Continuing the discussion from Misc Feature Requests:
Do you happen to have a reference to the preferred way to do this on Yosemite? I’ve switched to NFS out of frustration with SMB shares disappearing and randomly getting prompted for credentials. Any reason not to use NFS, from Roon’s perspective?
It was originally in a document they published as a overview to Mavericks pre-release. The document is old and no longer on Apple’s website. However, a quick google search for “apple afp smb2” shows that the press went nuts about this back in summer of 2013.
I found this nugget from the release:
SMB2
SMB2 is the new default protocol for sharing files in OS X Mavericks. SMB2 is superfast, increases security, and improves Windows compatibility.
• Efficient. SMB2 features Resource compounding, allowing multiple requests to be sent in a single request. In addition, SMB2 can use large reads and writes to make better use of faster networks as well as large MTU support for blazing speeds on 10 Gigabit Ethernet. It aggressively caches file and folder properties and uses opportu- nistic locking to enable better caching of data. It’s even more reliable, thanks to the ability to transparently reconnect to servers in the event of a temporary disconnect.
• Secure. SMB2 supports Extended Authentication Security using Kerberos and NTLMv2.
• Compatible. SMB2 is automatically used to share files between two Mac computers running OS X Mavericks, or when a Windows client running Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 connects to your Mac. Mavericks maintains support for AFP and SMB network file-sharing protocols, automatically selecting the appropriate protocol
as needed.
It should also be noted that AFP has not been improved since Snow Leopard.
Thanks. I’ve read more about this AFP/SMB business than I ever cared to. What I haven’t found is something authoritative about how to properly auto-mount an SMB2 share on, say, a QNAP NAS. When you said “Our SMB support on OSX is good, but it’s even better if you mount the drive yourself in OSX on /Volumes/XX” I was looking for specific steps.
Also, any reason not to use NFS? Seems to work OK with Roon (and everything else) so far.
I’ve not tried NFS, but if it works for you, go for it!
I’ve not used an automounter yet, as I just use thunderbolt storage, but maybe @brian can assist? I think he uses smb.
I used this method for a long time: How to Automatically Connect to a Network Drive at Login in OS X
With smb:// instead of afp://, of course.
Thanks, yes those are the steps that I’ve used as well. I think I now finally understand what @danny was saying with mounting the share yourself first. I was thrown by the mention of /Volume/XX somehow. What he meant was rather than trying to find a remote share from within Roon, have that remote share already mounted and add it within Roon as if it’s a local folder.
I thought he was sitting on some magic incantations for OS X and SMB2.
@brian - Just one question for you. If I do the method described above and by danny, and mount as a local drive, then I find the library re-loads form time to time. As noted previously this is because I have both Apple And Windows File Services running on my NAS.
And if I use the option to mount as a network folder via SMB: then again the library re-loads ( still with both Apple and Windows files services running on my NAS )
So, is the only manner to use my Synology NAS with Roon is to disable Apple File Services on the NAS, regardless of which method I use to mount my music drive on the NAS, either as a local folder or network folder?
Sorry, I know this topic must be driving you nuts by now. I do have some reasons I would prefer not to disable Apple File Services ( not related to Roon ).
Merci.
i.e. this post while very helpful leaves me less than certain on whether disable Apple Files Services is required.
When I used a NAS day-to-day in my setup, I found that I needed to be pretty careful not to let Finder mount or re-mount the NAS–it sometimes prefers AFP and messes things up. If in doubt, unmount it from finder, then type Command-K and re-mount it using the smb:// URL.
This is geeky and technical, but one way to be sure is to open up the “Terminal” app and run the “mount” command:
BAD (_afpovertcp)
$ mount
...
//;AUTH=No%20User%20Authent@drobo._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Public on /Volumes/Public (afpfs, nodev, nosuid, mounted by brian)
...
GOOD (smbfs)
$ mount
...
//GUEST:@drobo/Public on /Volumes/Public (smbfs, nodev, nosuid, noowners, mounted by brian)
...
This is an annoying problem–few apps do real-time filesystem watching, so for most situations no-one notices how buggy AFP is. Apple has basically abandoned it, which leaves us in a bad situation.
SMBv2 is a better choice nearly 100% of the time. Much quicker, more reliable, and better supported on all platforms. If my NAS supported disabling AFP, I’d have done it years ago. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the settting 
As far as Roon is concerned, this is a temporary situation. We are doing two things to smooth over this rough point in the near future:
@brian - Thank you this is very helpful. For now I have turned off AFP on my NAS, and am using the network folders for storage using the SMB//x.x.x.x/music syntax.
One other question, I have my Roon folder “disabled” as I assume Roon will watch the two network folders I have specified for my music, is this correct?
Thanks.
Barr
Yes, that’s correct.
Hi Brian
The reason why Finder mounts NAS’s as AFP rather than SMB is that if Finder sees any Network device with Time Machine functionality, it will mount that Drive using AFP when the user clicks on the Drive in the Finder sidebar
And as we all know, just about every NAS these days has a Time Machine feature built-in…hence why the mount tends to default to AFP
So, the user would need to ensure that the NAS isn’t mounted [by ensuring that ensuring no “up-arrow” is next to that NAS drive]…and then select Go…Connect to Server from the Menubar…input SMS://x.x.x.x/ and follows the onscreen instructions
For longer term use, connecting to the NAS at Log-in [using the above procedure] is the best way to go IMHO
I’m weeks late to this discussion. I am using a MBP from spring 2008 running believe it or not 10.10.4. My constant frustration is keeping the SMB connection stable to my Synology 214play. All devices are using Ethernet connections. Turning off afp in the NAS leads to the device disappearing off the network as far as the Mac is concerned. So afp is left on. I can have a stable connection for a few hours and then Roon seizes up and hangs leading to me having to force quit. On restarting the application I am seeing the network share error 68. Eventually it reconnects though it takes me deleting the smb path in Roon and re-entering it again. This is a major pain using the Mac and Roon together.
@robtodd - review this post to ensure you have set Windows File Service to use SMB3 on your Synology NAS. It made a big different for me.
Setup of Synology NAS for Mac users
I setup Roon Core to use network path ( via SMB ) to my Synology NAS and it resolves any playback issues I had.
Thank you for this. I will give this a go and see what happens.
Have you left afp on as well being the default in the NAS control panel?
.
I actually turned off AFP. I am able to mount the NAS correctly on any Mac with AFP turned off. So beyond leveraging SMB for Room, it works fine for day to day Mac use.
Well this is frustrating. With afp turned off neither my MBP (2008) or iMac (only 2 years old) can see or connect to the NAS. Roon eventually displays the error 68 message. Going through the Finder to get smb connected is slow with my log in details asked for twice with at least 5 minutes inbetween the requests, before an error connecting to NAS message is displayed. There is apparently something gong on behind the scenes here but I’m damned if I know what. The annoying thing is it will connect sporadically and Roon is then scanning and importing like a bullet however this is the exception.
