Mobile homes unreliable and unstable

We are having major problems with Apple's mobile home sync. I hope you can help. I will also contact Apple support. When I hear something useful from them I will get back to this topic and add the info.
We have a studio of 20 graphical workstations and we've had issues that users did not backup their home folder/work. After a lot of discussion and contemplating we bought a new server for mobile homes. So, users have their home folder where they do all of their daily work and every morning and evening when they login and when they logout their home folder is being synced to the server so that all their latest work in on the server. The server is being backupped every night so in this way all data will be backupped and save. That was the idea…
But unfortunately mobile homes seem to be very unstable and unreliable and we are having several issues. Although people login and logout every day without any problem and homesync informs us that syncing goes fine it doesn't sync everything. All home folders are having issues. When I check the backup the most recent data is not in the home folder where it should be. When I check the home on the server it isn't there, or documents are there but not the latest. When I check the home on the workstation it is there where do user put it. When I check the sync status it says everything is OK and the latest sync is of that day. So that is (major!) issue one.
Issue two is that I've had two users complaining that they move their data around in the home folder, just doing their work, and when they log in the next day their data is on the OLD place AND the NEW place. Very time consuming for them and confusing and it is very obvious that the sync process doesn't work.
Another issue is that I've had a couple of users already complaining that when log in they get sync errors. Nothing major in most cases, a file being in use or something and the next sync it syncs without a problem. But now for 3 users it seemed that their folder had problems syncing and whatever I do, I cannot get the folder to sync again, without any clear reason in the logs. I end up deleting everything in their home on the server, delete all appropriate sync caches, preferences, the FileSync folder in the library and the .FileSync folder in home and thus creating a new sync again. Only then when I do the first sync, the syncing process starts working again.
Important to know is that every user has their own workstations and that they do not change workstations. So in that regard they have all their data in one place, THEIR workstation, and that data has to sync one-way: to the server. I could imagine that when people change stations on a regular basis it is hard for the sync system to keep up with the latest changes, but that can't be the issue here.
Any help, tips, solutions, comments, etc. etc. are very much appreciated.
Server: Xserve 2.25 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon with Mac OS X Server 10.6.4
Workstations: Various iMac intel stations with Mac OS X 10.5.8 or 10.6.5

Aren't you going to run into update conflicts when someone back at the office updates files you also update when offline?
Perhaps a cellular data plan would solve your problem?

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Mountain lion Server import accounts & mobile home folder

Hello,
I am new to OS X Server and I have two questions.
First here is the situation.
We are a small company with 10ish mac (Mini, iMac & MBP) running.
So far we had the client account on the machines.
I want them to be server hosted from now. I have a dedicated Mini 2012 for such a use. Everything Gigabit connected.
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G.

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Q abt. "Server Side File Tracking for Mobile Home Sync"

I am following the steps "To optimize the file server for mobile accounts" which are listed on page 157 in Mac OS X Server v10.6 - User Management :
In Server Admin, click the disclosure triangle for the server hosting network home folders for mobile accounts.
If Firewall isn’t listed, select the server, click Settings, click Services, select Firewall, and then click Save.
Select Firewall, click Settings, and then click Services.
Choose the address range for your users’ computers from the “Edit Services for” pop-up menu.
Select “Allow only traffic from ‘ipaddress’ to any of these ports,” select the Allow checkbox for Mobile Account Sync (port 2336), and then click Save.
Select the server, click Settings, and then click General.
Select “Server Side File Tracking for Mobile Home Sync” and then click Save.
My questions is:
In step 2, I added "Firewall" to the services. I continued with the following steps, but nowhere does it say to press the button "Start Firewall", so as of right now Firewall is listed, but not activated - it's gray and not green. Should I turn on the Firewall Service? In my setup, a cable modem/router is acting Firewall between WAN and LAN (small private home network).

I can't get Server Side File Tracking to work. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Here's what I've done:
1. Followed the instructions in "Mac OS X Server v10.6 - User Management" as per the first post in this thread.
2. Tried turning on the Firewall Service - resulting in clients unable to log in to their network accounts.
3. In Server Admin, under Firewall>Settings>Services, with 192.168-net selected in the pop-up menu entitled "Editing services for", I then chose "Allow all traffic" (instead of "Allow only traffic to these ports:") as my router acts as a Firewall in my setup. Now users can log in to their network accounts again, but Server Side File Tracking is still not working. How do I know it is not working?
According to infinite vortex in this other thread, the syncing window is supposed to only show this:
On my clients, you can see it scan through the home directory before the file copying/syncing actually starts.

HT203970 Home Sharing fix is unreliable and not permanent

Going by other posts on the Apple Forums, this fix is unreliable and not permanent...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6601112?tstart=0
The fact that this article exists indicates that Apple are aware of the issue yet nothing has been done to resolve it since Yosemite was released over 3 months ago. As of 31st January, I am running OS X 10.10.2 with iTunes 12.1.0.50 and the latest Apple TV firmware yet this issue still occurs.
As with other people that have encountered this problem, one of the suggested fixes may work but none of them are reliable i.e. one may work one day, another on a different day and some days I can't get it to work at all. Some of the fixes that have worked at one time or another are as follows: -
Reboot the Apple TV (this is the simplest fix but now works less frequently than it used to)
Restart iTunes
In "iTunes > File", turn off Home Sharing, turn Home Sharing back on again and restart iTunes
In "System Preferences > Sharing", change the computer name then restart iTunes (this is the Apple recommended fix).
In "iTunes > Preferences > General", change the library name and restart iTunes.
Turn off the "iTunes > Preferences > Sharing" functionality. Some people have commented that this conflicts with the Home Sharing feature. I don't know how or why let alone what the difference is between Sharing and Home Sharing. The Apple documentation is a bit ordinary in this regard.
Various combinations of the above or the reverse.
I don't know if this problem is related to the OS X Computer Name automatically changing issue ...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6631728?tstart=0
I have that problem as well so I tried a workaround for that problem...
http://ispire.me/fix-yosemite-rtc-alarm-wakeup-issue/
The computer name has stopped automatically changing but the Apple TV still has problems.
Any ideas?

Hi there vicnish,
I see that you are experiencing an issue with Home Sharing right now while attempting to transfer your library from one computer to another. Here is an article for you that will walk you through some troubleshooting steps aimed at addressing this issue:
Troubleshooting Home Sharing - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203311
Take care, and thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities.
-Braden

Initial Sync and Mobile Home Creation

Hello,
I have been using PHDs successfully in an OD environment for some time now, but currently am having an issue with the initial sync when a user logs onto a new workstation.
Some background: We are using PHDs as pseudo-network home folders due to limitations in Pro Tools and its inability to function while working off of a network based home. Not ideal, but it's where we are at if we want to allow users to move from room to room but without using network homes...
Our environment:
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Many thanks,
Josh

Just found your post as I was having a similar problem. Our setup was with all Apple OD though.
I had exactly the same problem with new workstations having the user setup with the default template. We also had some odd problems syncing specific files we never had trouble with before. Our issue arrived last week when our main sharing and userhomes data drive died and we had to recover from a backup. Once we recovered, everything except for sync of portable home directories came back properly.
After doing some searching, I figured that I did not stand to lose anything if I shut off Server Admin > our server > Settings > General > Server side file tracking for Mobile Home Sync. Rebooted the server. Suddenly the clients with file troubles sync fine and creation of new users on a new workstation actually duplicates the network user.
I'm not sure about other implications of shutting off the server side tracking but now we sync correctly again.
-Erich

Portable Homes / Mobile Homes and Network Shares

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But, I also have a variety of network share points that I'd like to have available on the road, including when I don't have internet. Right now, I can access them via VPN which works ok, but is there any way to sync share points just like my home folder?
In my setup, I'd be the only user who has this level of access to the share points---i woudn't set up any other users to be able to sync them.
Doable?
I currently use dropbox, but dropbox really isn't secure enough for my business (healthcare), and I can't really use dropbox to sync network shares
I've looked at Owncloud, but it looks like the only way that Owncloud will sync network shares is if I give read/write access to those folders to the _www user, and I don't fully appreciate the security implications of that and would like to avoid it.
Anyone got a better idea for making the contents of several network shares (on an OSX server) synchronize to my laptop (which is bound to the server and has a mobile home) for on and offline use?

Aren't you going to run into update conflicts when someone back at the office updates files you also update when offline?
Perhaps a cellular data plan would solve your problem?

Mobile Network Home Folders and Leopard

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In the Utilities folder, Open Directory Utility and join there, make sure your network interface's DNS server is pointed to the Open Directory server.

I purchased standalone LR5 in December 2014 and installed on home computer. I have a mobile home with a 2nd laptop and installed on this one also. However, I now get a message saying that the Develop module is disabled and I need to renew membersh

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We have unlimited talk and text, and 10gb of data shared on 2 smartphones, 1 regular phone, and a home wifi device. But Skype or FaceTime eat up a large portion of our current 10gb/month plan. We need the mobile home wifi device because we use it in our

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Home Sharing and Airplay: fall 2011 major trouble in iTunes to APTV, IOS devices - detailed run-through.

Dear all, and dear Apple - as you know flagged trouble regarding Home Sharing to devices and to APTV has grown exponentially this fall and it is high time Apple calmly regained control over the situation. Get a grip, this is a fundamental "it just works" reputational issue.
Having read lots of community posts I am struck by how many crosschecks I have done and still cannot get Home Sharing to ´just work´ anymore.
Symptoms of my troubles include:
(1) In iTunes the Home Sharing house icon is nowhere to be found on the left hand side even though I have turned it on several times.
(2) Airplay icon was visible in the lower right corner of iTunes for about two minutes last night but then vanishes.
(3) My iPhone4S cannot find my shared library (under "More" or anywhere else).
(4) And APTV will occationally load my Mac library to play a purchased tv episode but is highly unstable. 1 in 4 attempts succesful.
Ah, you say, "this all sounds like your home network is either faulty or the signal is not strong enough", or "you have not set up Home Sharing right".
OK, let´s see...
The Airport Extreme station is right next to APTV, and is itself connected via ethernet to my router - and besindes my Mac can still find a strong signal via wifi. I access internet on my wifi-only iPad2 easily throughout the house, nice and strong signal. The APTV menu tells me the signal strength is excellent, and, most importantly - it worked a couple of weeks ago with no change in settings. I played my iTunes Library on my iPhone via Home Sharing, and I watched APTV TV episodes streamed from my Mac upstairs.
So far I have triple-checked the following settings:
Home Sharing on my Mac turned on under Advanced? yes. (House icon appears - until I press the "Done" button, then it vanishes).
Even though the House icon is nowhere to be found, is Home Sharing still "On" under iTunes Advanced setting? yes.
Under Preferences, Sharing, all ticks are carefully turned on? yes.
APTV Home Sharing: the same ID details, correctly entered? yes. And for a little while, or on occation we have access to my library on APTV (but not the other mobile devices). Then it vanishes again (Computer menu on APTV telling me to turn on Home Sharing with ID etc.)
Mobile devices, under Settings/Music, are the Home Sharing details the same as those on your Mac/iTunes? yes.
All software on APTV, iTunes, OIS and Lion up to date? yes, as of 18/12 2011. For iTunes I have 10.5.2 (11)
I also reset Factory Settings on my APTV, which enabled us to watch a TV episode last night, but this morning it is gone again.
Within limits of how many devices I can share my library or iTunes with ? yes, 2 computers are authorised on my ID, and 3 devices are authorised on iCloud (iPad2, iPhone 4S and this Mac).
Have you tried the degrading, not-up-to-Apple-standard way of unplugging APTV/Airport Extreme/Mac power, and restarting your iPad/iPhone4S? Yes.
Does Airplay work from devices to e.g. APTV? yes it does.
Can I access the internet or rent a movie on APTV? yes.
Is this a strength issue with my Mac? Is my Mac fast/strong enough? Yes; it is a 3.06Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, running 8GB/1067 MHz/DDR3. 100GB of available harddrive space.
Dear community - what have I forgotten to do, please? Any ideas?
And Apple: please help your repeat customers with these issues - clearly there are some room for improvement here!?
Regards and best wishes for the Season.

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My question then is: How is it that my Macbook iTunes library can show up on the PC and on the APTV, but the PC iTunes library doesn't show up on either? If the PC can see the shared libraries, doesn't that mean it's on the same network? Along those same lines, "Shared" libraries do NOT show up on the Macbook. Again I ask, how is it that I can see the Macbook library on the PC, but the Macbook doesn't show any Shared libraries?
All of this worked just fine before the upgrade to iOS 5 by the way. I had no issues seeing any library on any devices and the APTV found both computers.
Please help. This is really annoying!

How do I get back my AT&T Yahoo Home Page and Tool Bar?

I am a senior citizen with little computer knowledge. I cannot cope with changes to my home page because I do not have the knowledge/skills to undo the changes your program has installed.
AT&T is my Internet Service Provider. Firefox is my browser. Right? When I installed the newer version of Firefox it usurped my AT&T Yahoo Home Page and Task Bar. I want my old home page and task bar back.
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For a non-profit organization I find Fire Fox quite aggressive. That is good when mobilizing us to write or call Congress but not to take over my Home Page.
Will have to admit new Fire Fox sure is faster.
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I appreciate all the help you can give me. Please excuse this long note.
Blessings, Helen
Added Note: AT&T home page returned. Still need Tool Bar. Troubleshooting information from Firefox help for Tool Bar below. Also info to restore Refresh and Home icon below.

This is the answer from Firefox Help to get Tool Bar back up:
Why are the menus (File, Edit, View, etc.) missing?
If you're using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you now have an orange Firefox button that takes the most common functions and puts them in one menu.
To temporarily show the old style menus, just press the Alt key.
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Menu Bar - Win
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Check the Navigation Bar too on the pop-up menu if you want your Refresh and Home Icons to show. It took quite a few right-clicks for me before the pop-up menu I needed came up so keep trying until the right menu comes up.

Mobile Home problem with Magic Triangle

So I have been setting up a magic triangle for the past few days with an OSX Lion server. I believe it is working properly. The server is running OD and is bound to my AD. I have made an OD group which contains my AD users, and I have set that OD group to have limited application preferences (one of them is to block the App store). All my users have MacBook Airs which they will take off-site, so I enabled mobile home folders in the AD bind and in the OD group mobility settings (with confirmation required).
When I tested it today, with Airs running 10.7.4, here is what happened.
When the system was on the network, it would log a user in, ask to create the mobile account, and successfully create it. Once logged in they were limited to the application preferences that I set on the server. I considered this a complete success.
When I disconnected them from the network, I had expected that they would still be able to log in and the system would fuction the same way with the exception that they would not sync their changes until they were back on-site.
Instead...
When the same user trys to log in it says the AD server is unavailable and then logs them in anyway. However, once they are at the desktop, none of the permissions are in place. They can go to the app store, or do anything else they feel like. Once they are back on the network, all the server based preferences reappear and lock the system down.
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2. Why is it not checking some cached verison of the permissions and locking down the notebook when offsite? I can tell that it is caching the user name and password (as loging in as a user the air has never seen before will simply give a login error), as it will let them in, but it is not holding any preferences.
3. How can I prevent users from simply disconnecitng from the network to bypass all my server based policies?
Hope someone can help

Hi,
I'm having a similar problem with exactly the same setup, our clients are 10.7.4 wired not wireless the OD server is 10.7.4 and the clients are authenticating via an AD 2008 R2 domain.
We've had this scenario in the past running 10.5 and 10.6 without any problems but with 10.7.4 the clients' MCX settings are lost when they're not connected to our network. It seems to only lose the settings applied to user groups but not computer groups.
At this moment in time I don't have an aswer I'm still looking, have you found a solution?
I know configuration profiles are the way forward and in the future I'll move over to them but they don't seem to work that well with PHD's at the moment.
If anyone has any thought on this it would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
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When I create a text message from my contact on my iphone 5, the contacts mobile number appears and not there name. But when they respond to my text, is shows up as a new text message with there name. How do I fix this?

When I create a text message from my contact on my iphone 5, the contacts mobile number appears and not there name. But when they respond to my text, is shows up as a new text message with there name. How do I fix this?

Double click the home button and swipe up the messages app to stop it, then open the app again. This pretty much completely stops the process and freshly opens it again, resolving problems at times. I have had this happen before as well on my iPad, I get a banner, check messages, and nothing new is there.
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Report on Mobile Home syncing

Hello,
Does anyone no of a way to check that the computer on a network are syncing their mobile directories properly?
A report stating which users are uptodate would be really nice??
Many thanks for any help,
David Lee

Sorry for the delay in reply.
After revisiting this issue i tried the following based off your suggestions:
Deleted that mobile home from the macbook pro.
On the server reset the permissions to the users mobile home folder
Set server to "create moblie home" - save.
Again, when loging in on the macbook pro with the users credentials.
It goes through the process and creates the user but brings none of the content.
The sync starts and finishes within 3 secconds.
What I ended up doing was creating another user on the server, tried the same steps as above. ALL GOOD.
I then manualy transfered content from the old user mobile home ot the new and everything is syncing perfectly!
I'm wondering if perhaps that users old home folder had horrible file corruption or some sort of permissions issue. Or perhaps that this just wasnt meant to work between 10.7/8 and 10.9
His user folder was syncing fine with his 2005 Macbook Pro (running 10.7)? None the less it all worked out. I'll then ensure the new home folder has all the info and delete the old user.
Thanks for your help!
-Mike

Mobile Home Sync damaged my settings. iCloud Keychain only partially restored. What can I do?

Mobile Home Sync (I'm using Mobile Accounts from OS X Server) on my desktop suddenly started syncing what it should not, all stuff that is normally excluded from a PHD sync, such as contents in Library. I stopped it, but not fast enough to prevent all damage. One thing that was damaged was the 'lock screen with password on sleep' setting and apparently as a result of that (or a combination of that) the iCloud Keychain was gone.
I was able (after some trouble, the Security & Privacy tab of System Preferences came up blank at first) to set the password on unlock from sleep, then I reattached the iCloud keychain. But the keychain only has a small part of what was in there and many passwords of web sites seem to be lost. Also interestingly, when trying to login to this community, some sort of iPhoto/Flickr login/password was suggested.
I also have a laptop that was not damaged. Is there a way I can get the keychain from there and use it to repair the keychain on the desktop?
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Adding to this: the autofill information in Safari is lost as well. Can I copy that over from another machine?

Mobile homes unreliable and unstable

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