Samba (network share)

Samba lets your computer browse /storage/roms/ (and your save-states, screenshots, configs) as a regular network share. Faster than re-mounting the SD; works without an SSH client.

Enable

EmulationStation → System Settings → Network → Samba → ON.

ArchR creates the trigger file /storage/.cache/services/smbd.conf and starts:

• smbd — the actual SMB server
• nmbd — NetBIOS name browser
• wsdd2 — Windows 10/11 discovery (so the device shows up under "Network" in Explorer)

Connect

Windows

Open File Explorer and type into the address bar:

\\archr

If the device doesn't show up under "Network" automatically, force the address:

\\archr.local
\\<device-ip>

You'll see one share: roms — that's /storage/roms/. No login required by default; the share is open to the LAN.

macOS

Finder → Go → Connect to Server (Cmd+K) → enter:

smb://archr.local

Or use the IP. macOS will list the available shares; pick roms.

Linux

Most file managers (Nautilus, Dolphin, Nemo, Thunar) accept this in the address bar:

smb://archr.local/roms

Or mount it from CLI:

sudo mkdir /mnt/archr-roms
sudo mount -t cifs //archr.local/roms /mnt/archr-roms -o guest,uid=$(id -u),gid=$(id -g)

What's shared

Default share roms exposes the entire /storage/roms/ tree, read-write, no auth. From a security standpoint this is LAN-only — fine for home use, do not enable on a hostile network.

To add auth or change the share path, edit /storage/.config/samba/smb.conf over SSH:

[roms]
   path = /storage/roms
   browseable = yes
   read only = no
   guest ok = yes        # change to "no" + set "valid users = archr"

Then sudo systemctl restart smbd.

During gameplay

Samba is paused automatically when you launch a game (along with Syncthing, Tailscale, ZeroTier, simple-http-server) and resumed when you exit. The pause is per-process — TCP connections keep their state on the client side and reopen when the service comes back.

Troubleshooting

"Network discovery is turned off" on Windows. Samba mDNS works but Windows network discovery is off in Settings → Network & Internet → Properties. Either turn it on, or just type \\archr.local directly.

"The specified server cannot perform the requested operation". Old SMB1 client trying to connect. ArchR ships SMB2/3 only. Update your OS or force the client to SMB2+.

Permission denied writing to a folder. The share is wide-open, but the per-folder permissions on the device default to mode 755. From SSH:

sudo chmod -R 775 /storage/roms/<system>

Slow transfers (< 5 MB/s). WiFi quality. Check iwconfig wlan0 signal. The R36S has a small antenna — moving 3 m closer to the router typically doubles throughput.