Word freezes on save to network share

[stacef]

Version: 2004 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Processor: Intel Hi,

Wondering if any of you have experienced Word lockups on saving to a network volume and, more importantly, if you've found any sort of solution.

Symptoms: Student writes the masterpiece of a lifetime, not saving along the way. Upon completion, student attempts to save the masterpiece to their mounted network volume. Save dialog opens as usual but on clicking the network volume in the left panel, Word becomes completely unresponsive (other apps and system are unaffected). Only Force Quit resolves the freeze and the masterpiece is lost.

Oddities: Occurs inconsistently with absolutely no discernible pattern. Save without issue five times in a row, then freeze. Freeze immediately but then saves fine. Doesn't seem to matter if the client machine has just been restarted or been running all day, nor does order of operation seem to produce different results (ie launch Word, then mount volume vs mount volume, then launch Word).

Configurations:
Client machines are predominantly Macbooks running OS 10.5.8 and Word 2004 for Mac. No network homes.
Server is Xserve running 10.5.8 and sharing via SMB and AFP.

This only cropped up for us a few months ago, possibly after system/MS updates. I've found scattered reports across the web of similar behaviors but none with any solution or resolution. Our workaround has been to have the kids save locally first then copy to the network but someone forgets about once a week.

All thoughts and suggestions appreciated!

Thanks,
Stace

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Stace:

We get that all the time...

This is a mechanism for teaching the Most Important Law of Computing:
"Backups are next to godliness and well ahead of cleanliness as a career
skill." If they learn this now in your institution, they won't get fired
for it later when they get a job

We have a web-page here which contains our distilled lack of knowledge on
the subject:

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/CantSaveToServer.html

Apple changed "something" in the low-level network processes in OS 10.6.2
that affects the release of file locks. The Microsoft engineers think they
know what it is, but they have determined that they can't fix it in Office
2008.

So the workaround you have implemented is all we have to offer.

Sorry...

Version: 2004 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Processor: Intel Hi,

Wondering if any of you have experienced Word lockups on saving to a network
volume and, more importantly, if you've found any sort of solution.

Symptoms: Student writes the masterpiece of a lifetime, not saving along the
way. Upon completion, student attempts to save the masterpiece to their
mounted network volume. Save dialog opens as usual but on clicking the
network volume in the left panel, Word becomes completely unresponsive (other
apps and system are unaffected). Only Force Quit resolves the freeze and the
masterpiece is lost.

Oddities: Occurs inconsistently with absolutely no discernible pattern. Save
without issue five times in a row, then freeze. Freeze immediately but then
saves fine. Doesn't seem to matter if the client machine has just been
restarted or been running all day, nor does order of operation seem to produce
different results (ie launch Word, then mount volume vs mount volume, then
launch Word).

Configurations:
Client machines are predominantly Macbooks running OS 10.5.8 and Word 2004 for
Mac. No network homes.
Server is Xserve running 10.5.8 and sharing via SMB and AFP.

This only cropped up for us a few months ago, possibly after system/MS
updates. I've found scattered reports across the web of similar behaviors but
none with any solution or resolution. Our workaround has been to have the
kids save locally first then copy to the network but someone forgets about
once a week.

All thoughts and suggestions appreciated!

Thanks,
Stace

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]