Why Lion won't connect to Non Apple Timemachine servers via AFP...

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Level 4

1,412 points

Why Lion won't connect to Non Apple Timemachine servers via AFP...

so far. Take a look at this. It may go a long way to help folk understand why it's broken.

I wholeheartedly atribute this to a chap on trick77.com but I can confirm that my set up...

HP Proliant 4 x 1 TB drives runing Ubuntu 8.04.2 with 4 shares for my Mac stuff under 'afp' and 1 share under 'smb' ,so my wifes Windows work laptop can be backed up. Since update to Lion on main Mini no Time Machine.

I tried adding the line......uams_dhx_2_passwd.so......in Webmin but it did't work. I am sure a fix will be out soon so for time being I just back up important stuff either to good old cheap DVD discs and a USB drive.

==

AFP network connections to many Linux-based NAS units aren’t working in Mac OS X Lion 10.7 developer preview. After hitting the connect button a message pops up saying:

The version of the server you are trying to connect to is not supported. Please contact your system administrator to resolve the problem.

The Time Machine backup feature present in many NAS obviously isn’t working as well because it’s based on AFP too.

You may say that this is a developer preview, things will change for the final release. That’s obviously true. Source say that this connection problem most likely has to do with Apple discontinuing support for DHCAST128 (or DHX) authentication in Lion because it was considered insecure. Instead, the successor of DHCAST128 should be used: the more secure DHX2 user authentication module. DHX2 is supported since Mac OS X 10.2 and supports up to 256 characters for passwords (**** yeah, that should be enough). It relies on CAST-128 in cipher block chaining mode for encryption.

I checked my QNAP NAS for available afpd/netatalk UAMs and DHX2 isn’t present, so it most likely wouldn’t work with Lion.

Well, if it weren’t for Time Machine, I could always resort to SMB.

[/usr/local/etc/netatalk/uams] # ls -ladrwxr-xr-x
1024 Jan 31 23:08 ./drwxr-xr-x
1024 Feb 25 20:14 ../lrwxrwxrwx
14 Feb 25 2011 uams_clrtxt.so -> uams_passwd.so*lrwxrwxrwx
18 Feb 25 2011 uams_dhx.so -> uams_dhx_passwd.so*-rwxr-xr-x
10959 Jan 31 23:08 uams_dhx_passwd.so*-rwxr-xr-x
5304 Jan 31 23:08 uams_guest.so*-rwxr-xr-x
6996 Jan 31 23:08 uams_passwd.so*

AFP authentication might work if a uams_dhx_2_passwd.so authentication module was present and configured. It may not be a bad idea to raise this issue with your NAS vendor if you plan to use Lion in the near future.

Rumor has it that some NAS vendors intentionally disable DHX2 in netatalk because it’s a lot more CPU intensive. This could lead to longer login times when accessing AFP shares on NAS’ units with slow CPUs.

Update 2-26-2011: It has been verified that Lion is able to connect to a Linux host running netatalk 2.1.2 supporting the DHX2 UAM in afpd.

Update 7-15-2011: See Time Machine support in OS X Lion 10.7.

==

Now we also have to wait for 'Netatalk' stable release to be outed as that should resolve the Ubuntu via Webmin picture..(we hope).

I tried different work arounds and have reset them all back to what they were and will just have to wait for Apple to address this. Hope this snippet

gives a little clarity

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Jul 23, 2011 1:16 AM

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Answer 1

ctendell

Level 1

0 points

Jul 30, 2011 7:06 PM in response to Michael Wayne

Hello:

A workaround that I've found works. Check it out: http://charlestendell.com/os-x-lion-afp-nas-connection-error-fix/

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Answer 2

Jul 30, 2011 7:49 PM in response to Michael Wayne

Michael,

You do not state which Qnap model you have, however Qnap has a new firmware with DHX2 support (3.4.4 Build 0718T), check the Qnap forums for details:-

http://forum.qnap.com/

TM is still broken though 😟

Jerry

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Answer 3

Michael Wayne Author

Level 4

1,412 points

Jul 31, 2011 2:03 AM in response to Slammer99uk

Hi Slammer,

I don't have a Qnap. The info between both == signs is to give an understanding of what’s going on.

Myself I have a HP Proliant 4 x 1 TB drives running Ubuntu 8.04.2 with 4shares for my Mac stuff under 'afp' and 1 share under 'smb', so my wife’s Windows work laptop can be backed up.

Now I have got all my connectivity back by using the terminal commands whichis now well documented but here is a good place if doing it on Lion as shown byMember 'ctendell'...

http://charlestendell.com/os-x-lion-afp-nas-connection-error-fix/

I can now see my server and everything on it but still no Time Machine backups because you need Netatalk 2.2 to be loaded on the server in my case and millions of others into Ubuntu.

(The version I am sporting at present is Netatalk 2.03). This I can do by using Webmin and will do it after the update to Lion due shortly. I could do it now, but I won't.

I should never have updated to Lion, and do what I have always done, and that was wait until at least 3-4 updates have taken place and review all the discussions on this forum to see if issues have been resolved.

With regards to DH....Things may have been fixed in the next update which has been seeded and a selectable choice option to use the prior DH....over the new version may be on the cards. The Netatalk latest version is still in beta format though it can be used and has been implemented by NAS manufacturers, but as I understand its due to become 'stable' and no longer in 'beta mode'.

I dare say that S.Jobs will not want to alienate a huge group so a fix will be the right thing to do but given the mountain of cash they have and most of the revenue coming from iPhones, iPads etc, they may decide not to and of course that means 3rd party fixes.

Patience is a virtue but Apple sometimes sorely tests it.

Cheers

Message was edited by: Michael Wayne for spelling corrections

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Answer 4

Aug 5, 2011 2:06 AM in response to Michael Wayne

Hi, you may want to look at this article to fix the issue, worked for me and many others - http://techpump.co.cc/?p=105

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Answer 5

glenndk

Level 1

5 points

Aug 12, 2011 2:40 PM in response to Michael Wayne

Please follow these instructions:

Lion: Connecting to legacy (pre-Lion) AFP services - and Mac OS X (server):

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3258472

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Answer 6

Sep 14, 2011 7:33 PM in response to Michael Wayne

I had the same problem. After I updated to Lion My wife's PC couldn't see my iMac on our network. I read a crap load of blogs and finally tried this and it worked:

System preferences > Network > Advanced > Choose TCP/IP tab > Renew DHCP lease.

Hope it works for you...

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Answer 7

vositis

Level 1

0 points

Sep 23, 2011 12:04 PM in response to Michael Wayne

Go to http://www.apple.com/feedback and tell them this is a problem.

The workaround does not work for all servers and in our case we have four very large legacy file servers to which Lion will not connect. Unfortunately many of the systems in our business depend on these and there is a (federal) certification of our processes that makes it extremely difficult to replace them.

As a result of Apple removing this capability, we can no longer use Macs in our office and we are forced to not only switch to Windows for new users but also migrate our existing users back to Windows.

If enough people provide feedback, maybe Apple will figure it out. They're starting to act like Microsoft and that's not good for anyone.

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Answer 8

SoGood

Level 2

208 points

Feb 21, 2012 11:20 PM in response to Michael Wayne

Finally got around this failure to connect by AFP issue with my QNAP NAS (firmware 3.5 to 3.6 versions). As it turned out, it was most likely due to incompatibilities with some old hidden files deposited by the Mac from some time back within top level QNAP volume folders. Use whatever means (I used my FTP application) and delete the following files/folders.

Switch off AFP networking on the QNAP NAS.

Then remove the following and more,

.AppleDB

.AppleDesktop

.AppleDouble

Network Trash Folder - Which contains a Mac hidden folder/files

Reactivate AFP on the NAS and it all should work like magic again under OS X 10.7 Lion.

Good luck!

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Answer 9

Feb 22, 2012 5:49 AM in response to SoGood

Sorry to be a bit dim, but where are these files located:

.AppleDB

.AppleDesktop

.AppleDouble

Also where is the Network trsah folder?

Cheers,

Mike

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Answer 10

SoGood

Level 2

208 points

Feb 25, 2012 3:51 PM in response to wmike1503

These files are hidden files located within each folder. You won't see them regularly unless the application can show hidden files. Some people telnet in while I have used Cyberduck to FTP in.

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