TenjuZenjin

Q: AFP/SMB Directory Listings very slow in Finder

Hello comunity!

 

Since the upgrade to OS X Mavericks we are experiencing server problems, browsing AFP/SMB shares on remote servers (VPN). The Directory Listing is very slow an can take up to 30 minutes for large listings.

 

Here's the setup

 

  • 2 networks are connected thanks to a VPN connection.
  • All clients, in all connected networks can communicate to a common fileserver (MacPro with OS X 10.6 SnowLeopard Server) in Network A
  • Firewall is not an issue between those networks
  • The fileserver also has other network services set up (DNS, Mailserver, SMB, AFP, Firewall, ...)
  • The clients authenticate via OpenDirectory and Kerberos to the fileserver

 

So the problems occur if i want to connect a client on network B to the server on network A. Connection, authentication, ... all good. Even the performance over the VPN, to tranfer files is OK. But browsing subfolders is catastrophic. I used AFP and SMB alike, results are the same.

 

I also made tests on older clients, to see if the fileserver is the problem. 10.6 and 10.8 clients can browse normally, speed is OK. Even Windows Clients can browse normally all the subfolders of the fileserver.

 

I analyzed different approaches made here, but none of them worked:

  • Connect to share with explicit port
  • Connect to share with FQDN
  • Connect to share with port 445 (SMB)
  • Setup an nsmb.conf with notify_off=yes
  • ...

 

I also did analyze different logs and there's something i found, but can not say if it's connected. I did see many log entries like this:

...

29.10.13 12:21:51,960 icbaccountsd[775]: -[ICBLocalDictionary writeLocalMapping:]: Status: Writing out local mapping to disk

29.10.13 12:21:51,960 icbaccountsd[775]: -[ICBLocalDictionary writeLocalMapping:]: Status: Ending writing out local mapping to disk

29.10.13 12:21:51,960 icbaccountsd[775]: -[ICBRemoteDictionary writeDevices]: Status: Writing out of devices

29.10.13 12:21:51,960 icbaccountsd[775]: -[ICBRemoteDictionary writeDevices]: Status: Ending writing out of device

...

 

I also saw tha a process "icbaccountsd" was often coming up an using all of my CPU, when i start browsing the share. Thus i could not find any documentation on it.

 

So my question: What can I do to accelerate the browsing of my AFP/SMB shares for all my Mavericks clients? What can I do to speed up the Directory Listing? And yes: i know about solutions like PathFinder, TotalFinder, .... but i'm more interested in a native solution to this problem.

 

Thx!!

OS X Mavericks (10.9), 10.6.8 Server

Posted on Oct 29, 2013 4:33 AM

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Q: AFP/SMB Directory Listings very slow in Finder

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  • by jynk,

    jynk jynk Oct 30, 2013 2:44 AM in response to TenjuZenjin
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Oct 30, 2013 2:44 AM in response to TenjuZenjin

    i too have found connecting to my remote lion server via afp has become very slow when browsing in finder. Connection and file transfers themselves seem ok. Previous to Mavericks install it was much quicker to use.

  • by ramz225,

    ramz225 ramz225 Oct 30, 2013 10:48 AM in response to TenjuZenjin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 30, 2013 10:48 AM in response to TenjuZenjin

    Same issue been dealing with it all day. Talk to apple they ran a data collection test on my MBP and told me they would get back to me in a couple days. I cant work of the server it is that bad.  have you figured anything out.

  • by TenjuZenjin,

    TenjuZenjin TenjuZenjin Oct 30, 2013 11:07 AM in response to ramz225
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Oct 30, 2013 11:07 AM in response to ramz225

    Nope. Working on it, but no solution in sight. Meanwhile i had to switch to SSHFS/SFTP to get productive again. Dont ask... SMB, AFP, NFS, FTP, .... nothing wanted to work and also SSHFS was'nt easy, due to timeouts, connection drops and file permissions. But i managed to get it working. 

     

    I hope Apple get's things done very soon! I rely heavely on networks and it's quite a shame that connecting Windows and Linux clients to an OS X Server (10.6.8) is easier and more reliable than connecting Mac clients. No joke; sad but true...

     

    PS: and no, i wont upgrade the server to Mavericks Server... after what happened with my last OS X Lion Servers... *outch*

  • by ramz225,

    ramz225 ramz225 Oct 30, 2013 11:16 AM in response to TenjuZenjin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 30, 2013 11:16 AM in response to TenjuZenjin

    Im showing my ignorance here but could you tell me how to do that switch to sshfs I read a few tutorials on it and tried but got lost I down load fuse and sshfs and installed then but got messed up with terminal and putting in the right info? I to rely completely on the server to work im at a stand still

  • by TenjuZenjin,

    TenjuZenjin TenjuZenjin Oct 30, 2013 11:31 AM in response to ramz225
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Oct 30, 2013 11:31 AM in response to ramz225

    Dont argue with those thingsto much.

     

    Just download and install those 2:

     

    I did get it working with those. I also generated an RSA PUB Key the i installed on the server for authentication. Read this, it's worth it: http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2008/11/3-steps-to-perform-ssh-login-without-passwor d-using-ssh-keygen-ssh-copy-id/

     

    Optionally, if you run into some problems you can also give some extra options to MacFusion. If you want to know which ones, check this out: http://jann.is/daily/archives/757-ExtraAdvanced-options-for-MacFuseMacFusion.htm l

     

    I think that should help you to get it up and running.

     

    Keep in mind that it's only a temporary solution, until Apple fixed the problems...

  • by -KEPHSTER-,

    -KEPHSTER- -KEPHSTER- Nov 2, 2013 6:07 PM in response to TenjuZenjin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 2, 2013 6:07 PM in response to TenjuZenjin

    Experienced similar problems; most probably due to problems with the browsing client's Finder using .DS_store files on the remote server. The deeper into the remote server's directory tree you browse, the longer the delay. All good though after typing the following in Terminal (no SUDO needed) and rebooting the client.

     

    defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true

  • by TenjuZenjin,

    TenjuZenjin TenjuZenjin Nov 4, 2013 12:46 AM in response to -KEPHSTER-
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Nov 4, 2013 12:46 AM in response to -KEPHSTER-

    Thx -KEPHSTER-!

     

    I already followed that approach but it did not change much. I did set the client so that they wont write .DS_store files and also instructed the server so he would noch "accept" them and clean them. Browsing was not faster in any way...

     

    Like you, browsing from on level to another deeper level, it slowed down with every level i did go deeper. I also experienced some sort of caching, wich speeded up things a little. But once the drive disconnects, the cache was purged too.

     

    On the server i saw something quite strange. It seems that, upon connection from a client, the 10.9 client requests the whole folder tree, what a 10.8 and below client did not. With a tree af many thousand folders and even much more files, this could be a huge slow down. Might be hint...?

  • by pguthrie,

    pguthrie pguthrie Nov 4, 2013 10:35 AM in response to TenjuZenjin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 4, 2013 10:35 AM in response to TenjuZenjin

    Yes, we're definitely seeing this too.  Tried many things, nothing to date has worked.

  • by andykidd82,

    andykidd82 andykidd82 Nov 6, 2013 5:48 AM in response to TenjuZenjin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 6, 2013 5:48 AM in response to TenjuZenjin

    I have been having a similar issue. Pre Mavericks it connected fine now it takes ages and is really hampering productivity.

  • by Steve8778435342,

    Steve8778435342 Steve8778435342 Nov 11, 2013 2:35 PM in response to TenjuZenjin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 11, 2013 2:35 PM in response to TenjuZenjin

    I also have the same problem running on a synology NAS disk station (with SMB2 support for mavericks update installed).

     

    • Running a windows 8 VM on the same machine as Mavericks loads the share in seconds, the same folder in Mavericks takes 30mins plus.
    • To confirm https (WebDAV) is no quicker either (to add to TenjuZenin's list above)
    • I'm on a LAN so I can't image how painful this would be on a VPN.

     

    Apple, please can you provide some enterprise support for file shares and other basics (including iSCSI).  It can (and does) take hours to do basic file maintenance jobs which takes minutes on a PC.

  • by dpasarchi,

    dpasarchi dpasarchi Nov 14, 2013 1:58 PM in response to TenjuZenjin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 14, 2013 1:58 PM in response to TenjuZenjin

    As with everyone here, I'm experiencing the exact same issue.  I've used the solution to force the network connection using SMB1 (via the CIF protocol).

     

    However the implementation by Apple and without clear warning has ground my business to a halt with problems due to not being able to access the server.  The solution isn't guaranteed to work.

     

    Maverick's was in beta for 3 months and has now been out for over a month.  This should have been resolved by now and the fact that everyone except Apple have made comment is unsatisfactory.

     

    This has got to be fixed as a matter of urgency or a valid workaround. 

  • by chattphotos,

    chattphotos chattphotos Nov 14, 2013 2:38 PM in response to TenjuZenjin
    Level 4 (2,412 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 14, 2013 2:38 PM in response to TenjuZenjin

    Have you tried using NFS?

     

    What's the network throughput on the VPN?

  • by dpasarchi,

    dpasarchi dpasarchi Nov 14, 2013 3:00 PM in response to chattphotos
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 14, 2013 3:00 PM in response to chattphotos

    Thank you for a quick reply to my post charrphotos.

     

    I'm no network or protocol expert but able to follow instructions and understand the technical rudimentaries.

     

    As shares have been easy to connect to as Bonjour/zeroconf have developed, I haven't needed to look at other protocols such as NFS.  Help on this would be welcome.

     

    In this scenario, I was in the midst of moving all the business data from a simple Netgear Stora (clearly based on a Linux OS) to the Mac temporarily.  Therefore NFS could be supported but I'm not sure because the only interface to configure the Stora is web-based.  I never really use it since it's just a storage vehicle (that currently isn't moving at all).

     

    It's all setup on a one-subnet straightworward LAN.  The Mac and the NAS are connected to the same switch.  I've tried this on another Mac and the result is the same.

     

    Internet access isn't necessary and therefore there is no VPN to complicate matters.  All I need to do is a simple copy of files but the directory structure is quite lengthy which is probably exacerbating the issue.  However in the directories I have been able to access, copying is impossibly slow.

     

    Do I force the NFS protocal via the Finder?  Also will the Stora recognise that protocol without hacking?

  • by chattphotos,

    chattphotos chattphotos Nov 14, 2013 4:42 PM in response to dpasarchi
    Level 4 (2,412 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 14, 2013 4:42 PM in response to dpasarchi

    To note, I replied to the OP...

    You network setup is quite different from the original post, so the troubleshooting steps may be different.

     

    To attempt an NFS connection:

    Connect to Server (Command + K) NFS://server.name.ip.here

     

    Is your network Gigabit (1000mbps)?

     

    If not, there will be a bottleneck if anything is going over a 10/100mbps port which sounds like that may be your issue.

     

    Do you use any Wifi connections?

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