Server Locks Up, but File Sharing Still Works... ?

Question

Level 1

45 points

Server Locks Up, but File Sharing Still Works... ?

Hello Gurus,

I am having a strange issue with my Mac Mini with OS X Server (Yosemite). For the past week now it has seemingly locked up but strangely I am still able to connect to it using File Sharing (both remote and local). But when it happens Screen Sharing no longer works and it does not output a video signal so I am unable to visually see and diagnose what the problem could be. My only choice is to hold the power button until it shuts down.

I also use the server to play music (iTunes) throughout my studio simultaneously using the optical output and AirPlay, and every time it locks up the music abruptly stops playing.

Now I am no stranger to a computer locking up, but typically it is a kernel panic or some such thing where all services abruptly stop. But since File Sharing is still working I know that this is a different case. I'm at a loss about what could be going on and would really appreciate it if anyone could point me in the right direction to fixing it.

Thanks!

Mac mini, iOS 8.1.2

Posted on Oct 19, 2015 11:08 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

Oct 20, 2015 8:49 PM in response to maplevshoney

Logs?

Reply

Answer 2

Oct 20, 2015 8:53 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hey Linc,

Can you take a look at this link and see if you can help this poster: I'm running Yosemite on My 1st gen Intel MacBook Pro. Do I need Malware protection?

She specifically asked for your help, but I didn't know if you saw the post.

Thanks,

GB

Reply

Answer 3

maplevshoney Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 20, 2015 8:54 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hey Linc,

Not sure how to create logs for this. Please enlighten me.

Thx!

Reply

Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

Oct 20, 2015 8:59 PM in response to maplevshoney

When the machine is unresponsive, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.

These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.

Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.

Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

Reply

Answer 5

maplevshoney Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 20, 2015 9:12 PM in response to Linc Davis

Brilliant, I will do that, thanks for the tip. It seems to happen every other day or so...

Reply

Answer 6

Feb 9, 2016 12:37 AM in response to maplevshoney

Hi maplevshoney

I have the exact same problem on a Mac Mini with El Capitan 10.11.3 server. Used to work fine, but for the last 3 weeks or so it locks up as you describe.

- Did you find a solution?

Reply

Answer 7

maplevshoney Author

Level 1

45 points

Feb 9, 2016 3:32 PM in response to Morten Nielsen

Hey Morten, I turned off SMB for all file sharing volumes and I no longer get the hang (leaving just AFP enabled). It also fixed an issue where I was able to open but unable to save networked documents. File sharing seems to be much slower now, unfortunately, but at least everything is working.

If you try this let me know if it works for you, I am curious if it's a universal issue or just mine.

Good luck!

Reply

Answer 8

Feb 16, 2016 12:42 AM in response to maplevshoney

Hello again maplevshoney

I have three fileshares and have turned SMB off for two of them (with the most traffic). The server has been running for three days now without any signs of the problem. So it looks like your solution’s also working in our environment.

As an extra bonus Spotlight-search on the shares now is much faster. Copying files seems as fast as before – but I’ve not tested this with a clockwatch. ;-)

Thanks a lot for your reply! I’m now saving both a lot of time and regular “brutal” SSH-reboots.

I will report back, if anything changes.

Reply