Error code 0x80070035 - The network path is not found

h3donyst

Member
Looking for a kind soul who can help me resolve this long standing issue with my network that has been driving me insane.
I have set up many home networks, resolved many issues but I seem to be stuck at this one.

I have 3 computers in my home network.
1.MAIN-PC (Ethernet)
2.MEDIA-PC (Ethernet)
3.LROOM-PC (WIFI)

All computers can see each other, all computers can access each other except the most important one,
from 1.MAIN-PC to 2.MEDIA-PC (they can ping each other)
I get this error code 0x80070035
The network path is not found
Here is my diagram and error to get a better understanding.







All of the computers have installed:
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Version: 10.0.19042 Build 19042
MBOs not older than 2 yrs.

I have tried following things:

Verify SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support is Installed - Enable/disable SMB V1.0
Disable the Internet Protocol Version 6
Network Reset - ipconfig /release ipconfig /flushdns ipconfig /renew - Reset TCP/IP
Enable LanMan Workstation
Static/Dynamic IPs
Make sure sharing is enabled on the folder
Using gpedit.msc - Enable insecure guest logons (regedit also)
Disable the antivirus and Firewall temporarily
Reinstall network adapter on MAIN-PC
Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP
Modify the Network Security settings - Local Policies >> Security Options - Send LM & NTLM-use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated
Installed Reliable Multicast Protocol
Connect to the target computer using IP - fail
Windows Firewall > incoming > file and printer sharing (smb incoming) [choose the one with the green bubble for your active profile] > area > remote-ip [add the ip-range of your vpn-network here]
Permissions (security and share) on MEDIA-PC set to Everyone
Enable all Network services


MEDIA-PC had WIN7 installed and this issue was present then.
I changed the MBO on the MEDIA-PC recently and installed WIN10 PRO (not for this reason, upgrade) I hoped the problem would be resolved but interestingly enough it was not. That probably means the issue is on my MAIN-PC.
 
HomeGroup was removed from Windows 10 as of version 1803, which may be causing your issue.
Did you try setting your Function Discovery Resource Publication to automatic?
You can do that by opening "run" and typing "services.msc", find it set it to automatic and click start
A guide for that is here
 

h3donyst

Member
Tried it, same error.
HomeGroup was removed from Windows 10 as of version 1803, which may be causing your issue.
Did you try setting your Function Discovery Resource Publication to automatic?
You can do that by opening "run" and typing "services.msc", find it set it to automatic and click start
A guide for that is here
 

voyagerfan99

Master of Turning Things Off and Back On Again
Staff member
Make sure your network profile didn't change from private to public, as that would block file and printer sharing in the Windows firewall.
 

Pupp

Member
You have an overly engineered network. All router do switching, and on top of having a separate switch, you have a one-way link from media PC to the main PC.
I have no idea why you did that. That alone is going to cause the switch to have issues, when it's routing information between the media PC and the main PC.

Just keep each item connected only once to the network.

At a bare miniumum, get rid of the direct link from the media PC to the main PC.
If you can, ditch the switch, and use the router to do your switching. Technically a router isn't a switch, but for consumer purposes, it's close enough.
 

beers

Moderator
Staff member
What about a more specific path for the SMB/CIFS mount? Did you disable network discovery on one of them?
 

h3donyst

Member
Make sure your network profile didn't change from private to public, as that would block file and printer sharing in the Windows firewall.
I have, all the network profiles are private.
You have an overly engineered network. All router do switching, and on top of having a separate switch, you have a one-way link from media PC to the main PC.
I have no idea why you did that. That alone is going to cause the switch to have issues, when it's routing information between the media PC and the main PC.

Just keep each item connected only once to the network.

At a bare miniumum, get rid of the direct link from the media PC to the main PC.
If you can, ditch the switch, and use the router to do your switching. Technically a router isn't a switch, but for consumer purposes, it's close enough.
I do some PC repairs and I like connecting guest/temp PCs using the switch and some other reasons, mostly placement, cable managment, etc...
I believe taking out the switch will do nothing for my issue since the switch has been added only couple of days ago, for convenience reasons. Up until recently the MAIN-PC and the MEDIA-PC have been directly connected over the router and the issue was still present. Bare in mind I've had this issue over a year ago when the switch was not present, also the router is new and the issue is still there. All of this makes me suspect the MAIN-PC is the culprit. Since everything else has changed: MEDIA-PC (WIN 10 clean install not upgrade from WIN 7), router, switch, cables.

What about a more specific path for the SMB/CIFS mount? Did you disable network discovery on one of them?
Yes, tried it, no luck.
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
What type of security software do you have running on the media pc? Sometimes that will block connections from other pc's unless you allow it in the software.
 

h3donyst

Member
What type of security software do you have running on the media pc? Sometimes that will block connections from other pc's unless you allow it in the software.
Native windows defender and firewall. Nothing else.
Also, I did try to edit the hosts file, turning off the windows firewall and creating a rule to let trough the MEDIA-PC IP address.
 
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Darren

Moderator
Staff member
If you really wanted to get into it. Run a packet trace with Wireshark from the Main-PC and see if the TCP handshake is happening and if it's failing on establishing the SMB session or elsewhere. You can filter out the IP of the two PC's once it's collected and cut out all the other traffic. Otherwise it will have a ton of packets to dig through. Looks like it's having trouble even finding the host though, so doubt it's hanging on establishing SMB.

Are you able to ping via hostname (not IP)? Have you messed with your DNS at all? NSLookup return the proper hostname/IP?
 
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h3donyst

Member
If you really wanted to get into it. Run a packet trace with Wireshark from the Main-PC and see if the TCP handshake is happening and if it's failing on establishing the SMB session or elsewhere. You can filter out the IP of the two PC's once it's collected and cut out all the other traffic. Otherwise it will have a ton of packets to dig through. Looks like it's having trouble even finding the host though, so doubt it's hanging on establishing SMB.

Are you able to ping via hostname (not IP)? Have you messed with your DNS at all? NSLookup return the proper hostname/IP?
Something new. Thanks for the tip.
I get Destination host unreachable when pinging by hostname, other LROOM-PC pings fine:
Ping statistics for ***.***.***.***:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Reply from ***.***.***.***: Destination host unreachable.
Only ping by IP passes.

I'll give a wireshark a try and let you know.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
So when you ping via Hostname, is the IP it's returning correct, or is it the gateway IP responding saying it's unreachable? If it's the gateway, then DNS isn't resolving properly, so you'd want to look into why your gateway isn't responding properly. If you messed with host files at any point you might have an old latent entry in there pointing to the wrong IP.

For work I actually do NAS support utilizing this kind of troubleshooting on commercial grade NAS appliances. After a certain point a packet trace is the only way to really know what's going on. Although at this point it sounds like DNS isn't resolving. I'm not super familiar with Windows File Sharing intricacies, moreso direct SMB/NFS shares.
 

h3donyst

Member
So when you ping via Hostname, is the IP it's returning correct, or is it the gateway IP responding saying it's unreachable? If it's the gateway, then DNS isn't resolving properly, so you'd want to look into why your gateway isn't responding properly. If you messed with host files at any point you might have an old latent entry in there pointing to the wrong IP.

For work I actually do NAS support utilizing this kind of troubleshooting on commercial grade NAS appliances. After a certain point a packet trace is the only way to really know what's going on. Although at this point it sounds like DNS isn't resolving. I'm not super familiar with Windows File Sharing intricacies, moreso direct SMB/NFS shares.
You are on to something, it is in fact returning the gateway IP.
I'll check the hosts file.
 

h3donyst

Member
Thank you very much, you are a life saver.
There was some old entry pointing to the MEDIA-PC with a different IP.
I wish I could buy you a beer :) and thank you properly
This was bugging me for so long.
 
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