Tips for Resetting a 'Stuck' Modem
From
Nick Minear
Hello,
I recently read your article on Low End Mac (see Tiger 10.4.4 Update Cripples Pismo's Internal
Modem).
I, too, use a Pismo. Actually, at
work I bring my own computer, so I rotate between a TiBook, a
G3/800 iBook and sometimes my Pismo. I have a wireless dialup
account with a mobile phone provider that I use at work. I have a
wireless cellular modem that I use with PPP to dialup to the
Internet.
The modem I use now is a USB modem from Fujitsu that works well,
but I've noticed problems recently. At least once a day throughput
will completely zero out. Web pages won't load at all, and if I do
nothing it'll take OS X a few minutes to realize that Internet
connectivity is gone. Sometimes when I go to disconnect in Internet
Connect, the programs stays on "Disconnecting..." forever. Is this
the same problem you were having?
I use the Terminal to force quit PPP when it hangs like that.
Perhaps that is what your daughter is referring to? In the Terminal
I type "ps ax | grep ppp". This scans all the running processes for
PPP. Then as root, I type "kill ###" where ### is the process
number of 'pppd' Usually I have to enter the command a few times,
but after the third time the "Disconnecting..." message disappears
to be replaced with "Idle".
After doing that, I can usually dial back in again. If the
problem persists, I find the number and kill the process again.
I've never had to do this more than twice. I'm currently on 10.4.2.
Also, I've found that by doing this, I don't have to restart when
Internet Connect hangs. I hope this helps; if not I can be more
specific.
I seem to remember reading somewhere on the Internet a while ago
that OS X is becoming not the most dialup friendly operating
system anymore. Too bad, really, since Classic Mac OS was a cinch
to use in the golden days of dialup (I know, I used to work tech
support for an ISP in Massachusetts from 1998-2000.)
Regards,
Nick Minear
Hi Nick,
Thanks for the insights and tips. I've only had
one hanging disconnect (in OS X 10.4.0), but continued issues
convinced me to downgrade to OS 10.3.9, which works a lot better
than Tiger on the Pismo (see Back to the Future:
Downgrading My Pismo to OS X 10.3.9).
I fear your comment about dialup support is
likely well-founded, although dialup on my G3 iBook has been generally reliable
with Tiger up to at least 10.4.4.
Charles
Gut Feeling about Pismo and OS X 10.3.9
From Daniel Thompson
Hi Charles,
My wife has a Pismo and declares
if I do anything to change [it] she will have my head. I upgraded
it to 10.3.9, and it works flawlessly. I had decided to stop there
as, well just a gut feeling - guess my guts were right. Why don't
you just go back to 10.3.9 and let it perform without the
hassle?
Dan
Hi Dan,
I Have done so, and I agree that OS X 10.3.9 is
the optimum performance and stability system for the Pismo.
Charles
Pismo 'a Wonderful Friend'
From J R Zeigler
Hello,
I, too, did a downgrade on my Pismo. I brought Panther to use on it as my
version of Apple's OS X. It worked, but I found out that for
better performance I really needed to upgrade my Pismo (hard drive,
processor, etc.). And I seem to always have another use for my
upgrade funds.
After, I bought a new desk top 20" flat screen iMac G5 in 2005, I found
out it meet all my OS X requirements, and I then reloaded only
OS 9.2.2 to my Pismo and have been very happy every since.
It was just like having a wonderful friend return.
Thanks,
JR
Hi JR,
Compared with OS X, OS 9.2.2 really flies on these
old G3 machines. My 233 MHz G3
WallStreet running OS 9 is a step up performance-wise in
some respects (especially Finder response) from my 700 MHz iBook running OS X.
OS 9.2.2 really screams on my 550 MHz G4-upgraded
Pismo and the iBook, but I have come to prefer OS X for
them.
Charles
OS X 10.3.9 Is the Way to Go
From Katie B.
Thanks for this column. I haven't
upgraded beyond 10.3.9 on any of my machines. From what you say, my
hesitation is well warranted. I'll wait 'til I need a new Mac badly
enough and get the OS that comes with before I'll see a new Mac OS,
I think.
I have got the disks for Ubuntu Linux, though, and may try
playing with it.
Best,
Katie B., occasional reader
Hi Katie,
Thanks for reading occasionally. ;-)
You didn't say what Mac models you're running. I
think video support is probably more important than clock speed in
the decision whether or not to upgrade to Tiger.
Tiger runs reasonably well on my 700 MHz G3 iBook
with a Radeon 7500 GPU and 16 MB of VRAM. It's a disappointment on
my 550 MHz G4-upgraded Pismo with a RAGE 128 Mobility GPU and
8 MB of VRAM.
Good luck with Ubuntu Linux. I had both SuSE Linux
and Yellow Dog Linux installed on my
233 MHz G3 WallStreet several years ago. Interesting exercise,
but not nearly enough to entice me away from the Mac OS.
Charles
Konfabulator Gives OS X 10.3.x Widgets
From Brian Uhde
Widgets under 10.3.9: I use 10.3.9 myself (I have never had a
reason to upgrade yet). I also use Konfabulator [now known as
the Yahoo! Widget Engine -
ed] under 10.3.9. It was a free download a few months ago. It works
great and offers similar functionality to Dashboard.
Brian Uhde
iMac G4 1 GHz
Hi Brian,
I figured someone would mention
Konfabulator/Yahoo. :-) Indeed a solution for the
widget-oriented running OS X 10.3.9.
Personally, while they're sort of cool, I've never
really gotten into using them, so it's not a big issue for me.
Charles
Quicksilver Utility Recommended
From Frank C. Modica
Charles:
I just read your recent article about problems with Tiger on
your Pismo, but I was most interested in your experiences with
various search and find utilities. Have you ever tried the Quicksilver utility? It is
a search/find and launch utility that I discovered last summer, and
I've been an avid fan ever since I downloaded it.
It will search for applications on your hard drive and also
launch them when you type a few keystrokes. You can also program
hot keys in the preferences for mouseless launching of programs.
When you invoke Quicksilver with a simple keyboard combination, it
can also launch URLs after a few simple keystrokes.
There are versions for Panther and Tiger on their website. I've
used both versions and actually like the earlier (Beta 36) version
for Panther over the Tiger version because it does better URL
keystroke launches. I can't say enough good things about this
utility; I find it a real time-saver.
Frank
Hi Frank,
Yes, I'm familiar with Quicksilver and have
reviewed several versions (see
Quicksilver 1.0b31 Launcher, Search Utility, Shelf, And Much
More). It is a cool little utility, but my own search needs are
primarily text searches of document contents, which is not a
feature supported by Quicksilver.
EasyFind seems excellent so far, though.
Charles
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