OS upgrade on Sesfs improves compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5.
Last revision April 6, 2009
The operating system on the School of Earth Sciences file server, sesfs.stanford.edu, was upgraded on March 31, 2009.
The most notable change is improved compatibility with connections from Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard"). Before the upgrade, Mac OS X 10.5 users complained that files on the server created by earlier versions of Mac OS X might not open correctly when double-clicked from Mac OS X 10.5. In addition, some files could not be saved correctly, requiring a "Save As" under a new name. Even worse, trying to save updated Adobe Illustrator files would freeze the application and the Mac.
These problems have been fixed. Part of the fix is due to bug fixes in the file server operating system. Another essential part of the fix is telling Mac OS X 10.5 clients to access the file server in a manner more compatible with earlier versions of Mac OS X. To do this, we created a special file named com.apple.smb.streams.off in the top folder of every file share. When Mac OS X 10.5 clients connect, the presence of this file is a signal to use a more compatible access method.
Please do not delete the com.apple.smb.streams.off file at the top level of your home share or any other share to which you have write access!
Deleting this file will re-introduce compatibility problems for Mac OS X 10.5.