Server Connections Interrupted

Leo - Quick question - when you say server - are you referring to the Time Capsule and its internal hard drive - or are refering to connecting to a shared drive on another machine in finder via AFP? Unless you physicallyl remove the TC hard drive and install the drive on another machine and partition it with disk utility - and then reinstall in the TC - there is no way to partition the TC hard drive using airport utility - it only supports erasing the single-partition internal drive.

~Scott

Luis - I tried this ... creating an alias to a folder in Data volume and then dragging the alias to the desktop. I can then shutdown all finder windows - and clicking on the alias will open the TC in finder again (connected via AFP). I can't copy any files to the alias directly (basically I cannot use the alias as a copy to destination) - but I can open the alias and copy files to the folders in the finder window that opens. Am I doing this correctly or am I missing something. I can't see how this is any different than opening the TC Data volume in finder and copying files to it - and getting the disconnect popup. I will continue copying data to see if it occurs again. Are you saying that once you do this that it resolves the popup permanently - or to avoid the popup do you have to continually use the alias?

~Scott

kvan - On your MBP 15" (where you say you don't experience the disconnect) - are you actually copying any significant amounts of data to the USB drive connected to the AEBS? You stated that you connect to the USB drive on the on the MBP 17" as-needed via finder in order to perform "manual" backups - where you are likely copying significant amounts of data to the drive. This would cause the discconect to occur (based on my experience). On the MBP 15" are you only casually accessing the drive and copying small files? If that is the case - you would not experience the disconnect warning due to small data transfers.

~Scott

I do not use the "desktop alias to a folder within Time Capsule drive" for anything, it just stays there. I do the copying through finder, backup, etc... like I did before creating the alias. I understand this is silly...

Since I created the Alias on Desktop (4 days) I did not get once the "Server connections interupted" message.

If you did create the alias, do you still get the message ??

I Have

Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 (11D50b) (latest) , Time Capsule 7.6.1 (latest)

Scott

The server I am reverring to is indeed my Time capsule. I have no external harddrives attached to it.

I have set up the Time capsule some time (2009) ago so I don't know exactly how I should descripe the "partitions" I have. When I get info for them they share the same memory space so you are right they are no partitions.

In the finder I can select the Shared drive LeoServer and then have two folders that I need to connect (login) to individually. I have one for general use and one for my personal info.

In finder they have Sharepoint as label under Kind.

I do think there was an apple tool to set up the time capsule. Currently with the airport utility I can't edit the individual "sharepoints".

If connected they both show up with a disk logo on my desktop.

So when I only connected to one "partition" (that means visible on the desktop) I would get the Servers connection interrupted message

Luis - I am still receiving the disconnect popup even with the alias on the desktop. The popup will occur whether I just use finder (ignoring the alias) or whether I click on the alias and open a finder window via the alias. Still- I have to copy large amounts of data to the TC in order to receive the popup. So basically the alias hasn't changed anything for me.

~Scott

Well, at least you tried something. Sometimes the popup is easily reproducible - other times it takes several tries. I have noticed that resetting the time capsule - or simply just powering it off and on again - gives the false impression that the problem is resolved - but it ususally resurfaces within 12 to 24 hours.

~Scott

SBeattie2,

No, this happens when I've copied a small file to the drive (such as a checkbook program backup file, <5 MB) and the drive is sitting idly mounted in the background.

Also, my "trick" didn't work for very long. I am still getting the "server connection interrupted" pop-up when the drive is mounted, sitting idle (and only on the MBP 17, not the MBP 15, both running SL 10.6.8). What I would like to know—because I suspect it might be key to finding a solution—is why sometimes the drive mounts with the hard drive with a WiFI icon on it and sometimes with the hard drive with the people icon on it. If you get info on either one, it says connected via SMB.

Wait! Does anyone experiencing this problem have an Airport Express or other network-extender type of device? I wonder if I'm inadvertantly accessing the disk via the express portion of the network, and then… Wait, that doesn't make sense. Hmm… <stumped>

Still there for 10.7.4 also got a Time machine error like "time machine backup file still in use" that appears after pop up and goes away by rebooting time capsule and mac.

10.7.4 correct the always checked "Reopen windows when loggin back" error when shutting down. 3 years to do that, may be they will correct the disconnect problem within the next three years...

I am so sorry for Apple, and now we have trojans like W...s !

😟

I still get the error once in a while. Regardless of Updates, Downgrades, etc.. Someone told me the my Griffin Powermate which loads at Start Up may be the issue. I got rid of THAT & still get the Error. The strange thing is the drive is still accessable & working even when the Error pops up. So again, it's a nuisance more than anything.

For a while, I reverted my firmware to 7.5.x and did not see this message for months. Because of various other annoyances with Time Capsule connectivity across a PC/MAC mixed LAN, I re-upped to the current firmware. Immediately I began to see the "Server Connections Interrupted" dialog multiple times a day.

My experience, for what it's worth. The error message appears to be harmless, although of course annoying and worrying as well. And it is entirely the result of issues with the latest firmware.

I have done extensive troubleshooting on this problem. Apple even replaced my Time Capsule. Replacing the Time Capsule made no difference at all.

I have downgraded all the way back to 7.5.1 firmware - done factory resets and reconfigured the Time Capsule in all of its possible configurations - with no difference in the behavior of the popup.

The problem (based on my testing and observations over a long period of time) may be contributed to - but not necessarily directly caused by the 7.6 and later firmware.

If I install Snow Leopard 10.6.3 or 10.6.4 (without doing any updates) - I do not get the popup - rather my AFP share quietly disconnects wtih no popup warning of any kind. I simply have to reconnect it. Somewhere in between Snow Leopard 10.6.5 and 10.6.8 - the popup started to appear - and somewhere around 10.6.8 - the 7.6 firmware upgrade became available. I believe the combination of 10.6.8 and the 7.6 firmware is causing the popup - the Time Capsule is causing the Mac to think it has disconnected (and maybe it actually does disconnect for a fraction of a second) - but as of 10.6.8 - this lost connection is very accuratly detected by the the OS and the popup appears. It does seem that by the time you even notice (or can respond to) the popup - the connection has re-established itself.

I only get the popup (in 10.6.8 and later) or the share quietly disconnects (in 10.6.4 and earlier) - when I have the TC mounted in finder (via AFP) - and I have either written or read a very large amount of data to the TC. By "large" I mean multiple gigabytes (such as copying an entire iTunes or iPhoto folder (or both of them)) to the drive. The copies are always successful - but usually a few minutes after the copy completes - the popup will appear saying that the drive has disconnected. If I don't do anything with the popup - I can still access the share and nothing appears to be wrong - however - at regular intervals following the initial appearance of the popup - the popup will reappear - even when the Time Capsule is just sitting there idle. This behavior repeats for anywhere for 4 to 8 more hours - at which point the popup ceases to appear - or until the share is unmounted.

If I mount the share specifically via SMB (via go connect to server smb://address of TC) I can copy data and leave the share connected for days - without any popup appearing. This is assuming that the data being copied is data that can be successfully copied via SMB and does not have any AFP dependencies.

It is almost as if when copying large amounts of data over AFP to the Time Capsule - that some threshhold is being set where maybe a flag within the OS is being set to indicate possible incompleteness of the copy operation or somehow it is incorrectly flagging a problem that it feels it needs to report to the user. In any case - I believe it is erroneous and some type of flag is not being reset when the copy completes successfully.

One thing I have not tried - is to copy a large amount of data - and then immediately copy a small amount of data before the popup has a chance to appear. I might try this and report back.

Also - Time Machine never seems to produce the popup - because Time Machine mounts the share via AFP - only when a backup is required - it then copies large amounts of data to the TC - and then immediately disconnects the AFP share - before the condition that causes the popup has a chance to appear.

If one were only to use the TC for Time Machine backups - then one would not ever see this error/warning. Is this possibly also a bug in the implementation of the AFP protocol as of Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

Is anybody else seeing the exact behavior that I have described here and under the same conditions?

Message was edited by: SBeattie2 - Corrected typo's in version numbers.

FWIW, I just found this thread because I am having the same symptoms on a brand new Airport Extreme when using a Lacie 3TB Hard Drive via the Extreme's USB. So in my case the TC problem also appears in Airport Extreme usage alone (i.e I do not own a Time Capsule).

Main machine experiencing problem is wired (ethernet-connected to Extreme) Mac Pro running 10.5.8.

Airport Extreme reports 'Version 7.6.1' so it appears Apple uses same firmware for both it and Time Capsule?

nerfTractorsaid: "My experience, for what it's worth. The error message appears to be harmless, although of course annoying and worrying as well. And it is entirely the result of issues with the latest firmware."

What bothers me is the Lacie drive's power light is constantly flashing on/off as if it is going to sleep mode and then spinning back up...that is not activity I would think would be good for it over the long term?

This problem seems to be corrected in Mountain Lion 10.8.2. I have not seen the disconnect popup even after copying very large files. The firmware on the Time Capsule has not changed - so it must have been something in the OS that was corrected in 10.8.2 - because I was still seeing the problem in both the beta and initial release of Mountain Lion.