Environment
OES 11
OES 2015
Novell Client 2 SP4 for Windows
Situation
Various symptoms may be seen:
- After upgrading to Novell Client 2 SP4 for Windows or Novell Client 2 SP4 for Windows (IR1), some users can experience a delay of 180 seconds / 3 minutes before a file is opened. e.g. Opening a Microsoft Office Excel file takes 180 seconds to open.
- Drives can be mapped, but no files are listed when selecting the mapped drive.
- When copying files, after a 3 minute delay, the error is displayed:
An unexpected error is keeping you from copying the file. If you continue to receive this error, you can use the error code to search for help with this problem. Error 0x800703EE: The volume for a file has been externally altered so that the opened file is no longer valid.
Resolution
The fix is available in the January 2016 Maintenance Update for OES 11 SP2 and OES 2015.
Cause
A bug in OES relating to the new NCP APIs introduced in Novell Client 2 SP4 for Windows is causing the problem.
Additional Information
Workaround:
A client-side "DisableLargeNCPReadWrite" policy, that can be optionally set in the registry, is available beginning in Novell Client 2 SP4 for Windows (IR2). This policy is intended for use only if and when is is necessary to force the Novell Client to not use the NCP 87,72 and NCP 87,73 support in OES 11 SP2 May 2015 and OES 2015 and later.
To implement this policy, create a "DisableLargeNCPReadWrite" DWORD value of 0x1 under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Novell\Client\Parameters]. Note a reboot will be required to begin using this setting, and is also required when changing the "DisableLargeNCPReadWrite" policy.