Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

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Vocalpoint
Posts: 163
Joined: 06 Nov 2009 14:01

Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by Vocalpoint »

Just installed Windows 10 v1809 (LTSC) on a new digital audio workstation and XYPlorer is on in it's default state. I have yet to start modifying too much - but for the life of me - I cannot see anything under the Network node.

I have 2 servers and at least 5 other workstations out there - I have tried right clicking on the node and choosing Browse for Network server and eventually a few machines show up - but they never appear on the tree.

Over on my personal workstation (With a well worn config file) - my network assets work fine and stay put. Whenever I come into XY - I can see the network devices - but still need to refresh from time to time to reflect what is really out there (Wish this worked better).

What config settings do I need to adjust to see active/correct Network assets (machines that are actually up) everytime I start XY.

Would also like to mention that SMBv1 is turned off universally over here - and I keep wondering if this has something to do with why XY is acting up. It's almost as if the program is relying on the severely outdated "Computer Browser" service to display networked machines.

On all my new builds - Windows 10 does not install SMBv1 nor the Computer Browser service and I now rely on these two services:

Function Discovery Provider Host
Function Discovery Resource Publications

Appreciate any info that would help me get these Network devices back in view.

NOTE 1: Another odd item is that when I click on the Network node icon on the tree - XY displays a message that says:

"This view is empty. 8 items are hidden (hopefully my network assets?)

But for the life of me - I cannot figure out how to "unhide" these 8 items.

NOTE 2: I checked the Services listing on this build (v1809 LTSC) - and the Computer Browser service is now completely removed. It is not even listed in the Services app.

Conversely - over on this workstation (my personal PC) - running Windows 10 v1709 - the Computer Browser service is still available and XY is enumerating the network assets just fine.

So - I can only assume there is something related to this service and Network browsing and XY cannot handle this on newer builds of Windows 10. (which we will all be going to one way or another)

Cheers,

VP

admin
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Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by admin »

If you right-click the Network node in the tree, and select "Browse for Nwtwork Server...", do you see your machines?
Vocalpoint wrote: 29 Nov 2018 13:57 NOTE 1: Another odd item is that when I click on the Network node icon on the tree - XY displays a message that says:

"This view is empty. 8 items are hidden (hopefully my network assets?)

But for the life of me - I cannot figure out how to "unhide" these 8 items.
Is there anything in the Status Bar? If yes, hover the Status Bar and the tooltip should tell why they are hidden.

Vocalpoint
Posts: 163
Joined: 06 Nov 2009 14:01

Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by Vocalpoint »

CONFIRMED:

This morning I decided to dig into this again. On this new computer build from this past weekend (Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC v1809 - I decided to enable SMBv1 by accessing Control Panel->Programs and Features->Turn Windows Features on or off (see attachment).

I then rebooted and then checked Services - I now see the Computer Browser service has suddenly return and of course the Network node in XYPlorer now works perfectly.

Meaning - in order to actually be able to see the network in XY (as designed) we need to re-enable this brutal security hole and risk major breaches by having SMBv1 enabled

Seems you need to take a hard look at how your application will work in the future as Windows 1803 (and beyond) will not enable (and soon will not even have) these SMBv1 options to turn on. Modern apps use SMBv2/v3.x (or SMB Direct)

While this test proves that XY in fact does NEED SMBv1 to function - I cannot (will not) leave SMBv1 enabled long term due to it's scary security implications.

I think it's clear that whatever API's you use to display/enumerate the network in XY - are not the same API's the Windows Explorer is using - as I can see the network and ALL it's members just fine in Explorer with SMBv1 non-existent and Function Discovery Provider Host and Function Discovery Resource Publication services are on. The same does not apply to XY.

As SMBv1 is disappearing permanently (soon) - would like to know your plans on correctly positioning XYPlorer for a future without this ancient protocol very soon.

VP
Attachments
Windows Features - SMB.png
Windows Features - SMB.png (13.63 KiB) Viewed 2326 times

admin
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Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by admin »

Does this script return anything useful?

Code: Select all

enumshellfolderitems 61; //Network

Vocalpoint
Posts: 163
Joined: 06 Nov 2009 14:01

Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by Vocalpoint »

admin wrote: 30 Nov 2018 16:31 Does this script return anything useful?

Code: Select all

enumshellfolderitems 61; //Network
Yes it does. 15 devices are shown in the output.

I tested it with

1. SMB options checked with Add/Remove Windows
2. SMBv1 protocal disabled via Powershell
3. Computer Browser Service running

And

1. SMB options checked with Add/Remove Windows
2. SMBv1 protocal disabled via Powershell
3. Computer Browser Service stopped

Same result. Odd.

I did reboot between tests.

VP

admin
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Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by admin »

Then this tweak should do it for you:

NetworkNetServerEnum=1

Whoops, I meant the opposite:

Code: Select all

NetworkNetServerEnum=0

BTW, another way to test this would have been:

Code: Select all

text get("network", 0); //works for you
text get("network", 1); //works for you NOT

RalphM
Posts: 1932
Joined: 27 Jan 2005 23:38
Location: Cairns, Australia

Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by RalphM »

I just ran all 3 tests out of curiosity on my system:

- enumshellfolderitems creates a list of 7 items
- text get("network", 0 or 1) only show an empty text window

Is this expected?
Ralph :)
(OS: W11 22H2 Home x64 - XY: Current beta - Office 2019 32-bit - Display: 1920x1080 @ 125%)

admin
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Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by admin »

Yes, the get("network"...) command filters the list to only return servers.

RalphM
Posts: 1932
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Location: Cairns, Australia

Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by RalphM »

Thanks, that explains it then.
Ralph :)
(OS: W11 22H2 Home x64 - XY: Current beta - Office 2019 32-bit - Display: 1920x1080 @ 125%)

Vocalpoint
Posts: 163
Joined: 06 Nov 2009 14:01

Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by Vocalpoint »

admin wrote: 30 Nov 2018 19:23 BTW, another way to test this would have been:

Code: Select all

text get("network", 0); //works for you
text get("network", 1); //works for you NOT
This is incorrect.

Both of these commands return the same thing - a listing of 7 active computers on the network

I will test again with the SMB components removed and I will bet money - they both fail. (show no devices on the network)

Not sure why you seem to be ignoring the fact that having SMB in place in any way - is the reason for positive results on these scripts.

I will report back after turning the SMB items off in Add/Remove Features.

VP

admin
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Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by admin »

Vocalpoint wrote: 01 Dec 2018 17:26 I will report back after turning the SMB items off in Add/Remove Features.
And?

1024mb
Posts: 205
Joined: 14 Dec 2018 23:26

Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by 1024mb »

I was having the same problem and using

Code: Select all

text get("network", 0);
fixed it but I have to run the script every time there is a new computer connected to the network otherwise XY wouldn't show it, why is this happening? Why do I need to use that script?
I'm using latest version of Win10 and latest beta of XYPlorer.
Thanks.

admin
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Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by admin »

Win10 changed and is constantly changing a lot of things. Blood trails all over...

You can fix your situation by setting this tweak:

Code: Select all

NetworkNetServerEnum=0
How to tweak XYplorer.ini:
https://www.xyplorer.com/faq-topic.php?id=tweak

admin
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Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by admin »

PS: In the next version there will be a GUI option for this.

1024mb
Posts: 205
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Re: Cannot see or refresh any Network assets

Post by 1024mb »

admin wrote: 17 Dec 2018 11:19 PS: In the next version there will be a GUI option for this.
Thank you so much for this :appl: , I was breaking my head as to why XYplorer wasn't detecting my network.

I've downloaded the beta and it's working great, just a request. Can you add a tooltip saying what you've put in the changelog (Factory default is ON, but recent versions of Win10 don't seem to support it anymore, so you might need to untick it in that case)?

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