SMB File Sorting by Date (Windows Share)

digix

Like others I am challenged by the fact that when connected to a SMB share (Meta Quest 3), the file date stamp is not being pulled from the usual created or updated metadata. It's coming from some other non-standard network file timestamp. This is problematic when my libraries update and I want to quickly see the newest files (at this point all files have the exact same timestamp).

Can the Skybox team address if we can expect additional date sorting options in the near future? Cheers.

Lucy

digix
Hello,

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention.

After testing, we have confirmed that there is indeed an issue with how file dates are displayed for SMB shares. We will investigate this further and aim to resolve it in a future update. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

In the meantime, here are a couple of workarounds to help you locate your files more easily:

You can sort files by name in the current view.
If you're on the latest beta version 2.0.2, you can also use the search bar above the file list to quickly find a file by its name.

Best regards,
Lucy

digix

Thank you Lucy for the response. In the meantime I have a Windows script running on my file share which automatically adds the creation date as a prefix to every file name. This way I can at least sort on file name and have a chronological listing. Still not the best workaround as it disrupts sorting by the actual file name. I look forward to a future update with sorting by date on a better available attribute.

Lucy

digix
Hi there, just a quick update — the issue has been fixed. The fix will be included in the next beta version, which is expected to be released in the coming days. Thank you for your patience!

mayokens

Folder

Lucy

Thanks, I look forward to this fix. I'm on 2.0.2 having a similar issue where it's not sorting the folders by the usual updated at metadata.

C0xDE

Did this fix ever land on the beta?
I am on latest beta version 2.0.2 (3678) and still experience this bug.
Files in the SMB folder all get the same date? (Unrelated to any Creation/Modification timestamps of the file)!
I used to be able to manually fix it by manually modifying the app sqlite Database but it seems the the app ignores the SortTime in the MediaDataTable of the SkyboxDatabase completely.

Please fix!

Lucy

C0xDE
Hello,

Could you let us know which version of SMB you are using?

Also, we'd like to check the logs on your side to further investigate. Please kindly go to SKYBOX's "Global Settings", change the "Logging Levels" to "Info", then open a few SMB files, and click the "BUG" icon in the upper-right corner of "Global Settings" to submit a bug report attached with logs.

Thank you for your cooperation!

C0xDE

Hi,

Did some more testing and can confirm this issue only happens on SMB shares on a Windows PC.
The same (test) files works correctly when shared from a Linux OS.

SMB version used is 311 (For both Windows and Linux).
Windows Version: Windows 10 Education (22H2) OS Build 19045.6456

smb_test_files.zip
For easier testing created a folder with 3 image files with a specific creation & modification date.
Added to a .zip file to preserve timestamps. Please make sure files are extracted with a File Manager that preserves the timestamps.

Hosted from a Windows PC it looks like this:
Windows SMB Host
As you can see all files have the wrong date (2026-06-05) and the sorting order is wrong.

Hosted from a Linux (Mint) machine it looks like this:
Linux SMB Host
As you can see all the files have the correct date and the sorting order is correct.

When browsing the Window SMB share from a Linux machine or other Windows PC.
The file dates are correct. (Example from Linux Mint cmdline)
smb: \> ls . D 0 Fri Jun 5 16:38:15 2026 .. D 0 Fri Jun 5 16:38:15 2026 a_2026-02-10.jpg A 682 Tue Feb 10 07:00:00 2026 b_2024-03-11.jpg A 682 Mon Mar 11 07:00:00 2024 c_2025-04-12.jpg A 682 Sat Apr 12 08:00:00 2025

So there is somehow a bug that the SKYBOX app cannot correct retrieve correct file dates from a windows SMB host.

The skybox log file doesn't seem to contain anything interesting related to SMB but will still create a ticket in case it might help.

C0xDE

Log file is available here:
skybox_20260605_windows_safe.log

Removed personal identifiers from log file.

Please kindly let me know if you require more information or I need to test something.

Lucy

C0xDE
Hello,

Thank you for testing and sharing your feedback — we really appreciate it!

We’ve identified the root cause and will fix it in a future update. Right now, our team is focused on other high-priority tasks, so the display issue might not be fixed right away, but we will be sure to notify you once it is fixed.

As a workaround, you can try adding the date at the beginning of your file name, then sort by name — this should give you the correct chronological order.

Thanks again for your understanding and support!

C0xDE

Lucy
Cool, thanks! Looking forward to the update I have been struggling with this bug for a while.
Will monitor this thread about progress on the issue.