AppleShare: Server Problems Using Removeable Media (9/94)


I'm having problems using optical disk drives as server volumes on AppleShare 2.0.1.

I'm using 350MB, double-sided media. The problems seem to occur when using this device as a slave drive for AppleShare (that is, not the startup volume). I wanted to get high-volume replaceable media on line.

But when attempting to change the media, I have found that AppleShare is a bit unreliable in recognizing and mounting the slave volume (even when it's been mounted previously).

The situations that arise are:

- Server acquires the volume but has to re-prepare it for use.
- Server does not find the volume at all.
- Server acquires the volume with no problems.
- On restarting the server, the system often responds with Bomb ID=01 or
ID= 02, but the Resume button is active; clicking it causes successful
continuation of the startup process.

In addition to the above, I once was not able to get the server to recognize
the volume at all.

AppleShare File Server 2.0.1 is not designed to handle the changing of removable media while the server is active. This includes removable media of any type: CD-ROM, Optical Read/Write disks, Syquest hard disk cartridges, and so on. However AppleShare 3.0 allows you to change removable media.

During the startup of the server, each volume's AppleShare Parallel Directory Structure (PDS) file is read. This allows the server to know which volumes are available for presentation to the user. The creation of the volume's PDS file requires the use of the AppleShare Admin application.

Launching the AppleShare Admin program from the Server Admin floppy disk causes Admin to examine each volume attached to the Macintosh server. If a volume is located that has not been prepared for AppleShare, the Admin program asks whether to skip the volume or to prepare the volume for AppleShare. Preparing the volume adds a Server Folder containing an AppleShare PDS file to the volume. (On read-only volumes, like CD-ROM, the PDS file is written to the startup volume; otherwise, the PDS file is written to its own volume.)

AppleShare builds a separate PDS file for each on-line server volume that is not skipped. Since the PDS files are built only during the Admin program's preparation, and checked only during the server startup sequence, changing removable storage media while the server is active does not allow AppleShare to review the required PDS file for the newly inserted media. Therefore, the new storage media is an unknown volume to AppleShare and unpredictable results can occur.

The only procedure to assure that removable media is properly recognized involves shutting down the server, changing the media, then restarting the server. This allows AppleShare to read the PDS file for the newly inserted removable media.

NOTE: Check your INITs, too. The purpose of an INIT does not necessarily
determine whether it causes problems. The specific actions taken
within the INIT, and the relationship of those actions to other
system functions, are the factors that may cause difficulty in the
operation of the Macintosh.

In the situation describe above, AppleShare's procedure for working with on-line volumes, not the INIT, plays a larger part in the success or failure of the procedure. However, make sure the INIT gets installed before AppleShare begins verification of server volumes. This is easy to detect if the INIT displays an icon at startup time. If the icon appears during the "Welcome to Macintosh" screen, then the INIT has installed at an appropriate time. (INITs are installed by name, using the ASCII notation as a sorting guide.)


Article Change History:
13 Sep 1994 - Combined multiple articles on this subject.
24 Nov 1992 - Updated to include AppleShare 3.0 information.

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Published Date: Feb 18, 2012