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The Jackalope · Oct 27, 2003, 11:04 AM

Ok, one of the things I was really looking forward to with Panther was having the iDisk mirror on the desktop that synchs with the one on Apple's servers. Using my iDisk for images mostly has been a pain in the behind to edit, because I would want to find an image that I uploaded a year ago and forgot the name of, so I would have to slog through the 200+ images to find the one I want to trash it. The thought of doing this on the desktop has given me dreams of sugar-plum faeries.

Now here's the problem. I chose for the iDisk to auto-synch (the default) which Apple tells me will allow the files I put into the desktop iDisk will pretty much be automatically accessable on the servers. The problem is, that it is not. I switched over to manual synching, and again, no dice.

Is there a set time when the desktop iDisk and server iDisk synch? Does anyone else have these same problems? Do I have to open my iDisk like I used to [command-shift-I] for the damn things to synch?

Please help me with this. So far this is the only problem I've had with Panther.

The Jackalope · Oct 27, 2003, 12:55 PM

Hmmm....I think I found a possible culprit. Path Finder. once I quit out of it, the synching seems to be taking place, but it is slooooooooow. I'm going to try a manual synch and see if it is any faster.

The Jackalope · Oct 27, 2003, 12:59 PM

Yep, Path Finder. And manual synching does much better. I guess time to email the Path Finder folks with this bug.

snerdini · Oct 27, 2003, 01:05 PM

I had Mirror Agent really crap out on me yesterday. I was over at my parents' house (we both have wireless networks at our respective houses) and I woke my iBook up. I then proceeded to mount a share from my Dad's Thinkpad (which didn't show up in the Network right away, I might add) and it crapped the entire Finder out. After a forced reboot, things seemed to be fine.

But I'm keeping my eye on you, Mirror Agent

farber55 · Oct 27, 2003, 01:15 PM

Yes, I tried the automatic synch and was astonished at how slow it was. My iDisk has around 20 megs on it -- all Word files. I think I've got around 400 Word files total.

Now, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I thought this auto iDisk synch feature would simply look at the files that had been changed since the last backup, back them to the iDisk and be done with it.

Apparently, this is not the case. Or it *seems* not to be the case. I see the Synch bar at the bottom of my Finder window, and I realize that it's going file by file. Had I let the thing go, it would have taken 15 minutes -- at least -- to back up the files to the iDisk.

Then I started worrying: well, what if I did a partial synch, then what? How do I know which file is the most recent? The files on the iDisk or the files on my local copy of the iDisk?

It's crazy, dumb, and one of the most aggravating things I've seen. Apple dropped the ball on this, FileVault, and the Networking features (what's with not mounting volumes that I browse to via the Network browser -- but mounting files I "GO" to via command-K.)

One of two things has happened with Panther. Apple dropped the ball. Or the beta testers failed miserably -- MISERABLY -- in their beta-testing job.

I'm willing to write off FileVault as experimental tech that's failed. But the iDisk synch thing -- coupled with the Network goofiness -- makes me realize that someone, somewhere goofed with Panther.

zigzag · Oct 27, 2003, 01:25 PM

I don't know if this is related but two days ago I was trying to put two jpeg images in an iDisc folder to host for an ebay listing. The first jpeg went in fine, but the second refused. I kept getting "Can't be completed because file is in use" messages and the like. Then I would see the file in the iDisc folder, but it would have no data in it.

snerdini · Oct 27, 2003, 01:29 PM

Originally posted by zigzag:
I don't know if this is related but two days ago I was trying to put two jpeg images in an iDisc folder to host for an ebay listing. The first jpeg went in fine, but the second refused. I kept getting "Can't be completed because file is in use" messages and the like. Then I would see the file in the iDisc folder, but it would have no data in it.

That's strange. I haven't used my iDisk enough yet to see if it will be reliable, but I did copy something up to my iDisk on my G4, and a few minutes later when I went downstairs to look on my iBook, it was there.

Oh yeah, love the sig