Suppress Finder's "Cant Find Network Volume" Message @ Login Time

Question

I manage 200 Mac desktops and laptops - all running Leopard. I manage the Macs with Open Directory via MCX policies using Workgroup Manager. One of the main things I manage for my users is Login Items. For example, various SMB network volumes get mounted at login time. When a Mac user is on the LAN and able to access the domain and file servers, the SMB volumes get mounted "automatically" via MCX computer and group policies. The mounts are mounted in /Volumes and appear on the user's Desktop. This is great for desktop users with static Ethernet connections, but for laptop user this poses a major problem which could easily be "fixed' by Apple. Let me explain:
When mobile users (laptop users) are off the LAN (i.e.; they are on the road, working from home, etc) the Mac attempts to find the SMB network volumes that are read part of the locally cached MCX policies when the user(s) log in. Of course, since the user isn't on the LAN (or connected via VPN,etc) Finder throws a generic error "The network volume could not be found"). This message is easily dismissed,and isnt a big deal if it only pops up once, but my users have SEVERAL SMB mounts configured as login items, and thus my users get prompted with the aforementioned Finder error messages several times. Each message stacks up top of the other as each connection attempt times out. Ouch! This has become the #1 complaint my Mac users have and it has reached the ears of senior IT managers and directors. Keep in mind most of my laptop users travel the planet on lecture tours and are on the road for weeks at a time, and thus they deal with the Finder messages several times a day for weeks on end (and sometimes in front of an audience if the said laptop is connected to a projector for a Keynote/PowerPoint presentation etc). The message provides no useful info. My users are savvy enough to know the auto-mounted network shares aren't available - they dont need "help" from Finder.app. They want to log in and get to work, and not be bothered by the barrage of redundant errors from Finder for 10 minutes!
I have attempted to design an AppleScript that could "intercept" the Finder messages and dismiss them automatically, but it hasnt worked thus far. I have also researched autofs and other Apple technologies to figure out a way to avoid these errors. No luck.
Request:
I would like to request a way to set the preference to have these messages ignored/bypassed or disabled. A simple check box to avoid these messages is all I want.
I submitted a bug report to Apple requesting a "fix" (ticket 6172962).

Answer 1

Two suggestions. 1) post AppleScript queries to its forum under OS X Technologies. 2) post server queries to the appropriate server forum.