Non–Windows network folder listings not auto–updating

Folders mapped to drive letters on my non–Windows server aren’t automatically refreshing in Directory Opus.

The target server is a Nexenta Core box (see http://www.nexenta.org — it’s basically OpenSolaris) running cifs on the zfs filesystem.

Any changes to files on this server outside Directory Opus (such as uncompressing files through WinRAR) can’t be seen until I press F5.

Changes made to files on Windows network shares are immediately available as expected.

Changes made to files on the exact same share are immediately available as expected if it’s referenced by its UNC path (\server\home instead of H:).

Windows Explorer functions as expected — i.e. with none of the above issues.

I’ve run the Directory Opus debugger and have confirmed that these notifications simply aren’t being sent to Directory Opus for some reason.

I’ve also sent this issue (and the debugger output) to Directory Opus support but haven’t received a response.

I just discovered the UNC path behavior today — that’s new information since I first brought this up in a different thread.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

— Daryn

Is the debug output showing nothing at all being sent, or just nothing for that drive?

It shows notifications being sent for events on other drives — like the C:\ drive — but nothing at all for the problem drive(s).

If notifications aren't being sent then I don't really see what can be done about it.

Notifications are being sent though — Windows Explorer receives them, Directory Opus doesn’t.

And Directory Opus does receive the notifications when the shared folder is referenced as a UNC path instead of a drive letter.

It seems the bug may be in the way Directory Opus determines what constitutes a network drive.

Sounds interesting. Where exactly would this be set to use the UNC paths? I can´t find that option.

It isn’t a DOpus setting — you’d have to type it into the “Location” bar (also known as “Pathbar” under Toolbars).

[I use DOpus in Dual Horizontal + Details mode — I’m not sure how much of this would apply to you.]

If you have a Windows / Samba share that you normally access by (for example) typing “H:” in the Location bar, you should also be able to get to that same location by typing (for example) “\samba\h$” instead.

(The “\samba\h$” varies depending on your setup — “samba” is the name of the Windows / Samba file server, “h$” is the name of the drive share.)

Thank you very much, i will forward that to the user & report back here, if it could solve their problem.

Unfortunately it isn’t all that great a solution because working with UNC paths (instead of drive letters) tends to be a pain.

But hopefully our collective experiences will provide some useful information to the DOpus developers so they can work this out.

I have this issue too. OpenIndiana ZFS storage server. Using the UNC paths is a workaround, but dsb is right, it is a pain.

Have you reported it to the people who make the NAS? Opus requests notifications the same way for UNC and drive letter paths so if the NAS behaves differently for each then it's probably a problem with the NAS.

I think it’s a ZFS thing. I’m at a new job now where we have a Sun ZFS Storage 7120 appliance, and Directory Opus has the same problem. I’m willing to bet you’ll see the same thing 100% of the time that DOpus connects to a ZFS SMB share, regardless of the NAS vendor / manufacturer. It’s not a particularly big deal (now that I’ve gotten used to hitting F5 all the time) but it’d be nice to get it cleared up.

I have a NAS formatted with ZFS (it's running ReadyNAS) and file notification works fine on shares mounted as drive letters in Opus.

Hmmmm I stand corrected. Does your NAS run a Solaris / OpenSolaris version of zfs? I haven’t really been keeping up on zfs development but from what I recall FreeBSD was on the verge of integrating zfs into the core OS and other flavors of Linux were looking into that as well. So I’ll hedge my bet a bit and surmise this is a Solaris–related zfs issue. (That said, this should soon not be an issue at all for me as we’re moving to EMC Isilon storage which uses a propietary OS called OneFS. It’s based on FreeBSD though.)

It runs ReadyNAS which is a variant of FreeBSD I believe.

ZFS is chiefly a filesystem... the network stack and CIFS client/server interfaces that could affect this sort of issue don't have to be "ZFS" specific, and can differ from platform to platform upon which ZFS has been implemented by your device manufacturer. No?

Whatever the reason, the common thread seems to be Solaris / OpenSolaris zfs. I don’t know enough about the internals of Solaris or Directory Opus to have a clue why that would be. Granted, this is a very small sample, but I’ve seen it on two different installs — Nexenta (OpenSolaris) and Sun Storage (real Solaris). gauntlet is seeing it on an OpenIndiana server which is essentially OpenSolaris.

I agree with dsb it seems to be a Solaris/OpenSolaris ZFS and/or CIFS. I can also vouch for dsb on Nexenta and Solaris - tried both at work this last week, same issue. I still find it weird that Windows handles receiving updates to both UNC and mapped drive letters just fine.

I’m still seeing this issue four years later — figured I’d bring it up again.

Anyone want to take a stab at it?