[WinMac] Unsolved NT Mysteries: Comments & notes
Dan Schwartz(expresso[at]snip.net)
Tue, 13 Oct 1998 16:43:20 -0400
Hello, John and the gang!
I have a few comments about the page:
<http://www.macwindows.com/NTunsolv.html>. I'll put them inline for
clarity, indented.
---------------
July 13, 1998
Tom Ackenhusen of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory told us of a
work around he uses for the problem:
"Every time we reboot our NT server, we go into the Windows File Manager on
the server and delete and recreate the Mac volume. Note that we don't
delete or touch the NT directory or contents in this process. We just use
the MacFile menu of File Manager to remove the Mac volume for the network
folder and then recreate it. Since you can't remove the volume when users
are connected, we often have to stop and restart SFM before doing this if
users have connected."
---------------
If there are thousands of files, this can take quite a while... Especially
if there is a software (driver level) RAID Level 5 array. But it WILL work,
nonetheless.
---------------
Sept. 17, 1998
Dagfinn Andersen
We have also experienced the alias problems when installing the latest
hotfix, but even worse: After a power failure the good old "files disappear
from mounted server volumes on Macs"-problem hit us hard. When this
happened earlier we were able to rescue our files by either redefine the
Mac volume or moving folders around. But not this time. We even copied the
files to another NT server (with the same hotfix) using different tools in
Windows NT (scopy/File manager) but the files where still missing for our
Macs.
To get back in business we installed the SFM-version prior to the hotfix....
We running NT on Digital Alpha hardware.
---------------
Dagfinn Andersen definitely needs to be using a(n) U.P.S. with his Alpha
server, along with properly configuring the UPS Control Panel (UPS Service).
Also, when he copied the files via XCOPY (which he called "scopy"), not
all of the NTFS streams may have made it across. This is guaranteed to
corrupt fragile Resource forks. [This can also be an issue with restoring
backups... I recommend UltraBac <http://www.ultrabac.com> since it properly
handles SFM volumes.]
---------------
Folders or drive volumes that won't close
DESCRIPTION: A folder or a drive volume on the NT Server is open on a Mac,
it can't be closed. Clicking on the close box has no effect.
[We can speculate that the problem is related to the fact that Apple's
official line is that the Mac doesn't support volumes over 4 GB, even
though it seems to work. Apple's official documents all advise people not
to use partitions over 4 GB.]
Gregory Olen wrote back to say that he thinks the problem may be due to Mac
users having the problem closing the window had the "calculate folder
sizes" option turned on in the View Options menu for that particular
folder. Other readers claim this is not the case:
Sept. 27 1998
Steve Mack
We experienced this. At the time, we were running a 200 MHz server with 100
MB or RAM. We replaced it with a Compaq Proliant 3000 server with 320 MB of
RAM and dual processors and even after a fresh OS install and a full data
restore the problem did not go away. Finally just for grins, I created a
new folder with a different name, copied the files over to it and trashed
the old folder and the problem immediately went away for good. I have no
idea why this worked. The original folder was titled "Personal Folders". We
have not had this problem with closing volumes. Just with closing a folder.
By the way, windows machines did not have a problem with this folder.
This happened on a 50 gig server. We always keep Calculate Folder sizes
turned off. We spent a small fortune on this one and Microsoft was unable
to help and when I told them our solution, they said it didn't make sense.
Eventually after about 5 - 8 minutes our window would finally close.
---------------
Here, the key word is "copied." When Steve Mack copied the files he also
defragmented them, speeding up disk access tremendously.
A secondary cause for this is that the disk is over about 75%-80% full,
causing the MFT (Master File Table) to become fragmented. In general, when
you look at the display screen in Diskeeper 3.0, you want the top couple of
rows (where the MFT is located) to be "clean." Generally, I turn ON the MFT
logging in Diskeeper so I can review MFT status in the Event Viewer.
---------------
Mac Viruses on large NT MacFile volumes
There seems to be no way to check for Macintosh viruses on Windows NT
Services for Macintosh volumes that are larger than 4 GB (possibly related
to the AFP 4 GB limit issue). Jeff Miller first brought this to our attention:
"Many of my clients are using Macs and NT 4.0 servers with SFM. I would
like to scan these SFM volumes for Mac viruses (Worm autostart and Graphic
Accelerator). Norton Anti-virus (Mac and PC), Virex, and the plethora of
shareware do not correctly scan large SFM volumes over a network and PC
programs do not scan for Mac viruses. Any suggestions?"
We suggested running Thursby Systems' DAVE, which bypasses the Apple Filing
Protocol. Several readers told us why running Thursby DAVE doesn't work.
Others told us that they are using it and that it works fine.
Oct. 9, 1998
Jeff Miller
"Some smaller volumes will allow NAV administrator to run, but it usually
locks up. Part of the problem I think is SFM volumes are still NTFS
volumes, not HFS so the Mac apps don't recognize the file structure
properly. (SFM does not change the volumes, simply interprets it for Mac.)
The problem could easily be solved if someone would include Mac virus
definitions with their PC software but as of yet no one does that I know of."
On October 11, Miller added:
"I and my consulting company [Technical Resource Systems] will continue to
work on the issue. I have also contacted Symantec and they are looking into
the issue from a Norton Anti-Virus Admin angle."
Oct. 10, 1998
Nate Caplin of Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
"Although I have not tried this yet (I could... I have DAVE and administer
SFM volumes over 4 GB), this would probably not work reliably because when
you access a Windows drive with DAVE, even though it may be an SFM volume,
your Mac cannot access the files' Mac resource forks, which can contain
viruses. Your Mac can't see the resource fork because NT Server ignores
them when feeding files to Windows clients, which is what DAVE makes your
Mac pretend to be. Furthermore, it's usually the finder type/creator codes
(which are part of the resource fork) that identify file types
(application, document, etc.) to Mac applications, including virus
checkers, no doubt."
"Here's a workaround... Just run virus scans on folders less than 2 GB or 4
GB, rather than an entire drive."
Oct. 12, 1998
Wolfgang Klee
"I have mounted with Dave 2.1 a NT server (110 GB, 15 GB free space, no
services for Macintosh installed). There seems to be no problem scanning my
data folders with SAM. SAM worked normal and ended with the standard
information about the number of scanned files."
Oct. 12, 1998
Teck Beng
"I have NTFS Volume setup as a Mac network volume. It is protected with
Norton Anti-Virus for NT 4.0, it doesn't detect the DB virus that I put
into one of the folders in the server. Using the scanner to scan through
the server doesn't mentioned anything about it. I can only conclude that
the definition (mine has being updated with 1007I32.exe) does not check for
Macintosh virus."
---------------
There are two tools I use in my anti-virus arsenal: WormFood 1.3,
available from <http://www.macintouch.com>, which WILL scan SFM volumes >4
gB; and Sophos SWEEP 3.12 <http://www.sophos.com>. SWEEP will indeed check
for Macintosh virus,' including the AutoStart 9805 worm. However, sweeping
for Macintosh virus' needs to be manually checked off as a Scanning
Preference... Default is OFF.
Yours truly,
Daniel L. Schwartz,
Electrical Engineer.
Dan's Macintosh Consulting
Suite 1306
1840 Frontage Road
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-2205
609-795-8965
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