Strange and Blocking Assembly Refs Issue

So, I’m running SW 2020 and have an assembly with many parts, all working just fine until yesterday. Now it can’t find the referenced parts, which is strange because I have triple-checked all my settings…

– The file path in each part’s Component Properties is correct

– The correct folder is listed in the External References options page

– I double checked the file paths when opening, and they are correct

– The reference manager also has the correct folder and lists all the refs even when unchecking “include broken references”!
Screen Shot 2021-04-26 at 8.17.56 PM.png
If I manually link each part at opening via the error window, it then works. But the next time I close and open the part, it’s forgotten – I don’t want to have to re-link every part manually each time! And I shouldn’t have to based on everything I’ve read.

The only other way I’ve gotten it to work is if all of the references parts are already opened before opening the assembly. What a pain.

Any suggestions? Getting desperate here.

Oh man…I just figured it out!! No clue what changed, but after a good few hours of tearing my hair out I poked around the file folders in Windows on Parallels that I’m running on my Mac. Turns out there are two ways to get to the same folder with this setup. I switched the file path from //Mac/Home… to Z:\Documents in all of the places listed above and now it can find everything!

Perhaps this will help some poor soul in the future.