Lightroom causes MacOS to lose SMB connection to Synology NAS

[stevenp73540594]

Hi,

I'm a recent convert to Mac and have started opening my Windows created catalogues on the MacBook. As this is a recently new resubscription, the lrcat files need upgrading.

As the photo filesystem has changed since my last subscription, I'm forcing LR to Synchronise Folders.Within a few minutes this causes Finder to lose the SMB shares, it moves into a state of "Connecting". I can force a restart on Finder and some times it may eventually come back for a few minutes, maybe not...

LR is the only application causing this issue, I've had the MacBook for a month or so and have never experienced this with anything other than Lightroom - anyone seen this before?

FYI I've confgured Max of SMB3 and Min of SMB2 on the NAS.

[cmgap]

I also have a Synology and I recently read this: https://mariushosting.com/connection-problem-between-synology-nas-and-macos-catalina/

I'm not sure what OS you are on but thought this areticle might be helpful.

[stevenp73540594]

Thanks for this, i'll certainly keep this in the bag for later. I found a work around, it was less than ideal but worked.

1) Open the LR Catalogues on the Windows PC (wired to the LAN) and generate sync the catalogue with the file system.

2) Move the catalogue over to the Mac (running Monteray)

It seems ok to sync minor changes, it just seems to lose the plot where lots of photos are concerned.

Many thanks for the feedback.

[cmgap]

YW - I think that working with both mac and windows platforms adds a level of complexity. I recently upgraded to a 16" M1 mbp and thought there might be an issue with Monterey and M1 working with my Synology. The Time Machine backup took a couple of days to get sorted out but I left it plugged in so it could run uninterrupted and all connections are back online and working as before. If you keep the connections from going to sleep that may help.

[mfiorentino]

I have the same problem.

I only need to work for one or two minutes before I have to disconnect my Mac, so all network connections are cut off before I can proceed. I cannot do anything with Lightroom before the server connection closes and Lightroom/macOS Finder "hangs" (like not a serious hang where things need to be force-closed but connection and LR updates "stalls").

Using LRC 11.5 & macOS Monterey 12.5.1. On the Synology NAS, I have set everything up as correctly as possible regarding both SMB & firewall, having traversed almost all pages regarding this on the net. Yet, LRC & SMB are not good friends - everything else works just fine.

I would hate to have current year photos locally present for LRC because that defies the whole idea with NAS. Any experiences with this would be greatly appreciated.

[mfiorentino]

To elaborate when I say "everything else works just fine",: As an example, I have no problem running and editing 4K video files using Final Cut Pro on the NAS.

[mfiorentino]

To follow up: I was in contact with Synology support, who helped me troubleshoot, yet in the meantime, I accidentally stumbled upon a driver problem with my Kensington USB hub with a built-in LAN port. It was constantly crashing some hidden macOS service in the background. 20-40 times a day. After uninstalling the driver (which is not needed on macOS anyways), the connection now seems fine. I will monitor this and get back to you if the problem persists.

[GoldingD]

Please clarify.

Where are you locating the catalog?

[mfiorentino]

---

@GoldingD wrote:

Please clarify.

Where are you locating the catalog?

---

The catalogue is local. Only the images themselves are on the NAS. If I understand your question correctly?

[mfiorentino]

Hello all,

Your situation might differ from mine. But I have had an extensive support case going together with Synology. In my case, the problem lies in macOS and its handling of files during communication through the SMB file service. Technically, the issue appears to be with the extended attributes of the files being too large, which in turn causes the hanging of the SMB service. This, in turn, makes Lightroom halt, and the SMB connection to the NAS is lost afterwards.

A hotfix is to add "smb2 max read=4194304" to the "/etc/samba/smb.conf" configuration file and restart the SMB service. The Synology engineers did this and told me about it afterwards, so I have no idea how to do it myself. And I was also told that this hotfix might not work correctly further down the road (regarding macOS/Synology DSM updates).

So, to sum up, the problem is macOS and its communication with SMB. I have read other posts online regarding this, and it seems like macOS is prone to similar problems when dealing with this file service. I hope this sheds some more light on the matter.

Cheers,

Massimo

UPDATE 23rd of May 2023:

Another thing I have found to help with SMB-related issues is to turn off Transport Encryption and Server Signing. It is mainly related to speed issues, but I presume this would also help with LrC in general.

[Stephen Byerley]

Thank you! That's super helpful. It seems to have solved my problem too! Not sure way this problem didn't appear previously...

[Stephen Byerley]

I actually had lingering problems when storing my pictures on my Synology NAS over SMB. LR would get stuck at the end of the import phase (wait bar would be stuck). I resolved the problems by switching to AFP - smoother and bug free. I have grown really tired of SMB over the years. Only brought problems.

My configuration: Mac mini 2018 runing macOS Ventura 13.4

Lightroom Classic 12.3 Release

[Ian Lyons]

Why are moving to a protocol that Apple no longer supports. Surely, it would be better to understand/fix the issues that SMB is causing you.

https://www.macworld.com/article/234926/using-afp-to-share-a-mac-drive-its-time-to-change.html

[Stephen Byerley]

It's been too long and I'm tired of the ping pong between Adobe and Synology. I've already spent a few hours and corrupted a few files - that's too high a cost. AFP works now, that's all I'm asking. Will retry SMB when support for AFP will be dropped entirely.

[henkv49363241]

I still have the same issue here and do completely understand your frustration. Only LRC on MacOS is causing these problem. All other apps work just fine. An effective workaround in my configuration is to set maximum and minimum SMB to SMB2 on the Synology NAS. Works perfect, quick, smooth and stable!

[hduraes]

Tried the suggestions on this page and none worked.

Found this page and configured samba on the Synology NAS as indicated: https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Configure_Samba_to_Work_Better_with_Mac_OS_X. So far everything is working fine. I'll update if any issue returns.

[TurlachMacD]

I spent a while troubleshooting LR and DaVinci both causing my MacBook from disconnecting from my Synology NAS. Neither was Synology or Adobe to blame. Apple was due to a bug in their smb protocols. 

The solution listed here worked for me. 
<a href-"https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/1fnug2a/comment/lor4kv1/"> the solution at reddit. </a>

[cmgap]

Thank you for posting this. I am seeing issues on my mac as well. The solution posted on reddit is for windows. If anyone has suggestions for mac please post here and TIA!

[TurlachMacD]

You should re-read that reddit article. IT IS FOR MAC  specifically Sequoia OS.  SMB is a network file share protocol developed by MS but is widely used across Linux, Mac and windows.  

A little pro tip. To add the nsmb.conf file in the /etc/ directory it is easiest to use the terminal, with in terminal to get root access issue sudo su . And then also in terminal use vi (vim) to create the file. 

[cmgap]

Doh! - Yes I reread it. I've updated yesterday to 15.2 (24C101) and will see if it is still a problem. If yes then I will try your suggestion using terminal. TY

[cmgap]

The update seemed to fix the problem for me.

[hduraes]

Tried it and it works much better than the solution I've posted solution! Thanks for the tip!