Finder slow at listing directory content from SMB shares

Bump, anyone ever find a solution to this? Wasted hours myself trying to find a solution to the slow SMB file/folder listing behaviour in Finder. It's definitely (at least partially) a Finder issue, as using an alternative file manager like mucommander gives quick performance more in line with what I see on my Win7 pc.

Sick of this issue....Apple, please fix /now!!

I found the "don't use Windows' DNS; use OpenDNS" solution was actually the reverse of my problem. When I STOPPED using OpenDNS's DNSCrypt, my random pauses when Finder was opening directories on an SMB share went away. I wrote a bit about it here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3865461

I found a solution to this also. Everything is now fast, works at gigabit speed, no error -36 half way through large copies (even with lion), no dns issues. I sold the mac and went back to window. Seriously, I got so sick of apple's networking issues I was forced to go back to windows. I actually preferred the mac overall but just couldn't deal with networking issues any longer. It got to the point where the things I liked about apple didn't outweigh the issues. In the end most of those things were niceties that I could either do without or install additional software on windows to get the functionality. eg

good points:

loading of ISOs as drive

SSH and other shell commands

Nicer interface, some cool interface features

Better sleep/wake

Lower power usage

Smaller package (mac mini)

Better looking package of course!

bad points:

networking

nothing that compares to Remote Desktop

less software

slower hardware, greater price

magic mouse VERY poor in apps such as google maps.

MikeKulls wrote:

I found a solution to this also... I got so sick of apple's networking issues I was forced to go back to windows.

My sentiments exactly. As I said before, Apple just keep putting their head up their posterior and gloating about how great the latest iPad is...

Who cares, its a tablet not a computer. You can't do serious work with it. This SMB fiasco is hindering our work flow, wasting resources and annoying us. It's even worse when you consider the first post is from 2009!!!

I have sent in Bug Reports, but they are a waste of time, I only ever got one response, and that was a self congratulatory "it's solved" even though the issue still persits (The un user controllable psuedo DHCP server OSX sets up when using internet sharing).

Seriously, they need to realise there are more people than just kids "trying" to use their hardware. I'm considering returning to the dark side too, I'm losing hours per week trouble shooting problems that just disappear or reappear with no warning or hint as to the cause.

With Apple it's all about the money.

Hibernian56 wrote:

With Apple it's all about the money.

My sentiments also. I guess all companies chase the dollar but none seem to do it to the level that apple do with lack of consideration for their own customers. I think apple aren't chasing the business dollar because the one thing they have in their favour, style, isn't something that businesses care about. It's a pity really because it would work really well with linux servers.

With regards your comments about kids using their hardware, this appears to be where apple are aiming their products. The real computer users who want freedom with their hardware use Android and tend to shy away from iOS because it is too restrictive.

Mike,

My sentiments exactly, its a pity, but that's the way they have been going over the past few years.

A case in point, iPad = €599 whereas I bought a lovely 7" Onda vx610w for $189!! It has everything I need, web, notes, email, terminal, ebook reader, has root access and if you're into it games too. Oh, and it fits into my jacket pocket.

The iPad is an excellent piece of kit, BUT, its an indulgence.

I use my Mac to feed myself (self employed Architect), my Mac is getting to be a distraction lately due to the 10.7 inconsistencies, bugs and (worryingly) intentional omissions.

Apple sold Lion as being all bells and whistles, their "best OS yet", but clearly its not. It is polished, bt some of the bugs are unbelievable when you consider they are interested in enterprise solutions.

Do they honestly think its acceptable that a whole office using macs that upgraded to 10.7 can't access the company SMB based NAS drive where ALL the company files have been painstakingly centralised to avoid data loss? Shame on them if they do.

Anyway, we are starting to rant (its good every now and then). We need a solution to this, porting files via a windows machine and USB sticks is a joke and a recipe for disaster.

Did anything ever come of this?

We have this issue with our MACs and the speed is just unacceptable!

Does anyone know of any workarounds?

AFAIK, this has not been solved. It is a lot better in lion but still the same issues (error -36). MACs are simply not a business machine and not for networking. I sold mine because of this issue and the lack of remote desktop software

Nope. Still same problems for us. We have certain users that have to use Macs. They don't want to use Windows boxes for their creative department. If it were up to me I would throw them out the window.

Macs are great for home use. Macs suck in the corporate world.

We have tried everything and Apple even let us know that it is a known issue and that there is a "feature request" in to have someone work on it but it's not a big priority.

I currently have a MacBook Pro and in a year I will be replacing it with a Windows Laptop. No thanks Apple.

Thanks for the replies about this guys.

I find it shocking that Apple have this down only as a 'Feature Request'.

This should be top priority when you consider it's an basic feature within the OS.

Do you still have that reply back from apple by any chance 'ServerMechanic'?

It would be great to use that reply from them at this end as proof that Apple are not doing anything about this issue.

Thanks.

I have replied to someone inside Apple and I am waiting to see if they will respond and put that info into this thread.

I have to abide by Apple's Confidentiality Notice since it was an email between them and the company I work for.

If you are using Win2K8 or Win2K3 server out-of-the-box with little modification, then you should enjoy very good performance (newer versions of Windows should be a little bit more robust). However, there are some settings that do affect how notifications and file streams are handled, and they interfere with the way that the OS X Samba client works (and, for that matter, if you are using any other UNIX with Samba, their clients too).

These fixes will generally restore the speed (not all will be necessary, it depends on the configuration of the Windows server):

In /etc/smb.conf, change 'use streams' to 'no', and 'darwin_streams:brlm' to 'no'

In /etc/nsmb.conf (doesn't exist by default, so you need to create it), add:

[default]

notify_off=yes

And, in Finder > Preferences..., click the 'Sidebar' tab and uncheck 'Connected servers'

After making any of these changes, unmount all your SMB shares. Start Terminal.app and type:

sudo launchctl stop org.samba.smbd

sudo launchctl start org.samba.smbd

... some combination of those will always fix it. Like I said, though, most Windows server configs ought not need them, and, of course, non-Windows SMB/CIFS servers don't seem to have issues.

Been there, done that.

None of that works.

Also, Apple emailed me back today and said "AppleCare does not on comment on unreleased software. Your question would be better fielded to the developer forums"

Just so you know...

When I saw there were 5 quick replies I was expecting 5 replies telling me how great apple's network is. I guess this just shows what issues they have. I thought this was all meant to be fixed in lion. The problem is that a lot of home users are now getting into corporate features and have a server installed at home. The popularity of this can be seen by the fact that MS have release windows home server. Full cat6 networking is a standard option on all new display homes here.