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MadBrowser · Feb 14, 2007, 04:18 PM

Howdy,

I'm having a problem on my machine that started recently and I can't figure it out.

I cannot connect to any remote servers - the functionality seems broken. Here are the symptoms:

First off, this is a C2D MBP running 10.4.8. 2GB RAM, 100GB HD. These tests were peformed on BOTH Airport and Ethernet. I am trying to connect to an XServe running SMB and AFP and also a Windows Server 2003 machine.

From the 'Network' icon in a Finder window, the servers are listed as I would expect. When I click on any of them and click 'Connect', I see this:

The alias "Elvis" could not be opened, because the original item cannot be found.

Buttons for 'Delete Alias', 'Fix Alias...' and 'OK' exist. 'Delete' and 'OK' seem to do nothing. 'Fix...' is asking me to locate the original as if this was a normal file alias. Clearly not helpful.

I also tried 'Connect to Server...'. If I enter in something like afp://10.0.0.1 or smb://10.0.0.1 and click 'Connect', literally nothing happens. There is no visual queue that anything took place at all. Repeatedly clicking 'Connect' does nothing.

I have no problems connecting from a Mac Mini on the same network that is sitting right next to the MBP.

So, any ideas? Some Google searching reveals others had this issue with 10.3 but clearly that's not my issue.

I'd appreciate any help.

besson3c · Feb 14, 2007, 06:42 PM

Does this happen from a different user account on the machine? Can you ping the machine? What happens when you do a:

telnet machineip 548 ? (port 548 is the AFP port)

MadBrowser · Feb 15, 2007, 01:43 AM

It happens to all users on this machine, even a brand new user.

Never any problem pinging the host(s) from the broken MBP. Again, I tried everything from both my Mini and the MBP and the Mini works perfectly - they're both connecting through the same Airport Express.

Regarding the telnet test (thanks - I didn't realize I could connect to AFP that way for debugging, sorta like SMTP), I get this:

gonzo:~ hunter$ telnet 10.0.1.100 548
Trying 10.0.1.100...
Connected to 10.0.1.100.
Escape character is '^]'.

Connection closed by foreign host.
gonzo:~ hunter$

It was hanging there until I hit a <cr> and then it dropped the connection.

Does this help illuminate? Any ideas? Thanks so much for hitting me back.

MadBrowser · Feb 15, 2007, 08:58 PM

Any other thoughts on this one?

I'm totally stumped.

pendragon · Feb 16, 2007, 02:44 AM

I'm not sure this will solve the issue (or is even appropriate), but it seems worth checking--

1. Go to System Preferences/Network
2. Select Location: Automatic, Show: Built-in Ethernet, Proxies tab
3. Near the bottom-center of the window, ensure that "Use Passive FTP Mode (PASV)" is enabled

MadBrowser · Feb 16, 2007, 03:00 PM

Hi Pendragon,

I'm not using FTP for transfers so I don't think it should impact anything but for the record, the box is indeed checked.

I'm starting to think my machine is just hosed and I need to do a clean install.

Hunter

pendragon · Feb 16, 2007, 03:31 PM

Hunter,
Sorry my help wasn't, but if you'll tolerate more guessing...

What results have you had with any of the repair techniques/utilities, such as DiskWarrior, TTP, Cocktail, OnyX, Zapping, SafeBooting, etc? Also, do you have Little Snitch installed? I'm guessing that LS may be blocking your outside/afp connection. That same reasoning applies to any firewalls and routers you may have installed.

As before, I am not at all certain any of this will help, but none of it should make matters worse.

Since the problem exists even with a new User, the above does not hold much promise, but if you have the time, it may be worth a try.

My last guess (I promise), is to do an Archive & Install. That should take about 30 minutes and may, in the long run, be easier and quicker than chasing gremlins about.

MadBrowser · Feb 16, 2007, 07:33 PM

Pendragon,

Hey, I'll take any suggestions at this point. I feel like I've tried everything... And even wacky suggestions might inspire me to think of something.

I've run DiskWarrior recently and while no major issues were found, I repaired the directory anyway.

As far as Little Snitch goes, it's not an application that I use or even have installed so I think we're clear there.

I'm debating doing an Archive and Install or just biting the bullet and backing up and then doing a total clean install. I was planning on doing one before Leopard anyway. Maybe now is the time.

EWTHeckman · Mar 7, 2007, 07:20 PM

In my case, I found that the cause of the problem was on the Windows side and required a session in RegEdit.

To see if your Windows machine needs this configuration change, go to Start --> Control Panel --> Administration Tools --> Event Viewer and look at the System Log. Look for an error message at the date and time you last tried to mount the Windows shared folder. The source would be "Srv". The error message would say something like this:

The server's configuration parameter "irpstacksize" is too small for the server to use a local device. Please increase the value of this parameter.

Then there is a link to Microsoft's instructions on how to fix the problem.

Here's the path to where the LPRStackSize parameter needs to be set:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\lanmanserver\parameters

In my case, I had to add the LPRStackSize entry. Microsoft's recommended initial setting of 15 didn't work, so I had to bump it up. I jumped right to 18, which did work, but Microsoft recommends increasing it by only one at a time.

I hope this helps!

besson3c · Mar 7, 2007, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by MadBrowser

It happens to all users on this machine, even a brand new user.

Never any problem pinging the host(s) from the broken MBP. Again, I tried everything from both my Mini and the MBP and the Mini works perfectly - they're both connecting through the same Airport Express.

Regarding the telnet test (thanks - I didn't realize I could connect to AFP that way for debugging, sorta like SMTP), I get this:

gonzo:~ hunter$ telnet 10.0.1.100 548
Trying 10.0.1.100...
Connected to 10.0.1.100.
Escape character is '^]'.

Connection closed by foreign host.
gonzo:~ hunter$

It was hanging there until I hit a <cr> and then it dropped the connection.

Does this help illuminate? Any ideas? Thanks so much for hitting me back.

The telnet test shows us that the service is responding on the port. I would try examining log files and see if you see anything, but your networking looks like it is fine.

arcticmac · Mar 8, 2007, 12:06 PM

two things.
1. if you haven't, try rebooting. sometimes things just get weird, and that helps. sometimes.
2. try this in the terminal:
mkdir /mnt
mount_afp -i afp://10.0.1.100/sharename /mnt

where sharename is the name of the afp share you want to mount. for example, standard mac file sharing will create shares for each user account and each volume. you can connect on your mac mini and see which share it's mounting.