work with SMB 2 - even more maddeningly it works with the account source specified in the username account dialog on the IOS client - so with SMB 2 qnap;a in my test setup - the username string does work, but this does not work on SMB 2.1 or SMB 3 connections!

I tested again with SMB 2.1 on my QNAP and it did not work from my iPad. I tried maybe 20 connection variations, IP address or FQDN, with or without port numbers and setting guest access and enumeration to 'on' on the Qnap. So the conclusion is I gave up on SMB 2.1 for iPad using DNS/IP addresses. Then, just for my amusement I tried netbios (no dns or ip - just the nas name specified as discovered through netbios broadcast) and crazily that worked with 2.1, so this is a different bug associated only with SMB 2.1 on IOS

So, my conclusion at this point is every library for SMB version in the IOS implementation has different bugs in it. I will just say concentrate on SMB 3 to get a path forward. For qualification I dont have these issues on my Macbook or windows clients to the same SMB server. So these are all IOS type issues.

With SMB 3 there does seem to be an issue with how the user account source is passed to the SMB server from IOS VLC app (i.e. the bit before the ; in the user name section of the IOS setup in VLC). Get around this by making the account you are connecting to a 'local' account on the SMB server and then you can omit the bit before the user name in the IOS setup - the reason this works is that SMB servers usually try to find the user name locally first, before for example, going to a Microsoft domain controller for the account name (if the file server is a domain member), I doubt many have a home Microsoft domain setup anyway, and anyone who does should how this works.



So using SMB 3 on the file server:

On your file server, create a local account with (read) access to your media folders
Dont use a port specification in the IOS client
If you use fully qualified DNS then make sure its a bonjour working FQDN (I actually dont think this is an issue here, but its best practice with IOS devices.) - dont use .local domain naming in your DHCP server settings, I use .lan, but there are many choices. Otherwise just use the IP address in the IOS client setup - this also works.
If you have a firewall on your local LAN then make sure it allows bonjour/multicast traffic between the LAN of your SMB server and your IOS client. If in doubt, just make sure the IP addresses are in the same subnet for testing, usually in home router setups with DHCP everything is on the same subnet anyway
On your SMB server make sure it accepts SMB 3 (I set this as the lowest and highest SMB version to avoid confusing any testing)
I also would suggest if you want some security to disable guest and share enumeration on your file server - these are all in the advanced settings of Qnap under Windows file server section, listed as strict mode in Qnap speak, but these are also settings available on Windows (policies) and I am sure other NAS servers will have something similar

If your SMB server does not use v3 then I would suggest playing around with SMB 2 and use local accounts to keep things simple, I did get this to work. Skip SMB 2.1 when using IOS devices on your network.


I hope this helps get you going.

[glnz]

cee - don't have a file server. My videos are on my home PC, which connects to a router by ethernet, which connects to Verizon FIOS. My iPad connects to the same router by WiFi. So both my home PC and my iPad are on the same LAN. My home PC is Win 10 Pro 64-bit (currently version 1909), and I set it up originally with a local account, not a Microsoft account. Just a few days ago, for the first time, I added a logon password to that account.

I just now confirmed that my PC has SMB 2 and 3 enabled, but how can I tell whether my PC uses SMB 2 or 2.1?
Also, the powershell and cmd tests for SMB 2 and 3 test them together - there does not seem to be a test for SMB 3 alone. So I'm not sure.

I bow to your expertise, but I can't follow your suggestions. And I would probably be screwing up everything else if I tried to follow you.

It is ridiculous for VLC to make us do these things. VideoLan worked fine before the upgrade 14 months ago - my iPad connected to my Win 10 using SMB 2/3 just fine without these complications. Other apps connect from iPad to my PC just fine.

But thanks. Maybe VLC can take your analysis and fix the issue ... finally.

[cee]

Hi ginz,

I do have a Win 10 VM at home (need to check the version though) - I will test it. We can treat your Win 10 workstation as a windows file server in this example, most of the code is identical to Server 2016. Give me a day or two and I will post what I find back to this forum, with powershell if applicable. We should be able to get to the bottom of this.... at least from the perspective of a work around. Its got to be fixable via Windows registry settings/PS in my opinion as intrinsically its working under certain conditions with other file servers running similar SMB 2 and 3 protocols.


All the best, will come back to you, hopefully this weekend.

[cee]

Hi ginz

I powered up my Win10 Pro VM this morning and did some tests.

The following articles I found useful:

https://www.mowasay.com/2018/08/windows ... mb-shares/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... b-server-1

SMB2 and 3 are bundled together in the same libraries in Windows - so I did not find a way to differentiate them from the Win10 (server) side so far. What I did was:

Check my IP settings on the Win10 Pro - they are all have the same DNS domain, subnet and DNS servers as my iPad. I have my Win10 set to DHCP, but I would suggest setting a static IP address outside of the DHCP range, but in the same subnet if you use this as a "server" - W10 being a server is what we are doing here and its quite OK to do that. If you dont know what I am talking about here just make sure everything is on DHCP. My firewall was on the W10 device but it has a rule to allow SMB traffic in. If in doubt and its not working - disable the Firewall on your W10 device, but I suggest you find out the rule that is causing the issue if this happens to you.


Moving on....

I ran from an administrator powershell prompt: Get-SmbServerConfiguration


This gave me the following:

AnnounceComment :
AnnounceServer : False
AsynchronousCredits : 64
AuditSmb1Access : False
AutoDisconnectTimeout : 15
AutoShareServer : True
AutoShareWorkstation : True
CachedOpenLimit : 10
DurableHandleV2TimeoutInSeconds : 180
EnableAuthenticateUserSharing : False
EnableDownlevelTimewarp : False
EnableForcedLogoff : True
EnableLeasing : True
EnableMultiChannel : True
EnableOplocks : True
EnableSecuritySignature : False
EnableSMB1Protocol : True
EnableSMB2Protocol : True
EnableStrictNameChecking : True
EncryptData : False
IrpStackSize : 15
KeepAliveTime : 2
MaxChannelPerSession : 32
MaxMpxCount : 50
MaxSessionPerConnection : 16384
MaxThreadsPerQueue : 20
MaxWorkItems : 1
NullSessionPipes :
NullSessionShares :
OplockBreakWait : 35
PendingClientTimeoutInSeconds : 120
RejectUnencryptedAccess : True
RequireSecuritySignature : False
ServerHidden : True
Smb2CreditsMax : 2048
Smb2CreditsMin : 128
SmbServerNameHardeningLevel : 0
TreatHostAsStableStorage : False
ValidateAliasNotCircular : True
ValidateShareScope : True
ValidateShareScopeNotAliased : True
ValidateTargetName : True[/size]


I saw SMB1 was enabled so I disabled it from the administrator powershell prompt:

Set-SmbServerConfiguration –EnableSMB1Protocol $false

I rebooted and saw that the SMB1 was now disabled.

I created a local account and gave it a password - you should give your media access accounts used in the iPad setups passwords, this may be an inconvenience but Microsoft try to make it harder to have open/un-authenticated shares on their systems to prevent virus and cryptolockers destroying all your data.

I created a media folder on my W10 device and added some media files.
I used the standard Windows give access dialog on the media folder and added the local account I created with Read Only access to the media folder.

[cee]

I am waiting to post the rest of my reply - I am not allowed !

[cee]

At this point, please note how the IPad finds your W10 Pro device (from https://www.mowasay.com):

-------------------------

Explorer Network Browsing

The Computer Browser service relies on the SMBv1 protocol to populate the Windows Explorer Network node (also known as “Network Neighborhood”). This legacy protocol is long deprecated, doesn’t route, and has limited security. Because the service cannot function without SMBv1, it is removed at the same time.

However, if you still have to use the Explorer Network in home and small business workgroup environments to locate Windows-based computers, you can follow these steps on your Windows-based computers that no longer use SMBv1:

Start the “Function Discovery Provider Host” and “Function Discovery Resource Publication” services, and then set them to Automatic (Delayed Start).
When you open Explorer Network, enable network discovery when you are prompted.
All Windows devices within that subnet that have these settings will now appear in Network for browsing. This uses the WS-DISCOVERY protocol. Contact your other vendors and manufacturers if their devices still don’t appear in this browse list after the Windows devices appear. It is possible they have this protocol disabled or that they support only SMBv1.


-------------------------


Personally for any server I use a static IP and enter it in DNS on my home network rather tha rely on discovery. I saw "Function Discovery Provider Host" was running on my W10 device and found I saw the Win10 device discovered in the iPad without entering anything - so the iPad/VLC must be using this discovery, but I entered just the IP address of my W10 device in the iPad for this test.


I went to my iPad and set:

Name: IPaddress (or use DNS and a static IP for your W10 if you have it setup)
Port: blank
Username: mediaaccount
Password: mediaaccountpassword

I saved the settings and pressed connect - it immediately connects and I can see the media files and play them.


To check I went to the Computer Management on the W10 device/Shared Folders/Open Files

I saw my iPad IP address listed there and the name of the media file I was playing - so I know the setup is working.




So, this looks like it can work without too much trouble with a W10 Pro device as a server. If its not working for you then it could be one of a million things, maybe network based or host based. If its still not working you will need a dubug session with an IT person. Doing over a forum is not realistic I feel.

There does still seem to be some issues within SMB support on VLC but none of them expressed themselves here - I had more trouble with getting the Qnap to work.



Regards cee