Can't save to iDisk

[jharlow]

I filed a formal support request with Microsoft on this issue, but they
say that they cannot reproduce the symptoms. Yet I see this problem on
the 5 Macs I use at various times, so I don't think it's me... All of
these Macs are using OS X 10.3.8 or 10.3.9, and I have installed all of
the MS updates to Office 2004, all of the Apple updates, etc.

When I create a new document in Word 2004, and try to save to my iDisk,
it hangs for about 5 minutes with the Spinning Beachball of Death, then
comes back and says it can't save the file "due to an error." Then I
have to save to a local drive, and use the finnder to move the file to
the iDisk where I really wanted it to be. The same thing happens if I
open a file from the iDisk and try to save it back to its original
location: Word hangs, says it can't save it, and sometimes even tells
me that it has saved a backup copy under some weird name... to the
iDisk! By the way, I sometimes get similar behavior from PowerPoint
and Excel, but not every time like I do for Word.

Has anyone else seen this kind of behavior from Office 2004? I'd
appreciate it if anyone who has seen this and found an acceptable
solution could post the secret.

Thanks

Justin Harlow

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

I don't know much about this, but some info since no one else answered.

As you edit in Word, it is constantly creating and deleting temporary files,
so it needs to be able to constantly write and rewrite to wherever the
document is being saved.

This creates a number of different issues--floppies corrupt because the temp
files take up too much room and can't be created--and sometimes problems if
Word doesn't have permission to access the other location.

If you can, make it a habit to save to local drive and copy to iDisk, just
as is necessary with a floppy. Repairing permissions various places might
help.

There is some other information about problems saving to servers here, it
may offer some knowledge that will help, though I'm not even sure whether
iDisk is more like a server or a floppy.
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Can'tSaveToServer.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

 

[jharlow]

Thanks for the ideas. iDisk is a WebDAV server, and as such, looks like
any other mounted volume, albeit a bit slower. Applications other than
MS Offfice seem to have no difficulty treating it just like a local
volume; I do it all the time with Appleworks and other apps. This
seems to have something to do with the way Office sees WebDAV volumes,
because I have experimented with another service I use which uses the
same protocol. Incidentally, Office seems to have the same kind of
problems with volumes mounted via SMB, which really surprises me, since
that is the protocol Microsoft uses for its own remote mounts in
Windows.

The business about temp files is an interesting avenue to explore.
I'll look into that. Thanks


JEH

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

Thanks for the ideas. iDisk is a WebDAV server, and as such, looks like
any other mounted volume, albeit a bit slower. Applications other than
MS Offfice seem to have no difficulty treating it just like a local
volume; I do it all the time with Appleworks and other apps. This
seems to have something to do with the way Office sees WebDAV volumes,
because I have experimented with another service I use which uses the
same protocol. Incidentally, Office seems to have the same kind of
problems with volumes mounted via SMB, which really surprises me, since
that is the protocol Microsoft uses for its own remote mounts in
Windows.

If you upgrade to Tiger, things are both worse and better (much better for
Entourage). On the one hand, WebDAV access seems to be giving Tiger a lot of
trouble when the volume is perceived as remote. On the other hand, you can
go into System Preferences/.Mac/iDisk, and turn "iDisk Synching" On,
including Automatically. What happens then is that the iDisk is created
(mirrored) as a local disk on your computer, and the OS syncs to the real
iDisk in the background, when convenient. Entourage is happy with the local
volume, and never hangs or holds anything up now. (On the other hand of you
don't turn iDisk synching ON, and it stays OFF by default, it's much. much
worse than in Panther.)

Since you're pinpointing the lack of "localness" of the iDisk as the
problem you having saving to iDisk in Panther, I expect the problem will be
gone for you in Tiger when you turn iDisk synching on.


--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

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