Troubleshooting Mac OS X 10.3 (#3): More on FireWire problems; Macromedia applications and authorization; more

[part 1 (Palm, Default Folder, login), part 2 (File Vault, FireWire, Photoshop)]

More on FireWire problems We continue to receive reports of problems with FireWire drives connected during installation of Mac OS X 10.3 or introduced to the system after upgrading:

" I believe I may have had a similar problem with a FireWire drive as Glenn Tiffert reports (yesterday). My 200GB external LaCie drive is the second drive on the external FireWire bus, and had been reformatted with a 10.3 install. While attempting to install the driver for my HP d145 printer the new system appeared to hang, so I did a forced shutdown/reboot. The computer then booted into OS X.2.8 on the first FireWire drive (120GB), with a message that the second FireWire drive (200GB) had 'no OS X readable volumes.' Nothing I tried could 'see' the 200GB drive (DiskWarrior, TechTool Deluxe, Norton). Disk Utility saw the drive, but no volume. I have reformatted the drive and it again seems to be operating normally as a data drive. I was going to reinstall X.3 on the drive, but after seeing Glenn's comments I may wait a few days to see what other reports come in."

Macromedia applications and authorization Yesterday we reported that some users of Macromedia MX applications were prompted to re-enter their serial number - in some cases triggering the anti-piracy measures to think that too many copies are in use - after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3. Now some readers are reporting that Macromedia technical support is providing access to a special FTP site for users who need to re-download updates after receiving a "download limit exceeded" message. Bruce Wise writes:

"I did a clean install of Panther, and when I tried to open Freehand MXa (which is an update to MX), i was surprised to discover that it wanted my serial number again. I entered it, and was taken to the Macromedia site, and I was informed that I could not activate as I would exceed my one download limit. I wrote them, and explained that this was only due to the fact that I did a clean Panther install. They agreed to give me another download, as long as i used a special FTP address and it would only be available to me for 24 hours. Thanks Macromedia! (but does that mean, if I ever have to do another clean install, i will have to get special activation permission from Macromedia for this product?)"

StuffIt Engine not recognized Several readers have reported that StuffIt Deluxe 8.0 becomes unusable after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3. Most users affected by the problem have been able to fix it by re-installing Stuffit Deluxe 8.0.1.

If you haven't installed Mac OS X 10.3 yet, you may be able to avoid the problem altogether by choosing a Custom install and de-selecting StuffIt.

Virtual PC 6.1 Printing While most readers have reported no major problems in Virtual PC 6.1 after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3, there are a few reports of minor annoyances.

Luca Giroux reports that after upgrading to Panther, Virtual PC 6.1 with Win95 or Win2000 will not print using emulation printing. We've corroborated this with other readers, and it appears to be due to Panther's change in printing architecture.

Tom Beardmore writes "After installing Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther), I found that when I run Virtual PC 6.1, I cannot click out of the Virtual PC window and into any other application that is still running in the background. However, by toggling through the open applications using the Command-Tab keyboard sequences, I can manage to get back into the desired application."

Non-US registration problems Rod Yager reports that the English version of Mac OS X 10.3 shipped to him in Australia refused to allow proper registration because it requires United States-based data.

"With this install, the Setup assistant is US-centric. It requires you to enter a US state and a US 5 or 5 4 Zip Code, a US style area code and a US 7 digit phone number. Since I live in Australia, the real values did not pass the validation test, so I had to enter false details in order to be able to continue."

Firewall problems If you are having problems using the built-in Mac OS X Firewall, try deleting "com.apple.sharing.firewall.plist" in /Library/Preferences and restarting.

More on limited resolutions Yesterday we reported that reported limited resolution selection in Mac OS X 10.3 with 3Dfx chipset cards. We've now received several reports from ATI Rage Pro-based graphics card owners who also have limited resolution and fewer color depth options.

While it is unlikely that NVidia (who now owns the 3Dfx code-base) will update drivers for the Voodoo line of cards, ATI may release a Panther-compliant driver for the ATI Rage Pro chipset.

UPDATES:

DiskWarrior 3.0 and Mac OS X v. 10.3 A statement posted to Alsoft's Web site states: "DiskWarrior 3.0 will not run while started up under Mac OS X v. 10.3 (Panther). DiskWarrior 3.0 can be used to safely rebuild the directory of a disk (including a disk with file journaling and/or FileVault enabled) with Mac OS X v. 10.3 by starting up from your current DiskWarrior 3.0 CD. An update allowing DiskWarrior to run while started from Mac OS X v. 10.3 is forthcoming; we currently estimate that the update will be available in mid-November. This update will be able to start up all machines available at the time of its release, including PowerMac G5 machines, PowerBook models updated September 2003, eMac models updated October 2003, and the iBook G4."

HP LaserJet 2200dn It seems that the HP LaserJet 2200dn duplex unit functionality is unavailable under OS X 10.3. Rob Hogendoorn writes ?Although the duplex unit is listed in the printer info window and can be checked there, checking the box there doesn't make the duplex box available in the print menu listing."

MacFixIt reader Gerry Altmann has a workaround:

"I re-installed the original drivers (taken from the archived previous system), and it worked. Duplex printing is back.

"Some critical things you must do: use the Print Center to uninstall the printer first. And after you've copied over the original HP folders (in the old /Library/Printers), repair your permissions. Hopefully you won't suffer the kernel panic I suffered during restart. Then use Print Center to add the printer, and it should appear with the old driver (in my case, 1.4.1 instead of 2.3.1)

"There's a whole bunch of new folders that get installed in the hP folder (within /Library/Printers) and deleting them so as to restore the folder structure to the original appears to have no ill-effects (no doubt they're critical for some newer printers!). I take no responsibility if this worked for me but works for no one else."

Meanwhile, Rod Smith suggests that while in the print dialog, users should simply select "Layout," and set "Two Sided Printing" to Off, Long edge binding, or Short edge binding.

New networking scheme confusing for some users Some users are none too pleased with Panther's new networking architecture, which prevents some shares from showing up on the desktop.

As evidenced by a number of reader reports, this can cause confusion from network users who can see a window on a shared volume, but cannot unmount the share via "ejection," not easily determine their connected status.

MacFixIt reader Alex Gray writes: "Under Mac OS X 10.2 and earlier, when you mounted an AppleTalk share by browsing AppleTalk Zones, the file server would appear on the desktop, and "Computer" as a server.

"Under Mac OS X 10.3, this has changed. The only time a server will show up on the desktop is if you enter its IP or AFP name directly in connect to server. When connecting via the 'Network' apparatus on the finder toolbar you can browse the Zones, albeit slowly, and then hit 'Connect' to the server that you want, which brings up an authentication window."

"However, when you do it this way the server will not show up on the desktop, or the Finder Toolbar, and there is really no indication that you are connected to the server. To get back to this point you would have to browse the Zones again and there is no easy way to eject the Volume. This creates problems if you are not always connected to the network, as when you disconnect from the LAN, there is the typical LAG, Spinning Ball, and then disconnect message telling you that you are not connected to the Server.

In the meantime, as a potential workaround, you can add shared folders) from a networked machine to be included in Panther's sidebar by selecting it and pressing Command-T. However, you still won't be able to "eject" the server.

Apple posts Panther support page Apple has posted a Panther support page with some basic Mac OS X guides for topics like "Getting Online; Using Mac OS X Mail; and Printing and Faxing."

Extensis gives word on Suitcase/Font Reserve Extensis has issued a statement on Suitcase X1 and Font Reserve functionality within Mac OS X 10.3 "Currently neither Font Reserve nor Suitcase are fully compatible with Panther. Suitcse too has some efficiency issues (activation/deactivation is quite slow), there will be an update soon to address this. In Tech Support, we have not been told anything as to when a Font Reserve update may be available."

So it appears that Suitcase X1 will soon be updated for Panther compatibility, while Font Reserve (which is also causing problems with Photoshop) may never see a compatibility fix.

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