One of my Macs has been having problems retreiving files from the Windows network. For reference, it is a 2004 G5 PowerMac running 10.4.11, all updates in place, and using 4GB RAM.
Sometimes(in the same log in session), when the user navigates to a network folder, it gives a message about an incorrect alias and she cannot see the network shares. Even if the folder was just open, when finder is used to navigate to the network folder, the user is asked for credentials and then is turned down with the alias message. This only occurs intermittently, and the only fix is to restart the machine.
The second problem is the download from network shares time. Files from sources outside the network come through quickly, but files from shared network folders take an inordinate amount of time. For example, a 100Kb file that normally takes a second to copy takes 30-40 seconds. A 4 Mb file takes nearly 4 minutes.
The workaround has been to put the files this user (a graphics artist) needs to use on our FTP server, where she can download the whole 47 Mb folder in just a few minutes. She should be able to get them just as fast or faster going directly though the internal network, however, but the files either take a really long time to download, or the Finder crashes midway through and has to be Force Quit.
The connection is 100Mbps, and all internet, network print, and other items using the same connection work fine. On any other Mac using the same network line and credentials, those items take less time to download than it takes me to say it.
My next step is to archive and install the OS, or just do a clean build on a new drive, but this user has (a) a lot of work to do and can't really take time for that, and (b) a lot of unique and strange fonts, software, and other little things that make replacing the machine a real chore.
Initially I looked at the network switch, the line running to the station, the network port on the Mac and have ruled out all such factors.
It feels like something in the OS is not right that affects all users on the machine, but I can't isolate what it might be.
Any thoughts on this would be helpful- thanks in advance.
