File transfer errors from Windows to Mac Mini server

Ok, so here is a little info about the network setup.
Linksys E3200 Router
3 - Windows 7 Machines (Enterprise & Ultimate) , Tried wire and wireless
1 - Windows 8 64-bit machine
2 New Macbooks (Air and Pro)
1 Mac Mini server (2011 model) - 3TB external HD formatted in OS Journal (default mac) with samba sharing enabled

So here is the issue...
The macbook's we have connect and transfer large amounts of files just fine to the mac mini. No issues at all, even on wireless. The issue is when trying to transfer files from the Windows machines to the mac mini. You select just one 150mb file to copy over, and it might fail at 30mb or 120mb transferring giving an error like file or path is not available. However you can hit retry a few times and it might continue or restart, sometimes you have to cancel and copy the file over again. It acts like it loses the path, but you can instantly navigate to the server again instantly like there was never an issue. If you select a bunch files to transfer, lets just say like 2000 files, and its a total of 4gb. You will have to hope the retry works when the error happens or click skip and redo the file after. Nothing stands out that is causing this, but it is either an issue with the Mac & Samba transfer, router setting, or a Windows setting / registry issue causing it.

I tried to search google, but most things that come up are how to setup sharing from mac to windows. Can't exactly find anyone else talking about this, except I did find 1 thread on Mac Rumors forums talking about it but it just had 2 people say they have the same issue, and 1 person said he had no issues.

Thought I would start here since I end up on these forums for the most random issues I encounter working in the field services of IT field. Any help is appreciated!

No ideas or tests that I could do to narrow down if its a Windows, Mac, or router issue?

Can you transfer those same files from a Win 7 PC to another Win 7 PC without problems? If you can then it is not Windows that is dropping the Path. I own both Windows and Mac and my Mac does this sometimes.

Replace the Mac Mini server with a Windows PC and your problems will be solved.

edwar said:

Can you transfer those same files from a Win 7 PC to another Win 7 PC without problems? If you can then it is not Windows that is dropping the Path. I own both Windows and Mac and my Mac does this sometimes.

Replace the Mac Mini server with a Windows PC and your problems will be solved.

Thanks for the info. Yes Windows to Windows works just fine. Only when going Windows to Mac Mini that this issue happens. Might look at boot camp and running server 2008 R2 or Server 2012 on it. Seems like ever since we went from an older desktop pc running windows to the mac mini (Size of it) to be in the living room as our HTPC we have had issues.

Yeah Mac's aren't all that Apple and Mac fan boys claim they are. I know I have a Macbook Pro.

Good Luck.

Oh don't get me wrong, I love and hate Macs. I hate the fan boys and people that think they are magic. You buy a Mac knowing what you are buying it for. I am in IT and do support consulting support and worked in large enterprises. Mac's SUCK in corporate environment of windows. They are great for home use, especially the laptops with the track pad.

Did some research with Samba and Mac though. Apparently Apple has dropped full samba support since 10.7. There is a program called SMBUp that keeps samba protocol up to date and apparently works great. Found it when doing some other types of searches on google, a lot of people talk about it on Apple's official forums. Going to give it a try before bootcamp.

Yeah that is the story. Apple implemented their own version of Windows Sharing (Samba). Good luck with that other Samba system. I've never tried it myself as I use my mac for tech support reasons and light computing.

Just wanted to provide an update to this. So I installed SMBUp, let it do the samba full update package install and started the service. Just the initial file browsing and navigation was smoother. Able to stream a video file and skip around much faster. Then did a full series of a tv show with 7 seasons, total of 12.4gb and it transfered smoothly with no errors.

All in all, if you have a mac and share files to a lot of windows machines, install SMBUp. Takes about 15minutes to setup and fixes all issues.

Glad that worked for you on the Mac. Maybe I'll give it a try.