Naming or permissions error on network volume

[cgrolmus]

After upgrading computers from Mac OS X 10.3.9 to 10.4.1, I have been
repeatedly receiving errors when saving Word documents to a network
volume from Word 2004 version 11.1.1. When a document is saved
directly to the network volume, we receive the error:

"Word cannot save this document due to a naming or permissions error
on the destination volume."

The network volumes we have attempted to save to are Windows Server
2003 file servers running Service Pack 1.

This is not a permissions error on the servers. The error does not
occur when a user saves to the network volume from Word 2004 v11.1.1
running on Mac OS X 10.3.9. The error does not occur when a Mac OS X
10.4.1 user saves the file to their desktop first, then drags the file
to the network volume using the Finder. The error does not occur when
a Mac OS X 10.4.1 user saves to the network volume from any other
application, including the remainder of the Office 2004 suite. The
error does not occur when a Mac OS X 10.4.1 user saves the document to
the network volume as a text, RTF, or HTML file.

The error has occurred on each of the three Mac OS X computers that I
have upgraded to 10.4.1, and it has occurred on two different servers
running Windows Server 2003 SP1. It has also occurred on a machine
with a clean install of Mac OS X 10.4.1.

Microsoft's basic technical support was unable to provide any
assistance. Any thoughts or input from the newsgroup would be greatly
appreciated.

 

[Elliott Roper]

After upgrading computers from Mac OS X 10.3.9 to 10.4.1, I have been
repeatedly receiving errors when saving Word documents to a network
volume from Word 2004 version 11.1.1. When a document is saved
directly to the network volume, we receive the error:

"Word cannot save this document due to a naming or permissions error
on the destination volume."

The network volumes we have attempted to save to are Windows Server
2003 file servers running Service Pack 1.

This is not a permissions error on the servers. The error does not
occur when a user saves to the network volume from Word 2004 v11.1.1
running on Mac OS X 10.3.9. The error does not occur when a Mac OS X
10.4.1 user saves the file to their desktop first, then drags the file
to the network volume using the Finder. The error does not occur when
a Mac OS X 10.4.1 user saves to the network volume from any other
application, including the remainder of the Office 2004 suite. The
error does not occur when a Mac OS X 10.4.1 user saves the document to
the network volume as a text, RTF, or HTML file.

That could be a hint. Where are the scratch files, like autosave stuff
going? Does the user have write and delete permissions there?
Where is their normal template and preference files? Do they have write
permission for the directories that contain those files?

I'm not familiar with the sharing between Mac and PC server, but in
case it involves Samba, it might be worth checking the logs with
console.app

The error has occurred on each of the three Mac OS X computers that I
have upgraded to 10.4.1, and it has occurred on two different servers
running Windows Server 2003 SP1. It has also occurred on a machine
with a clean install of Mac OS X 10.4.1.

Microsoft's basic technical support was unable to provide any
assistance. Any thoughts or input from the newsgroup would be greatly
appreciated.

That should keep you amused till somebody that knows what he is talking
about shows up.

If you are still bored, try googling the group e.g.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/microsoft.public.mac.office.word/bro
wse_thread/thread/ff573e1cf272dcdc/659a2a749ba1134d?q=server+permissions
+group:microsoft.public.mac.office.word&rnum=1&hl=en#659a2a749ba1134d
You will discover that you are not the first to be delighted with this.

 

[Paul Huber]

We have been getting very similar problems as well. We get the same
error message for both the network volume and saving to the desktop (if
the users home folder is on the network, then their desktop is already
on the network volume as well.) As you said, it does not occur from a
10.3.9 machine saving a file to the same location.

We have found a few other items which led a work-around for us.
Hopefully, it will be the key needed for someone to actually find the
true solution. We noticed that PowerPoint and Excel did not have any
problems saving their files to the network location, only Word. Futher
experimenting showed that Word could save successfully to the network
volume in ANY format other than its native Word (.doc). We currently
are recommending to our users that they save files as .rtf since it
really looks to me like this is going to have to be a Word patch.

 

[cgrolmus]

I agree completely--The only way to save successfully is in a format
other than Word (.doc). I am almost certain that a patch of some type
will be necessary since the problem is so isolated.

 

[cgrolmus]

The problem doesn't seem to be with SMB or SFM. Because OS X can
connect to SMB volumes using Samba, SFM isn't necessary as long as the
SMB share doesn't require Windows Authentication (prior to 10.4, the
passwords were sent in clear text). OS X 10.4 was supposed to allow
Macs to use Windows Authentication, but we still had to disable Windows
Authentication in order to save anything, so I'm not certain if it is
functional yet.

The problem is Norton AntiVirus 10. If Auto-Protect is disabled, the
error does not occur. The workaround is to disable scanning of the
volume the user wants to save to. The steps to do this are as follows:

- Open Auto-Protect preferences (in System Preferences or from the
Norton QuickMenu icon on the Finder).
- Click Unlock to make changes.
- Click the SafeZones tab.
- Select the 'Scan Files: Everywhere EXCEPT in:' radio button.
- Click the Add button and add the mounted volume to the exceptions
list.

If a shared volume is on the list, the naming/permissions error does
not occur.

Thanks to Rob Daly from Microsoft for helping to discover the
workaround for this issue.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Thanks for posting this workaround!

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
MacOffice MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
(If using Safari, hit Refresh once or twice ­ or use another browser.)
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Rob Daly [MSFT]]

Beth and others, please be aware of this issue. I believe NAV 10 is
responsible for many of the SMB naming errors that are currently hitting
word on the newsgroups.

We have contacted Norton and are waiting to find out what will happen with
the issue. In the meantime the workaround is good. What I *think* is
happening is that NAV is disrupting the temp file i/o and the server is
timing out and throwing a generic error for which Word throws another
generic error.

If there is a more satisfactory resolution to this issue in the future, I
will post about it.


--
Rob Daly
Macintosh Business Unit
Word Test

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[steve_macdougall]

I've experienced this with Mcafee Virex 7.7 Beta as well. If active
scanning is enabled I get the naming or permissions error on my first
attempt to save. If I immediately make another attempt to save I don't
get the error, but the .doc extension is missing.

If I try to exclude the shared volume from active scanning I don't get
the permissions error, but again the .doc extension is missing.

If I disable the Active Scanner altogether, the file will save normally.

 

[Elliott Roper]

I've experienced this with Mcafee Virex 7.7 Beta as well. If active
scanning is enabled I get the naming or permissions error on my first
attempt to save. If I immediately make another attempt to save I don't
get the error, but the .doc extension is missing.

If I try to exclude the shared volume from active scanning I don't get
the permissions error, but again the .doc extension is missing.

If I disable the Active Scanner altogether, the file will save normally.

On Macintosh, the virus scanners *are* the viruses. And you have to pay
for them.

I have not had a Mac virus since nVirB in 1989. And it was harmless.
All it did was crash Symantec's Think C. How's that for poetic justice?

 

[Oneota]

Beth and others, please be aware of this issue. I believe NAV 10 is
responsible for many of the SMB naming errors that are currently hitting
word on the newsgroups.

We have contacted Norton and are waiting to find out what will happen with
the issue. In the meantime the workaround is good. What I *think* is
happening is that NAV is disrupting the temp file i/o and the server is
timing out and throwing a generic error for which Word throws another
generic error.

If there is a more satisfactory resolution to this issue in the future, I
will post about it.

We're running into this issue saving to AFP home directories on Tiger
Clients, being served from Tiger Server. We've never run any
anti-virus software, and permissions are fine. It's clearly a
Word<->10.4 issue, nothing more. We're deploying our image to 1,100
computers and we NEED a resolution to this VERY SOON.

Is there a patch coming?

 

[nickb]

We're running into this issue saving to AFP home directories on Tiger
Clients, being served from Tiger Server. We've never run any
anti-virus software, and permissions are fine. It's clearly a
Word<->10.4 issue, nothing more. We're deploying our image to 1,100
computers and we NEED a resolution to this VERY SOON.

Is there a patch coming?

We do not have 1,100 computers, but in our case we solved the network
permissions (Tiger client/Tiger Server/Office 2004) by having the
autosave files located on the local disk. Our home directories are
networked (AFP) so we had to have an identical partition name on all
workstations so that people could log on at different computers.

Nick

 

[Oneota]

Thanks for bringing this up with the developers.

Unfortunately, Nick's tips had no effect for us - redirecting Autosave
to the local hard drive had no effect on the problem.

Any other information you need from me, please let me know!

 

[Sacre]

Hello,

Look like I have the same problem here with the french version of Word
on a network with a Windows 2000 fileserver.

Did someone try to update from 10.4.1 to 10.4.2 to see if it can
resolve the problem ? I don't want to do it now by my clients if it is
not sure.

Thank you,

Jeremy

 

[Oneota]

We're running 10.4.2 on all our machines - so unfortunately I don't
think that'll help you.

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

10.4.2 will NOT solve the problem.

If you have the option, don't go above 10.3 on either client or server until
the issue is sorted.

Hello,

Look like I have the same problem here with the french version of Word
on a network with a Windows 2000 fileserver.

Did someone try to update from 10.4.1 to 10.4.2 to see if it can
resolve the problem ? I don't want to do it now by my clients if it is
not sure.

Thank you,

Jeremy

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Oneota]

Out of curiosity, John - have you heard anything from the MacBU on this
lately? Thanks!

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

That's one of those "When did you stop beating your wife?" questions...

If I had, I would be legally obliged to say "no", and if I hadn't I would
say "no"; so I will say "no"

The people from Mac BU are cruising in here all the time. They have already
published anything they can say in here.

Out of curiosity, John - have you heard anything from the MacBU on this
lately? Thanks!

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Oneota]

Okay; fair enough. I'll just wait patiently, making sure my backup
mechanism is in good working order so that I can spend my time
restoring lost Word documents.

Thanks again!