new domain - macs can't connect to server. Help please.

[Andrew Baker]

I helped out a friend who has dont the following:
Replaced a Win NT4 domain controller with a Win2003 server. The first
problem is this

Domain name is the same
Server name is the same.

Anyhow, now the macs can see the server but not connect to it.

Apple talk (and services for mac) is running and mac shares are created


Can any one help with some pointers (I havent tried
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=811497 but will tomorrow)


The second problem is I am trying to copy the files from the old server and
there are some problems.
1.. Folders having 2 files with the same filename
2. Some of the files starting with "._" dont seem to copy. Can anyone help
me understand why?


Thanks

Andrew.

 

[William M. Smith]

Hi Andrew!

My comments are inline with yours.

I helped out a friend who has dont the following:
Replaced a Win NT4 domain controller with a Win2003 server. The first
problem is this

Domain name is the same
Server name is the same.

Anyhow, now the macs can see the server but not connect to it.

What error message do you receive when trying to connect? Also, what kind of
Mac OS is trying to connect? Mac OS X or Mac OS 9 and earlier?

Apple talk (and services for mac) is running and mac shares are created


Can any one help with some pointers (I havent tried
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=811497 but will tomorrow)

This will fix a problem where Mac OS X machines can not connect to a default
install of Windows 2003 server when using a connect string such as
"smb://ipaddress". If you have the Mac File Services running on your server,
you should be using "afp://ipaddress".

The second problem is I am trying to copy the files from the old server and
there are some problems.
1.. Folders having 2 files with the same filename
2. Some of the files starting with "._" dont seem to copy. Can anyone help
me understand why?

Since two files can't occupy the same directory or folder with the same
name, we have to assume that the files indeed do have two different names.
In the Finder menu --> Preferences --> Advanced, you can turn on the option
to show file extensions. Maybe this will show you what's different.

The Mac OS 9 and earlier systems used a period at the beginning of files to
name some crucial system components. From what I heard, it was devastating
to name a file ".sony" on a machine because that was the name for the floppy
disk driver or something like that. Mac OS X may still have similar naming
conventions. On a Unix-based Mac system, I would definitely avoid naming
files beginning with "." or "_".

Hope this helps! bill

 

[Andrew Baker]

I found out about the ._ files. There were 2 files with names "file name"
and "file name ". Each had an associated file:
"._file name"
"._file name "
When I try to copy these to another drive or add them to a zip, or do
anything with them they report as being the same file. It seems the
trailing space gets lost on the ._ files. Dont really know why.

First: Can I safely copy all the files to a new drive without the ._ files?
what would be the problems I might face?



Mac connectivity to Win2003 problem

following the link in previous message, Microsoft network server: Digitally
sign communications (always) is not configured for the domain policy, but is
enabled for the local PC. This setting is not changeable (on local PC - or
how do I change it - it is greyed out).

I have Mac OS10.2 (and some 10.3) boxes that can see the new server, but
they always block a connection. Ususlly with an error -5002. The
error -5002 is officially "Can't Decode Authenticator".

TIA

Andrew

 

[William M. Smith]

Hi Andrew!

My comments are inline with yours.

I found out about the ._ files. There were 2 files with names "file name"
and "file name ". Each had an associated file:
"._file name"
"._file name "
When I try to copy these to another drive or add them to a zip, or do
anything with them they report as being the same file. It seems the
trailing space gets lost on the ._ files. Dont really know why.

Trailing spaces! Didn't think of that. I don't know why anyone would do
this, but I've seen it a lot. Could be that fingers are tripping on the
keyboard.

First: Can I safely copy all the files to a new drive without the ._ files?
what would be the problems I might face?

Have a look at this article on Apple's website
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106510

In a nutshell, it says that if you're connecting to the server using SMB,
then the second "._" file is the resource fork information of the original
file. Since SMB doesn't understand resource forks, the Mac is compensating
by creating two files, one for data and the other for resource information.

So, yes, you can safely delete the second files but you may need to go
through some hoops if you later want your Macs to recognize the file types
of the files. If you can, copy the second files to avoid headaches later,
but otherwise you aren't losing data if you don't copy them.

Now would be a good time for your Mac users to begin learning the three
character file extensions, such as .doc for Word, .xls for Excel, etc. These
can help your Mac OS X machines recognize the files types when it can't find
the resource fork file.

Mac connectivity to Win2003 problem

following the link in previous message, Microsoft network server: Digitally
sign communications (always) is not configured for the domain policy, but is
enabled for the local PC. This setting is not changeable (on local PC - or
how do I change it - it is greyed out).

I have Mac OS10.2 (and some 10.3) boxes that can see the new server, but
they always block a connection. Ususlly with an error -5002. The
error -5002 is officially "Can't Decode Authenticator".

For this, be sure to check the Domain Security Policy, Domain Controller
Security Policy or Local Security Policy (can't remember which). You may
need to reboot your server after disabling the policy.

The error code you're referring to sounds exactly like the symptom of this
problem.

Hope this helps! bill