Re: Cannot use normal save (C-x C-s) when operating over network mount

[Kim Christensen]

On Jun 13, 8:46 am, Tim X <t...@nospam.dev.null> wrote:

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your reply.

> I edit data on a remote windows server by mounting a partition locally
> using smbfs.
>
> I have only ever had problems with saving files when either my quota has
> been exceeded or the windows service running the quota software has
> stopped running or got stuck.
>
> I know nothing about windows, but when I asked the windows admins what
> was going on, I was somewhat surprised regarding how the quota software
> seems to operate under windows. I don't know what the software is, ut I
> believe it is some third party software.
>
> At any rate, I get similar errors/behavior to what you have outlined
> when there are issues with the disk quota software is playing up.

Our Samba solution is implemented on Linux, with no quota rules
applied whatsoever. As I described in the OP, the problem I am having
does only occur when trying to save (overwrite) a file using the
standard save command ('C-x C-s'). If I use the "Save as" command ('C-
x C-w') instead, and specify the file name which I currently have open
and want to save, everything works as expected.

> My suggestions would be
>
> 1. Check there are no quota or space issues on the remote system. Keep
> in mind there often needs to be twice your file size space available to
> handle temp files etc. (which reminds me, where is emacs putting its
> backup files?).

My backup files reside under my home directory, specified with the
'backup-directory-alist' variable.

> 2. Run emacs in bare bones mode using emacs -q and emacs -Q to make sure
> that its not something in your customization or site wide customization
> that is breaking things. Just try editing a small file and saving it -
> do it in fundamental mode rather than a special purpose mode, just in
> case it is something with the mode that is causing the problem.

I started emacs with the -q and -Q arguments and the problem persists.

> 3. Try editing the file with tramp and see if you get the same issue

Now, here is where it gets interesting - TRAMP works flawlessly. I set
it up this Friday and did some testing for a few hours and it haven't
had a hiccup yet.

If I open a file using the mounted Samba share, edit it for a bit and
try to save it (using 'C-x C-s'), Emacs gives me the error that it
can't find the file or directory. When opening it with TRAMP (using
the '/smb:/') keyword, I can save it without any problems at all!

> 4. Try editing the file with vi/nano/pico/whatever and see if there are
> any problems. This may help to determine if its an emacs issue, a file
> mount issue or a windows/smb issue

I just tried editing a few files over the samba share with vim and it
works without any problems.

Regards,
Kim