Desktop disappearing from network

I have a Linksys WRT54GL, a desktop on ethernet, and a laptop on wireless. The desktop stays on all the time, does not go into hibernation or standby. I turn the laptop on only when I am ready to use it. Out of the blue, when I turn on the laptop now the desktop is not shown in the network so I cannot access my shared files. However, I can still access the internet. If I restart the laptop, nothing changes, but if I restart the desktop, it then appears in the network on the laptop. I shut down both computers, killed the power to the router for 30 seconds and then repowered. This didn't solve the problem. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

it's not the router. it's windows.
Your desktop is still there, you just can't "browse" to it all the time.
you can do 1 of 2 things...
create a shortcut on yoru laptop to the shared folders on your desktop. As long as the desktop is on, you'll get to them when you click on them.
or..
Check both the desktop services for "Computer Browser" and make sure it's started, if not, find out why...this could be a number of things.
you may not have a problem, more of a nusance (spelling) but you should still be able to connect to your shared folders if you create the shortcut.
good luck

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IBook disappears from network when using Airport

Hi there. Until recently my wife and her iBook have happily shared files back and forth with my Mini, and she has been able to use my shared printer. Now, when she's connected to the internet through our Airport Graphite, our computers no longer show up on each other's network, and she can't find my shared printer.
I'm not sure if I have a software or hardware problem, but I can't figure it out on my own.
We have two desktops (a Mini and an eMac) connected to a cable modem through an ethernet hub. The Airport Graphite is also connected to the hub. The Airport is configured to distribute IP addresses, and ethernet client computers also share a single IP address (using NAT).
If we unplug the ethernet cable from our eMac and plug it into my wife's iBook, the iBook and Mini can once again "see" each other, and my wife can access my shared printer. When we unplug the ethernet from the iBook and go back to using the Airport, the iBook can still access the Internet, but it disappears from the local network.
I'm hoping there's a simple explanation that I'm missing. I'd be grateful for some help!
Mac Mini 1.2 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Thanks so much for responding, Tesserax.
My hub is a "Linksys 5-Port Workgroup Hub," model EW5HUB.
The cable modem is plugged into the port called "Uplink." The Mini is plugged into port 1, the eMac into port 2, and the Airport into port 3.
The network has functioned properly in the past (the iBook used the printer plugged into the Mini, and we shared files back and forth). Recently, I had to reset the Airport, but I thought I had reconfigured it correctly. In short, Airport configuration would be my main suspect here.
I'm afraid I don't know what (if anything) is supplying NAT service. I assumed it was something the Airport does -- allowing it to sort out the flow of data to the various computers. The question is beyond my expertise level because I don't really understand what NAT service is. Is the problem in my Airport's Network configuration?
My ISP assigns IP addresses dynamically, so my Airport doesn't have a static IP address. However, my ISP allows for only two IP addresses, so I need my ethernet computers to also share the Airport's address.
I hope that, somewhere during my ramblings, a light has gone off in your more enlightened mind. Thanks again for your help!

Mac Mini keeps disappearing from network

I have a 2009 Mac Mini running 10.9.1 that is serving as a media center computer. Plex Media Server is on this machine along with my collection of movies and TV shows. I frequently access this machine using Plex clients, both on Mac and Roku, and also via file sharing and screen sharing on other macs. I almost always manage this machine through screen sharing, which makes this problem extremely frustrating.
Basically this mac keeps disappearing from my network. I can see it under "Shared" in finder on another computer, but when I click on it it hangs on "connecting" for a while and then just disappears. Same thing when trying to access via the Plex client on Roku. Sometimes I try to play something and it tells me to make sure my server is connected and running, and sometimes it doesn't even see my Plex media server at all.
I have screen sharing and file sharing enabled, and the firewall is set up to allow incoming connections for screen sharing, file sharing, and also Plex and all its helper programs. I don't think any of these should be the issue because I can access the mini with no problems SOME of the time just not all the time. Seems like if I haven't connected for some unknown amount of time this problem crops up. When it doesn't work I have to trot down to the basement, turn on the monitor (100" projection screen, so kind of annoying) and restart the computer. I have tried toggling "Put hard disks to sleep when possible," and that didn't seem to have any effect. I also have the energy saver set to wake for network access.
I do not recall having this problem as often, if ever, before I upgraded to Mavericks. Not sure if that could be part of the issue. One other quirk since upgrading to Mavericks is that upon every restart I am asked if I want to allow incoming connections for Plex and Connect 360, both of which are listed in the firewall preferences ad allowed programs.
Can anybody help?

See if it's related to this...
It also seems to be related to later OSX versions, like 10.8.x & 10.9.x
The 2012 macs (and later apparently) (also later OSX versions on earlier Macs can do it also), not waking normally from sleep after hours being in sleep. (noted here ...
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/archives/feb13/022813.html#2012macswontwake
"Why 2012 iMac/2012 Mac Mini won't Wake After Hours of Sleep (Hibernates/Powers Off)")
The sleepimage file still reappears even if never slept. Delete it (hibernate off, etc) - within minutes its back.
A note on that here - http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/Chameleon_SSD_Optimizer.html
About iMac sleep...
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1529750
Try this: "sudo pmset autopoweroff 0" and "sudo pmset standby 0"
http://xlr8yourmac.com/archives/sep13/091313.html#10.8.5SleepEjectTip
One user reported that the opposite worked...
Try this: "sudo pmset autopoweroff 1" and "sudo pmset standby 1"

AXs keep disappearing from network

I have an Airport Extreme Base Station and two Airport Express units upstairs for Airtunes. All of the units have the latest firware upgrades. The network uses WPA2 Personal and WPS.
On multiple occassions, both of the AX units will stop streaming music. What I mean by that is the units will appear in the Airport Admin table and the lights on the units are green, but they will not stream the music. I usually have to reset the units in Airport Set Up Utility and let them restart in order to get them working again.
For awhile I had only 1 AX unit in my livingroom and don't think I had this problem. It seemed to develop shortly after I added a second AE unit on the porch. That unit was a demo model from my local Apple store but they said it was in perfect working order.
If I don't stream music for several days I usually find that the AXs don't respond and have to be reset. If I stream music for several hours, most of the time they will drop off in the middle of playing. They both seem to go off line together (it's all or nothing for music streaming.)
I have tried changing the channel (from 11 to 5) thinking it could be an interference problem but that hasn't helped.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
David

I too, started having problems when I added a second AX to my network. They both worked for about 36 hours and then one "disappeared" from my network.
Haven't tried resetting or configuring via ethernet connection. Just noticed this a.m. b/4 leaving for work.
I've been struggling for the better part of a week trying to get my home wireless setup and thought that I had only to encounter this new setback this morning.
I'll reply again if I'm successsful.

Time Capsule disappears from network, but still routes. Forced to reboot.

My Time Capsule (approx 3 months old) operating properly for about 2 months, routing and Time Machine for 2 Macs.
Recently it has started disappearing from the network, Airport Util and Time Machine. After a reboot, everything will appear fine, but after a 5-15 days or so, it will just vanish again. It will still route network traffic just fine, but is not accessible.
7.5.1
WPA2 Personal
1 USB printer attached
Internet is standard sharing, no DHCP issues
TC disk is available and working
Only odd things:
I did play around with the workgroup on the TC a few times, as Windows comps were having major problems talking to eachother. No longer an issue (winpc's off network) and should not be related.
In the DHCP clients list, there are 2 IPs assigned to clients with the name of the Time Capsule. They both have MAC addresses too (huh?). All other machines connected to the network are accounted for already. I'm assuming this is some function of the TM backup process, as the TC is backing up 2 machines on that network.
I have not tried a hard reset yet, but if this happens again (4 times now, I'm sure it will happen again) I will hard reset and see what happens. I just don't see any reason it should vanish after a week.

you could be suffering from wireless interference.
perhaps one of your neighbor's wireless networks is interfering with yours. download iStumbler and note the channels other networks in the vicinity are broadcasting on.
change the channel your network is using as far away as possible from those.

Time Capsule disappears from network

Hi,
I'm using a 2Tb Time Capsule (version 7.6.4), both for backing up my Mac mini and the iMac of my wife, as well as to create the LAN/WLAN at home. I never experienced any problems with it, until starting a few days ago the TC disappears from the network every now and then.
The funny thing is that the green LED is still on while the TC is 'gone', as well as internet access works without problems. After a couple of minutes the TC returns as if nothing would have happened. In case a scheduled backup is initiated while the TC is 'absent', I get an error message from the Time Machine, saying that it didn't find the backup disk. I restarted the TC once, but it didn't help.
Cheers
Christopher

I have been having this issue the last few weeks. TimeMachine reports that it is unable to complete hourly backups and Airport Utility reports the prior seen TC cannot be found.
I have reset each device several times.
Tonight I ran Airport Utility and left it on and the Airport TC alternately reports "Device Not Found" (Internet light is green, Airport light is orange) and then a minute or two later "Reading Settings on Airport" (with both lights green). It then reverts to Device not Found.
This TC has been working just fine for the last 8 or 9 months since I bought it.
Is there a utility of some sort that I could run to check the integrity of the hardware?

Imac disappears from network

I have submitted this question on the Airport Time capsule forum but was asked to do it here.
In short: My imac disappears from the network (it stops showing on the "devices/shared" area on Finder and then I am unable to put it back in. I suspect this happens when it goes to sleep, not sure.
Longer explanation: This started with multiple names of the imac appearing in the "shared" window. I am aware this is an unsolved issue. I did the recommended temporary fix and then had to restart all of my network to get it to work. it did, but later in the day the imac disappeared from it.
I am running 10.10.1
Thx

This is the only thing that will force a connection:
"If the computer is not on your local network or subnetwork, you can still connect to it by choosing Go > “Connect to Server” and typing its address in the “Connect to Server” dialog."
However this will not allow you to screen share and since my mac mini is headless it will not help me.
Same here, firewall is OFF.

Airport Express Disappears From Network

I have my Mac connecting to my Airport Express (6.3 firmware) via a Netgear DG834G wireless router.
If I reset the Airport Express, then it can be seen by the Admin utility and iTunes, but will disappear after a short period of time ( say 10 minutes ).
However even when it is not visible to the Admin Utilities scan I can still connect to the AX by its IP address, reset it and it will re-aooear again for a short duration.
Any ideas?

Same problem here...and yes also after receiving a new router from my provider.
The weird thing however is that when I use Airfoil in combination with Winamp (or whatever media player) there are no problems at all.
So the problem is for me clearly related to iTunes and the admin utility.
When using iTunes I have exactly 1 hour and 17 minutes music.
I have however no idea if Airfoil has a different way of comunicating with the AX (name, IP address, protocol)

My USB connected iP7200 printer repeatedly disappears from networked computers.

If relevant, the printer is installed on a Win7 32-bit, and the networked computers are Win7, (one is 32-bit, the other 64-bit). The driver on these networked computers are picked up from the computer with the printer attached by USB, and I have to refind the drivers almost daily. Any suggestions please?
Matt

When you set up the print on the XP computer did you do the following?
1) Add a printer
2) Add a local printer
3) Create a NEW Port in the add printer wizard from the control panel
4) select LOCAL port
5) enter the network name (Win7 computer ie. \\win7computername\printerid)
Please mark the post that solves your issue as "Accept as Solution".
If my answer was helpful click the “Thumbs Up" on the left to say “Thanks”!
I am not a HP employee.

TimeCapsule Disappears from Network

This always happens. I do not know why. My Time Capsule is connect via ethernet to my AT&T modem directly. Most of the time it is just the TC and only the AirPort Express is shown online in the network. However in this screenshot, you see both are missing from the network. A restart of the device by unplugging and plugging it back in will fix this issue, temporarily. The fix does not last long, and before I know it, it is "missing" again.
Anyone with a similar issue know a fix?
Suggestions? Ideas?
Thanks!
Screenshots:

Caleb
You don't say how you are monitoring your devices, from your screen shots I presume that it is with a Mac, the problem may be if that Mac is running Yosemite, but not the latest version. Try checking that your TC is up and running by connecting to it using your smart phone or other device.
You can also connect to the TC via ethernet. I suspect that the TC has been working ok and the problem is at the Mac end, this is where mine was.
When you are connected to the TC I would follow La Pasteneque's advice of making sure that your wifi SSID is set to something simple with no spaces and only alphanumeric characters for example CTC2GHz and CTC5GHz. Set the password for the wifi to a mix of alphanumerical characters use upper and lower case to make it more unique. I think that after these simple changes you will find your TC permanently available via wifi.
Ted

AirPort Time Capsule disappears from network

I purchased an AirPort Time Capsule (2T) and installed it to our home network. We have Verizon Fios, are connected to the internet via the Verizon router, etc. I installed the Time Capsule per the instructions and our 2 MacBook airs found the Time Capsule. So did our IPads. I also connected our 2 IPhones to the newly created Wi-Fi network.
My main,home PC did find the Time Capsule, which is why I originally purchased the unit - to provide Wi-Fi back-up for our files, music, pictures, etc. Once found, I also changed my PC Wi-Fi settings to use my new network to connect to the internet.
I also copied some of my files to the 'data' section of the Time Capsule - the pictures took 8 hours to copy. Afetr completing this, I put my PC into hibernate and went to bed.
The next morning, my PC did not find or connect to the Time Capsule, but it is using the Time Capsule Wi-Fi for internet connections.
The Time Capsule appeared on it's own after about 15 minutes, but will not appear now and I do not know how to find it to re-connect and be found by my main HP PC. I have rebotted my PC several times and this does not work. I have also tried changing back to my old Wi-Fi connection and then re-connecting to the new network - also does not find the Time Capsule.
Does anyone know what I have to do so that the AirPort Time Capsule shows and is connected all of the time to the network, as seen by my main PC?
My MacBook airs seem to stay connected.
Thanks,
Jim

No, I did not know this and am installing it as I type.
I did notice that when I first re-boot my PC from the hibernate mode, the Time Capsule is not there in my network, but shows up in about 10 to 20 minutes (estimate). It has shown up each and every time I have used the PC. Awfully strange - when I commented on this forum originally, it did not show up for an hour or so; thus, I asked for help. Now - it shows up each time even if late or takes some time to discover.
Thus, I believe there might be some sort of 'search and find' function, that adds the wi-fi capable Time Capsule once found.
As long as it keeps showing up, as it is now, even if late, I will live with it.
I have been out of hibernate mode for about 10 minutes now - I just looked and Time Capsule is there.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Jim

Time capsule disappears from network but wireless still works

Is this a common problem?

you could be suffering from wireless interference.
perhaps one of your neighbor's wireless networks is interfering with yours. download iStumbler and note the channels other networks in the vicinity are broadcasting on.
change the channel your network is using as far away as possible from those.

Hp deskjet 6100 disappears from network and ipad?

I connected and printed several times one day, but a few days later tried to print again and not only could I not print, the printer was gone from my settings.
Any ideas why? Any remedies?

Thank you for your feedback.
As for the router, try changing the following:
1. Try channel 1, 6 or 11
2. Try change the wireless security e.g. WEP, WPA OR WPA2

Homehub 3 "disappears" from Network

Hi,
Had Infinity for a week now, and so far so good.
But this Homehub 3 thing bugs me a little bit. I've connected my external USB 2.0 hard drive to it, so everyone on the network can use the drive. But when I double click the network icon, the Homehub doesn't always appear under the "computer" section which is where it would appear so I can access the drive.
It appears under "network infrastructure" and "other devices" and access to the internet isn't affected.
Is this just another homehub 3 bug? I do find that restarting the hub sorts it out, but I don't want to keep restarting it every day if I can help it.
Thanks in advance.

fat32 may work better
how big is the disk as windows has a problem formatting large disks
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm

Network Drives Disappear from Finder Intermittently

I'm periodically having problems with my Mac recognizing an Iomega Home Media Network Drive. Everything's connected together using an Airport Extreme. Usually the drive will show up under the "Shared" category in the Finder, and I can connect and use it normally.
Every once and awhile, it disappears from that list. I can still connect manually using Go->Connect to Server, but the Finder doesn't pick it up on its own. After a few days or weeks, it'll just show up in the shared list again. No amount of restarting/repairing permissions will fix it. For example, my drive has been missing for about a week now, and after doing nothing special it decided to show back up while I was typing this post.
I've seen this topic come up periodically on the boards, but I couldn't find anything recent or with a solution. Has anyone encountered or come up with a fix for this?
Thanks,
-Jason

I have an Iomega drive that is also fidgety on the network, either in Leopard (when problem arose) or SL (when I found my solution). I actually had to view my drive under the sidebar path ComputerName> Network> AirPortEx> Iomega Drive because I kept getting errors when I tried to view in column view from the shared section despite having the drive set to ignore permissions.
Firstly, this is what I call a workaround, not a fix, as recognition of the drive doesn't work seamlessly in Finder as advertised, but required these extra steps in order for me to always see the drive in the sidebar. Secondly, it may not be absolutely necessary to do all these things, and I am assuming you have the authority on your network to do all these things, but here's what I've done to get my satisfaction:
1. Make sure you set servers to mount on the desktop in Finder prefs and that connected servers and bonjour computers are set up to show in the sidebar
2. Use connect to server if you have to and mount the drive to your desktop
3. Once the drive is on your desktop, open system prefs and go to your login items under Accounts & Authenticate by clicking the lock on the lower left and entering your password
4. Drag the network drive into your login items (and dock, sidebar, or window toolbar if desired)
5. Restart
This may not be the fix you hoped for. You do seem to have to keep the drive mounted, etc. But I do always see it in my sidebar under sharing now, and have no problems viewing anything on it from wherever in the Finder I try to access it (whether from the sidebar in the shared section or under the network area of my computer, in the dock, or from the toolbar). At the very least you never have to Connect to Server again. Hit the drive icon in the dock and it will connect if you get disconnected.
FYI: Make sure you always choose the "ignore" button when/if alerts pop up to tell you that you have been disconnected from the drive because you'll have to remount otherwise. These alerts occur to me only when waking my MBP from sleep. I wait 2-3 seconds, and click on the icon of my Iomega drive that I have in my sidebar, toolbar, or dock and it shows contents just fine, still connected after all.
Message was edited by: snowsister

Desktop disappearing from network

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