Windows 7 and Offline files STILL not working.

[naughtyscamp]

There have been many posts on this forum for months now, bemoaning the malfunctioning offline files feature when using Windows 7 (ie trying to sync brings up thousands of errors informing that files are being used by another process).
I have a ReadyNAS NVX and the main reason I bought it was for the offline files facility - it was not cheap and I expect it to do what it promised to do when I purchased it.
It is absolutely disgraceful that Netgear appear to have done nothing towards remedying this fault in their product line, and have not even publicly acknowleged the issue on this forum.
When is something going to be done about this?

[BMach]

I too had been trying to get offline files working with Vista/W7 for a long time. After trying numerous suggestions from the forum, I opened a case with Netgear Help. Their suggestion was as follows:
"Sorry for the long delay in response. After some testing we have been able to get offline files to work. However the NAS must be in security mode "USER", and the share must allow guest access. We couldn't get it to work with any other configuration. We will ask our engineers about this issue, but there is no guarantee of a response. Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention."

Since then I have had offline files work without problem on Vista Buisness 32 and Windows 7 business 64.

One thing that I have noiticed is that it appears that as long as one of my shares allows guest access, then all shares can be set to offline.

I am using an NVX with 4.2.15.

Good luck and look forward to hearing how you go

[naughtyscamp]

OFFLINE FILES NOW FIXED!!

@BMach I'm afraid your suggestion didn't work. In the process of playing around though I finally found out what is causing the dreadful 'file is in use by another process' error.

I noticed that if I rebooted and tried to sync immediately then the process would be error free for a while, and then the usual errors would occur. So it occurred to me that a service must be kicking in belatedly that was causing the conflicts. It is the Windows Search (indexing) service, which by default starts automatically after a delay. Turning this off fixes the problem immediately (although having the NAS in security mode 'USER' may be essential also. It is working now and I can't be bothered to change it back again).

I sync'd over 5GB of offline files this morning, have modified and deleted some files, rebooted several times, etc, and have not had a single error (yet).

The search service does not index mapped NAS drives but by default it indexes the C:\ drive and any other internal drive. As soon as the Sync service starts shadowing NAS files and folders to the C:\ drive, the search service starts indexing them and this is the process that causes the error.

Disabling the search service is easy but a bit of a shame because it works well in Windows 7. On the plus side, removing it will speed your PC up.

If, like me, you have spent ages trying to get offline files working with your ReadyNAS then your offline files database will be in a bit of a mess. Before killing the search/indexing service I suggest that you disable offline files, delete any offline files on your C:\ drive and then reset the CSC (client side cache) database. To reset the CSC database use Regedit to create the following dword "FormatDatabase" at [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CSC\Parameters] and give it a value of 00000001. Then reboot your machine.

To disable the search service go Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services and locate the Windows Search service. Stop it and disable it from starting. Then go to Computer and right-click your C:\ drive. Select properties and under the General tab you need to uncheck the tickbox 'Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties' then hit OK. Your PC will probably take several minutes to process this.

Reboot, enable offline files again, and you're good to go. 😄

@BMach I'd be interested to know whether you have the Windows Search service running on your machines?

[BMach]

I have checked and I do not have Windows Search running on the offline files. I think this is a price I am prepared to pay. My recollection however is that at some stage I had turned off Windows Search on the offline files and that alone did not get it going.

An internet search does suggest that other NAS devices have a similar problem.

[edcs]

I'm trying to get Offline Files to work at the moment, I've done as naughtyscamp has suggested and disabled search indexing. However I'm not sure what is meant by security mode USER and enabling guest access. Could someone please let me know how to do this as I'm getting error messages whenever I try to sync my offline files, which is disappointing to say the least.

[hoverman]

So, this is a HUGE issue. I am an IT consultant in the Raleigh NC area. My company had been doing a lot of testing and roll-out of the ReadyNAS line for a number of years now, and we have had the luxury or working directly with the ReadyNAS technical team (which is excellent)

I love the READYNAS line and I am in the midst of moving all the shares off of the servers for a few clients and then virtualizing their servers (after the shares are moved off). All of the shares and VMs are stored on the NAS.

I have probably sold about 50 NAS units over the past year to varying customers.

Anyways, I am doing a share move this weekend for a small customer with an NVX and I am having this exact issue as well. In my case used the built-in home shares which are automatically created as users hit the NAS. I have a group policy to redirect the My Documents folder to \\NAS\%USERNAME%\My Documents.

My NAS has the latest firmware updates. I have tried all the suggestions in this thread and have had no luck. Disabling indexing in Win7 doesnt make a difference. I cleared the CSC folder and that doesnt help. I also tried disableing SMB2.0 (found in another forum) and this doesnt work.

The previous poster menas by "Enabling Guest Access" is the little check box under the CIFS properties in the share menu. (this doesnt work on this issue in of itself, BTW) Also, you cannot Enable Guest access for the home share unless you go to the Linux console of the NAS. The guest access defeats the whole purpose of the home share since it is supposed to be PRIVATE.

The previous poster also talked of enabled USER security. This is in the security section of the NAS and this is the area where you join the NAS to a domain or not. In my case, I HAVE to have the NAS joined ot the domain because the shares are security controlled by Domain-based Security Groups. Some group allow read-access to some shares, etc. So, if you put your NAS in guest access mode, then you wont be able to pull any of the domain groups/users for ACL purposes.

Netgear, this is a big issue and showstopper for many of my clients. If it is a Win 7 Problem, please give us a fix. If it is a NAS issue, please give us a fix. Here I am at a client past midnight trying to figure out what is going on. They are not going to be happy when they cant take their offline files with them when they leave the office with their laptops.

Thanks!

[hoverman]

All,

So... I think I figured out how to make this work. Specifically, I am trying to create Private home shares on the readynas which users' My Docs (and other personal files) are redirected to and can take offline with them when they leave the office with a mobile device.
The readynas is joined ot the domain, BTW.

I read up on OPLOCKS for serveral hours and tried to understand WHY I need it for shares and where it is best applied.
After reading this article:
http://www.superbase.com/services_tech_support_oplocks.htm
I decided that since the home shares are private and only being access by one user, OPLOCKS isnt really necessary.
Since no one in this thread (or others) have tried this WITHUOT OPLOCKS, I figured its worth a shot.

I did NOT disable windows serach in win 7, or SAMBA 2, or anything funky in registry.
Most of my users have UNDER 1 GB of DATA, but I have two users with 11GB + in their MY Docs and it worked fine for all users.
As soon as I DISABLED oplocks, the error about "file being used by another process" never came back when performing a sync.

Here is my setup:

1) Log into your NAS device (for arguments sake, I'll refer to mine as NAS)
2) DONT USE THE BUILT IN HOME SHARES! (they are REALLY a nice feature, but there is no GUI control over them)
3) Create a new share with no public access, I called mine USERS
4) Go into the CIFS share properties and make sure default access is set to READ/WRITE, and DISABLE OPLOCKS, YES DISABLE OPLOCKS
5) Save it and log out of the NAS web interface
6) Log into a computer/server as Domain Admin and hit the nas via its UNC Path, i.e. "\\NAS"
7) Find the USERS share and right click on it and go to properties
😎 Go to the security tab
9) Remove the "Everyone" group to strip the permissions (the NAS will add it back but with no permissions - this is OK)
10) Go to advanced
11) Add Domain Admins and give it full control (if you want your admins to be able to access the private files)
12) Add Domain Users and give it full control, BUT set it to THIS FOLDER ONLY (this will prevent users from seeing others private shares)
NOTE: Remember that the READYNAS adds the CREATOR/OWNER group by default, so this is why this will work
13) You are done with security settings, so apply and close all of this
14) Make sure your GPs are set up right if you use GPs to redirect docs (Mine is set to \\NAS\USERS\%USERNAME%\My Documents, with exclusive use turned OFF and do not move contents, and do not redirect to local when policy removed)
15) Have your users log in and test! It should work fine. Users can only see other users' folders if they navigate to the NAS, but cannot access them.

I hope this helps.

[atvrhtd]

I have Win 7 Ultimate and a NV+. The NV+ is set to shutdown at night and restart in the morning. I leave the computer on 24/7.
Problem is that occasionally the files go offline on the NV+ and are not accessible. Files have an "X" on them.

On my LAN:
I can only access the NV+ files each morning, if I restart the computer.
Not all folders are affected.
Some folders blink on and off line every few minutes.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem is ?
Is this windows problem or a Netgear problem ?
Does anyone have a cure ?

I need to access my files from anywhere on my WAN & LAN.

I have tried stopping the windows search service and restarting it. That had no affect.
I do not want to run my NV+ 24/7.

Atvrhtd@gmail.com

[goreo95033]

hoverman wrote:

All, Here is my setup: 1) Log into your NAS device (for arguments sake, I'll refer to mine as NAS) 2) DONT USE THE BUILT IN HOME SHARES! (they are REALLY a nice feature, but there is no GUI control over them) 3) Create a new share with no public access, I called mine USERS 4) Go into the CIFS share properties and make sure default access is set to READ/WRITE, and DISABLE OPLOCKS, YES DISABLE OPLOCKS 5) Save it and log out of the NAS web interface 6) Log into a computer/server as Domain Admin and hit the nas via its UNC Path, i.e. "\\NAS" 7) Find the USERS share and right click on it and go to properties 😎 Go to the security tab 9) Remove the "Everyone" group to strip the permissions (the NAS will add it back but with no permissions - this is OK) 10) Go to advanced 11) Add Domain Admins and give it full control (if you want your admins to be able to access the private files) 12) Add Domain Users and give it full control, BUT set it to THIS FOLDER ONLY (this will prevent users from seeing others private shares) NOTE: Remember that the READYNAS adds the CREATOR/OWNER group by default, so this is why this will work 13) You are done with security settings, so apply and close all of this 14) Make sure your GPs are set up right if you use GPs to redirect docs (Mine is set to \\NAS\USERS\%USERNAME%\My Documents, with exclusive use turned OFF and do not move contents, and do not redirect to local when policy removed) 15) Have your users log in and test! It should work fine. Users can only see other users' folders if they navigate to the NAS, but cannot access them. I hope this helps.

This doesn't work for me either. I created a new share as described above, with oplocks disabled. Created a test user and mapped his home directory to the new share. I created a folder under the user name, put some files in the new folder. I've tried syncing with the registry entries described previously, and without. It doesn't effing work.

A manual sync fails on every file in the offline folder. If I let the laptop sync on its own, then the sync will pass, but go offline and I can't open any of the files because they aren't available.

Extremely frustrating... :evil:

I'm running W7 pro and several 1100's running 4.1.7, the latest as of this writing.

[goreo95033]

SUCCESS! I have my Windows 7 machines synchronizing offline files with the default home directories created automatically by the ReadyNAS. Here is what I did to make it work:

1. Install the SSH root access add-on, and login as root to the ReadyNAS via SSH


2. Edit the Samba configuration, adding the following lines to the [global] section of /etc/samba/smb.conf using the vi editor:
   

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



3. Restart the Samba service:
   

   /etc/init.d/samba restart <enter>



4. Add the following DWORD values to the registry of the W7 clients desiring offline files to ReadyNAS shares:
   

   
   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
   



5. Close the registry editor, reboot, then go select the folder(s) on your modified ReadyNAS that you wish to sync for offline use.


References:
The Storage Team at Microsoft - File Cabinet Blog: Using Offline Files with Samba / EMC Servers, & NAS Devices
http://blogs.technet.com/b/filecab/archive/2007/03/16/using-offline-files-with-samba-emc-servers-nas-devices.aspx

[Melach]

How can you make this persist across reboots? Whenever I reboot my NAS the smb.conf file is reset

[sphardy1]

You can prevent any file from ever being modified/overwritten by making it "immutable" - but it comes with the risk that the OS may not be able to make necessary changes to the file, even during a firmware update. So use with care:

chattr +i /etc/samba/smb.conf 

[goreo95033]

Melach wrote:
How can you make this persist across reboots? Whenever I reboot my NAS the smb.conf file is reset

I see that my smb.conf file has been touched (date changed to match time of reboot), but the entries I added/changed are still in there.

[hoverman]

All,

So its been a while since I have posted on this thread, as I have revisted with more clients. The methodology I spoke of earlier this year worked for the initial sync, but then started failing on all my users. I saw the post about making changes in smb.conf and the registry, so I gave this a try.

After rebooting my windows test box many times and the readyans NVX many times, as well as doing a lot of synchronizations, I determined the registry changes in Windows 7 are not necessary. The changes to smb.conf is all you need. This is a great find. I am running 4.2.17 now on all my customers. I was hoping the 4.2.17 release would have fixed this but it hasn't.

I think its time to get the Netgear guys involved in this. I shouldnt have to do an SSH and a "chattr -i /etc/samba/smb.conf" everytime I need to make a change via the web interface or update the firmware.

Anyways, I have confirmed editing the smb.conf method works well for using the automatically created home shares. I HAVE NOT confirmed this works on a created "USERS" share.
I have created GPs on a server 2008 R2 domain with all Win 7 64-bit laptops (everyone else is on terminal server 2008 R2) and its working great for my test users. I redirect My Docs, Favorites, and Desktop and its syncing without a hitch. The GP redirects to "\\nas\%USERNAME%\FOLDERNAME", where FOLDERNAME is My Documents, Favorites, etc.

I will see if I can get tech support involved to fix this on the next release, as my company is a Netgear Partner. Will let you know.

[cbunting]

Netgear, when are you going to fix this in your firmware??? It is a pain having to go in and edit the smb.conf file everytime. It absolutely fixes the offline file problem with windows 7.... and needs to be fixed!

[amac27]

can you try the microsoft synctoy 2.1
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/de ... x?id=15155

[BMach]

My setup is still working. I am however afraid to touch the system (notebook Windows 7 and NAS) just in case it breaks. I have no confidence that I could get it to work again

It would be nice to know there was a way to get it up and running again.

[mackeyuk]

I love my NVX and it has been working fine since I tried to move my business files from my laptop to my nas then enable offline files on my windows 7 pro laptop and boooom! I find myself on this forum looking for a solution. Come on netgear get your act together, the ready nas is a premium product when compared to other devices and users expect this functionality to work!

[chirpa]

Melach wrote:
How can you make this persist across reboots? Whenever I reboot my NAS the smb.conf file is reset

You shouldn't be editing that file directly. If you want the settings to survive across firmware updates, save your settings in /etc/frontview/samba/addons/addons.conf. You don't need to use the [global] header in here, any values set in this file will be included in the smb.conf [global] section.

[chirpa]

For those that don't want to edit that file (via enabling SSH, etc), you can try this (untested) add-on: http://www.readynas.com/download/addons ... .1-x86.bin

It will add the lines as specified in viewtopic.php?p=296806#p296806 and restart the CIFS service.

[mackeyuk]

I installed the addon, but the problem is still here. Are there options to enable the addon after installing it?

[chirpa]

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.

[BMach]

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

[archscistudent]

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

[back_bd]

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?