[Macpartners] OS X & appletalk

[Albert Willis]

On Thursday, September 4, 2003, at 11:02  AM, Ethan Signer wrote:

> A major problem for which both AppleCare and the Computing Help Desk 
> were (after 6 weeks) unable to find a solution:
>
> 1. A G4 PowerBook, bought in March 2001 with OS 9.1 and then 
> successively upgraded to OS 9.2.2 and OS 10.2.6, is unable (i.e. 
> refuses) to open AppleTalk in OS X. AppleTalk will not open in Classic 
> either, though it will open if the machine is booted in OS 9.2.2. As a 
> workaround, I can open AppleTalk in OS 10.2.6 by typing a command in 
> Terminal (sudo appletalk -u en1) and, if Classic is running at the 
> time, restarting Classic (i.e. if Classic is running the Terminal 
> command isn't enough); I also have to redo this workaround if the 
> computer goes to sleep and then wakes up again, and I also have to 
> redo the workaround occasionally for no apparent reason.

The first thing that I tell people to do when Mac OS X starts to act 
funny is to launch Disk Utility and run repair permissions. You'd be 
amazed at how many problems this solves.

>
> 2. A (graphite) iBook, also bought in March 2001 with OS 9.1 and then 
> successively upgraded to OS 9.2.2 and OS 10.2.6, has no problem 
> whatever opening AppleTalk.
>
> 3. An (opaque) iBook, bought this Spring with OS 9.2.2 and OS 10.1 and 
> then upgraded to OS 10.2.6, has the same AppleTalk problem as the G4 
> PowerBook (#1 above).

I'd run repair permissions (see above).

>
> Apple says the system must be corrupted and I should wipe everything 
> completely and reinstall, which I am understandably reluctant to do. 
> But I find it surprising that 2 out of 3 computers should have 
> developed this corruption, and that two computers set up the same 
> (except for the PowerBook being G4 and the iBook being G3) should 
> behave so differently.
>
> I need AppleTalk to communicate with the LaserJet that all 3 computers 
> depend on (through AirPort) - any suggestions for correcting this 
> problem besides a complete reinstall?

Instead of doing a format and reinstall, you can do an Archive and 
Install--essentially a clean install of Mac OS X. Boot your Mac OS X 
10.2 install CD and choose this option. Be sure to preserve accounts 
and network settings. This disables the current install, archives it, 
and installs a new version of Mac OS X. Once you have that up and 
running, use the Software Update preference panel to get all of the 
security patches and operating system updates.

Let us know how it turns out.


> Thanks
> Ethan
>

   -- Al


---
Albert Willis
Macintosh Platform Coordinator
Software Release Team
MIT Information Systems