Constant self re-naming of Computer

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108 points

Constant self re-naming of Computer

Does anyone have any thoughts as to why my computer is frequently changing it's own name by adding an ever increasing number to the end of its original name. Keep seeing a message saying something like "David's computer n already exists on this network, renaming to David's computer n+x". Does't seem to affect much except that other systems keep telling me a "New Device" has been found and I have to keep re-forcing the connection to my appleTVs

Not withstanding this I'm guessing that it shouldn't be happening as frequently as it is (maybe an average of once a week but quite erratically) so I'm wondering if there might be something driving this in the background that I ought to get sorted out?

Late 2012 iMac running Catalina 10.15.7

Many thanks for any ideas.

David

iMac 21.5″

Posted on Jan 11, 2023 07:18 AM

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Answer 1

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David Gee1 Author

Level 1

108 points

Jan 11, 2023 08:20 AM in response to den.thed

Many thanks for the reply,

However, though I do have file sharing on, it is only my small home network and every thing on it has its own very descriptive name - MacBook Pro, Study AppleTV, bedroom AppleTV, someones iPhone etc. So I can be certain that there is not any other Mac with the same name as my iMac( ignoring the numbers obviously) There are no "outsiders" with access, certainly not with the same name and even if someone with occasional access to the wifi password were to rename their device maliciously, not with the regularity that it changes name.

It can not unfortunatly be a genuine name clash.

Best,

David

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Answer 2

David Gee1 Author

Level 1

108 points

Jan 11, 2023 10:10 AM in response to myaka

Good to know I'm not alone (just a little more frequent)... I wonder just how common this is

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

88,804 points

Jan 11, 2023 07:40 AM in response to David Gee1

Do you have File Sharing turned on?

Set up file sharing on Mac - Apple Support

If so, then it could be cause by another Mac with the same name, that comes and goes on your network.

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Answer 4

den.thed

Level 10

88,804 points

Jan 11, 2023 09:13 AM in response to David Gee1

You're welcome.

I do not have a firm reason why it changes, but have seen the same with 3 Mac's on my local network. If a device (Mac in my case) is Dropped and a new device is Added (Mac in my case), then it can shuffle the remaining devices or rename the Re-added device on the network.

For example on my network I have, Name Computer, Name Computer 2 and Name Computer 3

If I remove say Name Computer 2 from Sharing and the network, then sometimes Name Computer 3 can become Name Computer 2 or the Name Computer 2 will come back up as Name Computer 4.

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Answer 5

David Gee1 Author

Level 1

108 points

Jan 11, 2023 09:54 AM in response to den.thed

Hmmm,

I see you get it when you take a positive action to remove and replace one of your Macs from the network or Sharing. I wonder what could be happening to make mine do that by itself?

Surely not something as simple as the wifi network dropping out and coming back?

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Answer 6

myaka

Level 4

2,802 points

Jan 11, 2023 10:09 AM in response to David Gee1

I also have no explanation for why it happens, and it happens to me, as well. I always log into the renamed machine, go to Sharing in System Preferences, and remove the number from the computer's name.

It works -- usually for months at a time, but it typically comes back again at some point.

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Constant self re-naming of Computer

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