Windows 7 and Offline files STILL not working.

The add-on only adds the smb.conf entries as another user supplied. You would still need to make the DWORD registry entry changes listed in that post on the Win 7 client also.

While my offline files and Window 7 are still happy to work together, it would be great if someone would write a users guide detailing every required step.

I am sure many would appreciate such a guide

Hi there,

So after much research I am happy to share the solution I have compiled with info supplied by many people much smarter than me for working with offline files with Windows 7 and NAS systems.
Below are the instructions tailored to the Iomega NAS (specifically the IX4-200D) although from my research, this solution should work for most Samba-based NAS systems. I, like so many others, really wanted to have the offline files in win 7 working with the NAS and was determined to figure it out. It took awhile as many sites assume the reader to be either a programmer or some sort of computer engineer (I am neither) and therefore left things out that may be common knowledge to experienced persons but to me still remains greek.

At any rate I will start with a brief history of the error as quoted by Joseph Moran:

"Sync errors can have a variety of causes, but one particular error -- "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process" -- is common when trying to sync files that are stored on non-Windows NAS devices and have been recently been opened by another Vista or Windows 7 system. This type of sync error is often the result of a performance-enhancing file access technique called opportunistic locking used by Vista and Windows 7 (but not XP) systems, which allows them to can lock access -- and thus prevent modifications -- to files that have been recently opened (even though they may no longer be open).
Opportunistic locking is often not enabled on non-Windows NAS devices, most of which use the SAMBA file sharing protocol to communicate with Windows systems. While some NAS devices will let you turn on the feature via an administrative control panel, many consumer and small office NAS products don’t." Pasted from http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/webmaster/article.php/3873596/Take-Network-Files-to-Go-with-Windows-Offline-Files.htm

Notice he said that many consumer and small office NAS products don’t?
I want at least Iomega and Netgear TO SIT UP, PAY ATTENTION AND ADD THIS FEATURE ALREADY!! For consumers to have to go thru this crap is unacceptable especially since, at least in a MS Windows environment, the use of offline files is a very common and useful feature (and was one of the reasons I naively bought a NAS in the 1st place)

So anyways, to fix the problem I have broken it down to 3 parts:

Part 1: preparing to gain root access to the NAS (not sure how to enable SSH access w/Net Gear as this is specific to Iomega)

First step is to enable SSH remote access support in the Iomega NAS
To do this, identify the IP address of the NAS and enter in your webbrowser as shown:

'http://<IP ADDRESS OF NAS>/diagnostics.html' (Example: //192.168.0.11/diagnostics.html)
You will be asked to enter a username and password (Use same username and pw as regular login that you have set for administrator rights)

A Support Diagnostics screen appears after login.
Make sure to check both boxes to allow remote access for support and enable detailed logging as shown.

Logout of the NAS

PLEASE NOTE: This mode is meant for diagnostics really, and when in use temporarily disables some features such as software update. It is recommended to enable SSH, do what you need to do, then disable SSH again.

Part 2: accessing the root of the NAS and editing the configuration file

Next, we will enter the NAS by way of SSH using the free software Putty. This can be downloaded here: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html (you only need to download the putty.exe file)

Once downloaded, double click putty.exe to run the software (no need to install it)
It will open a dialog box with Categories to the left and Basic options to the right.

Enter the IP address of the NAS in the Host Name field and then select Open (located at the bottom)

This will open a command line screen which will be asking for your login
Enter 'root' as your login
And then for your password enter 'soho<your regular admin password>'. So if you have set your admin password to apples, then the password you enter here will be 'sohoapples'. ( If no admin account is set then the password is just 'soho' - and don’t worry that the cursor doesn’t move while your typing. Just enter in the password when prompted and hit 'Enter' and it will work.)

Now that you have logged in, we first need to change the directory path

Type 'cd /etc/samba'

This will make the directory path point to the location where the configuration file is located that we need to revise.

We then need to open the configuration file using the built in VI editor (its like a command line version of notepad)

To do this type 'vi smb.conf' and hit Enter

When you start VI for the first time, you will see a screen filled with tildes (A tilde looks like this: ~) on the left side of the screen. Any blank lines beyond the end of the file are shown this way. At the bottom of your screen, the filename should be shown, if you specified an existing file, and the size of the file will be shown as well, like this:
"filename" 21 lines, 385 characters
Pasted from http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/vi.html

Now using the arrow keys scroll up until you find the [global] section. Again using the arrow keys move down the rows of text until your cursor is at a blank line prior to the next section.

It is here that we need to add lines of text. Start by typing 'a' and hit Enter. (this allows you to edit/add lines where the cursor is).

Now type the following exactly as shown (hitting Enter to go to the next line):

oplocks= 1
level2 oplocks= 1
kernel oplocks= 0
create mask= 777
map archive= 1
map system= 1
map hidden= 1

Once this is done, save the file and quit the VI editor by typing ':wq'

You are now back at the beginning. We must restart the Samba service so that the changes we made gets integrated. To do this type '/etc/init.d/samba restart' and then hit Enter.

If it works you should get a list of entries such as "creating symbolic link: File exists" .

Now close the Putty SSH session by clicking the x at the top right of the window.(it will ask you to confirm, select Yes or OK to exit)

Part 3: adding to the windows registry

Okay, now we must add new registry items for all Windows 7 computers that want offline files from the NAS. (I will not be describing the steps involved for this due to the risks involved if any errors occur. As this post contains information about how to modify the registry, make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Back up the registry
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Back-up-the-registry

Add the following DWORD values to the registry:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\NetCache\RoundUpWriteTimeOnSync = 1
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\mrxsmb\OplocksDisabled = 0
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanServer\Parameters\EnableOplocks = 1
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters\EnableOplocks = 1

Close the registry editor and reboot the Win 7 computer

Once rebooted, select the folder(s) on your NAS that you would like to sync for offline use, right click and select 'Always Available Offline' and that's it!!

Part 4: References:

Many thanks for the various posters who have provided the valuable info needed to do this.

Registry and Samba line changes http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=47091 - specifically users goreo95033, sphardy and hoverman
and http://blogs.technet.com/b/filecab/archive/2007/03/16/using-offline-files-with-samba-emc-servers-nas-devices.aspx
VI editor instructions http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/vi.html
Reference for the SSH / NAS password: http://www.pkguild.com/2010/01/shell-access-to-your-ix2ix4-exposed-get-yer-red-hot-ssh-here/
NAS Root access enabling http://iomega.nas-central.org/wiki/Root_access_enabling_%28Home_Media_CE%29
Sync error history - Joseph Moran http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/webmaster/article.php/3873596/Take-Network-Files-to-Go-with-Windows-Offline-Files.htm

Other supporting links used for research:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-networking/using-offline-files-within-windows-7-when/640ddb56-3059-4fe6-91cf-e2d60e06ea28
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/d86e75e8-55ab-4443-a76f-1af2978f0e74
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprogeneral/thread/4451eba6-bfe8-485a-a2cd-27b2723715ea/
http://myvirtualcloud.net/?p=1618
http://www.krausam.de/?p=33
http://zepman.tweakblogs.net/blog/3552/iomega-ix2-200-bad-flash-recovery-and-hdd-replacement.html
http://www.pkguild.com/2009/12/iomega-ix4-200d-data-reconstruction-ssh-and-more/
http://planetkris.com/2010/05/iomega-storcenter-ix2-ssh-email-notifications-and-busybox-init-d/
http://iomega.nas-central.org/wiki/Main_Page

hey,

on each restart of the nas (iomega) the smb.conf file gets overwritten with the factory one. do you know how to fix that?

Problem solved for me by Netgear support.

They made some changes to the readynas and i had/have to add the registery entries below to windows 7 systems.

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\NetCache\RoundUpWriteTimeOnSync = 1
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\mrxsmb\OplocksDisabled = 0
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanServer\Parameters\EnableOplocks = 1
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters\EnableOplocks = 1

Now works perfect.

Sorry i cant be more precise. I just wanted to let you know that it can be sorted.

Any news?
Is this problem solved in the last firmware?

Has this issue ever been sorted?

Alternatively a walkthrough/guide of how to redirect users Docs/Desktop on a domain to a share on the ReadyNas, using GPO's, so the security and folders are created correctly?

The short answer I can provide is that this has NOT been corrected in the new firmware, or at least versions 5.3.x for the Duo/NV v2 devices using the Arm architecture. Operating on my (admittedly basic) knowledge of SMB, I think the suggested changes to SAMBA on the device side and the Windows Registry on the client side have the best chance for success. But, I'd rather not enable SSH as I discovered while researching a different problem that this voids your support.

However, I'm not sure if this was an option in FrontView v1, but when configuring shares in v2 you can select to enable OPlock on the share.
So, I'm hoping that this setting also makes the other SAMBA changes listed above; fingers crossed.
But from bourney's post last year, it sounds like you can get around enabling SSH by contacting Netgear and having them do it, instead.
(Of course, the caveat is you'd have to register your device and accept whatever spam Netgear is going to start sending you as a result.)
The Windows Registry changes make sense as well, and I'd wager are necessary in either case.

UPDATE: That worked!!! No need for SSH or calls to Netgear.
I still need to do an offline test after my stuff has had a full sync, but I'm not getting the dreaded "the process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process" error when marking folders to be available offline anymore.

Thanks to all who have contributed.
Since I'[ve not seen anybody else do so, I'll post a new thread with a guide as soon as I have a chance.

Thanks for the solution of this kind of problem with offline files. The solution with changing Samba AND Registry works for a Ready NAS RNDv4000. Some minor changes to the described method: Password is just your admin password without sudo, just change dont add the oplocks from 0 to 1.
Some minor mistakes still occours with network problems, but this might also be fixed.