SMB authentication required problem

[Lottie 95]

Today I wanted to watch a movie via VLC ver.3.0.12 (414) on my Apple TV 4K and now the VLC says to SMB authentication required ! Tried everything but keep getting this message. eg. my login details from my Synology NAS. I don't know anymore maybe someone knows what to do ?

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I have been having the same problem on and off for a while on my Apple TV 4K using VLC ver. 3.0.12 (414). It seemed to keep changing behavior for a while, but for the last couple of weeks I have not been able to login at all, getting the 'SMB authentication required' message and the advice that I need to use the 'DOMAIN;username/password' combo to login. However, my domain;username/password combo do not work. I am trying to connect to my Mac Mini which has a Drobo 5D direct attached storage unit with all my media files. I can access that Mac Mini and the Drobo from any other device with apps other than VLC. I have tried it from my iPhone 12 mini running iOS 14.6 and VLC ver. 3.0.12 and from my MacBook Pro running Mac OS 11.4 (Big Sur) and VLC ver. 3.0.16 Vetanari without success.

On the MacBook, VLC sees the Mac Mini via Bonjour and lists files on the internal drive, but not any of the external drives - 1 USB drive and 1 Thunderbolt attached Drobo 5D.

So, VLC is useless to me now and I have spent hours trying to find ways of logging in to my media storage unit.

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I have found what may be a temporary solution. I deleted the folder that I wanted to share with the other devices even though I read that it is supposed to be selected for sharing. Remote Management must be turned off and then I can connect from my Apple TV and iPhone. However, when the computer goes to sleep and I log back in I find that Remote Management is turned on again. When I set system preferences to never sleep I set the screen saver to come on to protect the monitor which still requires me to log in again when I come back to the computer and Remote Management is back on again. I don't know how to stop that.

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Update: My temporary solution (delete the sharing of the folder with all my media) allows VLC on my Apple TV to work. I can login to my Mac Mini and the folder (external drive) is listed on VLC/Apple TV even though not formally "shared". However, I can no longer access that same external drive from my MacBook Pro using VLC or any other app, it does not show up which is not surprising. It is only surprising that VLC/Apple TV can access it.