How to set up a NAS connection on a Mac OSX computer

[Peter Lowham]

Hi All,

There have been quite a number of queries about getting a NAS (network attached storage) connection established from a Mac OSX computer to the B2.  Having just acquired a used MacBook Pro from eBay, I got the NAS function running fairly quickly, so I thought sharing those setup steps might help others.

First, enable 'NAS' on the B2.

On the B2 front panel, select 'Settings' --> 'Maintenance' --> 'Start NAS' and click on this.

I would also recommend that you check that your B2 software is up to date, at the time of writing that is 'B2B Jul 21 2020' or 'B2 Jul 21 2020'

From the Mac desktop:

1. Click 0n the 'Apple' icon (top left icon)

2. Click on 'Select Preferences'

3. Click on 'Sharing' icon

4. In left side menu of the 'Sharing' window, tick 'File Sharing' box; the status should show  'File Sharing: On' with a green indicator showing in the middle of the window.

5. On the right hand side of the 'Sharing' window, click on the 'Options' button

6. In the new sub window that appears, tick the 'Share files and folders using SMB' box.

7. Towards the bottom of this window under 'Windows File Sharing:', where 'Account' is displayed, tick the 'On' box for your Mac user name.

8. A sub-window 'Authenticate' shows.  Enter your Mac user password in the 'Password' box.

9. The sub-window will close, and then in the 'Sharing' window, click on the 'Done' box.

10. You can close the 'Sharing' window now.

11. On the desktop, open up 'Finder'

12. In the left side window, click on 'Network'

13. You should now see 'brennanb2' listed in the right side window.

14. Highlight and click on 'brennanb2'

15. You should see a status of 'Not connected' (this is correct)

16. On the top right of the window you will see a button 'Connect As ...'

17. A window will open up 'You are attempting to connect to the server 'brennanb2'

18. Click on the 'Connect' button

19. A new window opens up showing 'Enter your name and password for the server 'brennanb2'

20. Then click on the 'Registered User' button.

21. In the 'Name' box, type in 'root' (without the quotes)

22. In the 'Password' box, type in 'brennan' (without the quotes.

23. Tick the 'Remember this password in my keychain' box.

24. Click the 'Connect' button.

25. A window will open up showing your music folders on the B2.

Now that you have established the NAS connection from your Mac to the B2, each time you start up or reboot your Mac, the 'brennanb2' should appear in the network section of 'Finder'

I have noticed that, after a reboot of the Mac, it may take five minutes or so for the NAS connection to be re-established, so that's the time to put the kettle on!

Also, if you have a lot of music files, the directory listing might take a minute ot two to appear on the screen.  You might see the 'loading' icon spinning for a little while.

However once the list is showing, the response times are good when you are manipulating files and folders.

I have tested this on 'High Sierra' and 'Catalina' versions so far.

I have only owned the Mac for a few days and am not familiar yet with Apple products, so if you find any errors or omissions in these instructions then please let me know and I'll apply the changes.

Regards,

Peter.

[PMB]

Hi Peter,

Thank you for the useful information.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi All,

I left out a small but important instruction which must be done between step 3 and step 4 in the instructions above, which is

3.5  At the bottom left of the window click on the icon 'Click the lock to make changes'.

3.6  A new sub window opens up asking you for your user password; type this into the 'Password' field.

I have now tested this successfully on:

'Snow Leopard' (10.6)

'High Sierra' (10.13)

'Catalina' (10.15)

Regards,

Peter.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi All,

I have now tested this successfully on:

'Leopard' (10.5)

[Peter Lowham]

Hi All,

My thanks to Margaret Hall for confirming that the instructions work for OSX 'Mojave' (10.14).

Regards,

Peter.

[Madelyn Edelson]

Great instructions, thanks. I connected successfully and am able to back up the B2 via NAS to an external hard drive that's connected to the iMac. Question: if I ever need to restore the contents, how will it work in reverse? I imagine that process could be extremely slow, so perhaps it would be better to plug the backup drive directly into the B2 with USB? If I do that, will it automatically copy everything on the drive to the B2 (there are other files on the drive) or will I be able to select just the B2 backup files?

[PMB]

Hi Barry E,

In order to connect the backup HDD directly to the B2 it will need to have been FAT32 formatted - is this the case?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[quok...@gmail.com]

Just a quick note to Peter to say thank you very much for your very clear and straightforward instructions for setting up a Mac and B2
NAS connection. All worked perfectly and very quickly using the latest Big Sur OS.

David

[Peter Lowham]

Hi David,

Thanks very much for the feedback on the use of NAS on Big Sur.  My MacBook Pro is a 2011 model and I have upgraded it through Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave and Catalina, with High Sierra being the last supported release for my particular model.  I have been comtemplating doing the 'unofficial' upgrade to Big Sur, but am trying to understand if this is an 'unofficial upgrade bridge too far' with the possibility of bricking the MacBook.

So this is very helpful information to the forum.

Regards and thanks,

Peter.

[Gingerp30]

Peter, THANK you for a clear in-English (and not computerese, rife with acronyms and non-complete sentences) explanation of connecting Brennan to Mac.   I used the directions for Monterey and while I had to repeat steps occasionally to get the boxes connected - it works well.

Best regards,

Patricia

On Thursday, September 10, 2020 at 10:48:13 AM UTC-4 peter....@gmail.com wrote: