University Computer Help Desk

Configuring Mac OS X 10.4 with WINS to allow NetBIOS name resolution when using SMB through the Finder

Follow these instructions to configure Mac OS X 10.4 with a WINS server address.

Before You Begin

Mac OS X 10.4 does not automatically obtain WINS server addresses from DHCP. This prevents you from using the Finder to mount a volume (map a network drive) when you are using a NetBIOS host name.

This article assumes you can mount a volume using an IP address or DNS address but not a NetBIOS host name.

To mount a volume in Mac OS X 10.4, do the following:

  1. Within the Finder, click Go> Connect to Server....
  2. Enter a network path in the box labeled Server Address:.
    • Example: smb://ip_address/share (this works)
    • Example: smb://dns_address/share (this works)
    • Example: smb://netbios_name/share (this does not work)

When you try using the Finder to mount a volume using a NetBIOS host name, you get the following error:

The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "smb://netbios_name/share" could not be read or written.
(Error code -36).

This error is a general I/O (input/output) error which can occur under many different circumstances. The information in this article applies only to this error if it is returned when you attempt to mount a volume using a NetBIOS host name.

Create .nsmbrc File

To resolve the problem described above, create a .nsmbrc file and use it to specify your WINS server address. At Illinois State University, this allows you to mount volumes (map network drives) using NetBIOS host names, rather than IP addresses or DNS addresses.

To create a .nsmbrc file and specify the campus WINS server, do the following:

  1. Double-click on your hard drive.
  2. Double-click Applications> Utilities> Terminal.
  3. At the command prompt, type the following:
    pico .nsmbrc
    (Be sure to include the dot (.) at the beginning of .nsmbrc.)
  4. Press the return key.
  5. This creates a new file called .nsmbrc and opens it for editing with the pico editor.
  6. Type the following two lines. (see figure 1)
    [default]
    nbns = 172.30.103.9
  7. Press control + O to save the file.
  8. Press the return key to confirm the file name, .nsmbrc.
  9. Press control + X to exit the pico editor.
  10. Click Terminal > Quit Terminal.

You can now mount a volume using a NetBIOS name rather than an IP address or DNS address.

Article Information

  • Article ID: 1450
  • Last Review: Nov 6, 2008
  • Type: Instructions

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