Nucleus appearing twice in Finder

[Mark_Sealey]

Mario,

@Suedkiez

…Your Mac seems to be mounting the folder twice for some reason, as I already suspected a long time ago…

Yes, you did; thanks.

And I… “tried to ignore it”.

But one day - about a week ago - the two ‘Volumes’ had different Modification Dates. So I was worried that I might run into future difficulties; and my tidy mind became determined to try and look into it more.

@Suedkiez

I don’t understand this.

Sorry. A bit chaotic. That was one restart earlier.

@Suedkiez

what happens if you enter one of the two InternalStorage folders?

It appears as though they are identical.

But (I may be being fanatical) it just doesn’t seem right. Particularly the sporadic nature of this behavior.

[Mark_Sealey]

Michael.

@Michael_Harris

…clicking on the disconnect button shown in your finder screen shot, rebooting and then connecting again.

Just Unmounting in the Finder. Good question: one of three things happens:

1. I get two Nuclei back (20% of the time)
2. I get one back (most often); the ‘proper’ outcome
3. I get nothing back; ‘Nucleus cannot be found’ - but that was once after I’d updated my WiiM; so I put it down to that… unlikely isn’t it?

I’m also unclear about where the Cmnd+K action fits in. Does it tell macOS to store the route to the SMB share and tell it to mount it on boot?

(If the latter, I don’t need the Settings > General > Login Items, where ‘Open at Login’, do I?)

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@Mark_Sealey

Is it safe to then navigate to the Nucleus’s (Linux, RoonOS) ‘Storage > InternalStorage’, where I can see the Watched Folder?

It doesn’t matter.

You can either simply go to Network > Nucleus and enter here by doubleclicking it:

Then you can navigate Network > nucleus (rock in my case) > Data > Storage, where you will find the InternalStorage folder:

Our you can mount smb://nucleus, in which case the Nucleus will be mounted directly in Locations. So then you can click that and navigate Sidebar > nucleus > Data > Storage > InternalStorage.

Or you can mount smb://nucleus/Data/Storage by going to Finder > Go (in the menu bar) > Connect to server, and entering this there

in which case it will be the Storage folder that will be mounted directly, and you can go directly Network > Storage:

Or you can mount smb://nucleus/Data/Storage/InternalStorage

in which case it is the InternalStorage folder that becomes directly accessible:

See, the path that you use after smb:// defines which folder in the hierarchy will be mounted by the Mac, as a direct access entry.

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@Mark_Sealey

Sorry. A bit chaotic. That was one restart earlier.

OK I see

@Mark_Sealey

It appears as though they are identical.

And that’s because they are. They are just two separate entry points into the same physical location. As I said in the old post:

File servers are designed for sharing files to different clients at the same time, which would have them mounted. Usually it would be different machines mounting the shares, it’s just that in your case it’s the same machine apparently doing it twice.

But it would annoy me, too, for tidiness reasons, so I understand why you want to get rid of it. I still think you will have to figure out why the Mac is mounting the share twice, and it is not unheard of as I referenced back then:

It certainly happened before for other people, googling “SMB share mounted twice Mac” finds many instances, e.g.

https://www.reddit.com/r/macsysadmin/comments/dsw68s/smb_share_win_2019_server_shows_twice_on_mac/

[Mark_Sealey]

Mario,

@Suedkiez

It doesn’t matter…

…the path that you use after smb:// defines which folder in the hierarchy will be mounted by the Mac, as a direct access entry.

In that case, at least for tonight (I so appreciate this help - and know it’s late where you are now too!) I am content that I (still/again) have access to my Watched folder.

If the IP Reservation has worked, I also have a potentially more appropriate and simpler setting for the Finder to get to the Nucleus.

Roon hasn’t once complained.

Could it be that the original cause has as much to do with that multiplicity of places in the hierarchy (smb://NUCLEUS as well as smb://NUCLEUS/Data as well as smb://NUCLEUS/Data/Storage etc) as anything; and - because they’re different - has tried to be ‘helpful’ by presenting me with both, albeit defaulting to ‘Internal Storage’?

I suspect the best thing now is to watch over all my next (re)boots and see if I get the duplication phenomenon again?

If so, then - as you say - we’ve eliminated a fair few options and combinations.

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

To clarify, doing it like this performs the one-time mount

You can also click the button there, bottom left in the window, and add it to the list of favorite servers, making it permanent

[Mark_Sealey]

Mario,

@Suedkiez

And that’s because they are […identical…]. They are just two separate entry points into the same physical location. As I said in the old post:…

Indeed.

But - as I’ve just discovered - those representations (as ‘InternalStorage’) could well be somewhat generic ‘assimilations’ of/pointers to actually quite different locations down the hierarchy, couldn’t they?

But it would annoy me, too, for tidiness reasons, so I understand why you want to get rid of it.

Thanks, Mario !

Not least because the command line both has to (because they can’t have the same name) and does distinguish between two volumes - ‘InternalStorage’ and ‘InternalStorage - 1’.

Unless macOS creates a symbolic link (and we all know just how complex Apple has made those - viz. Time Machine’s - when compared with the original FreeBSD.

I still think you will have to figure out why the Mac is mounting the share twice…

Indeed I shall. Other utilities like this one also do definitely see two distinct Volumes!

…and it is not unheard of as I referenced back then…

I looked at those again. A fair few of the comments reference a possible association with certain (e.g. ‘old’) user accounts and the OS’s apparent need to distinguish between them; and the use of aliases. Neither applies in this case.

Knowing that it’s not a unique phenomenon is somewhat re-assuring. But I couldn’t find another case on this forum.

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@Mark_Sealey

Could it be that the original cause has as much to do with that multiplicity of places in the hierarchy (smb://NUCLEUS as well as smb://NUCLEUS/Data as well as smb://NUCLEUS/Data/Storage etc) as anything; and - because they’re different - has tried to be ‘helpful’ by presenting me with both, albeit defaulting to ‘Internal Storage’?

I can’t rule that out. You could try Finder menu bar > Go > Connect to server > (…) > Clear recent servers

@Mark_Sealey

I suspect the best thing now is to watch over all my next (re)boots and see if I get the duplication phenomenon again?

I would say so

@Mark_Sealey

and know it’s late where you are now too!)

NFL is keeping me up anyway, but indeed I better focus on the second half if I stay up far too long

[Mark_Sealey]

Mario,

Thanks for this confirmation of the ‘degree of permanence’ of Cmnd+K

button

@Suedkiez

@Mark_Sealey

Could it be…tried to be ‘helpful’…

I can’t rule that out. You could try Finder menu bar > Go > Connect to server > (…) > Clear recent servers

Yes, I did that a couple of times.

I suspect the best thing now is to watch over all my next (re)boots and see if I get the duplication phenomenon again?

I would say so

and know it’s late where you are now too!)

NFL is keeping me up anyway, but indeed I better focus on the second half if I stay up far too long

… !

[mikeb]

Guys, I think it’s a macOS bug.

Bonjour Sleep Proxy

[connor]

Hi @Mark_Sealey,

Checking in here since some time has passed. Thank you for your generous contributions in other Support threads in the meantime.

We’ve reviewed the thread with development and have a few thoughts:

1. A Bonjour Sleep Proxy issue as @mikeb is certainly a possible mechanism, although we can’t prove from available diagnostics that mDNS proxying is happening here
2. Have you at any time mounted this location via hostname and via IP address separately?

• you can view mount history on a Mac by opening Terminal and entering mount.

3. What happens if you disable WiFi temporarily and leave only the hardwire connection to the storage location?

[Mark_Sealey]

Connor,

Thanks so much for following up on this!

I believe that the issue is essentially solved - largely thanks to @Suedkiez’s and @Michael_Harris’s posts.

@connor

…Thank you for your generous contributions in other Support threads in the meantime.

How kind of you to say that! But I am the grateful one: to everyone else who is so generous with their time and expertise.

…a few thoughts:

1. A Bonjour Sleep Proxy issue…

I can see how that might be.

2. …via hostname and via IP address separately?

Almost certainly - at least, since (and in the course of setting) the Reserved Address solution, which seems to have fixed it. Again, thanks: I can see why and how.

3. …disable WiFi temporarily…?

I’ll try that if the phenomenon ever comes back. But it does seem as though addressing the Nucleus with its assigned IP address has stopped any (which I’m OK with) representation of the Volume, Nucleus/InternalStorage, from appearing.

Has this in any way been useful for your (internal) FAQ as a potential oddity which may affect other users with a configuration similar to mine?