GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 618524
Firewall blocks ability to browse shares. Error "unable to mount location - failed to retrieve share list from server" is displayed
Last modified: 2018-09-21 17:03:22 UTC
Going to Places > Nework returns "unable to mount location - failed to retrieve share list from server" when a firewall is enabled. Turning off ufw (firewall) allowed me to receive responses from the samba broadcast (tested in GNOME's "Places > Network" and with smbtree). If you have a firewall enabled, try turning it off to see if you are able to see network shares instead of getting this error. If you need to close of the firewall as much as possible, allow inbound udp ports 1024-65535 to browse shares through Places > Network. The "unable to mount location - failed to retrieve share list from server" error is not quite descriptive of the actual issue because: 1) You are not trying to contact one specific server, but sending a broadcast message to have all servers respond. 2) If we can detect that these ports (inbound udp ports 1024-65535) are blocked, the error message should explain that they may want to check their firewall. Originally reported here: https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gvfs/+bug/474020
Yes, that's how it works now. Most of the network issues, including blocked ports, is masked by underlying smbclient so we usually don't get the real reason for failure.
-- GitLab Migration Automatic Message -- This bug has been migrated to GNOME's GitLab instance and has been closed from further activity. You can subscribe and participate further through the new bug through this link to our GitLab instance: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gvfs/issues/146.