AFP error with Mac OS X Lion 10.7

[badrobot]

I'm having the same problem after upgrading to Lion GM. That http://www.synology.com/events/dsm3.2_b ... p?lang=cht page is an invitation to a DSM 3.2 Beta launch party held in Taipei on July 19 night. And according to the brief intro of this new beta version, Lion is supported. So let's hope the Time Machine problem can be finally fixed then. Countdown to July 19...

[jumo]

Maybe it's time for Synology to pay (like Netgear for example) for the support of Netatalk

http://www.netafp.com/open-letter-to-th ... unity-501/

The new version of Netatalk (2.2) supports Lion...

[baskaran]

It looks like currently shipping version of Synology DSM (3.1-1748) does support Time Machine properly.

It does not support "lock stealing" and "replay cache", which are required according to Apple, in order to achieve reliable and robust backups using Time Machine feature on the Mac. Reports of data corruption in Time Machine backup I see in the Synology forum may be the result of the lack of the require features in the AFP implementation.

I had tried your DS409 and DS409+ about a year ago and returned them since they did not work well in my Mac environment. I just bought a DS1511+. I was hoping that DS1511+ will do the trick. But, I am not thrilled to learn about the limitations of AFP implementation.

Here is some documentation from Apple:
http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/NetworkingInternetWeb/Conceptual/TimeMachineNetworkInterfaceSpecification/TimeMachineRequirements/TimeMachineRequirements.html

-----
Time Machine Server Requirements

Not all AFP servers support the functionality required for Time Machine backups. In order to support Time Machine, a server must implement the following:

Lock stealing—when the client logs in, it sends the FPGetSessionToken command. Upon receiving this command, if the Type field is set to kLoginWithTimeAndID, kReconnWithTimeAndID, kRecon1Login, or kRecon1ReconnectLogin, the server searches through any previous sessions. Previous sessions from the same user that contain a Time Machine sharepoint are destroyed, releasing all locks associated with those previous sessions. Due to the nature of lock stealing, it is recommended that sharepoints designated for Time Machine backups be used exclusively for Time Machine backups and not for general file sharing use.

Client reconnect and state recovery—AFP 3.3 supports a replay cache for correct Time Machine behavior over AFP. Supporting and advertising this cache is required for all AFP Servers that want to support Time Machine. For more information, see AFP Replay Cache, “Reconnect” in Apple Filing Protocol Programming Guide, and “Reconnecting Sessions” in Apple Filing Protocol Programming Guide.

A compliant server must implement the deny modes of FPOpenFork as mandatory locks.

A compliant server must set the kSupportsTMLockSteal bit in the response to the FPGetVolParms for AFP volumes designated to support Time Machine backups. See the FPGetVolParms documentation for more information.

A compliant server must support the FPSyncDir and FPSyncFork (directory/fork data full sync and commit) AFP commands.

-----

I am hoping to find a resolution to this issue as soon as possible before my time is up for returning my DS1511+ back to Amazon.

[baskaran]

I came across an interesting note at http://www.netafp.com/tn002-time-machine-warning-79/ after my previous posting. According to this, "lock stealing" is not relevant/importing for netatalk based AFP servers since they use "a process per connection" model instead of "a thread per connection" model used by Apple's implementation. However, netatalk based AFP servers do have to claim that they support this feature in order for Time Machine to work on Mac OS 7.

[neteng101]

Might be time to go for a Promise Pegasus system when Thunderbolt enabled Minis appear, with Lion Server running on it then.

[XxThe_RemedyXx]

Just received this from Synology support:

"Hello George, Thank you for your message. I can assure you that we are aware of the issue with Time Machine and Lion. We have updated Netatalk in our DSM 3.2 version which should allow Time Machine functionality with Lion. While I do not have an exact release date, I can assure you that the beta will be released by the end of the month. If you would like to be notified of the release, I encourage you to sign up for our eNews program. http://www.synology.com/support/register.php?lang=us Please let me know if you have any questions."

[irishj]

Thanks for the update !

In fairness, the beta should be out now, so people can test Lion with their Synology products before Lion goes live, which is expected on the 14th.

[stephanstricker]

I think we should give this guys a break. Lion is an unreleased product as of today and AFP is not the only protocol they have to support. Having this protocol implemented by the end of this month is IMHO an absolute reasonable time.

Thanks for the update !

In fairness, the beta should be out now, so people can test Lion with their Synology products before Lion goes live, which is expected on the 14th.

[hankydysplasia]

I agree that maybe launch day is a bit much to expect.

However, we're dealing with a mission-critical piece of equipment for a lot of people and small businesses. There is a little bit of a higher standard. I'm not going to put beta software on my workflow-necessary device; I'll have to put my backups on another drive for the time being. We'll see how long it takes for the stable and tested version to come out.

[stephanstricker]

And that should be true for the OS that runs on your MACs as well. I do not see why this is super critical for anybody right now. Worst case is you have to push out the transition to Lion for another month or two.

I agree that maybe launch day is a bit much to expect.

However, we're dealing with a mission-critical piece of equipment for a lot of people and small businesses. There is a little bit of a higher standard. I'm not going to put beta software on my workflow-necessary device; I'll have to put my backups on another drive for the time being. We'll see how long it takes for the stable and tested version to come out.

[hankydysplasia]

I have 4 Mac's and 1 Synology. 3/4 are running Snow Leopard. I can also say that Lion GM has been rock solid for me.

There are a few things that I want to migrate to Lion for - server things like shared Calendar hosting that do not work well with a hybrid Snow Leopard/Lion system. However, the #1 reason for Lion - having a server computer with 2 user accounts, with a client computer doing a fullscreen screen share. This enables me to edit pictures with a 4.4Ghz Core i7 Mac with 16GB RAM with 2 screens simultaneously. My 2.0Ghz 2GB RAM Mac Mini (or
Apple TV for that matter) becomes an editing powerhouse... but not if the DiskStation can't handle it.

This may not be super critical, but it'll be nice when it works.

[gndixon]

I agree that maybe launch day is a bit much to expect.

Not sure I agree -- Lion has been available through the developer program from some time now. If the necessary change wasn't backwards compatible then perhaps I could agree, but as far as I can tell that is not the case. The sooner they get this out the better. The reason most of us are part of the developer program is to get our products ready so there aren't incompatibilities when Lion is released to the public -- given the way its going to be delivered there is a good chance a lot of folks will upgrade more quickly than has been the case with previous OS X releases...

I'm running the GM seed and its very stable with the exception of the 1511+ NAS I own -- Time Machine doesn't work as everyone knows, but I'm also seeing some variability in file (read) access times -- I'm doing video editing and have the content on the 1511+ (Mac and NAS on a 1Gb network). As I browse video in Finder using Quick Look I see the spinning circle more frequently that I ever saw it on SL...

[baskaran]

Synology should have updated their AFP support to AFP 3.3 during Mac OS X Snow Leopard time since AFP 3.3 spec has been out for a long time now. They were forced in to a corner by the release of Lion that refused to work with deficient AFP implementations. Time Machine backup to current Synology NAS will have reliability issues when used over WiFi connection since they do not have the needed AFP features.

[banane]

good news coming: Mac OS X Lion 10.7 will be supported by DSM 3.2
see: http://forum.synology.com/enu/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=39029&p=153810&hilit=mac+os+10.7#p153810

[LarryF]

I installed DSM 3.2 this afternoon and it works great with OS X Lion.