iTools Update: Ken Jones sent a note that Apple has released a 1.01 update to the iTools installer. [From the 1/13/2000 front page news.]

Reader Issues/Comments/Tips (in order received):

iDisk Issues: [1/8/2000] A reader sent a note about some issues he's seen with iDisk:

"This may be just me, but....
iTools is neat, with one HUGE caveat. Once you have mounted the idrive, the Finder really slows down on a modem connection. Brutal. However, the intolerable bug is that if your isp disconnects (which happens), the finder doesn't recover gracefully. Hello 3 finger salute. I would be interested if I am the only person seeing this. It is repeatable, and happens with IE or Netscape. Your site is my homepage - keep up the outstanding work!
Mike Childers "

See below for a Macsbug workaround and a note that sometimes it may take several minutes to regain control of the Finder when a shared volume is disconnected.

iDisk Tips: [1/10/2000] Here's some of the reader tips and feedback on iDisk received since the first problem report (above):

A workaround using Macsbug for the system lockups reported by a reader previously:

"Hey Mike,
This is the best use of Macsbug I have yet found.
To address system / finder problems which may occur when you're using iDisk and dropped connections or network problems crop up...

<RANT>
Actually, this addresses problems with ANY mounted network drive - including server crashes, instability, "random" freezing, etc. I really don't know why this functionality wasn't LONG AGO included in some sort of system-wide networking timeout. It's absence is totally inexcusable. THIS SHOULD BE BUILT IN TO MACOS 9.0.1 AND EVERY SUBSEQUENT RELEASE!!!!!
</RANT>

Step 1:
Get Macsbug:
http://developer.apple.com/tools/debuggers/MacsBug/

Step 2:
Install it (open the "into System Folder" folder, take out MacsBug (NOT Macsbug app) and drop it in your system folder). Restart.

Step 3:
Wait for a freeze.
Now, if you have networking problems causing your mac to freeze, hit cmd-power (to launch Macsbug) then type: "stopxpp" (without the quotes) and press return.
Then type "g" and press return.
Done. All servers are un-mounted and networking is reset.

I found this while troubleshooting OSX Server AFP service instability at Apple's forums [His linked message seems to have been deleted.-Mike]
cheers,
Michael Fortson "

Some general iDisk tips:

"Hi, My name is Tyler Lin. For the last few days, I have been trying to get idisk to work better. Here is the tricks for you.

1. Save idisk ID and Password in Keychain
After you have mounted the idisk on desktop, drag idisk icon to your keychain. There will be a window shown with your login id and blank password field. Type your password in the blank field. Click Save.

2. Open your idisk with Keychain
After you have done trick 1. The next time you need your idisk, Just open keychain. Double click on the link. And click on "go there".

3. Open your idisk with links (OS9 not required)
Another way to access idisk is make a alias of idisk on local machine. After double click on the idisk alias, a window comes up asking for password. I took a step further by making "subdirectory alias" so i don't have to browse through starting at the root. This saves a lot of time because idisk directory access is slow.

4. Upload tip
zip your files into only 1 or 2 files would save a lot of time when upload or download. idisk does not like small files: try upload directorys with no files in there. It would take forever....

ps: don't even think about using idisk as application storage... it took me 5 to 10 minutes to run Eudora stored on idisk.
Best Regards,
Tyler Lin. "

Another reader comments on the Finder and mounted shared/networked volumes:

"Hi there.
Regarding Mike Childers' problems with iDisk:

It is pretty well-known amongst Mac network support people that there is a performance hit in the Finder with mounted network volumes (since the Finder accesses various volumes when performing its various functions. A slow network connection (like a modem) only exacerbates the problem.

As for his system hanging when the network connection is lost: How long did he wait before declaring the machine frozen and forcing a restart? The Finder has a significantly long timeout when attempting to access network volumes (it can be several minutes). I'm wondering if he waited long enough, the Finder probably would have come back with a message that the connection to the server was lost, and the machine would return to normal (with the iDisk volume disappearing from the desktop).

I would imagine that iDisk is introducing a lot of home users who have never been on a network to networked file sharing. It is possible that many are not familiar with the Finder's behavior under such circumstances.
++Steve Hideg
Mac Support Specialist
Saint Mary's College"

This reader comments on FTP access to iDisk volumes:

"Since iDisk volumes are little more than AppleShare IP-compatible volumes (i.e. Apple has set up some servers, probably UNIX-based since I read somewhere that they were using Xinet's technology for this, that use the Apple Filing Protocol, or AFP, over TCP/IP), they inherit the same sort of difficulties as all AFP servers.

The AppleShare client software on the Mac doesn't really deal well with this AFP-TCP/IP connections over slow modem connections. Or really, any modem connection. I noticed this the first time I tried mounting stuff from my AppleShare IP server at work from home. For that reason, it would be nice if Apple would also allow FTP access to iDisks ... that does generally work faster but isn't as tied into the Mac interface. My suggestion is to not use an iDisk over a modem connection ... but if you have to, DON'T have it open all the time ... mount it only when needed, an dismount immediately. (Difficult, since it takes so long to mount ... but I bet a lot of that is the initial traffic load on the service.)

(As for FTP, I must note that if you have Mac OS 9, the new version of the Network Browser app DOES support FTP. You can browse FTP sites with it. Tell it to "Connect to..." an FTP URL and try it out! I believe it's using the Subwoofer/URL Access software that was, AFAIK, originally developed for CyberDog. Whatever, it's neat and handy!)

Anyway, people have also commented about not being able to add iDisks to their keychain. You can do this -- but you have to mount the iDisk and then drag it into your open keychain in the Keychain Access control panel. Little known feature, there. (You can do the same thing with URL clippings -- those Internet location files intro'd in Mac OS 8.5 -- to get around some limitations in Web browser support of the keychain. But beware because the keychain will built a URL with your username and password in it, so it'll then be visible in the browser ...)
--
Jeremy J. Reichman,
Software Specialist (Mac OS)
ISC Client Support Services
Information and Technology Services
Rochester Institute of Technology"

OS 8.1 Hack and iDisk: A reader with a OS 8.1 system and OS 9 hack notes that folders inside your iDisk drive are not viewable:

" 6100/66 running MacOS 8.1
40MB RAM, using the iTools by means of the information found at:
http://itoolstamer.homepage.com/

Since this hack requires the downloading of the OS 9 file sharing client, I doubt there are any differences in functionality between this and an honest-to-gosh OS 9 system.

I've been thinking about the iDisk, and it's occured to me that it's just a glorified filesharing-over-IP setup. Quite an elegant use of the technology.

Alas, there is a problem. I attempted to post some files into the sites folder (<brag>which went speedily, thanks to my cable modem</brag>), but when viewing it in a browser, something curious happened: normal viewers are not allowed even read only access to folders I put in the sites folder! A browser just comes back with an 'unauthorised access' complaint from the server. It's too bad, because I'm using a site structure that's inherently hierarchical.
Simple sites with no subdirectories are just fine, but no subfolders, no sirree...

Cheers, Brad "

I've not had time to play with iDisk (as a one man site I'm swamped) but asked Brad if there was a way to set permissions on the subfolders.