Mac newbie help!

[uw_photographer]

I have been using my two ReadyNAS drives on my windows network for several years. However, I have had a mac for a while now (2011 MBP now running Lion) whose itunes library I want to sync with the readynas. I used to used backup to sync the itunes folder from my pc to the readynas (and when the MBP was running snow leopard), but try as I might, I cannot get the readynas to talk to the mbp now I have lion (some 6 months ago).

I reformatted my hard drive before I installed Lion. I have enabled sharing in preferences (I have tried enabling both SMB and AFP, though I dont really understand what they are) and have shared the folder.
Preferences tells me the folder is shared. When I try to set up the backup job and click test connection I get the error message: "Error connecting to //xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/iTunes".

Please can some kind soul help a newbie to understand- I am finding using a mac very frustrating, especially when things which I found easy on a PC just dont work on the mac. I've looked at lots of internet pages and tries all sorts of suggestions but to no avail.

All help gratefully accepted

Charles

[victorhortaliveson]

I also used to use my ProPioneers with Win7 and have moved to a MBA. Yes, OSX is different but it's easier to use and more stable (IMO), but then I did use Ubuntu Linux for a while (OSX is very similar in lots of things).
But, to your question. I haven't shared anything in Preferences. Instead I mount the NAS share in Finder using AFP.
I also have iTunes on the NAS, but split into Music (a share called Music) and Library (a share called iTunesLibrary).

I presume that the iTunes that is running on the MBP can access all your Music OK and you can manage the files and add/delete stuff OK.

What do you actually want to do ?

1. Backup your iTunes Music and Library to the NAS
OR 2. Make the NAS your repository for your Music files
OR 3. Make the NAS your repository for Music and the iTunes Library

It might be a simple matter of user permissions on the NAS share that you are attempting to connect to.

If you look in FInder>Go>Connect to Server you should see your NAS listed as something like : afp://NasName%20(AFP)._afpovertcp._tcp.local
If not then your MBP can't see the server.

Let me know some more details and we'll see what might be possible.

[victorhortaliveson]

PS Have you enabled AFP and CIFS on the shares on your NAS ?

[uw_photographer]

Hi Victor,

Thanks for your reply. I can connect to the NAS from my MBP, using the method you describe and I have enabled AFP and CIFS on the NAS, but not NFS
iTunes is working just fine on my MBP.

What I want to do is to use rsync the itunes folder to the NAS, so that the contents of the music folder is mirrored on the NAS. That way I have the music to play on my streamers, but the itunes library resides on the mac. If only itunes worked usably quickly on the nas, but its sooo slow, I gave up with that some time ago.

As I say, I am trying to set up an rsync backup job on the nas to "pull" copies of the itunes files onto the media folder of the nas.
Although the mbp has no trouble seeing the nas, the nas cannot connect to my mbp, even though it is listed in the shares on the control panel.

Any thoughts?

Charles

[victorhortaliveson]

I don't use rsync to mirror stuff but I do use CarbonCopyCloner to mirror from the MBA to a NAS and to mirror stuff from NASa to NASb.
Why not try that instead ? It runs in OSX and has a good reputation. See : http://www.bombich.com/
As I came from using Win7, I still have a very good Win7 mirror programme, ViceVersaPro, that I use in Parallels if I want to mirror stuff with more control.

[uw_photographer]

Thanks for your assistance. OK, a different strategy! Good idea.

So, have downloaded CCC and now I discover that the itunes folder on the readynas cannot be written to. Other folders in the same tree can be written to, but not the itunes folder. I have tried it on my PC too. Same problem. Has this got something to do with the squeezebox server running?

Rsync definitely worked before, but I have not been able to get it to work since i installed Lion.

Suggestions on a postcard please....

[victorhortaliveson]

OK, then it is a problem with the permissions on the share on the NAS.
How are you connecting to the NAS ? AFP or CIFS ?
Under the AFP or CIFS section of the share, what are the default read/write permissions ?

I'll have a look at the settings on my MBA and NAS and make a list for posting here.

Have you created a brand new share on the NAS or are you using the default shares that RAIDiator creates ?
I always have had problems with the permissions of these shares, so everytime I have had a new NAS I have deleted them and created a new set from scratch

[victorhortaliveson]

OK, here's what I have just done - tell me if it's different to what you intended.

1. I fired up OSX iTunes - the Media Library was empty (I don't use iTunes in OSX at the moment).
2. I added some Music files from my actual iTunes Music library (in a share on the NAS called Music) into the OSX iTunes Library.
3. OSX iTunes then copied these files across into the Music folder in my local user home directory. There is now a folder in Music called iTunes that has the active OSX iTunes files - Album Artwork, Library, Music Library, Media etc. In Media is a Music folder within which are the Music files I copied across. Total size of the iTunes folder - 732.4MB.
4. I then created a new share on the NAS called TempiTunes with AFP and CIFS access. APF and CIFS have default access of Read/Write and Allow guest access is checked.
4a. I connected to the NAS using AFP.
5. I fired up CCC and selected the local iTunes folder as the Source with TempiTunes as the destination. (I'm writing to the top level of the share not a folder). I setup the job as Maintain backup - no archiving - and off it went. No problem with the run, apart from some warnings about maintaining version etc on the NAS share (ignore).
6. I then created a folder on TempiTunes called Test2 and copied the same stuff into that (i.e. writing to a folder not the top level). No problems again. Test2 also is 732.4MB.

[victorhortaliveson]

Yes, possibly the Squeezebox server has locked the NAS iTunes share. Try shutting it down OR have a look at the share permissions to see if Squeezebox has put in some restrictions.

I have a Sonos system which doesn't need any NAS support other than a share to read from.

[uw_photographer]

Thanks for the time you have put into this.
I will try to replicate what you have done. I tried to use CCC to copy my itunes folder to a windows PC and it got most of the way through that and then stopped with a load of error messages I do not understand.

Two issues:
1. CCC is trying to clone part of my mac hdd, so preserved the folder tree from root (ie created uers/name/music/itunes etc, when I wanted it to copy just the folder I had selected to the destination.
2. It stalled part way through. Might the mac have gone to sleep? In any case, the mac just refuses to connect to the PC now (PC is a desktop and is still happily awake).

Will try some more fiddling.

Its a pity rsync will not do the job any more.

[victorhortaliveson]

Don't think the Mac will have gone to sleep while CCC is running.
Seems to me that you may have a more fundamental issue with your Mac to do with network connections and folder permissions.
Have you tried some real simple tests between the Mac/PC and Mac/NAS ? i.e. just simple copy/paste and copy/paste/delete.
That way you will see if the links are sound, then see if you can get CCC to do something equally simple between Mac/PC and Mac/NAS.

If all that works, then it is a problem with the Mac iTunes folder itself, perhaps.

[uw_photographer]

OK, I cannot connect to my PC any more at all. I have reviewed network settings- the workgroup matches, I have network connection, but the mac cannot connect to the PC and the PC cannot see the MAC. Worked when the CCC job started. Stopped part way (most of the way I think). Now wont work.

I can connect to the NAS, wouldnt let me write at first, but I connected as admin and now I can drag/drop files to/from the media folder on the NAS between two finder windows. Cannot connect to mac from NAS still in the "a new backup job" window in frontview. I have deleted all the backup jobs from the NAS, as there were quite a few (about 12) and I was no longer using them (used to use NAS for backup, but now have another NAS for that, so only use it as a music server)

I have a strong feeling that something in the mac network settings is messed up, but I dont really understand mac networking. Under SL it all worked fine- workgroups, network printing to printer on windows pc, rsync backup from NAS. Now the Mac just sulks and wont talk to anyone.

Is there a way of getting the mac to "forget" all the network settings? (except reformatting the HDD; I have already re-installed Lion from a blank disk)

Charles

[victorhortaliveson]

Have you reviewed the permissions settings in the shares on the NAS ?
Are they set to default Read/Write and Guest Access is checked in APF and CIFS ?

In the Mac, Go to FInder>Go>Network - what do you see ?

Is your user name and password the same on the PC and the Mac ?
Are you a user in the Security>User & Group Accounts section of the NAS Frontview ? Do you have the same user name and password ?
If you are using Win7, then I remember there was some issue with connecting to/from a NAS share and the best way was to make the share folder part of your user share. No help if you want to access this folder from other users. (Not an issue with Xp).

You should not need to be logged-in as Admin to be able to cut/paste to a NAS share.

[uw_photographer]

Thank-you for continuing to make suggestions.
I can most of the time copy to and from the PC and mac. SOmetimes it stops working and I cannot work out why.
I still can't make rsync work at all on the NAS. (reports error connecting to any server I try, including things which work well enough on the NV+).
The PC is saying that I dont have permission to delete/write to the media folder on the NAS.
It all worked before, but I dont know enough about networking to understand what is causing the problem.