NetBIOS over TCPIP Disabled No Matter What

[currancchs]

My machine is running Windows 10 Professional, 64 bit. I have Virtualbox setup to emulate an time time capsule. The machine is a desktop and is wired to a Netgear R8500 that is running DDWRT (September 27, 2016 Kong version). No matter what I do, I cannot seem to enable NetBIOS, which is preventing my machine from being seen by other machines on the network. I also cannot access my shared printer or file shares from local macs on the network. I am not sure exactly when the problem began, but no more than six months ago in any case, I just didn't realize I had a problem until I went to print from one of the macs. File and print sharing used to work flawlessly.

I have already changed the setting in network connections/adapter/advanced to enable NetBIOS from "default," but it has made no difference. I have also disabled the firewall, for testing, which also made no difference. I also checked the relevant registry keys, which had the netbios setting set to "1," but no difference. netstat -a shows ports 135 and 445 as listening. Lastly, I disabled netbios on my virtualbox virtual network interface, thinking that netbios may not be able to run twice on the same physical interface, but again this made no difference. The event log shows no errors that appear to be even remotely related. All drivers and software were updated in the hopes that would resolve things.

I'm out of ideas and would appreciate any help you guys (and girls) might be able to provide. Thanks!

 

[nigelivey]

It will not be Netbios that's the problem, this is a legacy protocol from the 1980s! Time capsules use SMB and AFP. Netbios is not required, why did you think it was?

 

[currancchs]

It will not be Netbios that's the problem, this is a legacy protocol from the 1980s! Time capsules use SMB and AFP. Netbios is not required, why did you think it was?

After re-reading my question, I realize that the first paragraph was misleading. My Rube Goldberg-esque Time Capsule emulation is actually working just fine! I only included that information because I had a feeling that the virtual network adapter used to bridge my VirtualBox network connection to my ethernet adapter might have had something to do with my issue.

My issue is that I cannot see my PC from others on the same network. When I run an IPconfig /all I see that "NetBIOS over TCPIP" for my ethernet adapter (the real one, not some virtualized one) says disabled, no matter what I do to enable it. Netbios helper service is running and set to automatic. I assume that NetBIOS is causing the issue of other computers not seeing my PC through My Network Places and, in any case, I'm OCD and it bugs me that I can't enable it, as it appears that I should be able to.

Thanks for reading.

 

[nigelivey]

It will not be Netbios that's the problem, this is a legacy protocol from the 1980s! Time capsules use SMB and AFP. Netbios is not required, why did you think it was?

After re-reading my question, I realize that the first paragraph was misleading. My Rube Goldberg-esque Time Capsule emulation is actually working just fine! I only included that information because I had a feeling that the virtual network adapter used to bridge my VirtualBox network connection to my ethernet adapter might have had something to do with my issue.

My issue is that I cannot see my PC from others on the same network. When I run an IPconfig /all I see that "NetBIOS over TCPIP" for my ethernet adapter (the real one, not some virtualized one) says disabled, no matter what I do to enable it. Netbios helper service is running and set to automatic. I assume that NetBIOS is causing the issue of other computers not seeing my PC through My Network Places and, in any case, I'm OCD and it bugs me that I can't enable it, as it appears that I should be able to.

Thanks for reading.

I get the whole OCD thing but trust me you are wasting your time, it's not the problem. It can actually create problems on modern OS.

 

[currancchs]

It will not be Netbios that's the problem, this is a legacy protocol from the 1980s! Time capsules use SMB and AFP. Netbios is not required, why did you think it was?

After re-reading my question, I realize that the first paragraph was misleading. My Rube Goldberg-esque Time Capsule emulation is actually working just fine! I only included that information because I had a feeling that the virtual network adapter used to bridge my VirtualBox network connection to my ethernet adapter might have had something to do with my issue.

My issue is that I cannot see my PC from others on the same network. When I run an IPconfig /all I see that "NetBIOS over TCPIP" for my ethernet adapter (the real one, not some virtualized one) says disabled, no matter what I do to enable it. Netbios helper service is running and set to automatic. I assume that NetBIOS is causing the issue of other computers not seeing my PC through My Network Places and, in any case, I'm OCD and it bugs me that I can't enable it, as it appears that I should be able to.

Thanks for reading.

I get the whole OCD thing but trust me you are wasting your time, it's not the problem. It can actually create problems on modern OS.

Well, besides the whole OCD thing, I still can't access my file/printer shares that are shared by the windows 10 machine in question. I have attempted to access them from 2 different macs (one running Yosemite, the other running whatever their latest/greatest version is called), a PC running windows 10 and from my Android phone, via app, all without success. Password protected sharing is off, network discovery is on, file and printer sharing is on (for all networks), firewall rules are all enabled/allowed... very strange issue.

 

[nigelivey]

Just out of curiosity does it work with password protection on?
This sounds suspiciously like a windows update issue, if it worked and now it doesn't.

 

[nigelivey]

One other question, are any hosts wireless?

 

[currancchs]

One other question, are any hosts wireless?

Thanks for your continued assistance. Yes, all computers, other than the desktop that is doing the sharing, are wireless, besides one attempt to access shares via vpn from a wired computer at work... It certainly does sound like a Windows-update inspired issue to me too, although I also replaced the router recently and have not successfully shared folders/printers from the machine in question with the new router, so I question that as well. That being said, it was at least a few months before I replaced the previous router that I had used file/printer sharing, so it may not have been working on the old router.

 

[jsmithepa]

You have ONE flat subnet? Netbios normally doesn't cross subnets.

 

[currancchs]

You have ONE flat subnet? Netbios normally doesn't cross subnets.

I believe that I do. All of my devices, wired and wireless, run on 192.168.2.0/24.

Could having a connection-specific DNS suffix affect anything? Also, I am using DNS masq for DNS...

Update: Just ran wireshark and filtered results to TCP port 445 and tried to establish a connection to the server from my work machine (over pptp vpn, I know, not optimal, but I'm impatient) and from my android phone via andSMB. I can see the incoming requests to the server from the server, but the server does not respond for some reason, so I think that I can rule out the router.

 

[currancchs]

Well, I got it working. Unfortunately, the resolution wasn't very satisfying as I'm still not sure what the underlying issue was. All that I did was perform a "network reset," which I accessed by clicking the start menu and typing "network reset." Keep in mind that the OS is Windows 10. Following a reboot, which was requested after the reset, ipconfig /all showed NetBIOS as enabled and the macs/android on my network could connect as before and the printer was also accessible.

November 17, 2016: Updated thread to choose user nigelivey's response indicating that this issue was potentially caused by a windows update as correct, since I am not apparently allowed to choose my own post (this one) as the solution. I hope that this does not confuse anybody in the future, but my choices appeared to be leaving the thread unsolved, and potentially diverting traffic from threads still requiring a solution, or marking a potentially at least somewhat correct answer as the solution. Thank you for the help everybody (especially you nigelivey!). Your comments pointed me in the right direction.

 

[Tinchote]

Well, I got it working. Unfortunately, the resolution wasn't very satisfying as I'm still not sure what the underlying issue was. All that I did was perform a "network reset," which I accessed by clicking the start menu and typing "network reset." Keep in mind that the OS is Windows 10. Following a reboot, which was requested after the reset, ipconfig /all showed NetBIOS as enabled and the macs/android on my network could connect as before and the printer was also accessible.

November 17, 2016: Updated thread to choose user nigelivey's response indicating that this issue was potentially caused by a windows update as correct, since I am not apparently allowed to choose my own post (this one) as the solution. I hope that this does not confuse anybody in the future, but my choices appeared to be leaving the thread unsolved, and potentially diverting traffic from threads still requiring a solution, or marking a potentially at least somewhat correct answer as the solution. Thank you for the help everybody (especially you nigelivey!). Your comments pointed me in the right direction.

Thanks SO much. This issue has been driving me crazy for days, and nothing worked until I found your solution.