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TIP: Airport WEP key from Airport Admin Utility in OS X. March 29, 2002 -- Stephen Jonke provides an answer to an issue raised in our last Windows-on-AirPort report, when a reader pointed out that the password of the AirPort network for third parties cards in PCs is not the same one as for users with Macs. Jonke says you can find the password to use on the PC in Mac OS X:

When trying to get the WEP key if you're using Airport Admin Utility in Mac OS X you'll find that there is no "Configure" menu. Instead you click the "Password" button in the toolbar. That will display the equivalent WEP key you'll need to enter on your PC.

Reader experience PiePants beta2 VPN client for OS X. March 29, 2002 -- Ed Dyer reports on the second beta (prerelease) version of the PiePants virtual private network client for Mac OS X:

PiePants is still able to connect to my company's three VPN servers. However, when I check "use remote DNS" and/or "use remote gateway" I can no longer get DNS resolution and still cannot see remote Windows shares via Sharity or SMB Browse. My Wins server is out of the range of computers to which I'm connected, as per the dialogue in PiePants. Putting in 255.255.255.255 (as with DAVE) does not help.

An extra bonus-as my ISDN router times out after two minutes of no traffic, and my computer uses the remote DNS and route, the router detects no traffic (no packets sent to it's IP) it dumps the connection. PiePants does not error out, but persists in thinking its connected.

I also cannot ping any address, including those to which I'm connected.

For previous coverage of PiePants, see our VPN Report page.

VPN over AirPort: NAT transparency. March 29, 2002 -- We've mentioned several times before that in order to use AirPort over a virtual private network with a Cisco 3000, readers recommend using NAT transparency mode. Mark Duling got a similar story from Apple:

I couldn't get a VPN connection to work with an AirPort so I contacted Apple and they said AirPorts do in fact do VPN transparent mode. Sure enough, I found out that the default group setup on our Cisco 3000 didn't have transparent mode enabled. Once I did that the AirPort works fine with VPN transparent settings.

In a report about using VPN on AirPort with a Netscreen firewall, a reader recently said that the AirPort Base Station does not pass IPsec through its NAT transparently.

Solutions update: Keyspan adapter lets you connect parallel Epson printers to Mac USB. March 29, 2002 -- The Keyspan USB Parallel Printer Adapter for Macintosh (US $39) lets Mac users connect and Epson parallel port printer to a Mac USB port. It works for Epson Stylus Color printers models 440, 600, 640, 800, 850, 1520 and 3000, and Epson Stylus Photo printers models EX and 700. It runs with Mac OS 8.1-to- OS 9.x. (We've added the Adapter to the product listings on our Network Solutions page.)

Mediafour releases X Technology Preview 5 --iPod for Windows. March 29, 2002 -- Mediafour announced XPlay Preview 5, the newest beta version of its Windows software that lets PC users connect to Apple's iPod, which appears in Windows with a drive letter associated with it. Among the new features:

• You can now copy a folder containing songs into the Songs folder and into individual playlists
• An XPlay tab now appears when viewing properties of the iPod (right click on the iPod drive icon, and choose Properties)
• A new Repair iPod Database function recreates the iPod song database.
• Fixes bugs that resulted in occasional blue screen and silence in the middle of copied songs.

XPlay Preview 5 runs on Windows 98SE/Me/2000 or XP.

Terra Soft Ships Yellow Dog Linux 2.2 for Mac. March 29, 2002 -- Terra Soft Solutions has shipped Yellow Dog Linux 2.2, which the company claims is the "most mature and complete PowerPC Linux distribution available." New improvements include a more stable kernel, better support for Apple's ADC monitors, and an improved Gnome user interface. Yellow Dog Linux 2.2 is based on Red Hat 7.2, KDE 2.2.2, and Gnome 1.4.

New beta of PiePants, VPN client for OS X. March 26, 2002 -- Rob Newberry has posted PiePants b2, the second prerelease version of the PPTP virtual private network client for Mac OS X. New features include:

• Enhanced user interface (tabbed configuration, log window)
• Enhanced logging facilities
• Support for using remote gateway
• Supports remote DNS
• Automatically determines remote netmask
• Automatic connection on startup
• Automatic reconnection when unexpected disconnects occur

Info on integrating OS X with NetWare LDAP. March 26, 2002 -- Most readers responding to last week's question about OS X login authentication to NetWare LDAP say they've heard it can be done, but haven't succeeded themselves. Adrian Cadden pointed us toward an article called How to Integrate MacOS X with E-directory, which provides some details. However, Scott Krajewski has read this article but has not been able to make it work:

While I can't say I've succeeded yet-- though not from lack of trying -- I've been following MacOSXLabs.org closely and an early success was just reported at [the How to Integrate article] I'm still baffled why all of the suggestions noted there haven't worked here. But I suppose it may be due to something in our LDAP setup or attributes.

An anonymous reader reports that Apple has demonstrated NetWare integration:

An Apple engineer named Dan Sinema (sp) in Provo Utah has successfully demonstrated this a couple of weeks ago at a tech conference in Salt Lake City. He connected directly to a users home directory on a Novell 6 server from the login screen on an OS X box. It was super to watch all the PC techs look at that one. He is writing an Apple tech article on how to do that.

John Endahl asked Apple about it:

Haven't done this myself yet, as I don't have an X server with Mac Manager installed, but have asked the question at a couple of Apple seminars...

An Apple engineer told me you can use the Mac Manager piece for logon and point it to a Novell LDAP server for authentication information, and even have the user's server-based folder mount during login.

David Morrison heard of a limitation with Mac OS X login authentication to NetWare:

Not doing it myself, but someone did tell me that the Novell LDAP server did not support MD5 encryption of the passwords. Ergo, passwords traverse the network in plain text...

If you can shed some light on this topic, please let us know.

Using a PC laptop, Linksys card, with AirPort Base Station. March 26, 2002 -- Angelos Hannides sent us some detailed information about configuring a Toshiba Satellite Laptop and a Linksys 802.11b PC Card to work with an AirPort Base Station, which he says is a suplement to Rus Maxham's comments on our Cross-platform AirpPort Report page. He says"The critical key to success in the above task is the encryption. The password of the AirPort network for third parties is *not* the same one as for folks with Apples." You can read Hannides entire report on the MacWindows Cross-platform AirpPort Report page.

Fix for Mac IE multiple password-request problem. March 26, 2002 -- Scott Burditt sent us a fix for a problem which cause Internet Explorer for Mac to present a password screen for every web page loaded. The fix isn't new--it's been listed on our MS Proxy Server special report page for two years--but we thought it was worth mentioning again. Burditt reports:

I've finally fixed it! Get into Internet Explorer preferences and click on security zones. Click Custom settings and then under User Authentication change this to Automatic. Job done at last. I have suffered for over 2 years with this problem.

A solution for VPC5 on OS X problem. March 26, 2002 --Benson Young sent an interesting fix to a previously reported problem with Virtual PC under OS X:

Regarding Robin Jackson's problem of having to restart the entire computer when VPC unexpected quits:

There's another VPC process running in MacOS X called "VirtualPC_Servic". Properly quitting VPC will stop this process, but an unexpected quit will keep it running. It can be killed through the Terminal, and you can then relaunch VPC without incident. I looked up the Process ID in Process Viewer, and then went into the Terminal and typed "sudo kill " and the Process ID number. The "sudo" command is required because the process is owned by root.

We should point out that Jackson later reported the problem disappeared with a reinstallation of OS X.

Odd SMB peer-to-peer File sharing problem with OS X 10.1.3 and Win 2K. March 26, 2002 -- Al Tucker reports a problem with OS X's SMB file sharing that occurs only when he access PC workstations (not servers):

Here's the problem:

1. Make a shared folder on the W2K PC.

2. Connect to it from the Mac with the smb://<IP address>/<share name> URL and mount that share.

3. Put files into the share on the PC.

4. On the Mac, files do not show up. Window remains blank.

5. Now, if on the Mac, you put a file into the mounted share, it seems to "jump start" the window refresh process and THEN suddenly ALL files are visible. But every time you add a new file on the PC, the Mac does not see it until you add a file to the share on the Mac side.

I do this all the time sharing between my OS X 10.1.3 Mac and my Win NT Server PC and never see the problem. Only when sharing between an OS X Mac and my coworker's Win 2K PC does this pop up.

If you've seen this problem, please let us know.

Apple seeks feedback from PC users. March 26, 2002 -- Apple is soliciting feedback from PC users who own a Mac or are thinking about buying a Mac. The web page seems to be looking for information that Apple could use in marketing, but it seems to be an opportunity for PC users to submit wish-lists as well.

Apple to support BlueTooth wireless standard next month. March 21, 2002 -- Yesterday, Apple announced that next month it will release software for Macs to connect to BlueTooth wireless peripherals (free) using the D-Link DWB-120M BlueTooth USB Adapter ($49), which Apple is selling at the online Apple Store. The software will be called a Technology Preview 1 and will require Mac OS X 10.1.3. The software will allow Mac-to-Mac connections, as well as Mac connections to BlueTooth-enabled cell phones and Palm OS devices. No word yet about Mac-to-PC connections, but we will be following the issue.(See also this Apple press release.)

Using IPsec VPN with AirPort Base Station. March 21, 2002 -- James Woodyatt sent us an explanation of why readers may be having problems getting a virtual private network connection using AirPort and the Netscreen firewall. He also offers a workaround:

The AirPort base station does not pass IPsec through its NAT transparently. If you're using a Netscreen firewall, and you have enabled its NAT function, then you probably want to turn off the NAT in the AirPort base station.

Configured as a bridge between wired and wireless networks, the AirPort base station simply forwards 802.1 packets without having to look at their payloads. An IPsec VPN should go right through without any trouble.

Possible explanation for VPC problem starting from non-startup partition. March 21, 2002 -- Several more readers have written to say they are experience the problem of Virtual PC not starting up when the application sits on a non-startup partition. We have not seen this problem, but Payman Parastaran send a possible explanation:

The most likely explanation is that the "Ignore privileges on this volume" setting in the Get Info box for this volume has been checked. Virtual PC needs to run the components for the virtual switch as root, and so certain files in the VPC installation not only must have root ownership, but need to have the suid bit set. With the "Ignore privileges on this volume" checked, the virtual switch will fail to run as root. I should also point out that UNIX style privileges are always active on the boot volume, hence when the application was moved back to the boot volume, it started up fine.

However, Suzanne Rodday sees the problem with Mac OS 9:

I have seen the same VPC 5 problem on an older G4 OS 9.0.4.... when the image is on a different drive (2nd partition not the boot partition), I had problems in booting VPC. Moved it to the primary, and it was fine.

I haven't verified on another computer.

SMB connection name character limits in OS X. March 21, 2002 -- Brad Judy sent an explanation about problems with long server names with SMB file sharing in Mac OS X, a problem we reported last week:

SMB service naming is based upon NetBIOS naming as defined in RFCs 1001 and 1002 (see section 5.2 of RFC 1001 for mention of the character limit). RFCs 1001 and 1002 define the NetBIOS service upon which SMB was designed to run. There is a recent Internet draft regarding the formatting of SMB URLs that is probably of interest to those relying on SMB for file sharing.

Microsoft dealt with this issue by assigning a separate NetBIOS name when giving a computer a name. If the given name is too long, the NetBIOS name is a truncated version of the name by default. Perhaps Apple should address this issue in a similar fashion if SMB is to be a natively supported protocol.

Reader report on Apple Remote Desktop. March 21, 2002 -- Nathan McBride has good things to say about the recently released Apple Remote Desktop:

I installed Apple Remote Desktop today and must say that I am pretty much blown away by the functionality of this product. Basically they have taken Network Assistant, carbonized it, and given it the ability to control machines via IP and added several new features such as full reporting (with export potential into any tab or comma delimited ODBC receptor apps), software search, and NO SERVER required. I am running the admin app on a DP 1 GHz and and have only installed 5 clients in my test lab of Graphite iMacs running 9.1. The speeds are phenomenal across the board. In Network Assistant when you controlled a screen the client could tell that you were observing because of the AppleTalk traffic arrows and the eyes. With ARD, there are no indicators that you are observing the client with the exception of the fact that the computer slows down the tiniest bit. We are getting rid of Filewave next week once and for all. The unlimited client license only cost us $440 from CDW.

Mac OS X Login Authentication to NetWare LDAP Server: anyone doing it? March 20, 2002 -- During the past few months, we've reported about using Mac OS X 10.1.3 with Microsoft authentication (Active Directory, LDAP), but we've heard little about doing the same in a NetWare environment. If you've succeeded in integrating Mac OS X and NetWare, we'd like to hear from you.

Microsoft MSN Messenger 2.1 for Mac available as a download. March 20, 2002 -- Microsoft has posted MSN Messenger 2.1 for Mac as a free download. The chat software allows Mac users to communicate with both Windows and Mac users. Microsoft reports that the version 2.1 has some enhancements over version 2.0, including:

• Fixed a bug that would cause a crash upon network disconnect
• Fixed the loss of mobile return numbers when reopening preferences dialog
• Fixed truncation of URLs when passed to the browser
• Added new emoticons

VPN: PGP 7.0 Desktop issue with Netscreen and AirPort. March 20, 2002 -- Thomas Hauber responded to an item on our Virtual Private Network report page about a problem getting PGP Desktop to work through a Netscreen firewall. Hauber could get through the firewall over Ethernet, but not over AirPort:

We have been successful in getting PGP Desktop to connect via IPsec to a Netscreen firewall. Where I discovered a problem was when attempting to do this over an Airport network. That simply would not work. I would either get packet failures or no secure connection from the start. The only solution was to do it from a Mac with a hardwired connection to my home router (Linksys).

The other downside is that this will only work for OS 9. McAfee has dropped all development on PGP Desktop and will not be updating it (translation = no OS X client).

If you've worked with PGP Desktop, Netscreen, and AirPort, please let us know how it worked out for you.

Reader has problem with Win XP and AirPort. March 20, 2002 -- Ronak Patel is having trouble getting his PC with Windows XP to stay connected to an AirPort network:

I have just upgraded from Win 2000 to Win XP Professional. I have an Apple AirPort and using a Lucent/Orinoco Silver card with Win 2000, with no problem. Though now that I have upgraded to XP, the connection only works for about the first 2 minutes then stops working. According to the properties on XP, it is connecting to the right network (there is only one). The signal strength is excellent. Though I get no connection to the Internet, what gives?

Also is there a way to upgrade the firmware on the AirPort WITHOUT a Mac. I am looking for the .bin files to upgrade the firmware, but I cannot find them.(The AirPort is the older version (single 10BaseT port.)

If you can offer any advice, please drop us a line.

Virtual PC 5: does it matter where the application sits? March 20, 2002 -- Andy Hilton noticed a problem when the Virtual PC 5 application was not on his boot partition:

I was having trouble with Virtual Switch when I had VPC 5 starting from a different drive (actually a partition on my disk but not the boot partition) as had been described. I couldn't really understand the error message that was showing when first starting VPC, but moved the app (not the PC file) to the main drive and all appears much happier.

We have not seen this problem. We've been starting VPC 4 and 5 from non-startup partitions without any of these issues. However, if you've can verify Hilton's issues, please let us know.

More kudos for Mystery Machine Java Citrix Client under OS X. March 20, 2002 -- Kerry Griggs is the latest reader to have a good experience with Darren Montjar's Java Citrix client for Mac OS X:

I just began using Darren Montjar's "Mystery Machine" Java Citrix client under OS X 10.1.3. So far, the performance is impressive. I am the only Mac user on our firm's Win NT network of 100 plus users. The IT guys were able to set up the client without a hitch. It seems as responsive on my PowerBook G4 400 MHz as the Windows 2000 client used on 700 MHz ThinkPads. It's a bonus to have the "Mystery Machine" van bouncing on my Dock. Thank you, Darren.

For previously reported reader experiences, see our Citrix and Macs special report page.

GraphicConverter 4.3 available. March 20, 2002 -- Lemke Software has released GraphicConverter 4.3, a new version of the cross-platform graphics translation software for Mac OS. The new version adds the import and export of the Sony Clie PGPF format, as well as a number of bug fixes.

Illustrator 10.0.1 fixes problem with Win NT Server. March 19, 2002 -- Darryl Zurn says that the newly released Adobe Illustrator 10.0.1 fixes a problem with saving files to Windows NT Server:

I noticed that you had a description of the problem of Illustrator 10 files being saved on a Windows NT server. The Illustrator 10.0.1 update from about a week ago fixes this problem.

The problem is supposedly with the Mac OS X in terms of permissions for intermediate temp files that Illustrator used. Adobe claims it was Apple's problem but they fixed it in any event. (The "twist" mentioned above is not really a twist, that's the source and the result of the problem, not just "need to resave the file.")

PocketMac 1.0 lets Macs synch to Pocket PC handhelds. March 19, 2002 -- We noticed that PocketMac Regular Edition 1.0 ($49.95) is now available. The OS 9 or OS X (10.1 or higher) software synchronizes Pocket PC (Windows CE) handhelds with Macs using USB or Ethernet or AirPort (via TCP/IP). PocketMac synchronizes, copies, or deletes files on a Pocket PC from a Mac. A Professional Edition, now in beta ($15 upgrade), adds synching functionality to Entourage and to Outlook for Exchange Server.

VPNConnect adds interface to VPN client on Mac OS X. March 19, 2002 -- Mathey Wiesbeck's VPNConnect is a free piece of software that adds a simple graphical user interface to the Cisco Unity VPN Client on MacOS X 10.1 and later. We've added it to the listings of virtual private network products for the Mac on our Network Solutions page.

More positive reports about the PiePants VPN client. March 19, 2002 -- More readers are reporting success with the PiePants beta, a virtual private network client for Mac OS X. Nathan Marentette mentions some techniques he used to get it to work:

Just wanted to chime in with some positive feedback regarding PiePants (I wish all final release software was as reliable as this beta).

On a lark I downloaded it and installed at home on Mac OS X 10.1.3. Over my 26400 bps dial-up, I had no trouble authenticating to a Windows 2000 server using PPTP.

My only trouble was not using the proper subnet mask for my network (duh me :)). My VPN server and the file server are in different IP ranges, so I needed a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, rather than the default.

Anyway, as usual any fault was my own, the software performed excellently. I could mount my AppleShare volumes (over IP) and ping hosts inside the network, launch a Citrix session, etc.

Hope this motivates a few more people to try it out, and if you're reading, thanks Rob for writing this. It ought to be included in the base OS.

Gianpiero Meazza:

I have seen negative reports about PiePants VPN client for Mac OS X and I am a bit surprised, as I have been testing PiePants in the last few days and my experience with it is quite positive. I was able to connect to my company's network resources on both a conventional modem with PPP and on an ADSL link with PPPoE. We are using the Microsoft PPTP Server which comes with Windows 2000. I am running Mac OS X 10.1.3 on a PowerBook G3/500 with 256 MB of RAM.

I had a minor problem only with the DNS settings, that I solved by defining a new location for network settings where the DNS and proxy addresses are those of the target link after VPN connection.

Also, after a suggestion of PiePants' developer, I lowered a bit the MTU parameter of the connection to get a better performance when connecting to the IMAP mail server. This has to be done manually in the terminal: "sudo ifconfig pptp0 mtu <size>". An MTU value just below 1000 worked fine for me instead of the default that is around 1500.

Ed Dyer:

Having just come back from vacation, this is a wonderful thing to find!

PiePants works just fine to get to my company's three VPN servers, but of course since the Classic Environment can't get to them, we're out of luck for Outlook. Ti/500/OS X 10.1.3 with ISDN 128K.

(See our VPN Report page for previous reports of PiePants and other virtual private network solutions for Mac.)

Reader collecting data for lack of direct booking in MS Outlook 2001. March 15, 2002 -- Dan Oblak has set up a web form to collect user information on the Lack of direct booking of resources in Outlook 20001 (Knowledge Base Q296145), a problem we have reported on before. He would like to lobby Microsoft to fix it. He writes:

Our issue has apparently not garnered enough complaints from Mac-using corporate customers for Microsoft to invest the necessary time to resolve this particular failing...

What I am looking for is the opportunity to pass along to Microsoft some real numbers and testimonials showing the impact this has on Microsoft-centric shops. If your company uses Exchange, and you have a real need to give your Mac users the ability to reserve rooms on an Exchange 2000 server, please fill out this form.

Be aware that your name and other contact information will be required for this data to be considered legitimate; so if you can't provide a way for me/them to reach you, I must decline your input. We want to try to place an approximate dollar amount on how this missing feature impacts your bottom line.

Oblak also describe the problem with this lack of support:

What this means is that as a Mac user, I can create a meeting and invite others to attend; but my attempts to reserve a conference room (or A/V equipment, lecterns, etc.) are unanswered by the resource accounts -- letting my preferred room get booked by... you guessed it... the next Windows user who comes along.

The recommended 'workaround' is to have the Mac users book (and make changes to) meetings using the web-based Exchange client instead of Outlook 2001. This requires that our users know the names of all the resource accounts, since there is no pulldown list of all those available.

MacWindows.com has a couple of helpful notes (here and here) about some shops having set up PCs to remain logged in to these resource accounts (like a user reading their mail) so that the 'autoanswer' feature will process the malformed incoming meeting requests that the Mac client issues:

Because of the number of rooms involved, and practical limits to the number of delegates that can be added to an account before a mailbox fails, this won't work for us.

More positive reactions to PiePants, VPN client for OS X. March 15, 2002 -- We've had more reader reports about Rob Newberry's PiePants beta 1, a prerelease virtual private network client for Mac OS X. Brett Turner liked PiePants in OS X better than with TunnelBuilder for OS 9:

I downloaded and installed the software effortlessly. It works beautifully for me.

In fact I have more functionality with PiePants than using NTS TunnelBuilder under OS 9. With TunnelBuilder it was "all or nothing." With the VPN connection running I could not access any IP addresses other than those served by the other end of the tunnel. With PiePants I have full access to everything. I'm now able to pickup email from my corporate office site as well as the rest of the world all with one "Connect" request to PowerMail.

Jason Paikowsky tempered his criticism of yesterday:

I may have come off a little harsh in my initial reaction to PiePants. I noticed that the author may be expecting people to VPN to a Win 2000 server. That server is indeed my final "destination" but first I need to authenticate to, and get past, a Linux firewall and that may be the point of the bottleneck.

Another link for info on Cisco 3000 and OS X VPN client. March 15, 2002 -- Dan Ruth sent us another URL for Cisco's updated document called Configuring an IPSec Tunnel Between a Mac OS X PC with the VPN Client 3.5 and the VPN 3000. This link is for guests. The link we published on March 11 (here) was to a customer site.

Reader's VPC 5.0.2 problem fixed with OS X reinstall. March 15, 2002 -- Robin Jackson discovered by accident that the problem we reported on March 11 was due to OS X, not Virtual PC 5.0.2 Update:

I found that Sherlock had stopped working under OS X and with all the help of Apple could not get it to work again.

This forced a reinstall of OS X directly over the existing system. This worked. I lost no data and very few settings, but Sherlock does now work properly AND so does VPC. So it appears it may have been a low level system problem and not a VPC problem.

Mixed response to PiePants beta VPN for OS X. March 14, 2002 -- We've had our first two reader reports about Rob Newberry's PiePants beta 1, a prerelease virtual private network client for Mac OS X. Jason Paikowsky writes:

I tested PiePants from my OS X box to a Linux-based firewall. I seem to make the connection okay, but can't get to the resources behind the firewall.

For other feedback, have a look at Apple's support site; OS X forums; forum on Networking and the Web. I posted a message on PiePants yesterday, and others have tried it. No one reports any good results.

Travis Hamilton, however, was successful:

Finally! I can now connect to my company's VPN! I now have CITRIX (via JAVA client), telnet, intranet web resources now all I need are some OS X native ORACLE tools. This is through an Asanté router. Mr. Newberry ROCKS!

We've added these reports to your VPN special report page.

Nortel Contivity VPN Client for Macintosh, V1.3 released. March 14, 2002 -- Mark Alexander tells us that Netlock has upgraded the Nortel Contivity VPN Client for MacOS 9 to version 1.3. The Netlock web site has not been updated, but Alexander says you can fax your proof of purchase and email address to Netlock Customer Service at 714-792-1880. The new version includes several bug fixes, improved reliability when used with poor quality network connections, and support for the Contivity client policy feature.

New Mac OS X client for Lotus Notes/Domino 6. March 14, 2002 -- A Notes/Domino 6 Prerelease 1 client is now available for download. This beta version now supports Mac OS X, includes a new Java configuration GUI, has JavaScript updated to 1.4,an improved bookmark user interface, a new LotusScript Option, and other improvements.

SMB connection problems with Mac OS X. March 14, 2002 -- Todd Miller reports a problem with Mac OS X SMB logging into Windows servers:

I have found that if the server is named a name with 15 characters (the maximum allowed by Windows) you cannot connect via MAC OS X. For instance SMB://REALLYLONGSERVR/SHARE will not connect, but SMB://LONGSERVR/SHARE will connect fine.

To test this theory, I took a machine named M12345 and did an SMB://M12345/C$. This worked great. Then, I changed the name of the computer to MEDICINE-TODDST and tried to connect again. This time failure. I get the opportunity to put in a user/pass/domain but after that I get the "No file services are available at the URL smb://..." error message. I then renamed the machine to BEANIE, and tried to connect. Again, successful.

If you've seen this issue, please let us know.

Most readers say VPC 5 is okay on non-Apple G3 cards. March 14, 2002 -- In response to our question about running Virtual PC 5 on a pre-iMac model with a G3 upgrade card, readers are saying it is possible. For instance, Kevin Morrow reports:

I have set up VPC 5 on a friends 8500 with Sonnet G3 400/512 upgrade and OS 9.1. Runs well enough for his young children to play PC CD's from school.

However, an unnamed reader said Sonnet may not be fully supported:

Sonnet support told me that VPC 4 and 5 are not working under MacOS 9.2 on their cards. Working on fix. 9.1 is fine.

David Green says PowerLogix says it is possible with their cards:

I also heard from a tech support person at PowerLogix who is also running it on an upgrade card. I guess if it works for two others it should work for me.

Michel Lefrancois uses a Metabox card:

I am currently using VPC 5 on a Macintosh 7600 upgraded with a 350 MHz Metabox card. I am not using it extensively, but it seems to be working just fine with Windows 2000. I have also tried Linux (Mandrake) and FreeBSD. Both are working. Great improvement over previous versions.

Daniel Morales runs VPC on an old Mac clone:

I have a StarMax 3000 with a 300 MHz Vimage G3 upgrade. I have installed Virtual PC 5.02 with MS Windows 2000 Pro. It runs pretty slow, and struggles with the low amount of ram (160 MB maxed out total) I have available for it (89 MB allotted to it max). I have tried Microsoft Works and it runs OK. Not good enough to do all my work on efficiently, but cool for running any interesting software I might want to have access to from the Windows world.

New Iogear KVM switch also supports USB peripherals. March 14, 2002 -- Iogear is shipping the MiniView III (US $159 and US $199 for 2-port and 4-port models), a USB KVM and peripheral sharing switch. It allows four Macs and PCs to share a monitor, keyboard, and USB peripheral devices

Xinet drops HP=UX support for K-Ashare AFP server. March 14, 2002 --Randy Smail says that Xinet has dropped support for HP-UX (Unix) in its K-Ashare AFP file server product line.

Introducing PiePants beta 1, a PPTP VPN client for Mac OS X. March 12, 2002 -- Rob Newberry has posted a first beta (prerelease) version of PiePants, my PPTP virtual private network client for Mac OS X. This first release supports a single encrypted PPTP connection between a Mac OS X Mac and a PPTP server. Newberry says he has tested this version with Mac OS X 10.1.2 and a Windows 2000 PPTP server. This beta release is free.

If you decide to give it a try, please let us know what you think of it.

Solutions update: Netopia R910 box supports VPN for Macs and PCs. March 12, 2002 -- We've added Netopia's R910 Ethernet Router to our list of virtual private network products on our Network Solutions page. The hardware supports VPN connections via IPSec and PPPTP for multiple Macs and PCs. The R910 also includes a built-in 10BaseT Ethernet hub and a Network Address Translation (NAT) firewall.

Reader's VPC 5.0.2 networking problem was actually a Virtual Switch issue. March 12, 2002 -- John Lockwood reports that he discovered that it was not Virtual PC 5.0.2 that was blocking network access (as he said in yesterday's report). It turns out that he was experiencing the same Virtual Switch issue that occurs with VPC 5.0:

It turns out it is a known problem that only occurs when you use all three of MacOS X, Airport and Virtual Switch.

My confusion was that this problem has been known about for a while and a previous Connectix document implied it would be fixed in a future version. I therefore assumed it was fixed in 5.0.2 unfortunately it still exists.

Thomas Koons also realized this about Lockwood's problem, and makes some suggestions:

Tell John that he needs to stop using Virtual switch or he needs to stop sharing his pref file in both OS 9 and OS X. The issue is that virtual switch works drastically different in OS X then it does in OS 9. In OS 9 it acts like the PC is on a HUB (or one node switch) and requires its own IP address. But in OS X virtual switch acts like a virtual multi port switch allowing all running virtual environments on one Mac to communicate with each other. OS 9 cannot do this (PC environments running on the same Mac cannot talk to each other in OS 9). So even though both are using the same settings in OS 9 and OS X, those same settings mean completely different things when virtual switch is involved.

I suggest just using separate pref files and you must shutdown the PC (no saving the states) when switching between OS 9 and OS X or it will complain that the PC was not shutdown properly if you save the state in one OS and then boot in another and launch VPC again.

VPC 5: another problem with full screen mode; and dual processors not evenly used. March 12, 2002 -- Mark Napier has a problem with Virtual PC 5.0.2 in full screen mode, as did a reader yesterday. He also offers a fix:

I find that if I check the box telling VPC to skip the dialog box when going to full screen mode, switching modes WILL crash VPC. This may explain the crashing reported today. Resetting prefs to always show dialog boxes eliminates the crash.

Napier also reports that the two processors in a dual-processor Mac are not evenly used:

Also, even in full screen mode I seem to be using only one processor (DP 800 MHz) -- I found this by running top from another computer logged in to the VPC box via SSH. LOTS of idle time on one processor. Two obviously VPC processes -- one takes 0.0% CPU.

VPC 5 on a pre-iMac model? March 12, 2002 -- Dave Green asks if Virtual PC will run on a Power Mac 8600 with a PowerLogix G3 557 MHz card. He points out that the web offers mixed answers:

The Virtual PC documentation says it requires an original Apple G3/G4 processor. The Powerlogix website indicates it "may" run on their cards.

If you're running Virtual PC on and older Mac with a G3 add-in card, please let us know.

Illustrator 10 and NT 4. March 12, 2002 -- Richard Hubley verifies a problem we reported last December concerning saving Illustrator 10 files to Windows servers:

We have experienced the same problem with saving Illustrator EPS files to and NT 4.0 server using Mac OS 9.2.2. Every time you want to save, you must save as a new file.

We had a different twist as well. I tried Illustrator 10 with Mac OS X 1.0.2 and not only did I need to create a new file every time I saved, but the files were invisible after they were saved. No Mac on the network could see them, but they were accessible on the server. Checking properties on the server showed that they were "hidden". Unchecking the "hidden" box allowed Mac access. I have not tried it with the OS X 1.0.3 upgrade as I don't have a lot of time to waste beta testing Adobe software.

We are at this time only using Illustrator 10 to save customer files down to version 9.

If you've seen this problem, please let us know.

Virtual PC Update 5.0.2 improves performance in OS X, but readers report problems. March 11, 2002 -- Over the weekend we installed last week's Virtual PC 5.0.2 update and found that it does in fact improve the performance of Windows in Mac OS X, as Connectix claimed. The improvement is not large, but is noticeable. VPC is still significantly slower in Mac OS X than in Mac OS 9, as the 5.0.2 update also improves OS 9 performance, though to much less so. We also found Windows 2000 to run faster than Windows 98 in Mac OS X, as Win 2000 gains more from the 5.0.2 update than does Windows 98.

Reader Ed Dyer:

I've been using the update all day and I have to say the screen redraw time for Java applets is definitely faster. Better boot time for Win2K for sure, perhaps not a record, but noticeably faster overall. I haven't tried to compare exact times yet. I haven't tried renicing yet either, which is what I did before the update. Ti 500/Mac OS X 10.1.3/VPC 5.0.2/Win2K/512MB to guest OS/768MB overall.

Unfortunately, other readers reported some problems with the 5.0.2 update. (We have not seen either of these problems.) Robin Jackson also found the update faster, but can't get into full screen mode in Mac OS X:

I am running on a PowerBook G4 667 MHz with Mac OS X 10.1.3.

VPC is much faster than the old 5.0.1 incarnation however whenever I try to go to 'full screen mode' VPC simply exits, no crash warning or error message it just exits.

If you try to restart VPC you get a warning message that it is already running but the task manager does not list it as a running application so the only course of action is a restart/log out.

As a check I also installed on my G4 Cube, this machine seems to work fine but the G4 TiBook does not.

Jackson also mentioned that he had installed the VPC Additions in Windows when prompted to do so. John Lockwood finds that the 5.0.2 update blocks networking in Mac OS X 10.1.3:

I have upgraded to VPC 5.0.2 and applied the new additions. It works fine under MacOS 9.2.2 and even fixes a conflict that had existed with Joliet Access in VPC 5.0 and 5.0.1.

I have Windows 98 and Windows 2000 Pro and I am using a PowerBook G3 500 MHz.

Following Connectix's instructions I have my Mac configured to share the Virtual PC preferences between MacOS 9 and MacOS X (by making an alias of the Virtual PC preference folder).

When I start Virtual PC under MacOS X 10.1.3 it happily uses these preferences. However when I then start a Windows machine (98 or 2000) it kills the networking not only within Windows but for the entire MacOS X (i.e. Windows cannot communicate and MacOS X cannot communicate). This can only be cured by a complete reboot (logout is not sufficient).

I am using Virtual Switch for both 98 and 2000 and have left it set to 'default interface'. As pointed out above, all this works PERFECTLY under 9.2.2. However using the very same copy of the application, preferences, and the hard disk images under 10.1.3 networking dies every single time. Note: networking is fine in 10.1.3 before I start a Windows machine in VPC.

For both MacOS 9.2.2 and 10.1.3 the Mac is set to use DHCP via an Airport card (2.0.2 driver). The Windows environments are also set to use DHCP (again a reminder this works unaltered in MacOS 9.2.2).

If you've had either of these problems, we'd like to hear from you.

Cisco updates documentation for Cisco 3000 and OS X VPN client. March 11, 2002 -- Mark Duling tells us that Cisco has published an updated document called Configuring an IPSec Tunnel Between a Mac OS X PC with the VPN Client 3.5 and the VPN 3000 (You need to be a registered user to access the page.) Duling says:

I believe that Cisco has updated instructions for their VPN Client for the Cisco 3000. The new document covers the 3000 setup and the OS X client and as such it is a help for people who are unfamiliar with this type of thing (me!). I followed the instructions and got OS X working with IPSec right away. The modification date of the document is today 3-7.

Office Security patch doesn't fix Office/DAVE OS X problem. March 11, 2002 -- Alan Griffin reports that the Microsoft Network Security Update for Office does not fix the problem of being unable to open Word documents. (On our DAVE Report page, previous readers have reported that the Microsoft Security Update fixed the Word problem.) Griffin says:

I applied the Office security patch and updated to system 10.1.3 for good measure - made no difference.

I then disabled ports 2222 and 3640 using Norton Personal Firewall - which I read somewhere would defeat the MS copy protection checks - bingo for one glorious afternoon I could open files happily across the network.

The following day I was back to the same error message with Excel files but still able to open Word documents. That's the way it still stands. Makes no sense to me!

If you've seen this problem and have installed the Microsoft Network Security Update for Office, please let us know if it affected the problem.

Free ASCon-A text converter now supports Mac OS X and Windows. March 11, 2002 -- Medienwerkstatt Muehlacker has released ASCon-A 2.0.1, a free utility for converting text between Mac OS and Windows. The new version is available for Mac OS 8.6/9.x, Mac OS X 10.1, and Windows 98 or later. (The OS X and Windows versions are new.) Version 2.0.1 also fixes bugs. A German localized version is also available.

More on network packet errors with OS X. March 11, 2002 -- Two readers have responded to our March 7 report about packet errors with Mac OS X 10.1.x networking. These readers are also seeing problems. Gregory Welch reports:

I might be experiencing this also. I have been plagued with similar symptoms between my Ti G4 PowerBook and my dual 800 MHz mini tower, both on the same 100 Mbs hub. Our department network manager and I have been trying for a long time (a year?) to figure out the problem. At some point I had to drop back to a 10 Mbs hub, which seemed to work. Recently I tried the 100 Mbs hub and it seems to work "OK." I'm not sure why. Could be something updated in 10.1.2 or 10.1.3. But I still think there is a problem because the performance seems poor when compared to a similar setup I have at home (see below).

The symptom was that when I would try and copy files (large) between the two machines, the transfer would slow to a crawl, and eventually stop, eventually with the AppleShare connection dropping. I saw similar w/ ftp and http connections. I also did several OS 9/OS X comparisons, and the OS 9 copy seemed to fly, while the OS X copy would crawl or die. If I disconnected the *uplink* cable for the hub, things seemed to unclog. This led us to lean toward collisions near the switch my office is connected to. In any case it appeared that the problem was a snowballing of packet errors. Our network manager currently believes it was/is related to a duplex problem in the drivers, but we weren't sure. We never actually used a sniffer to look at the packets.

Strangely, I have a similar setup at home, and it FLYS in OS X. It is the same hub, my same PowerBook, but my home machine is a beige G3 mini tower with an Asante 100 Mbs card (and their OS X driver). The uplink is through a software router (IPNetRouter) and an ISDN line to our building.

A duplex problem is a possibility. A problem with mismatched duplex settings between Windows servers and hubs can cause similar problems. Our Windows Server Tips page describes the problem and the fix, which is to turn off autosense in the server. However, at this point, we don't know of a way to configure duplex settings in Mac OS X.

Jonathan Greenberg also reports having problems:

I am seeing a tremendous loss of networking speed under 10.1.3 -- I use a Mac G4/500 and a laptop with Windows XP connected to a Linksys 4-port router, which used to give me pretty good transfer speeds (nearly the full 100 mbps via sftp). Now I am getting MAX 10mbps with sftp, 7 Mbps with SAMBA. I've sent bug reports to Apple and posted stuff to various message boards to no avail. I await a bug fix soon!

New VPC 5.0.2 update promises increased OS X performance. March 7, 2002 -- Yesterday afternoon Connectix posted Virtual PC Update 5.0.2, an upgrade to its PC emulator that promises increased performance in Mac OS X. (See the readme file.) The updates the Virtual PC application and the VPC Additions (which get installed in Windows). The readme file notes these improvements in performance:

• Added significant performance enhancements for Virtual PC running in Mac OS X.
• Improved performance of Virtual PC in Mac OS X with background applications. Virtual PC will receive more time when it's the foreground application.
• Virtual PC now yields processor time when a guest OS is in the foreground but idle. (Requires the new Virtual PC Additions.)
• Increased throttle time in Mac OS X to give more time to video.
• Faster overall boot time for most OSes (when no other applications are running) in Mac OS X.
• Greatly improved performance of 16-bit applications running in Windows 2000 in Mac OS X.
• Improved speed of installing 32-bit operating systems (i.e. Windows 2000) in Mac OS X.

Network packet errors with OS X. March 7, 2002 -- Jerry Chan sent a report about network packet errors (CRC errors) he's detected with Mac OS X. We've posted it on our Mac OS X X-platform report page.

A Java client for Citrix is upgraded. March 7, 2002 -- Josef Kolbitsch has upgraded his Java client for Citrix. He says:

I have created a new package with client version 6.2.0, and have moved it to our public ftp-server (.dmg.gz-file, 7.2 mb).

Tips on setting up Citrix Java client for Citrix. March 7, 2002 -- A reader who wishes to remain anonymous sent a detailed report on getting Citrix' Java client up and running in Mac OS X. The report describes how to create a double-clickable application using shell scripts. He also notes that "his procedure should work with most if not all Java based apps." You can read it on our Citrix Report page.

Report on Montjar Java client for Citrix. March 7, 2001 -- Robin Jackson reports a good experience with Darren Montjar Java Client for Citrix.

I have tried 2 or 3 Java Citrix clients and all have been difficult for a non Unix user (me) to use.

However the Mysterymachine version has been a real eye opener. It has worked perfectly in the short time I have used it but the important thing is that it has been very easy to configure as it is just like a Windows client. This means I could just copy the Citrix neighborhood information off a Windows PC put the details into the Mysterymachine version and 'hey presto' I could see all my companies published applications.

An excellent implementation.

PC-Mac-Net FileShare offers cross-platform peer-to-peer file sharing. March 6, 2002 -- Lava Software has introduced PC-Mac-Net FileShare 1.0, cross-platform peer-to-peer file sharing software for Macintosh 9/X and Windows. The software works over local networks or over the Internet using 448-bit encryption. File transfers that are interrupted by accident or on purpose can be resumed. We've added PC-Mac-Net FileShare to the list of cross-platform products on our Network Solutions page.

SMB Browse .8 fixes bugs, adds French and German. March 6, 2002 -- Gordon Shukwit has posted SMB Browse .8, a new version of his free Mac OS X utility for browsing Windows file sharing networks. The new version fixes problems with mounting share's that have spaces in the share name, and with logging on to Domains and Workgroups. The new version also includes French and German language versions for the first time.

OS X SMB leaving duplicate files on servers: a widespread problem. March 6, 2002 -- In the past few days we've received dozens of reports from readers responding to our previous reports of Mac OS X leaving files on servers that have the same name real files, but start with "._". The problem seems to occur with SMB file sharing on all types of servers.

Neil Snape sees the problem with Sharity:

For each file I copied to the XP Pro PC from Mac OS X 10.1.3 with Sharity there was a second file with this strange prefix. Always a small<1K file. Could it be the resource file from ds.store?

Colin Smith send us an "unofficial response" from Apple:

Sure enough I have the same duplicate file problem described below. I always get duplicate files with a "._" prefix when I transfer to my home Windows 2000 server via SMB or Dave 3.1 and also when I use my IBM MicroDrive and mount it on my ThinkPad or when I transfer at the office to the Windows 2000 server. NOTE:These files do not show up when mounted under Linux.

Apple's unofficial response.

In Terminal type '/Developer/Tools/GetFileInfo <path to an image file>'

You should get something like:

file: "/Users/pat/Documents/Extension editing.rtf"
type: "????"
creator: "????"
attributes: avbstclinmed
created: 05/28/2001 00:12:05
modified: 07/24/2001 03:09:22

If the type and creator part is not ????, then he has metadata and that is causing the ._ files when transferred with Mac OS X.

I tried the Terminal script above and did not get the ???? Type and Creator described therefore all the files I transfer have metadata. But I'm not sure how to create files without metadata as the files I'm transferring are standard docs, images and PDF's??

Curran Riley

I'm seeing this too. I recently started storing things on a Windows 2000 share (I had been using NetWare 4.12 servers, but they were causing me lots of grief with lock ups in OS X).

Now, when making changes to files on the Windows 2000 share, I end up with the extra files with "._" on the front of the name. The files are smaller and don't have much info in them. For instance, one that was a .htm file that I'd edited in BBEdit had some font names listed in it, but the rest was gibberish.

Andreas Kampe-Wennborg

I also have this problem.

Connecting to a Windows share (doesn't matter if it is Win XP box or Win 2K Server) via SMB, whenever I create a file I get a duplicate ._ file. I cannot see the file(s) from the Mac only Windows.

In the root folder of the share I always get a ._Trash file.

Annoying - but really no big problem for me - I'm the admin for the network, so I set the rules/policy what is allowed or not. And guess what? ._ just got allowed.....

Steve Crossman

I have seen the ._. duplicate files on our server too, but I think it occurred to me when I was using SMB to copy files. Since SMB was much slower than AFP/IP, I stopped using it. I haven't tried SMB in 10.1.3 yet and I read that someone claimed speed has improved in the latest X release.

Jin Kim

This problem may not be a problem with OS X but rather the way the server's setup, especially if they are Web servers.

The use of "._" is a way to create sort of a token that effectively locks a specific version of a file for the server to use (perhaps cached to RAM). That's why simply replacing the file without "._" doesn't work. You have to remove the locking file (the "._" file) in order for the server to see the new version at which time it will create another "._" file to lock the new version.

J. L. Williams

I am seeing this too, John. I either have to fire up Virtual PC or OS 9 to delete these (or go to a PC to do it). Without diving into this, I don't know the source...could it have something to do resource/data forks? (I'm just guessing here.)

On our Mac OS X Report page, we have even more reader reports, includin one from a reader who sees this problem when moving files to Zip disks, and another who quotes some information from the Apple Book Mac OS X System Overview.

Apple releases "Integrating Mac OS X with Active Directory". March 1, 2002 -- Apple has released a 42-page PDF manual called Integrating Mac OS X with Active Directory, the final version of the document we discussed earlier this week. It describes how Mac OS X can authenticate on Microsoft servers using Active Directory in various scenarios, and includes screen shots and illustrations. Apple's announcement of the manual included this description:

It is now possible to integrate Mac OS X computers into environments based on Microsoft's Active Directory. This includes maintaining Mac OS X user names and passwords in Active Directory, authenticating Mac OS X users with Active Directory and allowing users to mount their network home directory based upon information stored in Active Directory....

With Mac OS X's open directory services architecture and built-in support for open standards, Mac OS X desktops and servers can now leverage directory services wherever they reside - in a Macintosh NetInfo directory, in a Microsoft Active Directory, or in an enterprise LDAP directory

Apple has also has a 62-page PDF manual called Understanding and Using NetInfo, describing how to set up Mac OS X Server to use the NetInfo network database. (Links to both documents can also be found at Apple's Mac OS X Server page.)

Microsoft to ship Windows XP SP1 by 3rd quarter. March 1, 2002 -- CNET reports that Microsoft will release Windows XP Service Pack 1 by the third quarter of this year.

More info DigiTunnel, VPN for Mac OS X. March 1, 2002 -- Paul Collins of Gacion Software sent us some more information on DigiTunnel, an upcoming virtual private network client for Mac OS X that we've reported on earlier this month:

I choose PPTP for DigiTunnel because it is so widely supported on Windows servers, and so many Mac OS X users need to connect to them. Much of the criticism of PPTP has been about MSCHAP authentication - the current MSCHAPv2 authentication is much better, though certainly not perfect, if used with good passwords. This CounterPane Labs report seems like a good analysis.

My co-developer and I are working to release DigiTunnel as soon as possible. The date depends on the resolution of some issues that have come up in my earliest testing.

The Gracion web page still says "Public bet coming soon."

Latest version may fix AFP over TCP Novell 5.1 disconnect problem. March 1, 2002 -- Two readers say that the problem of random disconnects with Novell Native File Access (AFP over TCP/IP) reported earlier this week can be fixed with newer version of the Novell software. Mike Maday suggests this:

Make sure the NetWare 5.1/6.0 servers are patched to the latest AFPTCP.NLM, version J as a separate download (Our random disconnect problem went away with this version). Also, there's a NFAP service pack that was released on February 26th. Search for NFAP1SP1.EXE or Document ID 2961627 at Novell's support site. Please note: With OS 9.x, there's an Ethernet update that you may need to apply to the Macs in question aside from any server patches.

John Endahl has a similar message:

Our school has had similar problems. Are they running the latest version of AFPTCP? I believe it is AFPj100, that has improved our connection success.

ZipIt 2.2, X-platform file compression for Macs. March 1, 2002 -- ZipIt 2.2 (US $20) from Tom Brown is the latest version of a utility for Mac OS 9 and OS X that can compress and decompress files in the PC Zip format. Neither the web site nor readme file spell out what is new in this version.

More on OSX/ Dave 3.1 Keychain problem. March 1, 2002 -- Lou Flemal responded to our Wednesday reader report on a problem with Dave and the OS X Keychain:

I never connected the two symptoms, but CAN confirm that lately whenever I use Dave to connect I get the same "beachball of death" problem, and end up having to reboot the Mac. I can't confirm that it's related to the Keychain (as I've had Dave configured that way for some time now) but I can confirm the same problem using Dave 3.1 and OSX to connect to windows machines.

Until they get it worked out, I've switched over to using "sneakernet" and ZIP discs to get what I need transferred.

WebMerge 1.9.3 released for Win and Mac, 2.0 announced. March 1, 2002 -- Fourth World has released WebMerge 1.9.3 (US $69; free upgrade) for Mac OS 8 and later and Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME. It can generate static Web pages from database files, including those created by FileMaker Pro, Microsoft Access, AppleWorks, and databases and spreadsheets that can export in Merge or tab-delimited format. The new version provides greater support for automatically generating links from URLs, and fixes some bugs.

Fourth World also announced WebMerge 2.0, a free update that will be available in early April. Fourth World says "WebMerge 2.0 will support a great many new tags, including conditional IF-THEN expressions, and an INCLUDE tag to merge the contents of any text or HTML file into a template."

February 2002

Cisco drops VPN 5000 series concentrators. February 27, 2002 -- Cisco announced that it is discontinuing the Cisco VPN 5000 Series concentrators. The company said that beginning February 28, it would be offering customers a trade in program to Cisco 7200 Series routers and Cisco VPN 3000 Series concentrators.

The VPN 5000 Series supports Mac connections to virtual private networks, as does the VPN 3000 series.

Apple releases Mac OS X Server 10.1.3 update. February 27, 2002 -- Apple has posted Mac OS X Server 10.1.3 Update. Among the enhancements:

• Improved server administration of SMB, WINS registration, and printer sharing services
• New Mail server SMTP relay restriction options
• Improved reliability and performance under heavy load for file, mail and web services.
• Security fixes for FTP and the BSD Line Printer Daemon

AppleWorks 6.2 for Windows exists, but only for education customers. February 27, 2002 -- Carleton Britt points out that there is an AppleWorks 6.2 for Windows, but you can only buy it if you're an Apple education customer. It's not sold at the Apple store, but is mentioned at the AppleWorks page on the Apple Education site. It says:

How Do I Purchase AppleWorks 6.2? Order AppleWorks 6.2 through the Apple Store for Education. Hybrid Mac and Windows CDs are now shipping.

Patch for OS X allows IPSec packet forwarding. February 27, 2002 -- Alex Schnarr has created a piece of OS X software to allow IPSec packet forwarding to another computer running virtual private network software. He describes it:

[It's an] enhanced version of Network Address Translation Daemon (NATd) which supports IPSec (ESP) packet forwarding. This is real handy if your Mac OS X box is firewalling for a PC that needs to use IPSec based VPN software (or even a different Mac that supports it, as some companies such as Nortel only provide clients for MacOS 9 or earlier).

I didn't create the patch, it was created by another programmer for FreeBSD. The patch worked without modification on the Darwin sources (read the notes in the attached Readme for more information)....

The main use for this is to forward on IPSec packets to a machine that is running VPN software or can distribute IPSec packets. The only reason this would happen (as far as I know) is the firewall machine that separates the outside world from the internal is a MacOS X machine...Nortel Contivity now works on my PC through my MacOS X firewall!

DAVE for OS X Keychain bug. February 27, 2002 --Adrian Fry reports a problem with the OS X Keychain when using DAVE 3.1:

There is a bug in OS X 10.1.3 which causes either a Finder stall (spinning beach ball) or Kernel Panic using DAVE to connect to a Windows network.

If you attempt to connect to a Windows PC using DAVE and click to save the password into the Keychain, after a couple more times of connecting to different PC's you will get either a Finder stall (spinning beach ball) or Kernel Panic. This problem actually occurred in 10.1.2 to a lesser extent, but on my iMac 350 once I upgraded to 10.1.3 the problem became constant. I have tried DAVE with and without the recently released patch - same problem. Not sure if this is a Keychain or a DAVE problem - either way, it caused some serious errors on the Hard Drive which I couldn't fix using fsck - had to re-boot into OS 9 and use Norton.

If you've seen this, please let us know.

Another reader sees OS X leaving duplicate files on servers. February 27, 2002 -- Vanessa Schwab reports having the same problem with Mac OS X reported by Larry Martin on January 14, 2002 on our X-platform Mac OS X Report page. Martin (who was reporting about the Finder crashing problem with NT Server) also reported this:

I have also found that I am creating "duplicates" of many of my files that are small in size and begin with "._." on the NT Server.

Schwab also sees this, but with SMB and a Unix server:

I'm having the same problems. I use Sharity to connect to a Solaris server. When I save a file, say 'test.cfm', automatically, '._test.cfm' appears. Then, refreshing the browser will produce a 404 Object Not Found error. Currently, I have to go to a Mac running OS 9, delete the ._file, drag the good file to the Desktop, then replace it back onto the server. Refreshing brings up the page fine.

If you've seen this, please let us know.

More kudos for Citrix Java Clients with OS X. February 27, 2002 -- Another pair of readers report good results with Darren Montjar's Citrix Java client on Mac OS X. Michael Wilmar says:

I have also tried Montjar's Citrix Java Client with System X and can confirm that it works well, at least on a LAN. It is, however, slower on a 266 MHz G3 than the System 9 Citrix client. Still, it's nice that it's there.

Paul Drisgula reports:

I have been using the Citrix Java Client, MysteryMachine, for a few days now and it seems to work just fine. This was one of the last programs I needed to complete my transition to System X. Nice job Darren.

Update on OS X Active Directory documentation: final release "soon." February 26, 2002 -- We spoke to Apple HQ in Cupertino regarding the PDF manual Integrating Mac OS X with Active Directory that we briefly posted yesterday and then pulled at Apple's request. An Apple representative verified that this was a draft of an Apple document that would be released in the near future. We will let you know as soon as Apple releases the finished document.

Cleaner for Win and Mac, X-platform streaming media. February 26, 2002 -- Discreet has released Cleaner 5.1.1 for Mac and Windows, an updated to the cross-plat from video streaming encoding software. The new version adds Mac OS X support (v 5.1 added Windows XP support). The Windows version adds support for updated codecs from Sorenson Video, RealSystems, and Microsoft Windows Media. Reader Nate Caplin notes this about the Windows version:

The Windows version now does VBR encoding for Windows Media 8, which previously could only be done with Microsoft's "Windows Media 8 Encoding Utility", a command-line driven app. Note that the Mac version still supports only Windows Media 7, because Microsoft has not yet released an updated Windows Media SDK for Mac.

Disconnects with NetWare 5.1, Native File Access Pack and Macs. February 26, 2002 -- Ron Bishop reports this problem with Macs and the NetWare File Access Pack:

We just installed Native File Access Pack on a Novell 5.1 server to connect via TCP/IP (We are migrating our Macs to OS X to take advantage of DTI's AdSpeed Systems.) However, we are getting random disconnecting during file transfers with the server. Then, we can't delete the files from the server because the server says they are in use. No disconnections occur if nothing is happening. This problem occurs in OS X, Os 9.x, and Os 8.x.

My boss says that several other companies are experiencing the same problem. No troubles on the PC side.

If you've seen this problem, please let us know.

Corporate Java tool for MS Project 2000 files. February 26, 2002 -- Inovie has a Java program called TeamCenter 4.0 ( US $15,000 per server and US $350 per user) that can import and export Microsoft Project 2000 files from a Mac, and handle document management. It runs on Windows NT/2000, Mac OS, Solaris, and Linux servers.

Apple releases updated Java for OS X. February 26, 2002 -- Speaking of Java, Apple has released Java 1.3.1 Update 1, and update for Mac OS X 10.1.3. Improvements include overall stability and compatibility, improvements with mouse behavior that involve dragging, and the fixing of printing problems.

LATE NEWS POST: Apple demands MacWindows pull Active Directory manual. February 25, 2002 -- At Apple's request, we have removed the link to the 35-page PDF manual called Integrating Mac OS X with Active Directory, which we posted early this morning. The demand we received from Apple:

Remove Active Directory document NOW !!!

Please remove this document now. This document belongs to Apple Computer, Inc.

We (Apple) will post a final version to our web site soon. This version you have still has typos and bugs so please remove it.

I know this because I am the author.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Apple claims that Mac OS X can integrate with Microsoft's Active Directory, but has not provided any documentation to back up it's product claim. Neither Mr. Mankovsky nor any other Apple representative will tell us when documentation will be available.

However, Active Directory authentication is possible, as we have previously posted reader tips for using OS X with Active Directory and Kerberos, as well as links to further instructions, on our X-platform Mac OS X Report page.

Reader Scott Messec sent us the PDF file, which he found on another user's personal web site. The manual contains screen shots and illustrations. An introduction describes the manual:

In the scenario this document addresses, three computers on a network interact when a user logs in:

• A Mac OS X client computer, where the user logs in and her network home directory is mounted in the Finder under the network globe
• A Windows 2000 server, hosting the Active Directory database
• A Mac OS X Server, hosting the network home directories

Reader says Montjar's Citrix Java Client works well. February 25, 2002 -- Reader Adam Getliff is happy with Darren Montjar's Citrix Java client for OS X:

I downloaded the Citrix Java client for OS X created by Darren Montjar - posted 15th Feb 2002 and it works fine. It seems to be about the same speed as the ICA client that runs in Classic mode. Seems fine to me. Many thanks for Darren - I have tried the manual route to install the JAVA client downloaded from Citrix, but couldn't make it work - but then I'm no expert when it comes to Unix.

SMB Browse .7 released. February 25, 2002 -- Gordon Shukwit has released build .7 of SMB Browse, his free Mac OS X utility for browsing Windows file sharing networks. The new version handles larger SMB networks without the spinning cursor on start up and fixes a problem using the Finder to eject shares. Shukwit says that this version has been tested in 14 different network topologies, from large universities to small SOHO networks. Current languages are English, French and Dutch.  

Reader verifies Timbuktu problem outside US. February 25, 2002 -- Jan Suhr also sees the character error problem with non-North American versions of Timbuktu, which we reported last Thursday:

I have the same problem but worse. With Swedish keyboard settings on both Windows and Mac I can not type the special characters at all.

The controlled Windows machine gets the same characters from both Mac and Windows. So even if I use a Windows machine as controller it types incorrectly in the remote Win machine.

None of the special characters that are accessed by ALT GR do not work at all, on Swedish keyboards that includes @ \ $ and many more.

It looks to me as it uses the US keyboard when it transmits commands. So in my case it looks like this:

Controller	Controlled
Mac	Win	Errors
Win	Win	Errors

Reader says StuffIt/DAVE 3.1 problem may be related to Retrospect issue. February 25, 2002 --Gregory Newton sent a report of problem with StuffIt over a DAVE network. He suggests it may be related to a the problem with Retrospect over a DAVE 3.1 network connection that he's previously report. His latest report:

Testing the latest patch from Thursby for version 3.1, I have identified another issue that may be related to the previous problem with Retrospect.

Running under Dave 3.1 and attempting to use Stuffit 6.5.1 from the contextual menu in the Finder to stuff a file located on the server that will be saved back to the server, I get a file error that states "Your preferred destination folder is currently write protected, Error -61". This error does not occur using Dave 2.5.2. Folders on our server are NOT write protected. Thursby has been advised of this issue and is looking at it.

The DAVE patch he refers to was the one we reported February 19.

If you've seen these problems, please let us know.

Another reader says OS X 10.1.3 upgrade offers better networking. February 25, 2002 -- Dwight Adams sees improved networking in last week's Mac OS X 10.1.3 release:

I've found that from within the Classic environment the networking is much better than it was. For example, in Photoshop I can navigate through the server and open a file directly from the server with out crashing now.

My work around has been to have 2 connections to the same sever (1) using the SMB or CIFS (thank you Earl) for copying files back and forth, and (2) an AppleTalk or AFP for when I'm in the Classic environment. It's a bit awkward but so far so good.

Seeking Basilisk II tips for Win Me, XP. February 25, 2002 -- Two readers report having problems using the Basilisk II Mac emulator on Windows. Sirrus Firestrom says he has the same problem running Mac OS 8.1 in Basilisk II on Windows ME that we've previously reported.

Dr. Peter C. Yih has a problem with Windows XP:

I am still having problems with Basilisk II on Windows XP home. I am using the latest build 142 for NT4/Win 2000. After the happy Mac shows up in the Mac Window, the disk is constantly reading. Trying to end the process yields no response. Only a forced shutdown / reboot clears it. The OS is from the system restore image on CD from Compaq.

We have previously posted some readers tips on the subject on our Mac Emulation for Windows page. If you know of any tips that can get Basilisk II running on Win ME and XP, please share them with us.

Mac OS X 10.1.3: Finder crashing with SFM not fixed. February 21, 2002 -- About a dozen readers reported that the new Mac OS X 10.1.3 does not fix the Finder crashing problem with Windows SFM (AFP) servers seen with v10.1.x. However, Brian Frobisher saw one small improvement with this issue:

I notice it is still crashing, but the mounted volume remains mounted when the Finder comes back. In the older version the Finder crashed and you had to relog onto the server, with this version it still crashes when I start clicking on folders and after the crash all the opened folders are closed and the volume is still on the desktop.

Additionally, Johann Dijkstra reports that SMB file sharing to Windows servers is faster:

After updating to 10.1.3 I noticed that SMB works a lot faster than before. The Login dialog appears a lot faster, almost half the time as before, and when the mount button is clicked the mounting happens almost immediately. Before this took several seconds.

Another reader verifies MS Office patch fixes DAVE problem. February 21, 2002 -- Martin Forrester is another reader who verifies our theory that the Microsoft Network Security Update for Office X fixes a problem with DAVE:

I agree that it does seem like that Office X security patch has cured the problem with not being able access Word X files on DAVE volumes.

Reader reports Timbuktu Windows character problem on non-US versions. February 21, 2002 -- John Lockwood reports of a bug in Timbuktu 2000 for Windows and later. He says the bug was not previous versions, and occurs with the UK edition:

The bug causes characters typed on one computer running Timbuktu to produce the wrong result on the computer being controlled. All applications and all versions of Windows are affected in the following permutations.

Controller	Controlled	Result
Windows	Windows	No errors
Mac	Windows	Characters mapped wrong (see table)
Windows	Mac	Characters mapped wrong (see table)
Mac	Mac	No errors

As I am based in the UK all my computers have UK keyboards and their operating systems are accordingly (and correctly) configured to UK settings. If I do not do this and instead use US settings then the physical keyboard connected to the computer would not work correctly.

For the above MacOS 9.x and 10.1.x with Timbuktu 5.2.4 and 6.0.1 are affected, and Timbuktu 2000 (or later) on Windows 98, 98SE, ME, NT 4.0, 2000Pro, 2000Server, 2000 Advanced Server (and presumably XP) are all affected. All sorts of UK models of Macs (PowerMac and PowerBook) and UK models of PCs (e.g. Compaq, Dell, Gateway) have been tested.

Here is a table showing which characters are involved.

Controller: Mac	Controlled: Windows
@	"
"	@
\	#
|	~
~	(looks like an L on its side, not in Mac character set)
Controller: Windows	Controlled: Mac
"	@
@	"
#	\
~	|
\	(nothing appears on Mac)

While the " and @ characters are simply swapped and therefore an easy workaround is to simply remember to type the opposite key, a Mac controlling a Windows machine cannot type the backslash '\' symbol at all. As anyone who has used Windows will know this symbol frequently has to be typed on a PC to define file paths (e.g. C:\Windows\System\). Being unable to type this character is an enormous headache.

As this bug affects 100 percent of computers 100 percent of the time (when a Mac is controlling Windows or vice versa) not fixing this problem after 2-plus years and several revisions of both the Mac and Windows software is inexcusable. Keyboard mapping is hardly rocket science, nor will it require a complete rewrite of the software to fix.

I can only conclude that because apparently it does not affect computers with US keyboard layouts and therefore US customers are not affected that Netopia are ignoring the problem.

If you've seen this problem, please let us know. Be sure to tell us which language localization you are using.

A Better Finder Rename 4.4 lets you save original file names. February 21, 2002 -- Dr. Frank Reiff has released A Better Finder Rename 4.4 (US $14.95), a Mac OS 9 and OS X contextual menu plugin for changing the file names of batches of files. It can be used for removing characters that are legal under Mac OS, but illegal under Windows and Unix, as well as for other tasks. The new versions allows you to save the original file names in a text file, as well as a "significant rewrite of the internal architecture of the product."

Reader confirms: MS security update for Office X fixes problem with Dave 3.1. February 20, 2002 -- Last week we theorized that a copy protection bug in Office X was the cause of readers not being able access Word X files on DAVE networks.

We further predicted that the new Microsoft Network Security Update might fix the problem seen on DAVE networks. Today, reader Per Thörnblad confirms that this is indeed the case:

I had the same problem as Alan Griffin reported about not being able to open Word-files from a Dave-mounted file server. I am using Dave 3.1 and Mac OS X 10.1.2.

After installing the security update for Office X the problem seems to be solved as I now can open Word from my file server.

Readers confirm VPC 5 conflict with Win 2000 Security Rollup Package. February 20, 2002 -- Two readers have confirmed our report of February 18 that Windows 2000 Security Rollup Package causes problems with Virtual PC 5. Doron Eren reports:

I had the same problem, which I (sort of) corrected by using the task manager to kill a process called "discoveryservic" which seemed to be hogging memory and CPU. After reading the post in MacWindows I removed the security update and the problem disappeared.

Paul Cohen:

I run Virtual PC 5.0.1 on a Firewire PowerBook with Windows 2000 installed. I have noted a similar slowdown with VPC after installing both the SR2 additions and the Security Roll-up update mentioned on your site by Bradford Pollock. Things returned to normal after uninstalling both.

Apple ships Mac OS X 10.1.3 -- Active Directory authentication noted. February 20, 2002 -- Apple has made Mac OS X 10.1.3 available through the Software Update mechanism. In addition to a number of multimedia improvements, the new version of the operating system includes some networking features, including login authentication support of Microsoft's Active Directory service and LDAP. MacWindows readers may remember that our Mac OS X Report page has a discussion of how to authenticate using Active Directory -- since Apple has not yet posted details, we can only assume this new "support" means it has been made easier or is now documented in OS X.

WebDAV (used by iDisk) can now authenticate using Digest, be we aren't familiar with what this is. The Mail program now supports SSL encryption as well.

There's no word yet if v.10.1.3 fixes the Finder crashing problem with Win NT Server SFM seen with v10.1.x, or some of the other cross-platform networking problems we've reported. If you've installed 10.3, please let us know if it fixes these problems.

Update on Retrospect/Dave 3.1 problem. February 20, 2002 -- Gregory Newton sent an update to his February 18 report about Retrospect files temporarily disapearing over DAVE 3.1:

Problem confirmed and is directly related to version 3.1. I reloaded version 2.5.2 and Retrospect works perfectly. I have reported this problem to Thursby and they are taking a look at it.

On a positive note, opening of directories on the NT4 server by a Mac client that contains hundreds or even thousands of files is significantly faster than in version 2.5.2. Will keep you posted on further findings as necessary.

Patch for DAVE 3.1 fixes OS X kernel panics. February 19, 2002 -- Yesterday's MacFixIt reported the availability of a patch, called the DAVE 3.1p2 Update (download here -- no info at the Thursby web site). The Readme file says that the patch is designed to fix kernel panics that can occur in some circumstances, including when deleting folders, importing MP3 files into iTunes to a DAVE volume, and when using NetBarrier X. The patch also fixes a problem when DAVE 3.1 would report that it couldn't delete all of the items because some files were locked, when they weren't.

However, the Readme file warns that the patch should be only used if necessary:

DAVE 3.1p2 has not been formally tested. Therefore, you should only use this patch kit if you are experiencing the problems listed below which have been corrected with this patch kit.

Petition asks Apple to add NTFS to OS X. February 19, 2002 -- Brett Koonce has posted a petition to Apple asking the company to add support of NTFS-formatted drives to Mac OS X. There is information here describing why this would be beneficial. The petition itself is here. (NTFS is a drive format supported in Windows NT/2000/XP which removes many of the limitations of FAT32.)  

SMB Browse .62 for OS X posted. February 19, 2002 -- Developer Gordon Shukwit has posted version .62 of SMB Browse, a free Mac OS X utility for browsing Windows file sharing networks. Since the .5 version, there has been a new user interface and a removal of the limits on numbers of servers and shares. Version .62 now can unmounts volumes (instead of the Finder), which fixes a previous problem with ejecting shares.

How to configure 3Com AirConnect and Airport clients. February 19, 2002 -- Albert Booky sent us a detailed report on configuring a 3Com AirConnect acting as a bridge on a wired cross platform network with 3Com PCs and Mac Airport clients. It's a very detailed account that we've posted on on our Cross-platform AirPort special report page.

Aiport 2 affecting VPC and Win XP? February 19, 2002 -- Grant Stephenson reports that installing AirPort 2.0 on Mac OS X seems to have affected Virtual PC's ability to run Windows XP:

I am unable to start Windows XP successfully. I first noticed the problem after I updated the AirPort software in early February to version 2.0. Previously, I had install VPC5 on my PowerBook G4 (677; system 10.1.2) and run it successfully.

The problem: Windows won't load normally; does a drive check; tries to load; on failure presents the "didn't load" properly warning and the cycle repeats.

I have run the 5.0.1 update. Connectix support suggests that the problem may be with the Apple operating system, or may be fixed with the 5.0.2 update that is in the works.

If you've seen this problem, please let us know.

Old MS UAM crashing NT Server. February 19, 2002 -- Nick Brooker reports that an old Microsoft UAM on a Mac was crashing his NT Server:

MS UAM v 1.0 will blue screen an NT server if you transfer a decent sized file to it. The machine is running OS 8.6 and AppleShare 3.8.3. Deleting the MS UAM and restarting solved it, also the new 5.0x UAM worked without problems.

Tip: Outlook 2001 setup. February 19, 2002 -- Reacting to some suggestions for configuring Outlook 2001 on our Outlook Special Report page, Daniel Granja sent us some advice of his own. He set up a hosts file, which readers have suggested before, but this is such a common issue that we thought it was worth repeating:

I discovered that the ExchangeServer's DNS host name (for example "mail" in mail.yourdomain.com) needs to be the same as the NT Server's own internal computer name. If the two are different, which isn't all that uncommon, then your Outlook 2001 client setup will successfully connect and create a profile, but when you try to log on you will receive errors regarding the information store and the client will shut down when trying to connect.

In the short term, I solved this on my machine by creating a host file which points the NT computer name to the actual registered DNS name. The appropriate fix is either to have the computer and DNS names match, or enter a DNS record for the computer name.

Now if I can only find out why my Entourage client can send Internet mail through my Exchange server, but my Outlook 2001 client can't...

(See our Mac OS X Report page for configuring a hosts file in OS X.)

Virtual PC 5.0.1 problem with Win 2000 Security Rollup Package. February 18, 2002 -- Bradford Pollock found that adding a Microsoft Win 2000 security upgrade in Virtual PC slowed the emulator to a crawl:

I am running Virtual PC 5.0.1 w/Win 2000 under Mac OS 9.2.2 on my PowerMac G4/500 MHz/512 MB RAM with 296 MB RAM allocated to VPC. Everything was fine until I used Windows Update to install a "Critical Update" released by Microsoft - the Windows 2000 Security Rollup Package Jan 2002. VPC slowed to a crawl after that. I removed the update using the Win 2000 Add/Remove Programs control panel and VPC performance was OK again. It might be a critical update, but I can't use it.

If you've seen this problem, please let us know.

Feedback on Iogear's Palm Synching solution for 10.1 and Outlook. February 18, 2002 -- A couple of readers commented on the Palm synching solution for Outlook and Mac OS X we reported on February 8. Michael Perbix says:

I have used this software and it works as advertised from the Ethernet cradle. But if you have a lot of users, the software becomes pricey fast.

Tony Gentile is using an infrared connection instead of Ethernet:

We're using the same software but instead of an Ethernet cradle, we're synching Palm and Outlook over IR with a Clarinet Systems Ethir. Works most of the time. We've kept the test environment small, 8 users, and hope to get rid of cradles altogether soon.

Migrating from NetWare to Win Server: use Retrospect. February 18, 2002 -- In response to our request for tips on moving Mac files from NetWare servers to Windows servers (and retaining the resource forks), two readers suggest using Retrospect from Dantz. An anonymous reader says:

We use retrospect to back up local machines. It has a duplicate function. So, what I do is mount both volumes. Use the duplicate function and chose source and destination and set it to copy corresponding files. It will keep up with what it could not copy (open files) plus if you need to copy again it will only copy what has changed.

Don Haldane reports:

We have just finished migrating Mac files from Novell to Windows 2000, (4 servers in all). Just use Retrospect and set up a script to to a duplicate. All docs must be closed on client machines, otherwise those open files will not copy.

Reader problem: Retrospect files become invisible over DAVE network. February 18, 2002 --Greg Newton is having problems using Retrospect to back up Mac files on a Windows NT network using DAVE 3.1:

We have been successfully using Dave 2.x for around 3-4 years now and it has been a great product. We just purchased some new Macs to use on our NT4 server based network and I decided to upgrade to the new 3.1 version to try it out. All systems were go, until I tried to back up the server to my new G4 (running OS 9.2.2) using Retrospect 4.3. I did this regularly using 9.2.2, Retrospect 4.3 and Dave 2.5.x with no problems. Now, using Dave 3.1 I get huge numbers of errors in the Retrospect log (typically a -127 error) and Retrospect gives the warning that the "volume may be corrupt?" which is always reassuring.

Quitting Retrospect and attempting to open a folder on the server that yielded the "-127" error, I find that most if not all my files are apparently missing. The only way to get them back is to log off the NT server and log back on and bingo, all the files are back. Attempting to backup again yields the same problem with the mounted server "forgetting" files which apparently causes Retrospect to generate numerous errors. Has anyone seen this type of error? Again, this never happened when using earlier versions of DAVE.

If you've seen these problems, please let us know.

Mac OS X sleep disconnects from network volumes. February 18, 2002 -- Jeff Chambers is also seeing Macs disconnecting from Windows 2000 Server, but when the Mac sleeps:

Both Mac OS 10.1.2 machines are running nothing special except that both will disconnect from shared volumes from two different servers. One is UShare for Solaris and the other is Windows 2000 Server SP2

I have fixed the problem by setting the energy setting to never sleep and that has solved this problem for both machines. The screen saver still works though. I have also seem it affect another network program with similar disconnect results.

QuickTime Streaming Server 4 ships; QuickTime 6 will support MPEG-4. February 18, 2002 -- Apple has released QuickTime Streaming Server 4 (free download). New features include streaming and on-demand support for the MPEG-4 format and the ability to serve MP3 files or playlists to standard Windows and Mac MP3 players, such as WinAmp, iTunes, and QuickTime player.

MPEG-4 support is also built into the cross-platform client software, QuickTime 6, which apple says is ready but not shipping:

Although the QuickTime 6 software is complete and ready for release, Apple is delaying its release until MPEG-4 video licensing terms are improved.

Microsoft survey on Outlook is IE only. February 18, 2002 -- Hal Taylor and John Wolf point out that Microsoft's Outlook:Mac survey about future features only works with Internet Explorer. You can fill out the form using Netscape, but the submit button only works with IE.

Win 2000 or XP on an OrangePC card? February 18, 2002 -- Dave Green wonders if anyone has found a way to run Windows 2000 or XP on an old OrangePC Pentium card (which was discontinued before Windows 2000 shipped). If you know of a way, please share it with us.

Apple nixes Aqua themes for Windows. February 18, 2002 -- Apparently Apple doesn't want Windows XP to look any more like OS X than it already does. According to a CNET story, the ThemeXP web site removed two Aqua-like themes for Windows at Apple's request.

Microsoft Office X copy protection bug -- the cause of a problem with DAVE? February 15, 2002 -- Alan Griffin reports a problem with Office X applications over a network with DAVE connection:

I have just made the transition to OS X and as I need to connect to an NT network I upgraded from Dave 2.5.2 to Dave 3.1. Imagine my shock when I was unable to open Excel or Word files across the network.

...The workaround is to drag files to your local machine then copy them back when they have been updated, but this is a completely impractical way to work in an environment where you are sharing files all day every day.

We asked Thursby Systems Director Customer Services Carl Ketterling about the problem. He responded:

We've had several reports of this problem -- enough to know that is a serious problem -- but we have other customers using Microsoft Office without problems. We are having a difficult time reproducing this in our office which, as you know, is usually the first step in resolving a this type of problem. We have documented this as a bug, and we hope to have it corrected in our next release. For customers experiencing this problem, we would like them to report their symptoms to our support department. As stated above, we do not yet have a solution, but the information may help us track down the problem and will allow us to contact customers once a solution is found.

However, this problem could be related to a Microsoft Office X "security bug," which is a problem with the anti-piracy software in Office X. (See this MacInTouch page report on the issue.) Microsoft has released a Network Security Update as a fix for the bug. (Macintosh writer Bob LeVitus provides some tips on installing the update at OS X FAQ.com.

If you've seen this problem (with DAVE or another network), let us know. Also let us know whether you've installed the Microsoft Network Security Update.

Microsoft posts new ODBC drivers. February 15, 2002 -- Microsoft has posted ODBC database drivers that enable Office 2001 "to connect to and retrieve data from the following data sources: Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, dBASE, Microsoft Visual FoxPro, America Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text files."

Matthew Smith postulates that the new drivers may work with other products besides Office:

I would imagine they'd work with anything that supports ODBC, including FileMaker Pro. If so, I can pretty much stop using Virtual PC to run the Windows version of FMPro to do my queries to a MS SQL 7 database.

MySQLConnect for 4D 1.0.4 adds OS X support. February 15, 2002 -- 4ee4 has released MySQLConnect for 4D 1.0.4 for Mac OS and Windows. The update to the 4th Dimension plugin adds support for Mac OS X. MySQL for 4D enables 4th Dimension database servers and applications to connect to SQL databases. It is based on the open source cross-platform MySQL.

Upcoming VPN Client for Mac OS X promised. February 15, 2002 -- Gracion Software is promising to release a virtual private network client for Mac OS X called DigiTunnel. The software will use the Microsoft PPTP protocol. Gracion has not published release dates for DigiTunnel, put is promising a public beta. Gracion has not responded to our request for more information. (Thanks to John DeMillion for the tip.)

New version of SMB Browse for OS X; info at web site. February 15, 2002 -- Gordon Shukwit has posted build 0.56 of SMB Browse, his Mac OS X utility for browsing Windows file sharing networks. Shukwit says the new version has better support for NT Domains, name resolution, and mounting. He's also updated the SMB Browse web page with information and tips.

Migrating Mac files from NetWare to Windows server: still no solution? February 15, 2002 -- A little over a year ago, we reported that the only way to migrate Mac files from a Novell server to a Windows server without loosing the resource forks is from the Mac Finder. Tulio Quinones if another solution has come about since then:

We are currently a Novell shop and are in the process of migrating to Windows 2000 and are looking for a solution to move the Macintosh files that are stored on a NetWare server to a W2K server. When we copy the files or restore the files using Arcserve we lose the resource forks. The only solution is to drag and drop from a Mac. This solution works but the speed just isn't there.

If you know of a faster way to migrate, please let us know.

Native Mac OS X Client for Citrix may be ready in Q3 2002; another Java client. February 15, 2002 -- Darren Montjar reports that Citrix says it may release an OS X-native version of the Mac Citrix client in the third quarter of this year:

Mac OS X Support for ICA Client

Currently, Citrix engineers are in the process of developing a native MacOS X client and we anticipate availability of the client in quarter 3 of 2002.

Montjar says:

This is the first semi-official response from Citrix I've seen regarding client availability for Mac OS X. I found it on their self-help solutions forum.

Montjar has also posted a Java client

I've posted a double-clickable version of the Java client for Mac OS X. It works pretty well.

Our Citrix special report page notes other Java Citrix clients that run in OS X, including several created by MacWindows readers.

HELIOS offers free Mac OS X test drive. February 15, 2002 -- HELIOS Software GmbH is offering free test drives of all of its server products for Mac OS X 10.1. This includes EtherShare 2.6, and AFP server for Mac clients; PCShare 3.0, and SMB server for Windows clients; and other products.

The demo versions can support up to three concurrent clients for 30 days. The demo software is available at Apple's OS X networking download page and at the Helios site.

NameCleaner 2.5 adds OS X features. February 15, 2002 -- Sig Software has released NameCleaner 2.5, a new version of the a file name utility for OS 7/8/9 and for OS X.NameCleaner can remove characters from Mac file names that are illegal under Windows. It can also manipulate file type codes. Among the new features are:

• Support for long file names on HFS Plus and UFS volumes
• Filters for preparing file names for use under Unix
• A contextual menu module for OS X

TIP: using MS Outlook with VPN connections. February 8, 2002 -- Jason Halvorson sent us some suggestions on how to get Outlook 2001 for Mac to work over a virtual private network connection:

Within the Exchange Server settings, you can disable the Server Polling option in the Advance tab. This should take care of the issue, if it is same one I've had in the past.

I am no expert, but it appears that Outlook on PC's and Mac's love to have uninterrupted connections to servers. If there is even a slight hiccup, the client has a bit of a fit. This is the setting change we had to make in order to make MS Outlook stable when using a VPN client:

• Within the setup of the Outlook profile, open the "Exchange Server" service properties.
• Click on the Advance tab.
• Enable "Check server every" box and set it to 22 seconds. (I don't know why 22, but it gave us the best results after much testing in our situation.)

Meanwhile, Jason Elliott has some other workarounds:

We've had similar problems on our corporate network. If you connected through a cable modem or dialup that was not Sprint or AOL, the Outlook client would work fine via VPN. There's something about the authentication the VPN client uses that is not supported over some ISP's networks.

On the other hand, we have the Outlook Web Access setup, so that's a workaround. It's worked pretty well so far.

We've added these to other reader VPN/Outlook tips on our Outlook Special Report page.

Outlook 2001 Palm syncing solution. February 8, 2002 -- Matt Green has found a server-based solution that enables Mac users to sync Outlook 2001 data to their Palm handhelds:

Just wanted to let you know that we found a solution that will allow Mac users to sync their Palm Handhelds to the Exchange server. A company called Extended Systems makes a server that interfaces with the Exchange database and allows the users to Hotsync through the Ethernet version of the Palm cradle. The server software is sold per license for 5-9 users = $249 ea. and 10-49 users - $209 ea. We have a few users who have Palm Vx units which don't have an Ethernet cradle, so a company called Port Smith makes a serial to Ethernet adapter for $169 that will allow each user to sync. This setup would also work for PCs but isn't necessary since the conduit is already built for the PCs and Outlook. This solution bypasses the Palm Desktop/Outlook sync completely and goes straight to the Exchange server.

If you've tried this, we'd like to know how well it works.

Fix for "Logon to Win 2000 Server stuck in a loop"-- same as fix for long logon times. February 8, 2002 -- Responding to our Feb 6 report of a problem with the logon process being stuck in a loop, Stefan Reumann offers a fix. The interesting thing is that its the same fix for the problem of long logon times: delete server aliases on the Mac. Reumann says:

1. Open the System Folder:Server
2. Delete all Aliases
3. Go to the extensions manager in Control panels and disable Keychain
4. Reconnect to the server(s)

   I am not sure if this solves the problem for 100% - deleting the aliases every once in a while DEFINITELY helps.

Reader corrects us on Win 2000 hotfix. February 8, 2002 -- Yesterday, we said that the Microsoft hotfix for Windows 2000 Server to fix the incorrect file size report problem is not included with Service Pack 2. Johan Gunverth tells us that while the fix is not included if you upgrade to SP2, it is with a clean install:

This is right if you update your Win2K Server to SP2 from SP1 or earlier using Windows Update or the separate SP2 install. You have to apply the hotfix if it hasn't been done earlier.

If you perform a clean-install of a Win2K Server from CD where SP2 is included in the installation (in this case the Select-Discs) the file sizes are reported correct. It's not documented, but it works. Also, the hotfix reports that it´s not needed when you run it.

Update on USB-Mac-to-PC file transfer product. February 8, 2002 -- David Zinkin sent us the URL with more information on the Direct Linq BFC-100 USB Smart Cable (US $32), a device that can transfer files between Mac and PC. (We reported the cable last month, but the link we used did not provide much information.) The cable uses software installed on both the Mac (OS 8.6-9.x) and the Windows PC.

Citrix Metaframe for OS X. February 8, 2002 -- Jon Miller reports that a Citrix engineer told him that "Citrix is considering development of Metaframe for OS X.

Beta OS X tool lets you browse for SMB Win servers. February 7, 2002 -- Gordon Shukwit has created a Mac OS X tool for browsing network for SMB Windows file servers. He describes it this way:

A .5 release of a Windows/SMB network neighborhood tool that allows you to browse Samba and NT Domain/AD shares and mount them without the bother of having to use the command-k connect to server and remembering the name of the domain, server and share.

Its free to whoever wants it. Have tested it in 6 different configs, NT 4 Domain, 2000 AD, SAMBA and Win 98 shares only.

Mounts the shares in the mount table, and refreshes the disktool to show the mounted shares in the file dialogs and desktop. Requires OS X 10.1.2 (may work in 10.1.1 but I do not have a copy of it)

Mediafour releases X Technology Preview 4 --iPod for Windows. February 7, 2002 -- Mediafour announced XPlay Preview 4, the newest beta version of its Windows software that lets PC users connect to Apple's iPod. Among the new features:

• Ability to delete songs
• Create, rename and delete playlists
• A new XPlay iPod Restore Wizard will reformat your iPod hard drive and restore it factory-fresh configuration in case of problems.
• Increased stability

XPlay Preview 4 runs on Windows 98SE/Me/2000 or XP.

Reader says hotfix for Win 2000 fixes incorrect file size report problem. February 7, 2002 -- K. Scott Myers reports that a hotfix for Windows 2000 that we reported about 10 months ago does indeed fix the problem with incorrect file size reporting by the server. (The hotfix was not included in Service Pack 2.)

I have installed the MS Hotfix described in Knowledge Base article Q277862. The fix was emailed to me free of charge from MS and seems to work fine. All file sizes from 4k to 50 MB report correctly.

Reader says MHT is Windows only. February 7, 2002 -- A reader named Frank responded to our query about reading MHT files created in Int