[alphasubzero949]

First of all, I assume this is the correct forum since .Mac is directly integrated into the operating system itself...

Over a week ago, after my school's network went down abruptly, the local copy of my iDisk suddenly deleted itself during a synchronization. At first I tried to delete the local copy and re-enable it, and ever since it fails to create a local copy. After seeing "Preparing to synchronize your iDisk to your computer" it will hang.

I have tried the following:

- Deleted ~/Library/Mirrors after disabling the local copy
- Repaired permissions
- Deleted ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.MirrorAgent.plist (though it had a modification date of 2 Oct 2003...pre-Panther era)
- Deleted ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Finder.plist
- Cleared all caches
- Checked volume structures

If I try to bring up iDisk through the Finder while it is "preparing to sync," it hangs it, forcing a relaunch. Mirror Agent also crashes.

I can mount and browse my normal iDisk. However...

If I attempt to add or delete files, I will receive -36 error messages. My school swears up and down that they do not have a proxy server, yet emphasized that if it is non-academic, they will firewall it.

I have been able to replicate these problems (failed copy, Mirror Agent and Finder hanging when I try to intervene, -36 errors on real iDisk) on 2 other Macs running 10.3.6, all on the same network.

.Mac support has been abysmal at best, suggesting that I do what I have already tried...


Anyone out there have any idea whatsoever? Apple thinks it's my computer with something finicky in Panther; my school says they're not running proxy servers...

...and to think I'm paying all of this $$$ for a lousy support system.

[Xeo]

Have you tried from a non-school network (ie, home)? I'm guessing it's the network because you're tests with other systems yields the same result.

Or are you asking what steps you can take to get around the possible firewall issue?

[alphasubzero949]

I haven't tried it with a non-school network yet. I'll see if it works.

[Boondoggle]

another thing to try would be creating a new account on your computer and seeing if you can create a local copy of your iDisk on that. This will tell you if there is something specific to your account (pref, etc. ) that might be causing this. Also, can you mount the remote iDisk w/o problems?

bd

[alphasubzero949]

It's my school network.

I'm over at my girlfriend's apartment on a wireless and guess what...

IT SYNCS!!!

Right now it's creating a local copy of my iDisk. On my girlfriend's iMac, I can mount, browse, and add/delete files without problems.

Now here's the new question...how do I get around my university's firewall knowing once I get back to the campus, it won't sync anymore (sad to say, I live there too)?

Boondoggle, to answer your question, I was able to mount and browse my real iDisk, but I could not add/delete files.

[Xeo]

Well, after looking through Apple support files, and doing my own testing, it looks like you must be behind some sort of proxy. Because .Mac is WebDav that goes over port 80. If you can access other websites, you should be able to access .Mac as well unless you are behind some sort of proxy.

Troubleshooting iDisk error -36
"Well Known" TCP and UDP Ports Used By Apple Software Product

You could tunnel the connection but would need SSH access to a computer outside your network.

[alphasubzero949]

GAH!

So I get back here to my university and I lost my local copy of my iDisk again (Mirror Agent hung on syncing)! I called the tech support only to be told that it's something with my computer.

Funny thing is, if I go off campus the iDisk works (creating local copy, adding/deleting files) but it appears that it is completely blocked here.


How can I get around this blocking?

[Xeo]

As I said in my last post, you could possibly get around it with SSH tunneling if you have access to an SSH server outside of your school network.

[alphasubzero949]

Ah, missed it. Doh.