Subject: [netatalk-admins] Netatalk box disappearing from network

From: "Kevin Myer" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 18:07:21 -0500 (EST)

Hi,

I'm having a bit of a problem with my netatalk server that I'm not sure if
it is network related, netatalk related or linux related.

Here is what is happening - I've got a lab of about 30 Macs (5200's or
5260's with Asante Comm Slot I cards).  I've got an Applescript that runs
on startup that mounts remote server volumes that appear as local CD's on
the desktop.  I'm transitioning from NT's File Services for Mac to Linux
and netatalk and have got one CD-ROM image up now as a test.

However, periodically, my box disappears from the Appletalk network.  Or
it shows up in the Chooser but when I try to connect, it times out.  Other
times, client connections will just randomly shut down, like:

Mar 10 14:27:25 marble afpd[358]: asp_alrm: 537 timed out
Mar 10 14:27:35 marble afpd[537]: atp_rresp: Connection timed out
Mar 10 14:27:45 marble afpd[358]: server_child[0] 537 done
Mar 10 14:27:45 marble afpd[537]: afp_die: asp_shutdown: Connection timed
out
Mar 10 14:27:45 marble afpd[537]: 1.42KB read, 1.61KB written

I was sitting at the machine that was that client when it died and all I
was doing was using Netscape.  I would HOPE that the ethernet cards in the
Macs could handle the IP traffic generated by Netscape plus some regular
Appletalk traffic but...

Tech info:

Clients:

5200 or 5260 Power Macs
Asante Comm SLot I ethernet cards
System 7.5.5 with classic Appletalk (no Appleshare IP, yet..)

Server:

AMD K6-2 300 Mhz
3com905b (yes I know there have been problems with these but mine has been
rock solid from day one).
netatalk-1.4b2+asun2.1.1
Kernel 2.2.3 with Appletalk compiled into kernel (not a module)

I'd appreciate any pointers, tweaks to netatalk, or suggestions as I can't
get rid of NT until I can get this stable on Linux :)

Thanks,

Kevin

-- 
     ~        Kevin M. Myer
    . .       Technical Services Specialist
    /V\       ELANCO School District
   // \
  /(   )\
   ^`~'^

---

From: Andras Kadinger <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 00:52:30 +0100 (CET)

Hello Kevin,

> it is network related, netatalk related or linux related.

For me, it seems to be MacOS related.

> System 7.5.5 with classic Appletalk (no Appleshare IP, yet..)

The first time I tried netatalk (back in '94 or '95) I had the same random
timeouts, sometimes the Macs even locked up. After upgrading MacOS to
AFAIK 7.6.1 (with Open Transport) these problems went away.

At my current company we also have a couple of Macs with Systems as old as
7.6.1, updated with a TCP/IP capable AppleShare Client, and they work
well with netatalk (Linux 2.0.37pre-something on Intel, Tulip cards).

If it's not your network card in the server, try to upgrade MacOS, and
then look for the latest compatible Open Transport and AppleShare Client
installers on Apple's website. 

Hope, this helps,

Regards,
Andras Kadinger
[email-masked]