Info How-to fix NAS visibility in macOS Finder sidebar

[fredbert]

TL/DR: Clear out recent servers in Finder's 'Connect to Server' dialogue, then: connect to NAS; mount shared folder; disconnect NAS. NAS is now remembered in Finder sidebar.

Long version
A recent thread on keeping shared folders mounted on macOS got a bit side-tracked with having the NAS visible in the Finder when it wasn't mounted.

Permanently mounting a drive on macOS

I thought Synology Drive would do what I want but no? I want a folder on my Mac which is actually a folder/directory/share on my NAS. I want it like a Big Hard Drive that's always connected to my Mac. I want to store Big Files there and I don't want to have to keep connecting/reconnecting to an...

www.synoforum.com

I've two Macs I use and over different macOS versions I have had this issue since switching off AFP on the NASes. That may be the issue because I found how to fix this.

Two of my NAS have been rebuilt, new static IP, and new Bonjour name plus they had AFP disabled either from the start of for a long time. But the new NAS got the IP and name I use for my main NAS. As such if I want any NAS in Finder's sidebar it will be the main NAS, but instead I get the two older NAS. The only time I get the main NAS in the sidebar is when I've a mounted shared folder: dismount and the NAS disappears.

@Robbie suggested that the Bonjour flags where needed to advertised Time Machine over SMB. This seemed to work but I only later looked and realised my AFP on/off test hadn't done the 'off' step

But now I have the answer!!!

You don't have to be advertising Time Machine over SMB, you only need Bonjour itself enabled.

The important step is to clear out recent servers in the 'Connect to Server' dialogue. This deletes all the entries in the dropdown list but also removes any of those in the Finder sidebar that aren't mounted.

Next in Finder click Network and logon to the NAS and mount a shared folder. When you disconnect from the NAS you'll find it remains in the sidebar, plus is added to 'Connect to Server' recent servers dropdown list.

I'm guessing I had a saved entry for the main NAS that stopped it saving an updated entry for the same Bonjour name.

 

[Robbie]

Robbie said:
Yes, all that is needed on DSM to get the _adisk._tcp. flag is that Bonjour for TM on SMB tick box (well, you get a little more but not relevant here). Before Mojave you sometimes needed the AFP Bonjour tag too but only SMB is needed these days.

My fault - the perils of not explaining the 'not relevant here'

@fredbert - Nothing technically incorrect above regarding not ticking the Bonjour Time Machine via SMB but I still recommend that you do so to avoid the inevitable 'where did it go' Finder moment down the line.

Only setting the first checkbox translates in Bonjour language to no _adisk._tcp. flag and only retains the mDNS _device-info._tcp. flag. Synology 'borrows' this flag from the old Apple Xserve systems for convenience (which is why you get the Xserve icon on the Network page) but it does not function as an Xserve once did - particularly the ability to auto mount or show (declare) the drive as mountable. So, on occasion (and depending on usage) it will silently drop from the Finder Sidebar even when on the network.

The workaround used for years was to set the AFP flag (as that is what TM originally used) and this set the AFP broadcast and the auto add-disk did the rest. You didn't need to use AFP or TM but it worked.

With Apple depreciating AFP the technique I recommended to you brings the advantage of the additional _adisk._tcp. as well as the _device-info._tcp. flag. The advantage of the former is that TM has a reliable auto mount and unmount function and this broadcast refresh will keep the NAS in the Sidebar when it is available. If a share is not shown as mountable (ie in the Sidebar) then other applications that rely on it can fail in the dead of night (eg Plex hosted on macOS with storage on the NAS; use of network broadcast DVR etc).

Hope that helps.

️

 

[fredbert]

Thanks for the extra info.

I suppose enabling the Bonjour TM via SMB isn't going to cause any issues: my 'time machine' shared folder only permits access from my 'time machine' group. And that group only has accounts specifically assigned to Macs for TM backup, and not users.

I'll test it out: mix of NAS with and without the TM via SMB broadcast.