Unable to search network drives with Lion...

I am one of those businesses. I use a Mac in my litigation practice but the network server is Windows 7. As of my Lion "upgrade," I can no longer search for documents on the server. It is absolutely maddening and a giant waste of time now - and one I can't afford since I bill by the hour and can't justify wasting time on this kind of flaw. I have multiple versions of a great variety of legal documents for each case, and now Spotlight searches have been ruined. My co-workers tell me it's time to dump the Mac and switch to Windows. What a joke.

Easyfind and iFilex are not great search tools...at least not for what I search my fileserver for(.avi's and the like and .jpg's and audio files). They work from time to time but are not, by any measure, quick(or even quicker than scrolling through the files manually).

I agree with the nay-sayers that this is a problem. If I would have known that I was going to have this particular issue, I would NOT have purchased my mac(not for 1500 smackaroos...). But you live and learn

I have said before-this thread, even-that I felt that the search capability was left out to entice users to switch to an apple server. My problem is that I have not ever utilized an apple server and to test it for my environment would mean purchasing the server, the subsequent drives, copying the data to the new server and then "hitting it" as I normally would. At least a week to set up the hardware and mapping - espically for the other computers in the house and then the learning curve for the users(Wife, daughter, and I), and you have a lot of effort with what looks like what may be little to no improvement. It would be more cost effective to put the macbook pro on ebay and just buy a pc laptop. Appstore be ******...

I don't really search for documents or text files. So I cannot speak from personal experience on that...

Apple are fully aware that corporate network infrastructure is either windows or linux, they cannot expect everyone buying a mac and interfacing with a network to not be able to search for a file, or the contents of the file. They might blackmail me into installing lion server in my home network (a server btw which they have been immensly inadequate at develloping well and where its rack products where discontinued...do they expect big businesses to use mac minis?) or private business by ommiting this, but no matter how much they blackmail me I cannot change the network infrastructure of my workplace, I am expected to plug my mac on ethernet and go, and interface with worldwide standard protocols as smb. And I expect apple to allow me to search in my personal network folders via my mac. What would they have me do, boot up parallels and use windows xp instead?

They ommit core os x functionality such as network search and they expect me to make do with some free software that a bunch of developers had the graciousness of putting together, but which don't work well at all, aren't fast enough, or reliable enough for content searches or numerous files?

How long is apple going to be hiding behind rubbish excuses? Oh yeah we use and index file and creating one would flood the network, oh yeah well without an index search would be slow anyway...

Oh yeah well this, oh yeah well that, and I am sitting here looking at a blank results page and wasting my time in support fora instead of doing my work.

And for what? How long would it take them to adequately adress the issue. People are offering software solutions for free that are not half good, so how long and at what cost would apple develop a solution for this? The net of 10 iphones, 20 iphones, 30 iphones? I am just about willing to buy 100 iphones and return it to them gratis so the largest tech company in the world with money in the bank like I said that could buy a few countries tommorow and still have plenty left can afford to pay the salaries of 3 coders for 3 months and assign them this simply task to be complete.

@evan: Most of us are taking it personally because network search is a core os functionality, and some of us have been paying a few tens of thousands of dollars to apple over the years so they 'd be able to afford to hire 2-3 developers and get this sorted one way or the other. How are we not supposed to take it personally when we take our macbook pros to work, we 've paid oh about twice the price most others paid for and on a simple smb share everyone can search but us? Crap netbooks on windows xp can search a network but our machines costing 10 times the money cannot?

You're not supposed to take it personally the same way you wouldn't take it personally if a restaurant stopped serving your favorite dish\. "I haven't paid top dollar for the food here just so that you can insult me by replacing the Beef Wellington with Lobster Newburg." You would just go to a different restaurant, understanding that your old haunt had made a decision, ill-advised or not, to change the menu.

Look, you're not going to find a bigger Apple fan than me--I've been using the machines for over 20 years, and I'm completely committed, with a full complement of iPhones, iPads, AppleTVs, and other assorted doodads--but I think that along with rabid fandom and the famous reality distortion field often comes an unhealthy vulnerability. At the end of the day, the computer is a tool. If the tool no longer works the way you want it to, either fix it or find another tool. You, as they say, are the boss of it. Stop acting like the tool manufacturer is out to get you. You made your decision to buy in over the years based on the current offerings at the time, not some implied promise of future supported features. Whenever someone I know gets worked up over the fact tha they dropped a bundle on a computer (or camera, or car, or...) and then Apple went and updated it "on them" without warning, I remind them that they made a judgement that the item was worth the money at the time, and that the decision should be as simple as that.

This is the same debate that sprung up around the discontinuation of MobileMe websites. People had built businesses around the patently consumer-level iWe/MobiileMe system, and were incensed that Apple was discontinuing the feature--which they would, of course, not do if they felt like it was worth their while to support. The world changes, nothing is forever. I had to move my MobileMe site over to Wordpress, and while it took a few hours to do it, I'm much happier with my current setup.

I don't think your restaurant analogy is valid at all Evan. Our difference is that I am not an apologist for apple anymore, and you seem to be. I too was one of the early adopters of mm and after a couple of years of endless frustration with the incredibly broken idisk that's now been ditched by apple (since they could not aquire dropbox) I switched over to dropbox. I too can adjust you know and cough it up for broken apples features.

Now can you please tell me what on earth all that you are talking about (other than your need to play the role of the apologist) have got to do with network folder searches? Is there a viable alternative (but a robust one not some freeware app) a la dropbox to substitute said broken functionality? And why should I be required to seek a third party app (all the more so since there are non available) for basic os search functionality? Why shouldn't I be giving apple developers (here and in the feedback section) ultimatums from something that should have been there out of the box, and something that is there in every dime a dozen netbook on the market?

I'm not an apologist, I'm a realist. My point is that we all need to take responsibility for our circumstances, and if the issue is big enough to cause a real problem, then take matters into your own hands and fix it. Send Apple feedback through the proper channels, find alternative apps, switch systems or servers if you need to. Cluttering up this threat with your "10.7.5" ultimata does nothing to solve the problem except make you look foolish.

And you are de-cluttering the thread with what exactly? Restaurant analogies?

You are an apologist and it's self evident by now, this is a core os feature that is broken, and you would rather tell me that I personally switch the servers of every corporate network that I log in to in order to have basic search funtionality instead of aligning with almost everyone's request here that this is functionality that in 2012 it's inexcusable that it would be missing from an os, and that apple had better fix it, and do it quickly.

As to who looks foolish or not, I'll let others be the judge of it, I won't stoop to that level and offend you back. I 've already taken the issue in my "hands" and left feedback, and I am voicing my request, actually, my demand in apple support forums.

BTW...this is what worked for our company..

We use software on our windows server called extremeZ-IP for file access and resources to all the mac users.

http://www.grouplogic.com/enterprise-file-sharing/mac-windows-file-sharing/

I am not saying it will help anyone or everyone...it just worked for us.

Oh cool a product plug for basic os functionality that used to work in sl before apple dropped samba for their own smbx which apparently is either so buggy it can't acces smb shares or it wont support them altogether thus disabling access to any windows home network, corporate network, Xbmc, nas drives etc. etc.

And 6 months onwards they haven't addressed is issue yet they are touting notepad and reminder apps in the new os via grubber... No wonder 10.7 is widely referred to as vista...

...what's happened to this computer company, why are they doing their best to erode whatever trust most users have placed in them over the years with their antics...

I'd rather compare it with having a car. After a few years you decide to upgrade to the newer version of that same brand and model to then find out that due to (as it appears) a legal dispute the newer model does not come with a spare wheel ... which surprises me when I have a flat tire, because the sales person forgot to mention this, and I didn't check on purchase (the sticker and the flyer didn't mention this flaw either).

I'm taking it personally in the sense that I thought I was upgrading to a newer car with at least the same and hopefully improved functionality. So yes, I'm a little disappointed, and I'm experiencing inconvenience because of it ... but I hope that Apple recognizes this as a real problem for it's users and will fix it. (OK, that's the optimist in me)

I HAVE A POTENTIAL FIX

Now that i have your attention here, let me suggest a way we can get apples attention.

Obviously after who know's how many threads and individual posts regarding this topic without a serious reply from apple, priority one is not upper level users.

MARK AS MANY POSTS IN THIS THREAD AS THE CORRECT ANSWER AS APPLE WILL ALLOW. After 300 users have now credited 300 "correct answers" there is no reason for them to look at this thread and our equally well thought out posts when it apparently conflicts with their current game plan.

Make a statement. Mark all complaints as correct in this thread and lets see if we wake someone up over there!

Notice: this is "as is" advice, who knows what apples real reaction will be. Rocking the "lions" cage! ;-)

I believe it's easy for some to overlook a major player in this equation. Many IT individuals fought hard to steer their corporations in the apple directions with various successes, and failures. For some the success might only have come as buying all new laptops as macbook pro's or macbook air for example. This allowed much more user friendly seemless/administration for these machines and was a step towards supporting an innovated US based company's computer products.

Unfortunately IT upgrade budgets in MANY small to large businesses run in several year cycles and this throws a major wrench into the process. When your end user cannot easily access the NT server storage with important research work without long delays when using a 3rd party software or additional load on the server caused by a 3rd party indexing app.... outlook not so good (just checked my 8ball).

But yes.... we made the decision to go that direction, we have some workarounds at our disposal, but moving forward without allowing seemless integration with basic network functionalities looks like two steps backwards.

Thank god im not in IT anymore and in MY favorite restaurant every dish is awesome and the menu always changes. :-)

vjkevlar wrote:

... Many IT individuals fought hard to steer their corporations in the apple directions with various successes, and failures. For some the success might only have come as buying all new laptops as macbook pro's or macbook air for example.

...

Very well worded! I know a few people who had to fight hard and long to get the Mac accepted by the IT department and some others got a strict NO without any room to wiggle.

I am actually currently in the very same situation myself and the main argument by the IT department is always the alleged lack of compatibility between Apple and the MS server&software. This is just another reason for the IT to abandon the Mac from the intranet once more again. Thank you, Apple. Actually, I do not consider this as whining ... soon I must very likely go back to an MS-based system again... just because Apple remains so stubborn in this matter.

macobs30 wrote:

I am actually currently in the very same situation myself and the main argument by the IT department is always the alleged lack of compatibility between Apple and the MS server&software. This is just another reason for the IT to abandon the Mac from the intranet once more again. Thank you, Apple.

You're missing an important point: Microsoft has no interest in being compatible with the competition. In fact, they had to be forced by the EU in 2004 to open up documentation on SMB and CIFS to everyone, especially the Samba project. Microsoft also received a $280 million fine for anti-competitiveness. It took them three years to produce the required docs on SMB and five years for CIFS. Purchase of the docs is $10.000 plus you need to sign an NDA and you still have to write your code around the patents that M$ holds on SMB/CIFS. Thank you, Microsoft!

Ask your IT department about the annual costs of your Microsoft lock-in. I bet that for 1/20th of the money your company has transferred to Microsoft last year only, you could by a Mac Pro with Lion Server and a nice 6 TB Thunderbolt storage and serve files to both Windows and Mac users without problems. That is, if your IT department is supportive.

But Microsoft's business model is to avoid their cash cows Windows and Office being compatible to anything. Given that your company or university or whoever decided to pay ridiculous amounts of money for being not compatible to the rest of the world, who are you to complain about Apple who sell their server software for $50 with an unlimited number of client licenses? You're barking at wrong tree, mate. You should ask those for support that receive the big bucks from you. But as I said, they don't have any interest in that kind of support.

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You are the worst kind of apple supporter. People like you have over the years due to your blind admiration for apple kept this company from advancing because they are the ones who assume the apologist's hat and perpeptually rationalize away problems always by projecting them to some dreaded outside force, google, microsoft... ad infinitum. Never a responsibility is thus assumed in this type of thinking, and where apple makes one step forward, it then makes two steps back. I am very sorry to see that this type of thinking is also shared by quite a few people at apple very evidently. The irony in this is that people like yourself actually think you are contributing to apple's growth this way when they couldn't be hurting it more.

The actuality here is that apple have been making advances to pro and business users and when people are finally gaining confidence in them they put them on a very difficult spot at having to apologise to boses and work mates that they even suggested apple to begin with seeing as how very unreliable they prove themselves to be again in such core os issues. Rationalize away, accuse me, write diatribes on it, that's the hard fact here and that can't change.

Enjoy the rest of your day.