The new OS, Apple's first in 2 1/2 years, includes a (non-beta) release version of Boot Camp, called Boot Camp 2.0, for booting Macs with Windows. Although there are some improvements in configuring and using networking, Leopard doesn't add major new Windows compatibility features. There are, however, a number of incremental improvements in cross-platform usability, configuration, and functionality. Click here for a list and description of the improvements, changes, and new cross-platform features in Leopard.
NOTE: For reports about Boot Camp, see our Boot Camp in Leopard Tips and Reports page.
Apple says Leopard 10.5.2 addresses AD bug, but other network problems not in bug fix list
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
On Monday, Apple released the Mac OS X 10.5.2 update and the Mac OS X Server 10.5.2 update. Among Apple's list of bug fixes are two cross-platform networking issues, involving Active Directory binding and accessing AFP network volumes. However, many of the widely reported Leopard cross-platform bugs, including problems with browsing and logging onto Windows servers, are not mentioned in Apple's list of fixes.
Apple said that the update fixes problems with binding to Active Domains, which was widely reported with 10.5.0 and 10.5.1. Apple also said that the 10.5.2 update fixes "a hanging issue that may occur when connecting to an AFP network volume." Third-party developer Group Logic has previoulsy reported that Leopard contained bugs in the AFP protocol.
There was one other cross-platform bug fix regarding accessing printers shared with Windows:
Resolves an issue with some printing options, such as landscape orientation, number of copies, two-sided printing, and so forth that may not have functioned with some printers shared by Microsoft Windows.
Missing from Apple's list of 10.5.2 update fixes are the problems related to browsing and/or logging on to Windows network shares, the most widely reported problems by MacWindows readers.
Apple also doesn't mention if the update fixes problems with virtual private networks and the issue of Safari crashing when accessing a Microsoft ISA proxy. Leopard Boot Camp problems are also not mentioned in the bug fix list.
Our first reader reports about 10.5.2 are mixed.
whether Leopard 10.5.2 fixed any of these issues for you.
Apple ships Leopard 10.5.1 update. Friday, November 16, 2007 -- Apple has released Mac OS X 10.5.1, the first upgrade to the Leopard release of three weeks ago. Apple didn't list fixes for the problems readers have been reporting about file sharing, Active Directory, virtual private networks, or other issues. The closest the Apple web page came was this:
Addresses an issue in which Microsoft Windows shared folders may be read-only when connected via SMB.
One interesting change was with the firewall. Apple had been criticized by security experts because the "Block All" setting did not, in fact, block all connections. In 10.5.1 Apple didn't enable it to block all connections, but changed the name to "Allow Only essential services."
Leopard 10.5.0. Friday, October 26, 2007 -- Apple released Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard today at 6 pm. The new OS, Apple's first in 2 1/2 years, includes a (non-beta) release version of Boot Camp, called Boot Camp 2.0, for booting Macs with Windows. Although there are some improvements in configuring and using networking, Leopard doesn't add major new Windows compatibility features. There are, however, a number of incremental improvements in cross-platform usability, configuration, and functionality. Click here for a list and description of the improvements, changes, and new cross-platform features.
Leopard Server’s wiki server can affect AD binding | Top of Page |
Apple tech article 306750 warns that when running Mac OS X Server 10.5 bound to Active Directory, using the Wiki Server can cause problems with users authenticating to Active Directory. Apple's solution is to set authentication for Wiki Server that comes with Leopard Server (wikid) to clear text. The article explains how to use Terminal to set Wiki Server authentication in clear text.
Apple explains why this is needed:
This is required because, by default, the wiki server uses CRAM-MD5 authentication, which is not supported by the Active Directory plugin.
Because sending clear text passwords is not secure, Apple recommends configuring the wiki server to use SSL.
Security analysts say Leopard firewall security weaker than Tiger's | Top of Page |
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Security experts quoted in an eWeek story said that Leopard's firewall security holes that don’t exist in Tiger, the previous version of Mac OS X. The story quotes several researches who tested the new Mac OS X's built-in firewall.
One researcher discovered that Leopard's "block all incoming connections" setting does not in fact block all connections. He found that it allows several connections through the firewall, including ntpd (Network Time Protocol daemon) connections and NetBIOS name server connections.
Users do not have the option to tighten security by tweaking the configuration. As we've previously reported, Leopard has removed the configuration options that Tiger had, including blocking access to specific ports, restricting TCP or UDP access, or allowing only specific services, such as file sharing or FTP access. Users only have the "block all connections," choose applications to allow to connect, or allow all connections (turn the firewall off).
Another tester found some inconsistencies in the settings. He discovered that if file sharing was turned on, the "block all incoming connections" allowed other Macs to see the Mac, though not connect to it. This means that the "Block all" setting was allowing Bonjour broadcasts through the firewall.
Another noted concern was the fact that the Leopard upgrade installation deactivates the firewall by default, even if it was previously on. Tiger did not behave this way.
Leopard bug can delete data with file transfers
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
A number of sources around the Internet are reporting a bug in Leopard that deletes data when the OS is interrupted during a file move between volumes. If you are moving (but not copying) a file, group of files, or a folder between volumes and the connection stopped during the move, Leopard will delete the files/folder form the original volume as well as any copies. The move can occur between local drives or between local and network storage.
The bug has been reported by Macintouch, eWeek, and others. The workaround is to do a copy instead of a move, then delete the original.
REPORTS ABOUT LEOPARD 10.5.0
Leopard problem mounting Win servers | Top of Page |
Stacy Rothwell reports a problem connecting Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Macs to Windows servers. The problem occurs only when file sharing is turned on:
After a clean install of 10.5 on my Mac Pro, I was able to connect to my Win 2003 Server twice before it would just time out. Now it always tells me the server isn't responding. I can reach it just fine (under my account) from other Windows PCs and, in fact, if I run Parallels under 10.5 I can, indeed, get to the Win 2003 Server via Parallels.
The REALLY strange thing is in my home I have 5 Windows PCs and 2 Macs. One of the Windows PCs will automatically show up just fine under the new Finder but none of the others will. This Windows PC that shows up is no different than any other. It is on the same workgroup as all the others, etc.
It turns out if file sharing on the Mac is turned OFF, then all my Windows PCs will show up and connect just fine under SHARED in the Finder.
As soon as I turn on File Sharing, then it breaks. None of the Windows PCs will connect any more under their Windows names. Must go back to using IP addresses.
If you turn file sharing off and then REBOOT, it all works normally again.
More readers report Leopard not seeing Windows shares
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
A number of readers responded to Monday's report of problems mounting Windows shares with Leopard. Several readers reported that turning off file sharing allowed them to connect to Windows shares. For others, this didn't work.
Rob Groome:
Yes, I see this problem as well. By turning off Mac File Sharing, I can now see my Windows network and access shared files and printers. I wasted two days messing around with Windows IsDomainMaster and MaintainServerList registry properties with SOME success but the "ups" disappeared whenever a Windows machine was rebooted.
Suffice it to say, Mac OS Leopard is NOT ready for prime time when it comes to Windows SMB networking!
Gary Pownall:
Yes I have exactly the same issue and it's driving me mad!! How this got by Apple beggars belief.
Mark Gordon said that turning off file sharing did not work with his PCs running Windows Vista:
I have the exact same problem as Stacy Rothwell but the turning off file sharing does not make the other Vista machines show up under shared. My Leopard machine only sees one of my Windows Vista machines under shared on the sidebar although if I go to connect to server for any of the Vista machines I can connect. The Leopard machine under WINS is part of the same workgroup as the Vista machines.
Adam Bradford also had no success with turning off file sharing:
I also am having difficulty file sharing on my home network with OS X 10.5. All of the Windows based machines on 10.4 would come up in NETWORK and I could connect by typing in my username an password on those machines. On 10.5 I can't even seem to get the shared tab in Finder! I tried Enabling and Disabling File sharing but with no success.
If you've seen this problem with Leopard
More symptoms of Leopard Windows file sharing problems, and a suggestion
Readers continue to report problems with accessing Windows file shares in Leopard. While some confirmed the previously reported symptom of not seeing Windows shares, other readers reported new symptoms, including not being able to use Connect to Server. One reader can’t print to a PC printer, and another reported that file sharing simply stopped working after a few days. For another reader, the Windows shares appear and disappear randomly.
Erik Ableson figured out a way to connect:
I've had a few issues not being able to access Windows shares, but on investigation it appears to be specific to DFS shares. They mount correctly, but I am denied access to the shares. However, when I manually direct the connection to the underlying server share it works just fine, except that I have to authenticate (kerberos doesn't auto connect me).
Jason Dodd simply confirmed the problem:
I'm having the same issue with 10.5 not showing Windows shares. I can't figure out where to put workgroup info, either.
Elsewhere in today's news, several readers described how to enter the workgroup and other info. (Click here to read that article.) But while Shane Moore can enter the workgroup name, it doesn't get saved. He also gets login errors, but doesn't see the problems with Linux shares:
I am also experiencing issues accessing my Windows Shares after installing Leopard. I can access the shares via Parallels, but not from the base Leopard OS. Attempts at adding the workgroup under WINS fail (it never saves the information). Turning on/off local file sharing doesn't help either.
The Go menu's Connect to Server (smb://whatever) doesn't work, often giving me login errors regardless of what user/pass combination I use. I AM ABLE to connect to LINUX shares just fine. Only my Windows XP/2003 machines are inaccessible. No Vista machines are present on the network.
Harold can't edit shares or print to PC printer:
Sharing with a PC pre-Leopard was fine, but after the upgrade, I am having some troubles.
1. I can view the shared PC folders on the Mac, but it says I do not have privileges when I try to edit within the shared folder. (I never had this problem prior)
2. The printer connected to the PC that I share through the network is non-functional now. (It seems like the printer & fax setup is more confusing than before.)
Mark Owen is having better Windows connections with Leopard:
Previously, shares on Windows computers were unavailable in Tiger but after I upgraded to Leopard, they showed up immediately. I connected easily where before I would get error messages saying the alias was not available. Happily I'm not having Windows connectivity problems.
Earl Arnett started out with better file sharing with Leopard. Then it all stopped:
For the first few days, Leopard recognized the Windows computers on my home network in an even easier fashion than Tiger. So I thought, "Great!". Today, after no significant changes, suddenly Leopard does not acknowledge the network. Internet is OK, but the network is invisible, doesn't show in Finder and the Windows computers don't see the Mac. It's a mystery that doesn't offer any obvious solutions.
Mark Pouley also has a mystery, with Windows shares appearing and disappearing from the Mac's view at random:
I'm having a similar problem with Leopard and Windows machines. I have 3 Windows desktop and one Windows laptop machine in my house and I have Leopard installed on my iMac (20" Intel white edition).
When I installed Leopard none of the Windows machines showed in "shared" but I could connect to an external drive on one windows machine using the IP address. I thought I had a network problem and poked around without really changing anything.
About an hour after install, for no reason, the laptop appeared in the list (it is a new Sony running Vista) this was odd. A few minutes later, all the machines showed. While poking around to see how this worked (clicking on the drives, seeing if all shared volumes were accessible, etc) all of the machines "disappeared." Over the weekend the machines have appeared and disappeared without notice and without any clear clue as to what is causing this issue.
If you've seen any of this
Configuring Leopard for connecting to Win file servers | Top of Page |
Stacy Rothwell finds that Leopard's new method of connecting to Windows file servers has some holes in functionality:
In 10.4 when telling your Mac to work with Windows networking, there was a place you could specify the workgroup, and it just worked. I always got a NETWORK icon in the Finder and it ALWAYS connected no matter what workgroup a machine was on. It just worked.
Under Leopard, the network icon is gone and OS X will only show you machines that it can see. Otherwise you must go into CONNECT TO SERVER and type the silly SMB connection.
Also, I can no longer figure out where to set the default Windows workgroup and Windows PC name that was so easy to find in 10.4.
TIP: Configuring Leopard to see Windows file shares: WINS tab-> workgroup name
A couple of readers sent us instructions on enabling Leopard to see Windows file shares and where to enter the workgroup name.
Matt saw the previously reported file sharing problem and described the settings to fix it:
I can confirm this problem as well. However, in my case I solved it by going into the "advanced" options for System Preferences --> Network --> Ethernet. Under the WINS tab I entered the workgroup name for our PC network and the DNS server address. All PCs on that domain then appear under the "Shared" list.
Daniel Hoit also sent configuration info for accessing Windows shares, and disagreed with a previous reader about Leopard's file sharing:
Samba based services are updated to reflect revisions to the open source Samba project in Leopard, and are not a step backwards. The addition of packet signing alone is a huge and welcome addition.
As for the poster's complaints regarding WINS workgroup and Finder browsing, the options are still there in Leopard. You can configure the WINS information in System Preferences/Network/ Advanced/WINS section. Choose a workgroup, and choose a wins server if you have one on your network.
The sidebar also has an "All..." option that should be the equivalent of Tiger's "Network" browsing option in the Finder. In my experience, network browsing has always been a little iffy. Its almost always been more reliable to access SMB servers through a command-K connect to server dialog, and then bookmark the server for easier access later. YMMV, but in the least Leopard doesn't downgrade anything in the SMB services area.
If any of this configuration advice solved your Leopard file sharing problems
Reader verifies WINS fix for Leopard share browsing problems
Bryce Wray said that a previously published suggestion (above) works for clearing up Leopard browsing of network shares:
Thanks for the WINS fix for Leopard! The item on Nov. 2, 2007, re WINS settings worked like a charm for me. I'm running OS X 10.5.4.
Tips and workarounds for Leopard accessing Win file servers
Several readers wrote with workarounds for Mac OS X 10.5.0 problems accessing Windows files servers. Previously, we reported suggestions that turning off file sharing enabled Leopard to see Windows shares. Other readers offered other configuration changes.
Gregg Guarnera offered an explanation as to why turning off file sharing works, and offered a file sharing tweak that does the trick:
I was having this same problem after I installed Leopard. My Windows file shares would sometimes show up but not be accessible or would not show up at all. There seems to be a bug in Leopard where it has problems connecting to Samba (Windows) file shares if you are sharing your Mac files without using Samba. This is why turning off file sharing helps.
The solution is to go to System Preferences | Sharing and select "File Sharing". If you have file sharing turned on click on the "Options..." button and make sure the option "Share files and folders using SMB" is checked. Click Done. That should do it.
John Buchanan changed DHCP settings on his wireless router:
I updated to Leopard from Tiger yesterday. With Tiger I could easily connect to my Windows computer either via Network in Finder or via Connect to Server. After the Leopard upgrade I could no longer connect, similar to other users posting reports to macwindows.com.
None of the suggestions at MacWindows.com solved my problem. Then I started looking at the DHCP server settings on my Linksys WRT54G router, and saw that I had my fully qualified domain name in the Domain Name field...so I tried changing this to my Windows workgroup name, then renewed my DHCP lease on my MacBook Pro, and voila, there was my Windows workstation (WinXP SP2).
Shane Moore updated his previous report with this note on his success. He made changes to his passwords and fiddled with his wireless connection:
I was able to connect to my Windows machines finally.
1) Passwords can't have any special characters including "%,$,etc". Changing the passwords or escaping them before entering them into the smb:// password dialog helps.
2) I had to make a new location for my wireless connection. Automatic would not allow me to properly change my workgroup. Duplicating automatic and naming it something, then changing the workgroup allowed me to see all machines on the network without a WINS server. This was not extremely reliable though. The machines would randomly disappear/appear from Finder.
Note: See this article below for step-by-step instructions on how to do this.
Kevin Wheeler changed his firewall settings:
Like many of your readers, I "woke up" after installing Leopard to realize I couldn't access my shared Windows directories. On a hunch, I checked out my Firewall settings (Security > Firewall > Advanced) and turned "Enable Stealth Mode" off. Suddenly, there was a new entry for "SHARED" in my Finder pane and everything seemed fine again. I have no idea if this will be stable, as I just discovered this particular problem.
If you've tried any of these suggestions
Reader verifies AirPort workaround for Leopard file sharing
Allen O'Loughlin verified a suggestion for overcoming the a problem using Leopard to log onto a Windows server over AirPort:
I was able to connect to my Windows share after following Shane Moore's two-step process: 1.) Changed my password. 2.) Recreated my wireless connection.
More details on our Leopard Tips and Reports page.
TIP: Turn off IP6 on AirPort station for Leopard file browsing problems
David Josephs had a problem with Leopard browsing for files over an AirPort network. He tried some of the fixes on our Leopard Tips page, but found the solution not on the Mac, but the wireless router:
I changed the Samba file in Terminal tip but this did not work. There have been a lot of tips about turning off IPv6 on the remote Mac machine that did not work for me. What did work was when I turned off IPv6 on my router (changed from Node/Tunnel mode to local-link only on my AirPort Extreme router); all of the other computer shares (PCs and other Macs) immediately showed up in the SHARED section of the Finder. I can now see a Mac Mini, 2 Win XP and one Vista machine on the network now. I can fully browse the shares.
If you've tried this
TIP: Wireless router software for fixing Leopard problems mounting Win shares
David Kim had problems Leopard and file sharing over a wireless connection. He tried several of suggestions on our Leopard Tips and Reports page, and sent us a new one:
I've been reading this discussion on several occasions over the last few months. It is very helpful. Several of the fixes resulted in transient improvements. Most helpful was the delete/recreate location workaround.
However, the key fix for me (stable for 2 weeks now) has been to replace my router software. I had been running DD-WRT v23 and later v24RC6 (the worse offender) on a LinkSys WRT54GL WDS system (a popular choice).
I switched to the Tomato firmware and haven't had a single glitch since. It is a world of difference for both of my Macs. Also, this product is excellent in many other respects.
If you've seen a similar effect
Readers link Leopard's file sharing woes to firewall
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Two readers discovered that they could enable get around Leopard's problems browsing Windows networks by setting the firewall to "Allow all incoming connections." This is not ideal for security, as it is similar in effect to turning the firewall off.
Wes Hsu reported his finding:
I didn't read through all of the suggestions, but after getting down to Kevin Wheeler's suggestion to turn off the firewall's "stealth mode," I decided to look there.
In my Firewall, "Enable Stealth Mode" was already turned off. Instead, I turned on "Allow all incoming connections". I then connected through Finder (cmd-K) using smb://windowsComputer/C$. I authenticated and I was in. I now have a SHARED category in my Finder with that machine listed. I now need to figure out the exact settings (ports, etc) so that I don't have to allow all incoming connections. But, I'll take it for now, as having access to my Windows machines is more important to me right now.
As a little background, File Sharing is OFF on my Mac so that suggestion didn't work for me.
Shane Palmer looked at the firewall log to verify that setting the firewall to "Allow all incoming connections" allows the user browse a Windows network in the Finder using Leopard:
I have already upgraded to Mac OS X 10.5.1 and it does not help.
I believe it is probably all related to the firewall. I turned on firewall logging (System Preferences>Security>Firewall). You must click on "Allow only essential services," then click the Advanced button. (This appears to be yet another bug since you can't click it if you have "Allow all incoming connections" selected. Some people may want to enable Stealth Mode without turning on the application firewall.) Next, check Enable Firewall Logging. Click the Open Log button. This opens the log in Console so you must switch back to System Preferences and click OK. When you now try to browse the Windows network you will start seeing a bunch of entries similar to the following:
Nov 26 17:34:49 COMPUTERNAME Firewall47: Deny nmbd data in from 10.10.X.X:138 uid = 0 proto=17
Nov 26 17:35:05: --- last message repeated 1 time -s
As soon as you switch the firewall back to "Allow all incoming connections" you will stop seeing any new nmbd entries in the firewall log.
This assumes that they have correctly set up their Windows networking info in System Preferences>Network>Ethernet (or whatever interface you use)>Advanced>WINS.
If you've manipulated Leopard's firewall settings to enable access to SMB shares
Adding a location (turning off auto-location) to fix Leopard file sharing
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Tom Neff verified a previous suggestion to fix his Leopard file sharing problem:
I had the reported problem - couldn't see Windows/SMB file shares. Tried various of the tips - nothing worked - Then I tried the tip about turning off Automatic location and adding a specific Location. All of a sudden the WINS Workgroup and NETBIOS name changes that had been failing to "take," took permanently, and from that moment I saw all shares
Reader confirms "turn off Automatic location" fix for Leopard browsing of Windows shares
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Patrik Fredriksson of Gothenburg, Sweden verified a suggestion from last week to enable Leopard to browse for Windows shares. The suggestion was to turn off auto-location and add a location manually. Fredriksson said:
I can confirm that (at least for me) this works.
Previously, I could connect to shares fine, but they would disconnect without any reason "just like that". After speaking to Apple support, this was suggested and the drives have not disconnected since.
I have also added a WINS name manually that I use at work.
Tip: Turn off IPv6 to get Windows file sharing to work; previous password tip also verified
Monday, November 19, 2007
Christopher Ferrante found another workaround to Leopard problems with Windows file sharing:
By turning off IPv6 I was able to see all my Windows PC shares.
Ferrante didn't elaborate, but here's how to do this:
- Choose Apple > System Preferences, and then click Network.
- Select the network connection service from the list, and then click Advanced.
- Click TCP/IP.
- Click the Configure IPv6 pop-up menu and select Off.
If you've tried this
if it worked for you.
Previous reader reports have suggested such things as turning File Sharing off or making various other configuration changes.
One of these previous suggestions involved removing certain characters from passwords. Simon Yates verified the password suggestion, and noted that the problem persists in 10.5.1:
I previously reported that I could not connect to any Windows shares with 10.5. After reading further at MacWindows, I read that passwords with special characters could be the problem. I removed the special character and was able to connect using a registered user. I still had to enter the password every time I restarted the machine.
With Leopard 10.5.1, special characters are still a problem, yet I no longer have to enter the password on restart.
After 15 hours with AppleCare, it is truly amazing that they recommended a complete reinstall and never once mentioned the password as a potential issue.
It is not a problem for Tiger at all. I run both 10.4.10 and 10.5.1. Tiger never had any trouble at all. Surprisingly, Mac is UNIX based, which recommends and supports special characters in the passwords.
Another reader fixes Leopard file sharing problem by turning off IPv6
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Diego Cantalapiedra verified a previous suggestion of turning off IPv6 to enable browsing Windows shares in Leopard:
Turning off IPv6 works for me. After enabling SMB File sharing and turning off IPv6, I can now see and browse all the PCs at my institution.
Turning off IPv6 is just one of many very different (and strange) workarounds that readers have reported for enabling Leopard to browse and connect to SMB file shares. (See our Leopard Tips and Reports page for more.) This workaround may have something to do with an inconsistency in how Leopard uses IP in file sharing. Last month, we reported a Group Logic tech article that stated that "the [Leopard] sidebar also seems to default to using IPv4 addresses whereas the Connect to Server windows default to IPv6 addresses."
If turning of IPv6 works for you
Another reader verifies "turn off IPv6" fix for Leopard browsing of Windows shares
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Ernesto Salcedo is another reader who could not browse Windows network shares after upgrading to Leopard. He verified a previously reported suggestion: "Turning off IPv6 worked for me!"
More reports that turning off IPv6 works for Leopard browsing of Windows shares
Monday, December 17, 2007
Two more readers reported success with turning off IPv6 to get file browsing to work in Leopard:
Brett Polakowski:
I used your hint, turned off IPv6 and I can now browse Windows 2003 shares via the mount that comes up in the sidebar. Previously, if I went to that mount point it would say "Connecting" for a moment then change to "Connection Failed." It's all much better now.
Ron McBeth:
After upgrading from Tiger to Leopard, I also lost the ability to see the various Window computers on our network. Your tip to turn off IPv6 worked for me.
However, another reader reported that this did not work for him, and recommended relaunching the Finder.
Reader's Leopard file sharing problem not fixed by turning off IPv6
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Ron McBeth previously reported that turning off IPv6 fixed his Leopard Windows file sharing problem. He now says it didn't take:
I may have spoke too soon. It worked the day I tried it. I have had to restart since then (added the new Apple updates) and now it doesn't give me the Windows computers on our network.
Another reader turns off IPv6 to fix Leopard file sharing
Turning off IPv6 is one of the many workarounds that readers have reported for dealing with the problem of Leopard not seeing Windows shares. Although this doesn't work for everyone, it did work for Tom Kirby:
I had the problem of my Mac not finding Windows shared folder. The method listed of turning off IPv6 is what finally made my Leopard system see my XP machine's shared folder. I'd also changed some of the other things mentioned at MacWindows, but turned my firewall back on and the shared folder still shows up for now. Now on to solving access to the windows machine's printer!
Turning off IPv6 works for browsing Win files in Leopard 10.5.4
Monday, September 22, 2008
Ryan Lloyd said that turning off IPv6 in Leopard does indeed get around a problem and enables Leopard to see Windows shares on the network, this time in 10.5.4:
Just wanted to let you know this tip allowed me to see a machine on the Windows domain that I couldn't see previously. I could see about 100 machines on the domain, changing this setting on my Mac Book Pro, Leopard 10.5.4 actually did the trick!
Turning off IPv6 helps reader's Leopard browse for shares
Monday, September 29, 2008
F.G. Rios reports success with the previously reported tip about fixing Leopard's file browing problems by turning off IPv6:
I read this tip on your blog after having all of my shares disappear after installing 10.5.5. When I turned off IPV6 they all came back!
Note that some readers have reported that this didn't work for them. For most, however, there is no harm in trying it.
Reader agrees Leopard file sharing chokes on special password characters
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Lewis Parker verified previous reports (here and here) that removing certain characters from Windows file server passwords can clear up Leopard file sharing problems. According to these reports, password characters that were okay in Tiger no longer work in Leopard. Parker said:
I couldn't get to my shares from a Windows 2003 server after a recent password change. When trying to connect, the authentication dialog would pop up and after I entered the password the "Connecting to server..." message would just sit there and crank. It wouldn't fail but it wouldn't ever connect. I had to relaunch the Finder (through Force Quit) to get it to go away.
Sure enough, I had a percentage sign in the password that was causing the problem. No more special characters in passwords, and it works.
However, some other readers have reported that this tip has not helped them.
TIP: Another workaround for Leopard file sharing: turn off SMB Relay Attack
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Neal Jackson offered another workaround for problems mounting Windows shares with Leopard:
I have found that my PC Firewall software allows Leopard unhindered SMB sharing by turning off SMB Relay Attack detection.
I'm no expert but I guess Leopard is using this networking protocol in a primitive manner that could render the network potentially vulnerable to SMB hijacking attack exploits.
If you've tried this suggestion
Reader feedback on firewall Leopard file sharing workarounds
Monday, December 17, 2007
A reader named Zeno said the firewall suggestion worked to enable Leopard to access file sharing, but the SMP tip did not:
Hello, I tried the suggestions for turning off the internal Firewall and the shared PC machines on our network immediately showed up. I also tried the enable SMP in the allow only essential services and this didn't work. I have a G4 Dual 1GHz running 10.5.1.
TIP: Manual IP, WINS config solves reader's Leopard file sharing problem
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Nicholas Manzoli solved his Leopard file sharing problems by configuring IP and WINS manually:
Before upgrading to Leopard, I could see all PC's and network attached storage (NAS). Now, nada. I did see everything for a very short time (minutes) just after the upgrade, restarting for the first time. Same on four machines that I upgraded.
After a lot of frustration, I was able to fix my file sharing problem. I solved it by going into the "Advanced" options for System Preferences --> Network --> Ethernet and I changed the Configuration to 'Manual" then I entered the same IP address that was there when the configuration was automatic. I then went into the WINS configuration and entered my Workgroup name under NETBIOS (press enter) and selected the workgroup again in the next box.
I applied the changes and all of my PC's, NAS's etc just started showing up. Been up and running for about an hour and they are still there. I tried this on four machines (2 Intel Minis, a PowerBook G4, and a MacBook) and it worked on all. The laptops were a bit more work - had to create a new location and copy in all the details. Make sure the NetBIOS matches your workgroup name. It might take a few tries to make that stick (though I don't know why).
If you’ve tried this
Users can't see files inside shares
Some readers are reporting different symptoms of Leopard file sharing problems. Here are some more.
Kirk Rheinlander can't see inside network folders:
10.5 Leopard from a Powerbook G4 to a Win2003 server share point. The "connect to server" function works fine, giving me a mount point as specified (a blue disk icon on the desktop too), but none of the content of the directory is visible. A PC, same credentials, works fine, but my PB does not see any files. Get Info shows the volume as a SMB (NTFS) volume, with permissions reflecting read/write. However, attempts to create a folder or copy a file fail.
Tried renaming machine to a shorter name, turning sharing on/off/on, removing credentials from the keychain, even opening up permissions on the Windows directory - no success.
Also, my wireless connection seems to go away. Signal strength does not degrade, but all of a sudden, no connectivity. Shut down Airport card and restart it, and viola! It works.
Simon Yates also can't see items inside shares:
I can connect 10.5 to my Win2003 SVR but the shares must be full control on sharing and security to everyone.
I can limit everyone to read and execute and the shares are still operational.
However, if I remove everyone from security, the share will mount most of the time, but Finder will not display any objects within the shares. While trying to connect to a share with restrictive permissions, the gear at the bottom right spins to no end. I do not get error messages and have to open a new finder to be able to access other files.
I access my shares daily for all my files. All worked with 10.4.10. Apple had me reinstall the OS from scratch - there was no difference.
Earl Pee also can't see files inside of shares:
First off I have the family pack so that I could experiment with more than one Mac. On the MacBook Pro, I did a clean install. Connected it to my network and presto I could see my files on the windows machines.
On the Mac Pro however, I see the shares, but cannot view the contents of the files. So it seems that I have to access as another user, cool right? Nope.
I hit disconnect and nothing happens. It never releases the share or allows me to log in as the user that has the privileges to see the files.
On the plus side... I can now print on my hp 1200 that's connected to a PC. Before I couldn't from the Mac.
More reports of Leopard not seeing Windows network
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
We've had many more reports of Macs no longer being able to see Windows file shares after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
Amir Zelcer says his networked computers disappeared:
After making a clean install of Tiger and then clean install of Leopard on my brand new MacBook Pro - no network computers are displayed. All are visible when Tiger was on, but they all disappear in Leopard. The support people here have no idea what's its all about.
Peter Labrow says the previously reported tip of turning off file sharing doesn't work for him:
Like others I can't see Windows servers under Leopard. They just don't show in the Finder, nor does turning file sharing on/off help. These are 'real' Windows Servers, not just other PCs, they are visible from other PCs and from 10.4.10
Edward Olszewski says his PCs can access the Mac, but the Mac can't see the PCs:
I have a brand new 24-inch iMac that came with Tiger. I was blown away by how easy it was to integrate it into my home network of Windows XP PC's.
Now after upgrading to Leopard, I cannot see any of the Windows computers on my home network. Before I would see my workgroup name and I could select my PC's. Now no Workgroups appear at all. There is no “Shared” category in the Finder.
The only way I can access the PC's is to click on the Apple, select recent items, and select the PC's from the servers section. I can't access the PC's by any other method.
Both my Mac (Leopard) and 2 PC's (Windows XP) are connected to a router with cables. Strangely enough, I can access the iMac from the PC's with SMB selected and I can print to all the printers from my iMac that are connected to my Windows PCs with no problem.
Chris James updates his previous report:
John, Just to give you an update, I haven't been able to fix the networking problems yet. "Mac Help" under Leopard says that if you cannot see a Windows Computer in the Finder, it is probably not on your subnetwork and you have to use "Go Connect to Server" from the file menu. This is definitely NOT how Tiger worked and is a step backwards if this is what we are stuck with. The exact same network settings are used under both operating systems. Tiger clearly shows all the Workgroups on the network and is easily browsable,
Leopard just shows the Apple computers, which happen to be here and on today regardless of Workgroup or subnet. No Browsing is available whatsoever.
TIP: Another workaround for Leopard file sharing: re-launch the Finder
Monday, December 17, 2007
Jeff Schlegel tried without success some of the other tips we've reported for file sharing with Leopard. He then came with a new one:
I've been plagued with the Leopard share access problem. Everything worked fine for the first hour, but then all the Windows/NAS shares disappeared. Tried the IPv6 trick, firewall has always been off, basically tried everything but the shares wouldn't show up in Finder and I couldn't "go" to them either.
My fix? If I re-launch Finder, everything shows back up and works perfectly. I re-launch through Main Menu but I'm sure there are other ways to do it. It usually stays working until the machine goes to sleep, and then (randomly) the problem can reappear until I re-relaunch Finder.
If you've tried this
if it worked for you.
Random disconnections of mounted Windows Shares in Leopard
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Matt Sielski, like some other readers, noticed that Leopard file sharing worked at first, then it could no longer access Windows shares. When he did get it working, the mounted shares abruptly disconnect:
Shortly after the Leopard upgrade I could easily browse to my Windows 2003 Server shares with the SHARED area in the Finder. Now, a few weeks later, using the SHARED area just shows "Connecting..." when I try to browse my network. I have to mount the shares with Finder's Go > Connect to server > smb://IPADDRESS/sharename. Once I do that, I can then browse through the SHARED area, however it makes it confusing as there's access to files through the automatically displayed entry for the share there, as well as the one I explicitly mounted.
The most recent development, unfortunately, is that shares I've mounted are randomly disconnected (after about 10 or 20 minutes of use) and no attempt at reconnecting works -- I get a "Connection failed" message if I try. I then have to reboot to get another 10 or 20 minutes of access.
So, consider me very displeased with the step back that Leopard has given us with regard to SMB sharing with Windows. I don't know what to install next, the 10.5.1 update or my 10.4 disk.
Fix for Leopard SMB dismounting problem: turn off AirPort
Anton Schep found that the problem of random disconnects (here and here) is linked to DHCP. Turning off AirPort while connected to Ethernet fixed his problem:
I found the solution to my SMB disconnects. I use a laptop at work which normally uses a wired connection with fixed IP as a first choice, but there is wireless connection in the building too and my laptop pulls an IP number from the DHCP server via Airport. The Airport connection is (normally) not doing anything as all the traffic goes over the wired Ethernet connection. Apparently, after the 5 minute inactivity the Windows server starts talking to the wireless connection and then fails to reconnect, as the laptop is still using the wired Ethernet.
By turning off Airport the SMB share stays connected. I just have to remember to turn it on, when the wired connection is not available (like at home or elsewhere in my building).
Anybody know how to write a launchd script which automatically turns on Airport is not available and off when it is not?
If you have an answer to his question or have tried this suggestion
Another case of Windows shares disconnecting
Adriana Shmahalo has a problem with Leopard where Windows shares disconnect or disappear without warning:
Have the same problem as another user. Updated to system 10.5.5 and it got worse. I think it started happening since 10.3 update. My Windows shares behave very strange: sometimes they show and sometimes they don't and today is not a good day. I was able to see them for a brief moment and they disconnected again. This has nothing to do with any other network connections - I can go online just fine.
If you've seen this problem
Further description of shares disconnecting from Leopard
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Dan Ball responded to our reports of Windows shares randomly disconnecting from the Mac. One of his users reports that folder icons in Windows are appearing with a minus sign (-) next to them:
I just got a report on this from one of our instructors. With our setup I use WGM to mount shares as login items using the logging in users credentials. I just got a report that the shares periodically will show on the desktop as folders with a negative symbol and the users have to logout and back in again for them to show properly. However while the issue is happening with the folders showing as folders with the negative symbol users can still go through applications save dialogs and save to the network shares still.
So I'm not sure at this point what's going on, I haven't seen it for myself yet.
Running Intel and PPC iMacs. (iSight PPC iMacs and Early 2008 iMacs) All running 10.5.5 with latest updates. Open Directory server is Mac OS X 10.4.11 Server with latest updates and our Windows Domain is 2003 R2.
If you've seen this
Readers say workarounds for Leopard file sharing woes are unpredictable
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Two readers report that none of the many workaround for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard file sharing problems work all the time. Previously, some readers have said that one or another workaround works, while others report that they don't. Yet others say workarounds work only some of time.
Stephen Roberts said the workarounds are erratic:
I just wanted to let you know that I have tried most all of the suggestions posted on your site including turning off IPv6, turning off the firewall on my iMac and PC, choosing a different password without symbols, turning file sharing off, and editing the name of the workgroup. None of these things have fixed the problem and browsing for network servers; they seem to yield different results every time. It's very unpredictable.
However, I have learned a couple of things:
1. I think that editing the name of the workgroup in the Advanced Network settings does have an effect. It seems to have an easier time finding the Windows machine, even though for me the connection still fails.
2. Turning off Simple File Sharing on the PC allows me to "Connect to Server" as a registered user, giving me access to every file on the PC. With that setting toggled on I could only connect as a guest which only gave me access to my shared documents folder.
I hope this helps others out there. I'm giving up. I will just use Connect to Server from now on.
David Searles points out that the 10.5.1 upgrade did not address the problems, and also reports erratic behavior:
I wanted to confirm that Apple still has not fixed any of the Windows file sharing issues it introduced with Leopard. Every boot of Leopard is an adventure when it comes to Windows file sharing; some days nothing at all shows as "Shared" resources, other days SOME resources show up for a fleeting appearance. Very distressing!
One would think they really don't give a hoot about correcting their screw-up. How difficult can it be to look at the code they changed between Tiger and Leopard to find the bugs?
Note: one previously reported tip not mentioned in today’s report has to do with changing firewall settings.
Reader TIP: use same subnet to get around Leopard file sharing bug
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Deanna Santangelo offered yet another fix for Leopard's problems accessing Windows shares:
I was unable to connect to my Windows XP shares from the Mac even though my Windows XP machines could connect to Leopard shares. After several hours of trying different things I found it worked if I moved the Mac to the same subnet as the XP machines. I have no idea why this was the case since the other direction worked fine. I don't have any ACLs configured on the router.
If you've tried this suggestion
if it worked for you.
Reader uses Connect to Server to deal with Windows shares disappearing off Leopard sidebar
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
D. Harminder reports another bit of odd behavior with Leopard problems browsing Windows shares:
I've had the same problem as others after upgrading to Leopard, with my Windows PCs disappearing off the Leopard sidebar from time to time. This was usually resolved with a Mac reboot.
After some time, I've found that if I connect to a drive using the GO- >Connect To Server, then giving the smb://... drive URL, ALL of my Windows PCs reappear in the sidebar! And all starts working again as normal.
TIP: Instructions for configuring AirPort/Leopard for Win share access
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Jake Braun had success fixing Leopard's file sharing problem over AirPort. He used a previously submitted suggestion to create a new location for the wireless connection, and not use the Automatic setting. Braun sent us step-by-step instructions on how to do that and configure the proper settings:
My iMac (Leopard 10.5.1) can now connect to some of my shared volumes on the Windows XP. The "magic bullet" seemed to be creating a new "location" in network rather than using the automatic setting, as suggested by Shane Moore. I was then able to enter my WIN workgroup on the iMac network preferences, and it didn't disappear! For sharing printers attached to the XP machine the key was entering the IP address of the XP machine in addition to the workgroup name.
For other OS X newbies like me, here are the steps:
- Click on Airport symbol at top of screen and choose "Open network preferences" (you can also get there via System Preferences" icon in Dock).
- Click on down arrow next to "Location" and choose "Edit locations."
- Click on "+" and type in name (I used Home).
- Click on "AirPort" in the box at the left to make sure you are configuring the right connection. I stayed with default configuration, typed in the name and password for my WiFi network.
- Click on Advanced.
- Click the AirPort tab at top; add network if necessary and the security info.
- Make sure you are connected to the wireless network.
- Click on WINS at top.
- NetBIOS name should be filled in and gray (mine showed "iMac").
- Click drop-down menu on Workgroup and you should see your Windows workgroup name.
- Click on Plus key and enter the IP address for the Windows machine you want. (You can get this on your Windows machine by going to start, run, type "cmd" and press enter. This brings up a DOS window. Type ipconfig and press Enter).
Entering the IP address in addition to the workgroup appears to be essential to be able to see shared printers attached to the XP machine.
TIP: DNS command-line configuration -- a final answer for disappearing Win shares in Leopard's sidebar?
We've reported numerous varied suggestions for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard problems with Windows server browsing and file sharing. Some work for some people, and some work only temporarily.
Kevin David found a solution in a blog that involves typing in some configuration commands in Mac OS X's Terminal command-line utility. The blog gave these instructions:
Type this in Terminal:
$ sudo pico /etc/smb.conf
Then add the following line to the [global] section:
name resolve order = lmhosts bcast wins
Save it, then disable and reenable file-sharing from the Network [sic: we think this should be Sharing. -Ed] panel, checking "Advanced..." to make sure that SMB is enabled. After a minute or two, your Shared should be back in the sidebar.
The blog claims that the root of the problem is a DNS issue, which is similar to what one of our readers once reported.
Kevin David says this edit works to fix the problem:
This bug was driving me insane until I stumbled over this fix a couple of weeks ago. Since I've done that, machines appear in my sidebar and stay there.
If you've tried this
We caution, however, that if you've never used a Unix shell command-line before, you may not want to experiment with this approach.
Readers says Terminal DNS edit doesn't fix Leopard file browsing
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Neal Tobochnik reports that Wednesday's suggestion to use a Terminal command (directly above) did not help Leopard's problem with browsing for Windows shares:
I followed Keven David's suggestion. It worked until I rebooted the computer. Repeating the procedure did not help. BTW you must change file sharing from the share control panel not the network control panel.
Readers verify and correct DNS command-line configuration fix for disappearing Win shares in Leopard's sidebar
Two readers verified a command-line fix we reported for the Leopard's Windows share browsing bug. Neal Tobochnik, who previously told it didn’t work, got it to work with a small corretion:
Actually I finally got your tip to work. You have to turn off and on file sharing in the Sharing panel not the Network panel. Also in the Sharing Panel options you have to check the SMB option.
Max Minkoff also reported success:
Wow! I just tried this and it worked immediately and fantastically. I can't confirm that things don't go in and out, as I've just done it a few minutes ago, but it was really a charm.
Now if I could just get my VMWare Win XP machine to see the servers also... But I'll keep looking.
More success with the command line fix for Leopard file browsing problems
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
John McGrath reports that the suggested Terminal command fixed his problems with Leopard file browsing:
I tried the command line fix. So far this seems to have worked. None of the other fixes stuck.
Reader says command-line Leopard file browsing fix works, but not always
Bill Paulson said the command-line fix listed on our Leopard Tips and Reports page improved the problem with Leopard not seeing Windows servers, though not completely:
I'm on a very large network, and Leopard's always been very flakey about displaying Windows shared drives.
I tried the fix at your site, adding:
name resolve order = lmhosts bcast wins
to the /etc/smb.conf file.
As best I can tell, this has improved the behavior. Prior to doing this, I never saw the full list of more than 500 workgroups within Alcaltel-Lucent. After doing this, it usually shows the full list, though not always.
Variation on Terminal fix for Leopard file sharing
Monday, February 18, 2008
Katie Berryhill verified the Terminal DNS-configuration command fix for Leopard file sharing, though under some interesting circumstances:
The terminal fix for Windows sharing under Leopard worked great. Interestingly, though, I didn't have to finish it. I entered the command in Terminal, moved the cursor to the "global" section, and started typing (and, in fact, had mistyped it so far) and my Windows shares popped into view. I corrected the misspelling, finished typing the command, saved it, and they were still there. When I re-enabled file sharing, the Mac was visible to the PCs (when it hadn't been before).
NETBIOS name: Another theory and suggestion for Leopard File browsing
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
David Cohen (who writes for MyMac.com) has another theory and suggestion about Leopard's problems with Windows file browsing:
You have plenty of suggestions for fixing the Leopard Windows sharing issue, that I see are all a bit hit or miss. I think the reason for this is because a lot of the things people are trying are fixing the real root issue by accident.
The Leopard advanced network settings has a WINS tab, and in this there is a NETBIOS name field. This is auto-generated by Leopard - it looks like it uses the MAC address to generate it. However, if what is put in there is not compliant with the NETBIOS settings of the Windows network you are connected to, then browsing will not work, because the WINS server will not acknowledge the WINS requests coming from Leopard.
The actual NETBIOS name requirements supported vary depending on the flavour of OS running on the WINS servers on the network. I would suspect the best route to success is to use the most basic NETBIOS name requirements, back from the old Windows NT 4.0 days - stick in no more than an 8-character alphanumeric into the NETBIOS field, and all Windows browsing will be restored.
I had two Leopard machines, one which would browse and one which would not. The browsing one had an 8-character WINS setting, and the non- browsing one had a MAC address in the WINS field. Removing the MAC address and putting in a simple word in the WINS field IMMEDIATELY reinstated browsing.
If you've tried this
if it worked.
Reader says "no go" to NETBIOS change to solve Windows sharing issue
Tom Hughston reported that "The NETBIOS name change to an 8 alphanumeric name did not solve the problem." That problem being Leopard's problems with Windows file browsing.
Hyphen havoc with NetBIOS name for Leopard SMB/CIFS file sharing
Robert Winterhalter reports that a hyphen in the NetBIOS name causes problems for Leopard filesharing with Windows. Some previous reports have also pointed to problems with NetBIOS names (here and here). Winterhalter said:
One thing I've discovered that may be causing some of the SMB/CIFS issues with 10.5 is that for some reason the Mac OS is not allowing the "-" character in the NetBIOS name, and it drops everything after it as well. This is causing havoc at my site because the NetBIOS name seems to be trying to default to the domain name, which for us is "XXXX-NNN", where XXXX is specific to a subnet, and NNN is specific within that subnet. Thus ALL computers in the same subnet end up with the same NetBIOS name.
Many thanks to the contributors of your site, as it's been quite helpful.
If you've seen this
TIP: Using uppercase workgroup name for Leopard file sharing
Rich Kosiba was seeing Leopard's file sharing problems while trying to access network attached storage (NAS). He fixed his problem by changing the workgroup name to all uppercase in System Preferences:
I have a Tritton NAS here, not sure what OS it runs. I had no problems connecting to it with Tiger but had many problems with Leopard. Some of the tips from your site got me to connect but there were no files in any of the shares once I connected.
It turned out to be a case-sensitivity issue with the workgroup name. My workgroup name was all lowercase in the System Preferences but I noticed that whenever I type the workgroup name in Windows or on the NAS it is automatically converted to uppercase. Changing the workgroup to all uppercase in System Preferences resolved my issues.
If you've tried this suggestion
We've also had previously reported suggestions regarding workgroup names.
Restarting Leopard provides relief from file sharing woes...
Jason Wood reports that restarting Leopard provides temporary relief from Windows file sharing problems.
I was just reading the reports you have of people who cannot connect to Windows servers with Leopard. I thought I'd let you know that I have the same problem and rebooting seems to help--usually. Very unusual.
If you've tried this
...and so does a clean install
Andy Peat in the United Kingdom said fixed his file sharing issue with a clean install of Leopard:
I too have had real problems with this, tried all the possible fixes on the net WINS, DOMAIN network configs, absolutely nothing. This machine was an upgrade from 10.4 I did a clean install on a Mac at work and all the windows shares popped up like a dream. So for me it looks like it could be an upgrade account issue.
If you've tried this
Restart helps when Leopard disconnects Win shares
Michael May agrees that restarting helps with Leopard file sharing problems. His problem is that Leopard disconnects a Windows share and can't log back on:
Yes, I am getting a similar SMB problem to the one others are reporting: I'll come back to my desk to find the SMB share has disconnected, then when I try to reconnect, I get: Connection failed ... The server may not exist or it is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and your network connection and try again." Rebooting does the trick, but nothing short of that: Log out/in, or relaunching Finder does not help. I have encountered this just in the last few days, so it's not Leopard in general, but must be one of the security updates or something else.
More on Windows shares disappearing from Leopard's view
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Andreas Tagger reports having the problem with Windows shares appearing and disappearing from the Mac's view at random:
We are having the same problem as Mark Pouley on our network here at the office and we cannot figure out how to fix it. One thing that seems to help is to disconnect the Netgear swtiches from the chain that connects to the server. I am not sure if this is a solution or not. Basically all our PC servers are "moody." They seemingly appear and disappear at random.
If you've seen this problem
TIP: Aliases as a workaround for disappearing Win shares in Leopard
Peter Shindler discovered a simple workaround to the problem of Windows shares disappearing from Leopard:
I am the IT manager of a company, and we have several Mac users in the office. We have shared folders on of our servers, and this problem was happening.
What I have found that helps is to create an alias of the share. When the share disappears, click on the alias, and it reestablishes the share-it pops back up right away.
If you've tried this
TIP: fix for disappearing files on Vista share
Ray Drury found that the name of the folders on a shared Windows Vista machine caused trouble with Leopard access:
We have a Vista share which we access via our Macs. It all works fine under OS 10.4.11 but our new Mac running Leopard 10.5.2 mysteriously can't see some of the folder contents within a share on the Vista PC. The symptoms are, click on a folder and no contents are shown, when you click away the folder disappears. After lots of hair-pulling, we have discovered that the folders in question have a 'space' at the end of their name, removing this space allows the folders to be viewed as they should.
If you've tried this
Tip verified: Removing space made files visible
Dave verified a previously reported fix for a Leopard problem with files disappearing from mounted Windows shares. The fix cleared up some other symptoms as well. Dave reports:
I had a server with three Macs and many a few PCs on it. Our temp used one folder alone for hundreds of files, but some of her folders and files were not visible everywhere. The PCs and OS 10.4 Macs can see all the files fine.
The 10.5 Mac had these issues:
- Sometimes could not see all folders
- Opening a folder found zero items inside (even though they existed)
- Folders would show wrong dates, 0k, and blank icons
- Clicking off the folder made all the blank icon folders disappear completely
After much searching I found your site with this recent solution: The file names have a space at the end. Remove the spaces and the files/folders all show up properly. It worked perfectly.
Another Leopard problem with Win servers; shares turn into aliases
Chris Pope reported another odd problem with Leopard file sharing with Windows server. It sounds similar to the reported problem of being able to mount servers and not being able to copy files. Except in this case, the shares turn into inaccessible aliases:
I have a G4, just did a fresh install of Leopard, 10.5.1. Used to use Tiger (we have 2 other machines running Tiger), in a small office, with a Maxtor Shared storage plus, network drive.
After installing Leopard (it went pretty much to 10.5.1) I am able to connect to the Maxtor SMB share, but 4 out of 12 directories cannot be accessed. If you click on the directory, it changes from a folder to a 0kb alias.
After a heap of searching and not really finding anything, I copied the 4 offending directory's from another machine and renamed them (they are considerable in size and hold most of our company data) I was then able to access most of the directories beneath the original faulty root directories. Some directories are still exhibiting this alias issue.
I have seen a work around for samba servers to update the smb.conf file with the line USE UNIXESTENSIONS = NO (or something very similar) but this is a Maxtor drive and without serious pain I don't think I'm going to get access to the smb.conf file.
If you've seen this
Reader says Leopard 10.5.1 does not fix SMB file sharing problems | Top of Page |
Monday, November 19, 2007
David Searles reports that the Leopard file sharing problems are still occurring after the Mac OS X 10.5.1 update:
When I first installed this update and turned File Sharing back on, everything looked to be working. I was psyched! But the next day after a reboot, Windows networking is once again GONE and now turning File Sharing off does NOT bring it back. So until Apple fixes this disaster, I'm stuck without ANY access to my Windows network!
Christopher Ferrante also said that the 10.5.1 update did not fix the problem.
Please note that we have been reporting a variety of different workarounds for 10.5.0, though no absolute fixes yet.
Leopard 10.5.1 problems writing to mounted Windows drives; 10.5.1 fixes at least one problem | Top of Page |
Monday, November 19, 2007
Jean Robert Opgenort in The Netherlands reported Leopard problems copying files to Windows drives on both on a network and in a virtual machine. He also said that the 10.5.1 update fixes one problem:
I am still having problems writing files from my Mac (running Leopard 10.5.1) to mounted Windows drives -- both folders on the Windows 2003 Server (SMB/NTFS) at my work and the Windows XP virtual machine (NTFS/ Parallels) on my Mac. Here are four situations where it works and where it doesn't work.
1. Guest account on mounted Windows shared folder: writing (dragging and dropping) from Mac to Windows works OK. This was problematic in 10.5.0, but fixed in 10.5.1.
2. With any type of account, reading and copying from Windows to Mac works OK.
3. Authenticated user on mounted Windows folder: writing (dragging and dropping) from Mac to Windows does *NOT* work. Leopard stalls when copying files (> 4kb) to Windows, sometimes producing a -36 error code (stating that the Finder cannot complete the operation because some data cannot be read or written). I cannot even connect to my virtual machine as an authenticated user. I am always logged in as a guest even after choosing the "Connect as" option.
4. Dragging and dropping directly into the Parallels virtual machine (thus not via the mounted drive) works OK.
So the writing problem seems to be related to mounted drives.
More readers with 10.5.1 problems writing to volumes via SMB | Top of Page |
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
We've had more reports of copying data to SMB file sharing volumes with Mac OS X 10.5.1.
Glenn Josephsons also sees the problem with writing to volumes via SMB with a USB drive attached to an AirPort base station:
The 10.5.1 update problem with SMB/CIFS shares doesn't only affect access to shared Windows drives. It also affects external drives hung off the USB port of an Airport Extreme base station, since it uses CIFS. I have a G4 PowerBook running 10.5.1 and it cannot even see the 1 TB external I have attached to the AEBS. My iMac with 10.4.11 has no problem with it, and neither does my Dell running XP Media Center. There have been several workarounds suggested on the Apple forums, none have worked for me and apparently for most others.
I also have a shared drive on the PC that the 10.4 machine works fine with that the Leopard machine can no longer access. All this at least worked to some extent before the 10.5.1 patch.
John McGrath:
I have been experiencing the intermittent visibility of Windows shared files on my MB with Leopard 10.5.1 (the larger update). I have tried all of the combination of settings on the Mac that are suggested by other readers and the only one that consistently works is turning off AirPort and tuning it back on (I also get the occasional lose of connection after the Mac has gone to sleep). I have two Windows systems a Win 2000 that can be manually connected routinely and an XP Pro that requires the Airport reset about half of the time. Neither of the Windows machines appears automatically in the shared space on Finder and nothing shows up in the network window.
Jeffrey McGuire said that 10.5.1 update did not help accessing Windows computers:
Have now updated to 10.5.1 and things have actually gotten worse!
Recap: within 20 minutes of turning on my first Mac at home, I was inside my Windows computers on my home network.
Now Leopard 10.5, I couldn't find for the life of me how to connect to my Windows computers again. Tried turning file sharing on and off on the Mac. It didn't change anything. I got "share" and my Windows computers to appear in the Finder by configuring System Preferences|Network|Airport|Advanced|WINS to be in my specific (Windows) workgroup.
I confirm Jean Robert Opgenort's reports as far as they relate to my system:
Under 10.5: I could move data from Win XP machine to Mac, but not Mac to Win. - The "connect as" dialog opened but didn't do anything. I was only logged in as "guest" no matter what I did.
Now under 10.5.1 when I click on "connect as" I sometimes get an error that the server has disappeared and selecting the Windows machine in the Finder "shared" section produces a blank.
Don't know if it is related, but the Parallels clipboard is very spotty. I never know how long it will work. Copying and pasting in and out of the virtual XP machine always craps out sooner or later. Also: XP VM producing horrible freeze/hang situations in Office and also in Explorer functionality.
Reader can log onto Win server but can't copy files -- 0-byte files left | Top of Page |
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Duncan Maclay can get onto his Windows server from Leopard, but has the previosly reported problem of copying files to Windows drives:
I can mount all my shares on a wide selection of Win 2000 and XP boxes, my NAS and indeed on the Win 2003 server. What's more I can read, open and close files on any of them no problem. So far, so good. But here's the thing: I cannot save on the Win 2003 server. When I save, it creates a file, beachballs around a bit, bleats about privileges (despite me being logged on to the server with an admin account) and leaves a file on the server with the right name and 0 bytes in it. I am tearing my hair out.
Workaround for Leopard write problems to Windows shares-- SMB signing
Duncan Maclay offered a workaround for the problem where Leopard can't write to volumes via SMB even though they can connect. (See also here.) His workaround:
In the interim I have resolved the issue. It has to do with SMB signing on the server. In order to get the permissions to work properly, you have to create a GPO [Group Policy object] on the server. This appears to a new development under Leopard which was not *necessarily* the case under Tiger.
If you’ve tried this workaround
if it worked.
Joel Farthing describes the problem:
I have the same problem as the reader who reports being able to read files on windows network shares but not save. Creates a file with 0 bytes. If a solution becomes apparent, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks.
Ville Vartiainen said "I have exactly this problem too. I hope there is a fix very soon!"
Marek Absolon said "I have the same problem."
More on disabling SMB signing to fix Leopard file copy problem
Maarten Vink confirmed a suggestion for the Leopard problem of being able to log on to a Windows share but not copy files:
I had the problem described here with Mac OS 10.5.1 and a Windows 2003 server. Connecting to shares mostly worked, but reading and writing files almost always failed completely or created 0-byte sized files. The fix suggested by Duncan Maclay (disabling SMB signing on the server) resolved this.
We note that Duncan Maclay's suggestion involoves creating a Group Policy object (GPO) on the server and disabling SMB signing. Microsoft describes how to do this in a downloadable document called Connecting Mac OS X 10.3 and Higher Clients to a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network. See the section called "Disable SMB Signing on the Server."
|
