AFP/SMB Directory Listings very slow in Finder

I tried all of the fixes in this thread and none of them worked for me. Then I started looking into the various options in the nsmb.conf. I noticed that you can force the mac client to only connect over port 445 (netbois over tcp):

[default]

smb_neg=smb1_only

port445=no_netbois

I tried that and could not connect at all. That meant the server was not allowing netbois over tcp. I went to our Windows server and enabled netbois over tcp. Reconnected and poof, everything was fast again. If you still can't connect after enabling netbois over tcp, then the Windows firewall could be blocking you. You will then need to allow 445 in your firewall.

By the way, I did not have to change all the Mac's in our office after I could connect. The mac client defaults to NetBIOS over TCP, if that is unsuccessful, it tries to connect over straight NetBIOS. I just forced NetBIOS over TCP to test whether server was accepting NetBOIS over TCP.

Ok, I think I have another possible solution (workaround). There seem to be a variety of similar problems in this thread, but for me, the problem was incredibly long delays for directory listings when connecting from a Mac running Mavericks to any Windows server using SMB2. The problem was worst when connecting to Windows 8/8.1/2012 R2.

My OSX console log sometimes mentioned a timeout waiting for smb2 credits, so as per this Microsoft document, I created these two registry DWORD entries on my Win8.1 machine:

Smb2CreditsMin and Smb2CreditsMax

The defaults, usually not present in the registry by default, are 512 and 8192, respectively. I simply created a new DWORD for Smb2CreditsMin set to 768 and Smb2CreditsMax set to 16384 (decimal values). This made browsing a Windows share over SMB2 at least as fast as it used to be. Please keep in mind that there could be other implications for your network if you change these (probably not in most small-ish networks), but I have seen nothing but a benefit over both wireless and gigabit LAN, and all over computers (win7, win8.1, mavericks, mountain lion), seem unaffected. As always, be careful in the registry, but if you have the ability to change your server/share settings, hopefully this helps you as much as it helped me.

For clarity's sake, a screenshot:

pulsar37 & joewebdms

your last 2 posts above (not sure if it was one or combined) have pretty much* solved the issue for me - finally - in connecting to a Windows 8 Server. I have tried everything in this thread and others, and installing 3rd party apps (pathfinder - which eased the problem, but ideally i dont want to rely on 3rd party apps).

so thankyou!

* when browsing directories on a windows share drive now i'd say 9 out of 10 directories display their contents instantly. about 1 in every 10 seems to stall for 2-5 seconds, i get a beach ball spinning, then it displays. i can live with that 🙂

You're welcome! Glad I could help. For others or FYI:

I think the suggestion given by joewebdms to check port 445 and NetBIOS settings is important especially if you're getting connectivity issues even with basic SMB1/CIFS.

If, on the other hand, you can connect to your Windows server/share just fine, but it takes a really long time (a couple minutes) for any files/folders to appear (and Finder slows to a crawl in the meantime), then your problem might be addressable by making the registry edit I posted above. If you adjust the Smb2CreditsMin and Max parameters in the registry on your Windows server, you shouldn't need to adjust anything on your Mac (Mavericks default SMB2 should work, no changes to nsmb.conf file).

To reiterate: the Smb2credits adjustment should only possibly fix directory listing and painfully slow browsing when opening a new connection from Mavericks to a Windows computer - it probably won't fix other miscellaneous connection issues.

Hi Folks - so I'm having this exact same issue except I'm using a Mac as a server running Snow Leopard ... all the clients were on Lion or Mountain lion and had lightning fast access via internet just connecting via IP address. However as soon as the clients connected after the update to Mavericks 10.9.2 - it would take 5 to 10 mins to render the file list in the finder window.

I've tried the DS store fix, and I've also add the parent folder of the server to the EXCLUDE list in Spotlight and it "may" have helped as I think there is some caching involved however if you click on a new folder and drill down into another level - after 3 or 4 folder levels it can take a couple of minutes even to display 3 or 4 files in the folder at that level.

I've also tried the TRIAL of TOTALFINDER and experience the same issue.... so that didnt work either.

Anyone have anything else to offer? I also logged a case with Apple (on a brand new 27" iMac that is a dinosaur accessing the server next to my 2007 Lion iMac --- not a very good experience... Appreciate any new ideas.

Did you try forcing your clients to connect over tcp? I really think the native NetBOIS is broken/slow on Maverick. To troubleshoot, I forced NetBOIS over TCP in my nsmb.conf file on the Maverick client:

[default]

port445=no_netbois

If you can't connect after making this change, then netbois over tcp is not enabled on the server. The "Normal" or default setting for port445 is to first try 445, then via NetBOIS. So your server probably does not have NetBOIS over TCP enabled or your clients would have selected that first.

I'm using AFP on OS X 10.9.2 with an ancient Synology DS211J NAS and I followed this guide from EMC and my directory listings are blazing fast now. The doc has a good description of how Mac OS handles gathering ALL the metadata from a folder before showing ANYTHING on the screen to the end user. This means if you have lot of files in a directory it will be slow still even with AFP. The doc describes how NFS is faster because of the metadata parsing.

This doc was a lifesaver for me, but requires some Terminal commands to be run. Again, mine is about 10x faster now, so hope it helps you. Big thanks to Bernie Case and EMC!!!

https://www.emc.com/colla.../TechnicalDocument/docu51273.pdf

By the way, I'm still using AFP from the Mac and I used none of the suggestions from this post but rather all the suggestions for SMB and Finder in the EMC guide. (i'm using SMB also for Windows on my LAN)

This entire situation since Mavericks was available is entirely Apple's fault and after over 6 months they still haven't resolved it with us all scrabbling around to work around their mistake.

I can't even use my NAS any more and frankly the fact that they haven't come out with a fix in this time is disgusting.

Even when MS realised (stupidly) that removing the start button was an extremely dumb idea and that the 'metro' interface isn't really appropriate for laptop use, they fix it.

I've not seen any movement or acknowledgement from Apple on admitting this is an error on their part and the arrogance of not even providing a makeshift workaround.

I have used Macs since 1987 and this is one of the fundamental parts of an OS and that's how to 'find files'. I guess that's why they called it 'The Finder'.

Well I want to see this problem fixed in double quick time. I don't want to see cobbled together new protocol drivers because the licensing of SMB doesn't suit them. It's broken so fix it. However I don't expect this to cost me anything to get a utility to cover their ***** for a **** upgrade.

I want my NAS box directory back and listed at a decent speed. And before anyone says have you reported this to Apple the answer is yes but if they haven't noticed this forum then they're blind as well.

Have you tried the steps I posted? Mine was unuseable also but now it works pretty well. What protocol are you using? Does Apple review this forum? I thought this was a user-only forum, but maybe I'm wrong.

Hi Atothek47 - thanks for your reply ... so I dont even know what a Synology is... I'm connecting from a mac on 10.9.2 over internet to an iMac on 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) - it sounds like we have the same problem - but there are no instructions on how to get the server mac to use NFS? (I tried SMB://servername - dismal results, I tried FTP://servername - worked but I dont want the world getting into my server - and I tried CIFS://servername and it worked - but just as slow as SMB -

Like I said I did the spotlight fix and the DS_store correction somewhere in this post... yet some folders still take > 2 mins to open.... whereas on my 2006 imac adjacent to new one - the display is lightning fast...

Is it just as simple as NFS://servername to use this protocol?

NFS is for Unix file sharing and has to be configured on both the client and server side, so no, you won't be able to just type NFS://servername and have NFS functioning. Are you wanting to share files with SMB or AFP? I didn't understand what you meant by connecting to a Mac over the internet. SMB and AFP are primarily designed to share files between computers on a local network or over a VPN. You wouldn't want to expose SMB or AFP directly to the internet.

Did you read the EMC guide I posted? There's numerous tips to help you in there.

Has 10.9.3 fixed this?

Unfortunately No, from my limited testing of AFP to AFP via WAN over High Speed VPN.

JB

"Smb2CreditsMin and Smb2CreditsMax

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\Smb2CreditsMin

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\Smb2CreditsMax

The defaults, usually not present in the registry by default, are 512 and 8192, respectively. I simply created a new DWORD for Smb2CreditsMin set to 768 and Smb2CreditsMax set to 16384 (decimal values). This made browsing a Windows share over SMB2 at least as fast as it used to be."

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

I've been battling this issue since the release of Mavericks. I'm using Server 2012 R2 and this registry fix has made SMB perfect.

Thank you very much.