Mikee_Amsys

Did you get my PM about some tweaks for SMB Sheridan? Eseentially, Mavericks is SMB2, but laughably, XP, W7 and W8 have different troubles connecting to it. The most common problem is the protocol for connecting, or the number of times connecting. (rejecting the credentials, then accepting them the 2nd time around) Most commonly, checking the log you'll see the username has included the domain as well (ex. 'domainname\username') Here's the notes I've compiled to help me out so far:

Nice quick and easy test: If you have a like(ish) for like machine, start the working machine in Target Disk Mode with a firewire cable. With the mac that is failing to boot, hold down ALT as you boot and it should skip trying to launch the OS and offer you a peek at every drive connected, such as the Superdrive, USB caddies etc. Select the HDD of the working machine in Target Disk Mode as your boot source. If it boots the OS, then you know all of the problems are related to the HDD in the faulty machine.

Ahhh, I see. Tough spot to be in. Do you have a spare device to create your test build on even? The reason that caution is the best way, is because some people hit brick walls going from 10.8-10.9 - Mavericks has taken onboard driver signing more seriously, so shared printing might take a hit or need a review. The upgrade to SMB2 causes some problems for Windows devices if they look at the share, so consider that if you're having to dish out SMB to Windows users.

Hi Sheridan - that's a big jump in OS versions for a server! I can't offer anything better than agreeing with the method AntonioRocco advises. Get yourself a seperate HDD and install Mavericks on it as the target device. The problem from an upgrade is not what happens immediately, but what comes later on down the line. My question is: why are you updating to Mavericks? Is it because it's free? Because something in your environment needs it or there is an expectancy to do it?