I came across seagate-goflex-not-compatible-with-windows-10 thread on Microsoft Answers which started in 2015 with the last reply in December 2017. What does all this mean?
A lot of the comments in the thread were confusing, mixing up different GoFlex products and Seagate Dashboard software (does anyone really use that?) rather than the devices themselves but they finally got around to GoFlex Home and SMB or Windows File Sharing.
AlbertoS quite correctly stated "SMB is used to access network shares via \\goflex_home. There was a exploit found in SMB which hackers used to take over PCs so the protocol is deprecated. Only SMB2 and above are supported and GoFlex home only supports SMB1."
/usr/sbin/smbd -V shows that the Samba version on the GoFlexHome is 3.0.28 and the SMB v2 protocol wasn't included in the samba client until version 3.6, so it's true the GoFlex Home only supports SMB1.
If SMB1 has been disabled in Windows then you can re-enable it. Microsoft provides advice on how to do this though they give this advice in smbv1-is-not-installed-by-default-in-windows
"If you cannot use any of these workarounds, or if the application manufacturer cannot provide supported versions of SMB, you can re-enable SMBv1 manually by following the steps in KB 2696547.
Important We strongly recommend that you do not reinstall SMBv1. This is because this older protocol has known security issues regarding ransomware and other malware."
But what do they know? Just type Windows Features in the Windows search and then check the box for SMB1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support
Are there risks in re-enabling SMB1?
Yes there are risks, which is why Microsoft is taking the step of disabling SMB1 by default. You have devices on your home network which are connected to the internet and connected via SMB1 to other devices on your LAN, so the risks are real. But UPnP is also a risk, Adobe Flash is also a risk and so is going outside your house or staying indoors.
How significant the risks are will depend on your circumstances and what you have on your network that might be attractive to bad people. The best security against crypto ransomware attacks is to keep backup copies of all your important stuff off the network, in the cloud or on DVD ROMs or a separate hard drive.
And keep in mind that Microsoft is doing this for Windows but other devices running Android, Apple or Linux including the GoFlex Home on your network are still using SMB1 even if Windows isn't. The vulnerability is in the SMB1 protocol, even if the exploits are mostly in Windows because that gives the best return. Though I was surprised to see that the organization I work for has SMB1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support enabled on Windows 10 PCs because even current model multi-function printers from major manufacturers like HP and Ricoh still need SMB1 for key functions like Windows Authentication and Scan to Folder.
But it is seriously something to consider if you are also planning to enable remote access from the internet with a dynamic dns
Update (Aug 2019): People are reporting problems with Windows file sharing even after re-enabling smb1 and apparently Netbios is getting switched off in Windows updates, breaking network connectivity to older devices.
The GoFlex Home broadcasts its netbios name GOFLEX_HOME over the network so NetBIOS needs to be enabled on the Windows machine for GOFLEX_HOME to be visible on the network, though you can still map network shares on the GoFlex Home without netbios by "\\<ipaddress>\share name", for example "\\192.168.0.66\GoFlex Home Public"
(don't forget the quotes if your shares still have spaces in the name).
Thanks to Gleason Fan for the "heads up" about NetBIOS.
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I don't know what Microsoft is up to these days and don't plan on turning this blog into Windows Tips & Tricks (it's been months since I even turned on my Windows machine at home), so see this link to re-enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP.
