Network Share using Mac OSX Lion - Belkin n750 router

Hello - newer mac user here but I am pretty knowledgeable with networking and all that jazz.

Here's my issue:

Just picked up a Belkin n750 router. It has 2 usb ports for network storage sharing. Its kinda cheesy in the fact that you have to install their software to get the share to appear, but it is what it is.

Here is my issue:

I formatted a USB drive and named the drive "Homeshare". When I connect the drive to my Macbook Pro running Lion it appears as "Homeshare".

When I connect it to my USB port on my n750 router it appears on my network as "Homeshare(C1)".

I assumed (and still do) that the "(C1)" was something added by the Belkin software/system but the drive access was fine and I was able to setup my media server, my itunes library, etc.

Well, the router rebooted due to a power outage (common in Florida) and the next time I connected to it my drive now showed up as "Homeshare(A1)".

Again I was able to connect but now the path to my entire itunes library was as bust as the OS knew it only as "Homeshare(C1)".

I contacted Belkin support via phone and that was a waste of about 30 minutes of my life.

I contacted Belkin via email and received a response from the tech that it was my Operating System that was adding the (C1) and (A1) to my share.

I have searched numerous forums and googled all that I know how to google on this and cannot find a single note about any sort of (*1) being appended to a network share.

My question: is there anything in the MAC OS that would do this? Or is this just a Belkin issue?

I am very versed in networking from my Windows days and my day job is configuring cisco routers 40 hours a week. I assume that the Belkin tech was full of it, but wanted to ask the experts here on this forum.

thanks!

Bryan

N750/Lion compatibility

Hi
You actually got the networked USB drive to work with Lion! I've been fighting with this all day. The included Software wouldn't install under Lion. I went to their Website and downloaded the latest version and it wouldn't install either. I had a chat with tech support and they said the Belkin SW was only compatible with 10.5 and 10.6. Not Lion. They said Belkin was working on an update. I am surprised you got it working that well.

I can't see the USB printer on the N750 under Windows 7 (Using VirtualBox) either. The printer is seen when booting a MacBook Pro straight into Windows though.

Did you have any problems installing the included CD? Are you really running 10.7 Lion?

Thanks
Dave

I had to reinstall the app 2 times to get it to work in Lion. And it did crash a few times.

The app is shakey at best. I have returned it and picked up a D-Link DNS-320 2-bay SATA NAS. So far this thing is great. Some had issues with Mac compatibility but version 2.x firmware seems to take care of all those elements.

Belkin is on my BAD list.

I am quite sure your issue was a Belkin issue or an issue with their software, as no external here no matter how it's hooked up, either Network or direct appends anything on the drives name.

Glad the Dlink is working for you.

It was a Belkin issue

I had this same issue. I just spoke with a Belkin representative who seemed like she knew what she was doing.

According to the representative, there is no way to get around these additional characters. The characters in parentheses are the name that the router assigns to that drive (analogously to how a windows computer might assign a thumb drive the character G: ).

What one can do, is map to the ip address of the router. The default ip address is 192.168.2.1. So one can map to \\192.168.2.1. This maps to a "directory" that offers you the network drive and any printers that are connected to the router.

I asked the representative if it's possible to map a subdirectory of the network drive; the answer was no. I guess it's reasonable; it's not really a NAS, it's a router with a hard drive attached.

I hope this helps!