I took a break in 2014 Oct.

I have work hard on CRM since 2013 Nov but it seems the market need a solution than a product. Scalability and highly configurable are not what they concern. Business engineering is also too advanced to my target customers. They need a more simple and straight forward solution. I feel down and get nervous because running out of time and money.

Therefore, I decide to stop working and took a trip in Tokyo. It’s relaxing and helps me to find many interesting things in life. Move on.

Now I am back to write again! I also decide to start writing non-tech post to share what I have seen during traveling. Maybe I should get a month off every year. :)

Reference

Filed under: Non-tech Tagged: Memo

I have two computers and a QNAP TS-119PII on my table while my wife has a Lenovo C540 and a TP-Link TL-WR842ND running DD-WRT as our Internet router on another table. They all need to be connected to internet but I don’t want any wire between our tables. I also need a Gigabit Ethernet hub, the build-in Fast Ethernet on TL-WR842ND is too slow.

Gigabit Ethernet Wireless Router

I invest a North Link R405G-B which is a small and portable wireless Gigabit router. The 4 Gigabit Ethernet is more than enough to me. I expect it to speed up file transfer among computer and TS-119PII on my table.

Configuration

TL-WR842ND is still our Internet router and provides wireless connection to others. I need to setup R405G-B as an wireless access point connecting to TL-WR842ND via 802.11n. Therefore, computers on my table may get IP address from TL-WR842ND and access Internet. Because my wife’s C540 is in the same network segment, she may access TS-119PII, too.

Here is how I configure R405G-B.

Switch to access point mode. DHCP service will be disabled automatically.
Connect with wire and setup a static IP address with the same network segment on your computer.
Login to web administration on R405G-B.
Choose Client to replace AP in wireless mode. Select Infrastructure as network type.
Search and connect to Internet router. Here I connect to TL-WR842ND.

Now, change the network setting from using a static IP address to DHCP on my computer and it’s ready to access internet.

Notes

If I need to login to web administration on R405G-B again, I have to check its IP address from TL-WR842ND. It got a new IP address to replace default.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: Wireless Router

My Nexus 7 is getting slower after running for 10 months. At first, I thought it is related to too many running apps. But there are plenty of available RAM in [Settings]→[Apps]→[Running], I don’t think it’s time to get a new tablet with more RAM. Limited storage? I still have more than 3GB free in [Settings]→[Apps]→[Download].

If it’s not related to RAM and internal storage, what’s up?

Cache Partition

Why is My Nexus 7 So Slow? 8 Ways to Speed it Up Again on How-To Geek provides a good list of possible reasons. I guess it is related to my cache partition. Although I have upgrade to Android 4.4.4 which has solved TRIM issue exist before Android 4.1.2 on Nexus 7, it won’t help you to TRIM existing partition automatically. You will need to root and run LagFix manually. Or you may wipe cache partition with build-in tools.

I follow the instruction in Fix Nexus 7 lag in 7 easy steps by Rob SChmuecker and Reset your Nexus device to factory settings to wipe my cache partition. I do feel it becomes more responsive but also lost all the offline books in Zinio and offline Google Maps.

Wipe Instructions

Here is how I wipe my cache partition:

Turn off Nexus 7.
Hold volume down button and press power to turn on.
It display a boot menu in less than 5 seconds.
Use volume button to choose Recovery Mode. Press power button to launch.
Hold power button then press volume up to display menu.
Choose wipe cache partition and press power button to execute.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: Android

After successfully install GIMP and LibreOffice on my new Mac Mini Late 2012 running Yosemite, I have problems to launch them. GIMP is very slow to open while LibreOffice stuck on verifying forever.

I follow suggestions on 2.8.2 very slow to launch on OS X 10.6.8 on GIMP on OS X suggest to turn off network. It does help to speed up GIMP but LibreOffice.

Turn Off Gatekeeper for First-Time Launch

After reinstall them several times, it seems you have to Allow applications downloaded from “Anywhere” in Security & Privacy for first-time launch. No need to disable network. Fix the “App can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer” Error in Mac OS X on OSX Daily provides a step-by-step instruction.

After launching successfully, you may switch back to “Mac App Store and identified developers” to keep you safe. They will be fine.

I think it is related to the Verifying process in Yosemite which stops opening GIMP and LibreOffice.

Thoughts

These applications can’t be opened because they are from an unidentified developer. But even choose to ignore warning, I still cannot launch them. Sometimes, they just stuck on verifying without any warning dialog. It is very confusing.

Moving from OpenSuSE to Yosemite is not that easy to me. Seems there are lots to learn on Mac way.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: GIMP, LibreOffice, Mac, Security

Here is a list of accelerators and how-to related to Yosemite. It will be maintained and update regularly.

Accelerators

Keyboard Symbols

⌘	Command
⌃	Control
⌥	Option
⇧	Shift

Boot

Select Startup Volumes	⌥
Boot to OSX Recovery	⌘ + R
Apple Hardware Test	D

Chinese Symbols

、	\
⋯⋯	⌥ + ;
，	,
。	.

English Symbols

…	⌥ + ;
¥	⌥ + Y
“	⌥ + [
‘	⌥ + ]

Finder

Move	⌘ + Drag
Copy	⌥ + Drag
Move Up to selected Folder	⌘ + ↑
Move In to selected Folder	⌘ + ↓

Miscellaneous

Toggle Language	⌘ + Spacebar
Reset NVRAM / parameter RAM	⌘ + ⌥ + P + R
Force to Restart	⌘ + ⌥ + Power
Display Sleep	⇧ + ⌥ + Media Eject ⏏

Screen Capture

Whole Screen to File	⌘ + ⇧ + 3
Select Window to File	⌘ + ⇧ + 4 Use Mouse and Spacebar to select. Mouse click to capture.
Whole Screen to Clipboard	⌘ + ⌃ + ⇧ + 3
Select Window to Clipboard	⌘ + ⌃ + ⇧ + 4 Use Mouse and Spacebar to select. Mouse click to capture.

Switch Among Apps and Windows

Switch Apps	⌘ + Tab
Display Open Windows of Focus App	⌃ + ↓
Display All Apps in Groups	⌃ + ↑

How-To

Enable Switching Input Source by ⌘ + Spacebar

Enable [System Preferences] → [Keyboard] → [Shortcuts] → [Input Sources] → [Select the previous input source] and also disable [System Preferences] → [Keyboard] → [Shortcuts] → [Spotlight] → [Show spot light search].

Use Virtual Keyboard to Input Symbols

AppleUser: 不用再問怎麼打，Mac 標點符號超快輸入學習方式！

Enable [System Preferences] → [Keyboard] → [Keyboard] → [Show Keyboard & Character Viewer in menu bar]. Now, you may select [Show keyboard viewer] from language menu.

Set root password

In terminal, use $sudo passwd root to setup password for root. Forget after reboot.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: MacOS

Thecus just create a new product line, Thecus WSS, to support Windows Storage Server. Here are some information I just collect.

Product Line

Thecus WSS comes with Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials for SMB / home and Standard for large business. Both are x64 and supports more than 4GB RAM. Feel free to upgrade your W2000, W4000, and W5000 to 4GB RAM.

W2000 and W4000 comes with Kingston SSD 60GB while W5000 is Seagate Laptop SSHD 500GB. Yes, you may use the spare space on SSHD for storage.

System Management

For Windows 7 and 8, you may use Launchpad which will be install automatically during first-time connect. Browse http://<Thecus WSS Server IP>/connect to launch Server Wizard.

Mac user need to download Windows Server Essentials Connector for Windows Server 2012 R2 from Microsoft Download Center and install MacConnector.dmg manually.

It also provides Remote Desktop Protocol aka RDP for remote access.

There is a My Server mobile app in windows Store to help you manage from windows tablet.

Active Directory

Active Directory support is build-in. It is not a domain controller but may join others.

File Sharing

It supports Server Message Block aka smb 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 3.1 and Network File System aka NFS v2, v3, v4.

While most NAS use ext4 as file system for hard drive, Thecus WSS is NTFS or ReFS. You may use FAT and Encrypting File System, an encrypoted NTFS, as well.

I would like to do more test on NFS to see if it may support invalid characters in filenames \ / : * ? ” < > | correctly.

I also need to test to see how file permission is handled when the same user connects to a shared folder with different clients on different devices. There is no official mobile client apps like Dropbox for general users. You need to get a third-party apps.

Device Control

You may control access by account from limited devices in a Bring your own device aka BYOD environment.

Backup

For Windows, it has build-in Shadow Copy to work with Thecus WSS.

You need to create a shared folder on Thecus WSS and connect to it from OS X. Then enable Time Machine in OSX. An Easier Way to Set Up Time Machine to Back Up to a Networked Windows Computer on Lifehacker is very well documented.

There is no desktop file sync tools build-in. I recommend FeeFileSync which is free and supports Linux, OSX, and Windows.

Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 and Windows Storage Server 2012 on Microsoft TechNet provides some useful resource for existing user. Basic concept should be similar to Windows Server 2012 R2. Make sure it is supported on Thecus WSS.

If you have Thecus WSS across WAN, BranchCache might help you to save traffic.

Reference

Filed under: Information Tagged: NAS, Thecus, WSS

I choose to use Network File System aka NFS to share files between OS X and Linux because some of my files contains invalid characters in filenames. \ / : * ? ” < > | are not allowed in Samba.

There is one more thing I have to handle: file and folder permissions.

Allow Connection to NAS

QTS on QNAP is a graphical web interface for easier management.

First, you need to add IP address in NFS host access list in [Control Panel] → [Privilege Settings] → [Shared Folder] and allow for read / write. You may use IP with Netmask to specific range with the same permission. Thanks for correction by Li-chih Wu in Facebook Group: QNAP Geek.

For example, if you want all IP between 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254 with the same permission, use 192.168.1.1/24. Another is all IP between 192.168.1.5 to 192.168.1.6 with the same permission, use 192.168.1.5/29. Netmask on Computer Hope is a very detail explain and IP Calculator by Krischan Jodies may calculate for you.

Mounting NFS volumes in OS X on Tech Republic is a good post for first-time OS X user. Automount NFS in OS X from Your Mac / Linux Guy explains with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol aka LDAP.

At first, I leave Squash options as default NO_ROOT_SQUASH. But I notice folder owner created on Linux and OS X are different, files created on one cannot be edit or delete by another.

drwxr-xr-x    5 1000     everyone      4096 Jun 13 19:01 Linux/
drwxr-xr-x    2 501      20            4096 Nov 13 19:01 Mac/

File Permission and Squash Option

Because I want to have full access on files and folders on QNAP, I have to set Squash options to ALL_SQUASH to map all client access to anonymous user according to Linux / Unix Command: exports on About.com.

Because I also have to choose guest as UID (no other options), it means to map as guest user on QTS.

drwxr-xr-x    2 guest    guest         4096 Nov 13 21:42 Linux/
drwxr-xr-x   13 guest    guest         4096 Nov 13 21:43 Mac/

Notes

This post only apply to QTS on QNAP. Synology needs special and manual configurations. If you are using OS X as your NFS server, please refer to EXPORTS(5) on OS X Man Pages.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: MacOS, NAS, NFS, QNAP

I choose to use Network File System aka NFS to share files between OS X and Linux because some of my files contains invalid characters in filenames. \ / : * ? ” < > | are not allowed in Samba.

There is one more thing I have to handle: file and folder permissions.

Allow Connection to NAS

DSM on Synology is a graphical web interface for easier management.

First, you need to add IP address in NFS Privileges list in [Control Panel] → [File Sharing and Privileges] → [Shared Folder] and allow for read / write. You may use IP with Netmask to specific range with the same permission. Thanks for correction by Li-chih Wu in Facebook Group: QNAP Geek.

You also need to enable [Allow connections from non-priviledged ports (ports higher than 1024)] for OS X.

Mounting NFS volumes in OS X on Tech Republic is a good post for first-time OS X user. Automount NFS in OS X from Your Mac / Linux Guy explains with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol aka LDAP.

At first, I leave Root squash as default No mapping. But I notice folder owner created on Linux and OS X are different, files created on one cannot be edit or delete by another.

drwxr-xr-x    2 1000     users         4096 Nov 14 10:33 Linux
drwxr-xr-x   13 501      20            4096 Nov 14 10:30 Mac

File Permission and Squash Option

Because I want to have full access on files and folders on Synology, I have to edit /etc/exports and change no_root_squash into all_squash.

Use exportfs -ra to reload export configuration or use /usr/syno/etc/rc.d/S83nfsd.sh restart to restart NFS service. Please refer to Fix NFS privileges on Synology NAS on Linux and Unit tips and Basic commands to get around the Synology Box using the CLI: nfs on Synology for more detail.

In export, anonuid=1025 will be map as guest while anonuid=1024 is admin.

drwxr-xr-x    2 admin    users         4096 Nov 14 19:15 Linux
drwxr-xr-x    2 admin    users         4096 Nov 14 19:20 Mac

Stop Generating @eaDir

When I am copying files, it seems @eaDir will stop from copying due to permission as discussed in eaDir directories causing problems on Synology forum. Therefore, I follow Getting rid of the @eaDir folders on Synology NAS DSM on MikeBeach.org to delete them all.

find . -name "@eaDir" -type d -print0 | xargs -0 rm -rf

Because I don’t need its Media Indexing Services, I also follow Disable indexing and generation of @eaDir directories on Synology NAS on MikeBeach.org to disable it.

cd /usr/syno/etc.defaults/rc.d/
chmod 000 S66fileindexd.sh S66synoindexd.sh S77synomkthumbd.sh S88synomkflvd.sh S99iTunes.sh

Notes

This post only apply to DSM on Synology. QTS on QNAP is even easier. Please refer to Using NFS to Share Files on QNAP Between OS X and Linux. If you are using OS X as your NFS server, please refer to EXPORTS(5) on OS X Man Pages.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: MacOS, NAS, NFS, Synology

I have already create many files with LibreOffice on OpenSuSE. When I open them on OS X with LibreOffice 4.3.3.2 for Mac OS X, anything being formatted with bold and shadow are displayed improperly. I can hardly read them.

Regular Font with Bold Displayed on LibreOffice for Linux, Mac, and PDF generated by LibreOffice for Mac.

Font Issue

Although I may see WenQuanYi Micro Hei in pull-down menu, there is no font setting for Asian text in [Paragraph Style] dialog. You need to manually enable [Asian] in [Default languages for documents] in [LibreOffice] → [Preferences…] → [Language Settings] → [Languages]. Now you will see [Asian text format] in [Paragraph Style] dialog.

Because I use WenQuanYi Micro Hei on OpenSuSE, I decide to download the free WenQuanYi Micro Hei (文泉驿开源矢量中文字体) and install on OS X. After download and unzip, double-click on the ttc file to install. You may use Font Book in Applications to confirm.

If you don’t want to install extra fonts, you may use [LibreOffice] → [Preferences…] → [LibreOffice] → [Fonts] to create and apply replacement table.

Do I solve my problem? No, it still display regular font with bold and shadow too thick.

Lack of Core Text Support

This issue is similar to Fake bold font is too thick on LibreOffice and has been submit as a bug on Bug 71034 – [OS X] Ugly (too heavy) fake bold on single-styled fonts, Core Text-related on freedesktop.org.

I also test with OpenOffice 4.1.1 for Mac OS X. It’s better than LibreOffice 4.3.3.2 but still difficult to read. Bold font is too thick on OpenOffice forum is discussing this issue.

It is said that this is due to incomplete implementation of CoreText support and won’t bold thickness properly.

Notes

I will update in this post when I found a solution.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: Font, LibreOffice, Linux, MacOS

I just moved from OpenSuSE to OS X. There are many opened windows/tabs in FireFox on OpenSuSE. To move them onto OS X, here is how.

In OpenSuSE, launch FireFox.

Click on menu button which is located on upper right corner.

Click on help which is a small question mark logo on the lower right of menu.
Select Troubleshooting Information. It will open a new tab.
Click on Open Directory button. It launches Nautilus to browse the folder.
Quit FireFox.
Go back to Nautilus and look for sessionstore.js which is not available before your quite FireFox.
Copy sessionstore.js to OS X.

Now, launch FireFox in OS X.

Click on menu button which is located on upper right corner.
Click on help which is a small question mark logo on the lower right of menu.
Select Troubleshooting Information. It will open a new tab.
Click on Show in Finder button. It launches Finder to browse the folder.
Quit FireFox.
Go back to Finder and open your profile folder. For first-time launch, it should be xxx.default where xxx may be any mixed characters.
Copy sessionstore.js to this folder.

Okay, now it’s done. Just reopen your FireFox and it brings up all your windows/tabs as before.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: Firefox, OpenSUSE, OSX

I made a test to compare RAM consumption on FireFox. It seems Mac version needs more RAM than Linux with the same sessionstore.js. Here is the detail.

Test Bed

Mac mini (Late 2012) with 16GB RAM and ThinkPad T410, T410i with 8GB RAM running OpenSuSE 13.1.

FireFox is fresh opening with the same sessionstore.js which contains 8 windows and 365 tabs and in low CPU utilization.

I use Activity Monitor in OSX and System Monitor in GNOME to check memory consumption.

Memory Consumption

As you may see below, the Mac version consumes 1.13GB of RAM while Linux is 903.5MB.

Firefox for Mac RAM Consumption by Activity Monitor in OSX. — FireFox for Mac RAM Consumption by Activity Monitor in OSX.

FireFox for Linux RAM Consumption by System Monitor in GNOME3.

Notes

After working for while, both RAM consumption will increase. It depends on how you work with FireFox. For Linuxers, add more RAM when you move to OSX.

Reference

Filed under: Information Tagged: Firefox, Linux, OSX

Before using OS X Recovery to reinstall OS X, there are something need to be done or your Mac will fail to connect to wireless router. Here is what I need to do on my TL-WR842ND running DD-WRT.

StepsLogin to web administration of TL-WR842ND running DD-WRT.

Enable Wireless SSID Broadcast in [Wireless] → [Basic Settings] on the SSID you want to expose.
Make sure WPA2 Personal Mixed is selected in [Wireless] → [Wireless Security] → [Security Mode] on the SSID you want to expose.
Disable MAC Filter in [Wireless] → [MAC Filter] → [Security Mode] on the virtual (network) interface you want to expose.

Notes

After installing OS X, I suggest to disable Wireless SSID Broadcast and enable MAC Filter for better security.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: OSX, Wireless Router

iFixit wrote a good post “Mac Mini Late 2012 Hard Drive Replacement” with many photos. It helps me to replace the existing hard drive in Mac mini (Late 2012). I would like to contribute two more tips which would accelerate the process.

Put the Hard Drive to Mini in a Vertical direction

I didn’t follow Step 13 and after to pull the logic board. It’s okay to pull the hard drive away from the small space.

When you want to put the new hard drive back to mini, flip your mini as below. It would help you position hard drive easier.

Vertical direction is easier to insert the hard drive.

Antenna Plate Must be Insert Perfectly

Make sure antenna plate has been insert perfectly or you won’t be able to secure screws as mentioned in Step 8. It\s very small different and difficult to tell. Following photos would help you to compare.

Antenna plate didn't insert correctly. — Antenna plate didn’t insert correctly.

Antenna plate has been inserted perfactly.

I use a screwdriver to help on position the plate.

Use a screwdriver to help adjust plate position.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: Hard Drive, Mac

If you install OS X on a Windows7/8-installed hard drive, it won’t boot into OS X. You need to overwrite existing GUID created by Windows 7/8 during partitioning.

Here is what you need to do:

Boot with a a bootable installer for OS X.
Launch Disk Utility.
Choose to partition hard drive.
click on Options… button and select GUID Partition Table to overwrte existing GUID created by Windows 7 / 8.
Quit Disk Utility and continue your OS X installation.

Notes

You may follow the instruction in Create a bootable installer for OS X Mavericks or Yosemite on Apple to create a bootable installer for OS X.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: Installation, OSX

Although I preferred to use SugarCRM Community Edition with English menu, it might be better to localize for easier implement. I download virtual machine from TurnKey Linux: SugarCRM and import to VirtualBox. Here are some tech notes to launch with localized menu.

Import as Debian x64

While importing, the default Guest OS Type is Other/Unknown, you need to manually choose Linux→Debian (64 bit) or it won’t boot up successfully.

Localized Resource

Installing a Language Pack on SugarCRM is very helpful and detail. Worth reading.

You may found downloadable localized resource in SugarForge: Language Packs. Download your favorite language file in zip format.

For Traditional and Simplified Chinese, you need to download from Downloads tab in SugarCRMCN. When I follow the links on Language Packs page to download, it is priced for USD 120. It seems there are two different groups maintaining different language packs for Traditional and Simplified Chinese.

File and Directory Permission

If you upload the downloaded language zip file in Administration→Developer Tools→Module Loader, you will see error message like: Failed to copy…. It is related to file and directory permission in TurnKey Linux. A full explain can be found on SugarCRM – Failed to copy cache/upgrades/temp/ etc. etc..

You need to login to TurnKey Linux and use following command to change file and directory owner:

root@sugarcrm ~# cd /var/www
root@sugarcrm /var/www# chown -R www-data:www-data ./sugarcrm

Try again, you should be able to install your language packs now.

Make sure it is enabled after installed.

Choose Localized Menu

Unlike Salesforce.com, it is not configure in personal profile. The language option is available when you login. Your installed and enabled language packs are displayed in Language pull-down menu. Choose first and login as usual.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: SugarCRM, TurnKey Linux

Internet connection sharing is a build-in feature in OS X 10.10 on Mac mini (Late 2012). I connect to Asus RT-AC51U with 802.11n but NAS with Gigabit Ethernet for better performance. NAS may share internet through Mac mini.

Setup Internet Connection Sharing

It is well written on Apple support. Here are my steps to share Internet from 802.11n to Gigabit Ethernet.

Launch [Sharing] in [System Preferences].
Set [Share your connection from] to [Wi-Fi] which is the configuration name for 802.11n device.
Set [To computer using] to [Ethernet] which is for Gigabit Ethernet device.
Click on [Internet Sharing] to enable.

Now, we need to get the IP address to login to web admin.

Look for IP Address for QTS Device

For QNAP devices, launch Qfinder before turning on NAS. It will show up in the list with IP address. If you turn on NAS before launching Qfinder , it won’t be able to find it.

You may also look into system.log to find IP address.

In terminal, use vi to open system.log:

Mac-mini:~ Amigo$ vi /var/log/system.log

Because my TS-119PII has a server name [ts119pii] in [Control Panel]→[System Settings]→[General Settings]→[Network]→[System Administration] Tab→[Server name] , look for string [OFFER sent ts119pii] with command [/] in vi. It find out a log with an IP address assigned to [ts119pii]:

Mar 4 12:39:58 Mac-mini bootpd[792]: OFFER sent ts119pii. 192.168.2.8 pktsize 300

Now, I know TS-119PII is 192.168.2.8.

Look for IP Address for DSM Device

For Synology devices, Synology Assistant won’t help.

You need to manually look into system.log. Its server name is available in [Control Panel]→[Network]→[General] Tab→[Server Name].

My DS214SE has a server name [DS214SE] and is found in log as:

Mar  4 18:24:32 Mac-mini.local bootpd[1288]: OFFER sent DS214SE. 192.168.2.10 pktsize 300

Therefore, DS214SE is 192.168.2.10.

More thoughts

I also read another solution to find your NAS by broadcasting in AskDifferent: How do I find the IP addresses assigned to devices connected via Internet Sharing on Snow Leopard?

Unfortunately, I cannot find the broadcast IP address on Gigabit Ethernet and fail.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: DHCP, ICS, IP, Mac, NAS, OSX

There are already many NAS performance test available. Because I need real-world file transfer rate for my Mac mini (Late 2012), I decide to create my own sample data and procedure to meet my needs. Here is how it works:

Mixed File Size Sample Data

My typical working files contains small document, photo, and big disk image files. Therefore, I create my sample data set with one 3,3GB VDI file, 851 jpeg photos for 2.9GB, and 6 AVI video for 911.2MB.

If you want to reduce performance gain from disk cache and buffer on NAS, make sure the total sample size is bigger than memory on NAS.

Connect to QNAP QTS

Because there is no performance different using Finder or mount in terminal, you may mount a shared folder via Samba and Network File System with any above. Using NFS to Share Files on QNAP Between OS X and Linux explains how to configure QTS properly if you have file permission issue with NFS. Mounting an NFS share from OS X on QNAPedia is also very helpful, too.

Here are sample server addresses in Finder when connecting to a shared folder [Public] in QTS at 192.168.1.2:

smb://192.168.1.2/Public
nfs://192.168.1.2/Public

Connect to Synology DSM

Because there is no performance different using Finder or mount in terminal, you may mount a shared folder via Samba and Network File System with any above. Using NFS to Share Files on Synology Between OS X and Linux explains how to configure DSM properly if you have file permission issue with NFS.

Here are sample server addresses in Finder when connecting to a shared folder [Public] in QTS at 192.168.1.2:

smb://192.168.1.2/Public
nfs://192.168.1.2/Public

Connect to Thecus WSS

Because there is no performance different using Finder or mount in terminal, you may mount a shared folder via Samba with any above.

Network File System must be used with mount in terminal with parameters explicitly because Disk Utility included in OSX 10.8 and after has removed mount and [Advanced Mount Parameters] features according to Mountain Lion NFS Mounts Missing In Disk Utility on Apple Support.

Here is a sample server addresses in Finder when connecting to a shared folder [Public] in QTS at 192.168.1.2 with Samba:

smb://192.168.1.2/Public

Here is a sample mount command and parameters in terminal when connecting to a shared folder [Public] in QTS at 192.168.1.2 with NFS to [/Public /Users/Amigo/wss] on OSX:

mount -t nfs -o soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,timeo=900,retrans=3,proto=tcp 192.168.1.2:/Public /Users/Amigo/wss

Mac Os X: Mount NFS Share / Set an NFS Client on nixCraft provides more useful information about mount on OSX. Worth to read!

Connection

If you don’t have a Gigabit Ethernet hub on your router, try Connect NAS to your Mac Directly with Ethernet.

According to my MTU test, I keep it to use default 1500.

Reference

Filed under: How-To Tagged: Mac, NAS, NFS, OSX, QNAP, Samba, Synology, Thecus, WSS

After moving from Edge 72z running OpenSuSE to Mac mini (Late 2012) with OSX, I have a chance to compare NAS with different clients. It is interested to know which one is faster.

QNAP TS-119PII

TS-119PII use a Marvell 88F6282 which is a single core ARMv5TE-compliant 32-bit processor with 256K L2 cache.

It comes with 512MB RAM and is not upgradable.

I install a single Seagate Barracuda Desktop HDD 500GB in it.

QNAP’s QTS is an embedded Linux developed by QNAP. This report test with 4.2.1 build 0217.

Mac Mini Late 2012

I have upgrade my Mac mini to 16GB RAM and Seagate Laptop SSHD 1 TB which spins at 5400rpm and has a 8GB MLC cache.

Test Method

It is detail explained in Prepare Your NAS File Transfer Performance Test with Mac OSX Client. I test both Samba and NFS.

I also add test results from Edge 72z running OpenSuSE with different hard drives in orange color as reference.

Performance

Analyze

In OSX, file transfer is almost identical using Finder or mount in terminal on reading/writing via Samba and NFS.

You may see huge difference compared to reference data. I think it is because of different hard drives and OSX‘s poor support for Samba.

Edge 72z is using Seagate Desktop SSHD 1GB which is faster (7200rpm vs 5400rpm) and has higher disk density (1 disk for 1TB vs 500GB). According to UserBenchmark: SeagateST1000LM014 vs SeagateST1000DX001, Desktop SSHD 1GB is about 43% faster than Laptop SSHD 1 TB.

According to How to speed up SMB connection between a Mac client and Isilon storage server? on ServerFault, it seems Samba is slow with OSX. Although OS X Lion (10.7) begin to support SMB 2.0, not much help on throughput.

More Thoughts

I preferred to use NFS over Samba to share files between OS X and Linux because it is faster. For better performance on OSX, stay with NFS.

Reference

Filed under: Review Tagged: NAS, NFS, QNAP, Samba

After Thecus Windows Storage Server 2012 R2, I am expecting to see how it competes with others in real-world. Recently, I have a chance to test W5000 with Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials.

Thecus W5000 with Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essential

Thecus W5000 use a Intel Atom Processor D2550 which is a dual core processor with Hyper-Threading Technology. It has 1MB L2 cache, Intel 64 Architecture, and supports up to 4GB DDR3.

The test machine comes with 2GB of DDR3 RAM and is upgradable.

It also comes with a Seagate Laptop Thin SSHD 500GB as a system drive.

I install two Seagate Barracuda Desktop HDD as RAID 1 in it.

Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials is a x64 Windows based on Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2. In specification tab of Thecus W5000, you will see a comparison table of Workgroup, Standard, and Essentials. Essentials doesn’t support Hyper-V but is capable of being a Domain Controller of Active Directory.

Although WSS 2012 R2 Essentials is a x64 Windows, it is limited to 4GB of RAM due to processor architecture. Memory Limits for Windows and Windows Server Releases on Microsoft provides a clear explanation.

Mac Mini Late 2012

I have upgrade my Mac mini to 16GB RAM and Seagate Laptop SSHD 1 TB which spins at 5400rpm and has a 8GB MLC cache.

Test Method

It is detail explained in Prepare Your NAS File Transfer Performance Test with Mac OSX Client. I test both Samba and NFS.

I also add test results from QNAP TS-119PII with OSX and NAS with Edge 72z. The later is running OpenSuSE with different hard drives in orange color as reference.

Performance

Analyze

In above test, both W5000 and TS-119PII are test with OSX client. W5000 is about 50% slower on Samba reading than TS-119PII. According to Improving OS X SMB server share performance to Windows Server 2008R2 on JAMF Nation, the poor performance comes from incompatible and exist for years. There seems no solution yet. How to speed up SMB connection between a Mac client and Isilon storage server? on ServerFault is another thread discussing the slow issue. Although OS X Lion (10.7) begin to support SMB 2.0, not much help on throughput.

Like TS-119PII, W5000 perform better with NFS but still significant slower than TS-119PII. CPU consumption is less than 20% while RAM takes up 80% during test. I don’t think it is due to heavy swapping.

You may see huge difference compared to reference data with Edge 72z. Except for OSX‘s poor support for Samba, different hard drives should be considered, too.

More Thoughts

I have work with Thecus support team for more than 2 weeks. Here are some test results I got with different configuration.

Informal file transfer performance on Thecus W5000.

Improving OS X SMB server share performance to Windows Server 2008R2 on JAMF Nation suggest to use cifs instead of smb in finder, yes it helps on reading but worse writing.

As I have mentioned earlier, RAM is not an issue in my case. Upgrade to 4GB doesn’t help.

RAID 1 by Storage pool is a little bit slower than Disk Management. But I might need to do more test to confirm, it’s just quick test data.

Performance gain huge when I switch from Mac mini with SSHD to ThinkPad X131e with SSD. This is what I expect from a NAS.

I conclude the poor performance is due to poor comparability between Windows Server 2012 R2 and OSX. If you have OSX in your network, stay with NFS.

Even worse, I read a user experience “… upload speeds generally around 5Mbps…” on 1513+ & DSM 5.1 -> EXTREMELY slow after update from 5.0 on Synology forum. It’s not easy to live with unofficial Apple device for Mac users.

Reference

Filed under: Review Tagged: NAS, NFS, Samba, Thecus, WSS

I have a mixed environment with OSX, OpenSuSE, and Windows. Invalid characters in file names always trouble me. Things got more complex when using with online storage service. That’s why I create this page to share my experience.

HFS Plus Invalid Characters

According to How Macintosh Filenames Are Translated on Microsoft, : (colon) is the only invalid characters in file names.

/ is not allowed in terminal due to Unix.

NTFS and ReFS Invalid Characters

According to Illegal Characters on Various Operating Systems and Semantic Differences Between Server for NFS and UNIX-Based NFS Servers on Microsoft TechNet, : ” \ / * ? < > | and any character type with [Ctrl] key are invalid characters in file names.

Wiki Filename provides more information when used as extension and in POSIX.

After testing ReFS on Thecus W5000, : ” \ / * ? < > | is still not supported.

ext4 Invalid Characters

According to ext4 on Wiki, / NULL are invalid characters in file names.

Use NFS with Invalid Characters

When running NFS on NTFS, : ” \ * ? < > | will be translated by rules in character translation file. See detail in Configure File Name Character Translation in Server for NFS to Support a UNIX-to-Windows Migration on Microsoft and File Name Translation revisited on Microsoft TechNet Blog.

Files contains ” \ / * ? < > | won’t be copied from OSX to NTFS via NFS, Finder will stop you.

Use Samba with Invalid Characters

Files contains ” \ / * ? < > | are valid transfer from OSX to NTFS via Samba but becomes . when checked on Windows. You may copy them back to OSX with these invalid characters, it keep these characters instead of just .. If you browse them via NFS on NTFS, they won’t be visible.

Box.com Invalid Characters

According to Box Sync 3.x Behavior, Limitations, and Recommendations and Box Sync 3.x Behavior, Limitations, and Recommendations on BoxHelp, : ” \ / * ? < > | & _ are invalid characters in file names to BoxSync.

OneDrive Invalid Characters

According to Invalid characters in file or folder names, or invalid file types in OneDrive for Business, for OneDrive for Business on Office 365, : ” \ / * ? < > | are invalid characters in file names; for SharePoint 2013, : ” \ / * ? < > | ~ & { } are invalid characters in file names.

Reference

Filed under: Information Tagged: Box.com, Linux, NFS, OneDrive, OSX, Samba, Windows