great response!! Thanks so much people - I pass this stuff on!
>From your replies, it appears that getting the 'home folder missing'
error:
1. Is quite common.
Not as much as you would think. Typically only people having the issue
post to lists like this. Very rarely do you see a message that says,
"Everything is great! Just letting you know!". :)
2. Is more common when trying to force OS X clients to bind across
subnets to the server.
It's more common when operating in an environment that has potential
delays in the network. A routing hop to get to another subnet qualifies
I would think.
3. Can be beaten via scripts which delay the boot sequence.
In certain circumstances yes. Notice though that my script doesn't just
delay startup, it kills DirectoryService as well. mach_init restarts it
when it is needed and that has been long enough for the system to be
stable enough for the automount to be ready.
This would explain why I got the whole pathetic mess to work today
(yay caffeine!) by duplicating the LDAP server in Directory Services
and entering the IP address as a search base. ( two entries in
Directory Services/LDAPv3) This means it probably just slows down the
load enough to work.
Hmmm... putting a plain IP in as the search base probably just mungs
the config enough to delay things. I would feel odd about having a
deliberately bad config though. It might lead to other issues down the
road.
What about the persistent ethernet switching error?
I think it is just reporting what it sees.
Josh
--
Josh Wisenbaker, ACSA
http://www.afp548.com
Breaking my server to save yours.
