Mac networking woes
One of the things I used to hate about Linux was the way NFS mounts would hang for 10 minutes on one machine if the other computer crashed or lost its network connection. This, along with countless other niggles, was what made me switch to an “It Just Works” Mac.
Well, when it comes to network hangs and freezes, my Mac isn’t as bad as Linux. It’s worse.
I frequently need to connect to my wife’s iMac from my own (or vice-versa). To do this I go to Finder and choose Go > Connect to Server, then connect as myself and mount the remote iMac’s “Macintosh HD” on my iMac. So far so good.
Beachball blues
The problems start anywhere from 5 minutes later to a few hours later. The first sign is usually a dreaded spinning beachball in Firefox. Then I try to switch to Mail. Unresponsive. The Dock doesn’t work. Can’t switch to the Finder. Photoshop has frozen. Can’t do anything - it’s a beachball bonanza.
At least with Linux an NFS hang would only bring down one or two apps. With Mac OS X, the entire system is toast.
If I’m lucky, then after around 10-15 minutes, a dialog will pop up announcing “Server connection interrupted”, offering me a choice of just one button: Disconnect. At this point, the entire Mac springs back to life. If I’m unlucky, I need to power off one or both of the iMacs to get things moving again.
Is it so hard for Apple developers to write an operating system in a way that doesn’t bring the entire computer to a screeching halt, just because a network connection is interrupted? There’s nothing quite so frustrating as being in the middle of some work, only to have your entire computer freeze just because the stupid thing can’t talk to another computer at the other end of the house.
Rant over - I feel better now. 
Is there a solution?
Does anyone know a way to stop these kinds of hangs? I’ve heard rumours that it’s “better” in Leopard (I currently use Tiger); if true then it might be the motivation I need to upgrade!
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April 14th, 2008 at 3:19 am
I connect to my brothers PC frequently, and have never had this problem or any thing similar.
Sounds just as annoying as when I send something over bluetooth, one picture will slow down the tracking on my wireless mighty mouse for what feels like forever, an hour or so at least!
April 14th, 2008 at 4:37 am
It’s a *lot* better in Leopard. It still takes a few minutes to tell you that the server’s gone, and you still only get the “Disconnect” option, but it doesn’t hang the whole machine while it does it!
Si xx
April 14th, 2008 at 4:54 am
I connect to my girlfriends iMac all the time, and never get this issue, Even when we were both running Tiger.
I would make sure your wife’s iMac isn’t going to sleep whilst you’re connected - that would cause all kinds of pain for your connection to that machine.
Is Leopard better? Most likely, I haven’t experienced any issues in either 10.5 or 10.4 but my general experience with Leopard is that it is improved in many areas stability-wise.
Upgrade already!
Gid
April 15th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Thanks for your comments all.
@Gideon: Just for you - and because my position as a cutting-edge Mac blogger still running Tiger was becoming untenable - I finally ordered Leopard (10.5.1) from the Apple Store today. Watch this space.
May 25th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I am having the same problem right now. I guess I will wait it out because I have time machine backing up, iWeb uploading and I don’t want to interupt those. Oh well. I AM running Leopard. Hum. Oh well (again)
May 30th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I have to say, since upgrading to Leopard these problems have gone away for me - much to my relief!
http://mac.elated.com/2008/04/29/leopard-review-part-3-finder-and-spotlight/