Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

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David Sharp
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Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by David Sharp »

I recently decided to have a Synology network attached storage (NAS) set up in my small home office.

The technician who installed it fixed my two Macs (an M1 Mini for the desktop along with a recent Intel MacBook Pro, both running Monterey 12.6) so that the NAS volume opened automatically on startup, and then left me to start the job of getting my various software programs to interact with the new gadget.

I fixed the path variables in Nisus so that it recognised the files I'd copied onto the NAS, and then started trying to work on them.

But each time I tried to save and close one of my files, Nisus gave me the following message:
20221210_NAS_Nisus_msg.png
20221210_NAS_Nisus_msg.png (93.09 KiB) Viewed 2557 times
Two questions: firstly, is this a serious issue, and secondly can the NAS volume be configured to fix it?

More generally, I have a pretty severe case of buyer's remorse over my purchase, but as the issues involved go well beyond the single case of Nisus Writer, I'm posting a separate message on the "Blank Page" forum.

If anyone has expertise on these questions, I'd be most grateful for advice.
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martin
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Re: Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by martin »

My only thought is to use Disk Utility to check the storage's volume format, to make sure it's something friendly to Apple, e.g. Apple File System (APFS). That should enable Apple file system goodies, like document versioning.

But I don't have any experience with NAS. There may be something endemic to NAS which prevents macOS from detecting and using Apple file system features.

Even if you can't get this working, this isn't a serious "showstopper" issue so long as you understand the limitations. The alert is pointing out that document versioning is not possible. That means you won't be able to revert to prior document versions. Your documents will behave like they did back in the old days: when you save an existing file it immediately overwrites and totally replaces the prior version.
Tacitus
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Re: Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by Tacitus »

Since it's a Synology NAS the likelihood is that it will be using "Btrfs" which is Synology's proprietary (Linux based?) file system. Whilst I believe it allows for snapshots of the drive at a particular point in time, I have no idea of the extent to which it would be compatible with MacOS versioning. My guess is not very compatible.

I tried one and in practice found it most useful as a media server, a function which it does well. I guess it depends on your use case. Apart from the media server I do use one for archive/backing up files, Scrivener, Nisus and others. Synology do offer a file sync system but in my experience that was slow and not worth the bother - better in my experience sticking to one of the Dropbox style systems albeit at a cost.
History is a nightmare from which I am trying to escape.
David Sharp
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Re: Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by David Sharp »

Many thanks for these replies, Martin and Tacitus.

I've now abandoned the NAS device, and am hoping the company that installed it for me will advise me on reselling it, and also help me, at no extra cost, to make better use of my resources.

The whole thing was much too complicated for me, and I quickly realised that it didn't do most of what I'd assumed it would do.
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martin
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Re: Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by martin »

Ugh, what a disappointing and frustrating outcome! I hope you can at least recoup some of your costs by reselling the hardware. Good luck David...
Þorvarður
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Re: Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by Þorvarður »

Hello David,
Before I read your post I knew nothing about Synology NAS, so I'm very grateful for you taking the time to share your experience with us.
David Sharp wrote: 2022-12-12 23:28:41I'd asked the tech company […] for a system that would allow me to synchronise my two computers (a desktop and a portable) without having recourse to the cloud. […] I was naively expecting to get a system that "just worked", and instead I find myself having to struggle with an entire new system, external to my Macs,
It seems your goal is to synchronize two computers …nothing more and nothing less. If that's correct, I wonder why you don't just use one of the many well established backup software for the Mac.

I used ChronoSync for many years. It's a backup/synchronizing application which is predestined to synchronize computers. It allows you to fine tune the synchronization/backup to suite exactly your personal needs. It has more options than Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper, I think, especially when it comes to synchronizing.

An additional component of ChronoSync is ChronoAgent. "ChronoAgent is an invisible app that runs silently in the background providing ChronoSync or InterConneX a direct connection to a remote Mac. It provides a much more secure, reliable and higher performance connection than standard file sharing. If you’re synchronizing or backing up files between two Macs, ChronoAgent is simply the best way to establish a connection between them."
https://www.econtechnologies.com/chrono ... rview.html

I have only one computer that needs to be backed up, therefore I'm now using Carbon Copy Cloner which just backs up everything in one direction, from the computer to an external disk. If I had to synchronize two computers my first choice would be ChronoSync.
Amontillado
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Re: Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by Amontillado »

Chronosync user, here. I prefer it to cloud syncing.

You can probably achieve the same results with the Mac's rsync command and a shell script in Terminal.

I went for "lazy" and got Chronosync.
Vanceone
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Re: Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by Vanceone »

If all you need is a shared folder to save files to, (including nested folders) then maybe try Syncthing. It's like setting up a personal DropBox while avoiding the cloud.

It's what I keep client files on to transfer between my laptop and desktop without letting any large company get their grubby paws on client info.
David Sharp
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Re: Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by David Sharp »

Many thanks for these replies, which have greatly helped in my negotiations over this issue.

The Mac-specialised company that installed the NAS, with whom I've always had good relations in the past, has now recontacted me to admit that the installation was the result of a major mix-up at their end. The technician who was sent had not got the required instructions as per my initial demands, and set up the Synology device on a standard server basis, rather than on the "Drive" configuration that was called for.

The head of the company has apologised, and offered to take back the device without charge if I decide I don't want it. However he also explained that the "Drive" configuration [https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/feature/drive] would exactly correspond to my specifications, and do the job of synchronising my main files much more efficiently than a software solution such as ChronoSync.

I would no longer get the Nisus error message that sparked my original post on this forum, as I would be opening my files directly from my Macs, rather than from the NAS.

I'm going to take the holiday period to reflect on all this, and also try out programs such as Chronosync and Syncthing.

As the overall issue here is clearly off-topic for the NWP forum, I'll be posting any updates as replies to the more general message I put on "The Blank Page".

In the meantime, happy holidays to all!
David Sharp
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Re: Error message using Nisus on a Synology NAS

Post by David Sharp »

Just to round off this thread, I ended up asking the company to take back the Synology hardware, which had finally been configured to correctly copy all of my Nisus files to my second Mac, but which proved far too complicated for a non-specialist like myself to understand. In particular, it couldn't synchronise my Mail accounts without major changes, and would have required a separate set-up to synchronise my Photos archive.

I realised that the company that suggested I use it had been more motivated by selling the gear than by understanding, and catering for, my real needs. Like a lot of people, I just like my computer to work, and have neither the desire nor the time to plunge into learning a whole new system before being able to get on with my activities.

To make things worse, when I asked the technician who installed it if it could mirror my Bookends files, he told me he was unfamiliar with that software, but nevertheless had no hesitation in simply getting the NAS to copy my Bookends Application Support file from one Mac's library to the other. I quickly had serious doubts about that, and decided to ask Sonny Software what I should do. They told me in no uncertain terms that it was a recipe for disaster: the only reliable way to do it was via Bookends' cloud facility.

The Mac company gave me a partial refund for the NAS, and I have now reverted to my original set-up: a sole MacBook Pro which I hook up to my studio display when at home and unhook when roaming.

Thanks to the users who suggested synching software, but I'm now back to relying simply on Carbon Copy Cloner + Time Machine + file copies.

"A sadder and a wiser man, I rose the morrow morn."
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