Long Directory + File names > 256 chars --any sign of support yet

jimbo45 · 21 Jan 2018

Hi folks

This has been pushed around for ages but I can't see any sign of it being implemented even on latest W10-updates.
The 256 character restriction on file name + directory string is a serious limitation now on my being able to share multi-media with Windows machines.

The Windows machines have access but just show the file name as an 8 byte char rather like the old dos 8.3 format.
This is almost a show stopper for some Windows clients now

Long Directory + File names > 256 chars --any sign of support yet-moosik.png

My servers Server(s) are standard Linux boxes - now 1 CENTOS 7.4 and the other is RHEL Enterprise 7.4 (Red hat have made these free now for home / other users who don't have paid support - plenty of support on Red Hat and other Forums if required).

I'm not going to re-organize and label zillions of multi-media files !!! that would take WEEKS of work.

Any get around / 3rd party program as an alternative to File explorer to handle long file names

I surely can't be the only person running into this limitation.

Windows clients are essentially W10- x-64 PRO.

Cheers
jimbo

clam1952 · 21 Jan 2018

Think it's not long file names as such that's the Windows problem but long file paths exceeding 260 characters.

Apparent fix here? Enable or Disable Win32 Long Paths in Windows 10 Customization Tutorials

jimbo45 · 21 Jan 2018

clam1952 said:

Think it's not long file names as such that's the Windows problem but long file paths exceeding 260 characters.

Apparent fix here? Enable or Disable Win32 Long Paths in Windows 10 Customization Tutorials

Hi there @clam1952

Appreciate your reply -- been there, seen it, done it (didn't get the T-shirt though !!!) Doesn't work. At least not with my servers : NAS (CENTOS 7.4 and RHEL Enterprise 7.4). File sharing system -- SAMBA / CIFS. Windows OS - W10 PRO X-64.

This is still a MEGA problem for a lot of people with Windows / Non Windows (Unix type server) connections.

Not sure how MAC shares these files with Windows either --I'm sure on the MAC there's no problem with the file names --be interesting to see how Windows accesses long file names from a MAC server.

Any offers to post shots of Mac source / server with Windows share showing file length etc > 260 chars.

File name + directory name + path must be > 260 chars in length on the MAC though.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 · 21 Jan 2018

Hi folks

problem is that the majority of target applications (on Windows) rely on File explorer which hasn't been updated to accept long file names.

So if you use things like VLC to browse your NAS server it pulls in the standard API that things like file explorer use for browsing directories -- then BANG NOK Fail.

Cheers
jimbo

clam1952 · 21 Jan 2018

Think I have one reason it won't work, from Enable or Disable Win32 Long Paths in Windows 10 Customization Tutorials

Enabling NTFS long paths will allow manifested Win32 applications and Windows Store applications to access paths beyond the normal 260 char limit per node. Enabling this setting will cause the long paths to be accessible within the process.

This actually means that an application has to have the following line in its manifest:

<longPathAware>true</longPathAware>A manifest is a small file that contains additional information about the process EXE such as compatibility information and DPI-awareness etc.

Besides the app developer adding the manifest, the appropriate Group Policy setting should be enabled. This can be done using Group Policy Editor or by using a Registry tweak.

On further digging around it appears that Microsoft have typically not got round to adding it to File Explorer.