Error message: "Logging into the account failed because an error occurred."

Question

Hello,
We had an XServe G5 2.0 DP 5GB/80/2x250 running Mac OS X 10.3.9 Server with all updates as a main server for a school. The server provides Open Directory Master as well as File-Sharing (AFP and SMB) and e-mail services to about 30 teachers and 300 students. The user home directories reside on the server. A web server also runs on the machine. The students use a pool of laptops, which are configured with a local guest and admin account as well as access to the server-based home directories with Directory Access. The server had the OS running on the 80 GB hard drive and all data (Home directories, mail database, website, etc. were on the two mirrored 250 GB drives.) All was working well until...
A few weeks ago, one of the two 250 GB died. We decided to use the opportunity to upgrade the server and set it up with 3 x 750 GB, two drives running as a mirrored pair to hold OS AND Data, the other as a stand-by unit to help replace a failing drive.
We migrated the OS and all data from the previous drives without a problem. Since now, all data is residing on one pair of drives, we put the data from the old "Data" drive in a folder on the root level of the new HD pair. We wrote a script that launches at startup which creates the symlink in /Volumes/Data to link to /Data. We thought that with this, all would be well.
However: When any user tries to log into his account from any iBook (10.3.9 or 10.4.11) (wirelessly), he gets the message:
"Logging into the account failed because an error occurred. The home folder for the user account is located on an afp or smb server. contact your system administrator for help"
If the user logs in to the guest account on the iBook, then accesses his home directory via file-sharing, he can see (read/write) all his data. So, the data and privileges seem to be OK, as well as Open Directory working correctly. Mail and the web work well also, as does logging in to a user account from one of the PC's (wired).
Can anyone make any suggestions as to how to fix the situation? Currently, the users are using the guest accounts and accessing their data via filesharing, as well as using webmail for their e-mail, but this is a major nuisance.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Alain Chammas
A user trying to access his account from a PC (wired) has no problems.

Answer 1

A good number of folks are having problems with this same error message at login, and nobody seems to have found a fix.
I believe I have stumbled upon, if not a solution, at least part of the answer. If you're logged into a 10.4 workstation, open a Finder window and click the "Network" icon. The first time you do this, you'll only see "Library" and "Servers" icons, but if you let it sit for a moment, other folders will magically appear. One of these is "My Network" which is the critical part.
In Workgroup Manager, edit one of your users' home directory configuration. There's a URL piece, usually "afp://server.domain.com/Users" (which is what shows up in the window when you click on the "Home" tab for that user), and then there's a "Home" path that is usually something like "/Network/Servers/servername/Users/username". Trouble is, you've noticed that 10.4 doesn't put servers into the "Servers" path, but rather into the "My Network" path.
So, if you change that "Home" path to read "/Network/My Network/servername/Users/username", it should work--with one caveat. Apparently 10.4 doesn't create the "My Network" path on a given client until you actually browse the network on that client. If you haven't logged into a 10.4 workstation and browsed the network, the "My Network" path won't be there, and you'll still get the error. Login as a local user, browse the network (so that the "My Network" folder shows up), logout, and then login as an Open Directory user, and it should work.
I'm betting that 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5 all handle this issue differently, so if you're in a mixed-version situation, you may have to experiment to find a workable fix.
Derndest thing I ever saw.