Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Questions about using NAS on Mac OS.
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mgianzero
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Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by mgianzero »

I recently installed Qsync on my QNAP to share files on my MacOS desktop and laptop. But when certain filenames have special characters Qsync sends me a warning saying:

"Unable to upload file [filename here]. The file path contains a character (/|\:?<>*") not supported."

When I looked this up I found on QNAP website it says:

"When backing up or syncing to an NTFS or exFAT file system, filenames must conform to the following naming conventions:
The maximum length of a filename is 255 characters.
The following characters are not allowed in filenames: \ / : * ? " < > |"


So how do I get around this? I want to use the same characters on all my Macs and QNAP.

Can I format the file system to something different? I don't recall seeing an option to select a different file format system when I setup my QNAP.
Darthajack
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Re: Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by Darthajack »

No sure what is really causing this, because the file length limit on HFS+, Mac, I believe is also 255. Problem might be that the file path also adds to the length. I've had a similar issue once with iPhone backups using a third party software and I would get that error on a few files that had no special characters and were no longer than other ones. I never figured out what the issue was.

Just a thought on a workaround however, maybe create an HFS+ disk image or sparsebundle and make that a shared folder.

Let us know how that worked out.
mgianzero
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Re: Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by mgianzero »

I don't think it is a file name length problem, more like an illegal character problem. I have some forward slashes in the filename "/" which I like to use.

I would be fine to switch to HFS+ file system, but I don't know where that option is to convert to that file format.

I'm not interested in creating a disk image or sparsebundle though. That's more for backup purposes. I am using Qsync as a file sharing utility, much like that of DropBox or iCloud Drive.
rvamerongen
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Re: Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by rvamerongen »

I have the same issue, I guess every mac user. Yes, you can remove all those forbidden characters, but it a big mistake to expect that from mac users. So QNAP change that please so we can use QSync, for now it is useless.
QNAP TS-453A - 4GB-RAM - 16TB - QTS 4.3.4 - RAID 10
Darthajack
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Re: Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by Darthajack »

mgianzero wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:30 am I don't think it is a file name length problem, more like an illegal character problem. I have some forward slashes in the filename "/" which I like to use.
That's probably the problem there. Not recommended to use slashes in the filename on any system. Those are used for folder hierarchy.
I would be fine to switch to HFS+ file system, but I don't know where that option is to convert to that file format.
The NAS cannot be switched to HFS+. It only uses EXT4.
rvamerongen
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Re: Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by rvamerongen »

Darthajack wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:58 pm
mgianzero wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:30 am I don't think it is a file name length problem, more like an illegal character problem. I have some forward slashes in the filename "/" which I like to use.
That's probably the problem there. Not recommended to use slashes in the filename on any system. Those are used for folder hierarchy.
I would be fine to switch to HFS+ file system, but I don't know where that option is to convert to that file format.
The NAS cannot be switched to HFS+. It only uses EXT4.
Thats the problem it only uses EXT4. :p Let QNAP add ZFS, HFS+ and APFS
Not directly saying that you are trying to defend that, but there are many more characters than doesn't work besides the slashes. It is so old fashion to ignore modern systems. Those set of demands are found under the grave of Cleopatra and JC.
QNAP TS-453A - 4GB-RAM - 16TB - QTS 4.3.4 - RAID 10
mgianzero
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Re: Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by mgianzero »

rvamerongen wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 7:01 pm
Thats the problem it only uses EXT4. :p Let QNAP add ZFS, HFS+ and APFS
Not directly saying that you are trying to defend that, but there are many more characters than doesn't work besides the slashes. It is so old fashion to ignore modern systems. Those set of demands are found under the grave of Cleopatra and JC.
Absolutely! Very antiquated not having these capabilities. I've been using slashes for years in my filenames - using them for things such as dates when certain files have been modified, etc.

QNAP should get with the times.
mgianzero
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Re: Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by mgianzero »

As a followup to this issue, I contacted technical support regarding this issue. Their response was:

"According to senior tech, we have no workaround to sync the specials character file by using Qsync. If need, I can try submit your concern as feature request but I am not guarantee that our developer will implement this options."

I answered the response with an emphatic "YES PLEASE" - I am surprised that they have not addressed this before. Am I just not understanding here, but what is the point of providing an app such as QSync that is available for installation on a MacOS system, but is limited in support for a MacOS file system?
misterlo
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Re: Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by misterlo »

I do have the exact same issue with hundreds of "illegal" filenames to sync.
I submitted a support ticket today as I am unable to use Qsync to save and sync only "some" files and not all of them.

In the meantime, has anyone moved to another sync solution to address these issues on Macos/QNAP?

Many thanks.
dogmaphobic
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Re: Qsync gives warning about illegal characters in file path.

Post by dogmaphobic »

Any news on this? I don't think it is the file system complaining as I can use rsync on those "illegal" files and they get copied (and restored) just fine to the NAS. Something in between is testing for "illegal" characters and rejecting them even before the file gets sent/written. This is a new TS-hEC973AX, which uses ZFS. I had been using an old TVS-863+ for years and never had issues there either when sync'ing files with rsync. I just decided to give Qsync a try but it looks like it's a no go as missing thousands of files for no reason is not an option.

When copying the files to the NAS using rsync (or simply using the finder), logging into the NAS (ssh) and listing the file, it shows weird, unmapped characters but they show and restore fine from Finder:

Code: Select all

-rw-r--r-- 1 501 20 26590 2017-06-23 12:15 EZDriveMA  PF.pdf
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