Unable to scroll through images on NTFS drive share (via MacOS SMB)

[borez]

Hi all,

Am in a weird situation, but here goes.

I've got a NTFS drive being shared via SMB on a Mac Mini (Monterey), running Paragon NTFS. The drive contains picture files.

SMB file sharing works well but only issue is that other Windows PCs on the network are unable to scroll through images in the folder (using the arrow keys). File operations to/fro the SMB share work perfectly. In fact, this problem occurs on any image folder in the Mac SMB (NTFS drive or otherwise).

From what I understand, it seems to be an issue with the file indexes. Wonder if there's any solution for this?

 

[WillieAnderson]

If you can’t scroll through images on an NTFS drive shared via SMB to your Mac, here are some likely causes and fixes:

SMB Compatibility: macOS SMB support can be limited or buggy with some Windows shares, especially with NTFS drives.

File Permissions: macOS may have limited read or metadata access, affecting preview and scrolling.

Caching Issues: macOS Finder sometimes struggles with caching images over network shares, causing slow or no scrolling.

Fixes to try:

Use a Different SMB Version: On the Mac, try forcing SMB v2 or v3 by editing the /etc/nsmb.conf file (if comfortable).

Enable Guest Access or Proper Permissions: Ensure the SMB share has full read permissions for your Mac user.

Use Third-Party Apps: Instead of Finder, try a dedicated image viewer app that supports network shares better (e.g., XnView MP, or an app like Lyn).

Copy Locally: Temporarily copy images locally to scroll smoothly.