macosxhints.com network tips

How to help AirPort recall passwords

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:30:03 -0700

The following situation describes a common problem people seem to be having with AirPort reconnections. While most people do not seem to have these symptoms, many, including me, have experienced the following problem with AirPort:

You connect to a password-protected wireless network. In the process, you check the box requesting that AirPort remember the network and password. When you start up your computer, or when you restart your AirPort card, AirPort connects to your preferred network with no difficulty. Hooray, AirPort remembers the password!

However, if you get disconnected and try to reconnect without restarting AirPort or rebooting, AirPort prompts you for a password. For some reason, AirPort forgets that it already has the password. If you try to switch networks on-the-fly, the same thing happens -- AirPort seems to forget that it already has the password.

What's really going on here is that on-the-fly network switches utilize password and permissi...

Make SMB shares appear in Devices section of Finder sidebar

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:30:01 -0700

It was driving me nuts that SMB shares from my Windows server would not reappear under DEVICES in the sidebar. However, I then figured out that I can do this:

Open System Preferences » Network
Click the network interface you use for the shares
Click on the Advanced button at lower right
Click on WINS tab, and manually enter the workgroup name of the server
Click the '+' under the WINS Servers list
Enter the IP of the server (you are using static IP on your server, right?)
Click OK, Apply, etc. until you're done

The next time I dragged a mounted share to Devices, it then showed up there automatically after the next unmount/mount. My shares seem to mount much faster now, as well. Now if only I could find a way to increase the transfer speed...sigh.

One way to quickly connect to a Cisco VPN

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:30:00 -0700

In February, this hint explainted how to install vpnc as a replacement for the Cisco VPN client. I finally got it working with a little tweaking and divergence from the original instructions, based in part on follow-up comments.

But what I really wanted was to have my VPN as easy (or easier) to activate than using the (otherwise awful) Cisco application: largely because I use my company's VPN in conjunction with 3G mobile broadband, which has a habit of dropping connection when my commuter train goes through a tunnel, requiring regular reconnection!

I tried using Shimo and vpntool with no success, and finally got it working using the following solution...

Install vpnc using Fink (as per earlshango's suggestion in the original comments). You need to add the 'unstable' repository when you configure Fink, since vpnc is...

Mutihoming with one Ethernet interface

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:30:00 -0700

Like many small businesses we have taken advantage of the 'free' DSL services offered as part of an existing mobile phone contract. In this case we use Orange for mobile service (we're based in the UK) and they offer 2 Mbit internet with a wireless router for no extra if you have at least one pay monthly account. I thought that it would be a useful addition to our network for testing and backup, especially as it is from a different ISP and delivered over a physically separate landline from our business internet.

The wireless router arrived yesterday and the DSL activation happened on time so that the line came up first time when I plugged the line into the router. I'd heard a few horror stories about Orange's support for Macs so I was pleasantly surprised when I popped the install CD into my MacBook and it came with full OSX installation instructions. 5 minutes later I was surfing on the internet via my shiny new Orange broadband.

Now that we had two internet accesses ...

Easily stream audio and video between two Macs

Mon, 04 May 2009 07:30:02 -0700

Problem: I wanted to watch Live TV from a Mac upstairs in a room downstairs with another Mac. Hardware: Elgato EyeTV EZ, AirPort, and two Macs. There are some streaming solutions out there (VLC, CyTV, EyeTV, etc.), but they either do not support my hardware, or seem complicated, or stream re-encoded video only (no live TV, of course).

But there's a really simple solution: OS X 10.5's Screen Sharing, which works flawlessly and 'streams' all of my Mac's contents. The only pity is that it doesn't send the audio as well. Enter Soundfly -- it streams audio in good quality (various settings available). Now with Screen Sharing and Soundfly running, I can watch live TV and movies downstairs. Because I also can remotely control the Mac upstairs, it's also possible to start and stop recordings, and more. This works quite well.

Note: As far as I can tell, Soundfly simply redirects the audio from one Mac to the other -- the ...

A fix for failed Airport Extreme-N access control list updates

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 07:30:03 -0700

I have confirmed this bug at two sites using seven different AirPort Base Stations. I thought I had updated the Access Control List (ACL) on multiple Base Stations to allow several new computers and devices on the networks. Afterwards, however, users claimed trouble accessing in some locations -- that turned out to be true anywhere there was an AirPort Extreme-N Base Station; the older AirPort-Gs worked fine. Here's the mix of gear I was using to confirm this issue:

Airport Utility v5.4.1
Airport Extreme-N Firmware v7.4.1
Airport Extreme-N Base Station (both 10/100 and 10/100/1000 versions) with an existing ACL
PowerMac G5 - Mac OS 10.5.6 Server
PowerMac G4 - Mac OS 10.4.11

The Problem: Using Airport Utility v5.4.1, importing an Access Control List (File » (Option key) Import Access Controls) shows the updated ACL in the Access tab list. When the Base Station is updated and the configuration redisplayed, none of the new ACL ...

10.5: Back to My Mac fails to start due to incorrect time

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:30:03 -0700

For some time now, Back to My Mac (BTMM) has failed to start on my Mac Mini at home, although it worked fine on my MacBook Pro from the same network. After trying many many different things and following a number of hints, I remembered reading that BTMM uses IPsec. IPsec tunnels require endpoints to have their clocks synced, or at least to be set to times that are relatively close to one another.

I noticed the time on my Mac Mini differed from that of my MacBook Pro by about 10 minutes, and was failing to update its local time via time.apple.com (on the Date & Time tab of the Date & Time System Preferences panel). I switched it to time.asia.apple.com, the clock updated, and BTMM connected immediately after I clicked Start in the Mobile Me System Preferences panel.

See the comments for some recom...

Log in to a single SMB share with multiple user names

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:30:00 -0700

I was having trouble connecting to multiple directories on a single SMB share in Leopard, where the directories had different logins. If I was logged into one directory as one user, then the "Connect to Server..." option in the Finder would default to that user for all directories on the same share and error out. I found a workaround for this.

With one directory already mounted under the first user login, select Go » Connect to Server. Type in your share name with the user before the drive name:

smb://2ndusername@drivename/2ndDirectory

Finder will then prompt you for a password, and mount the directory as a separate network drive. This should also work for AFP shares, though I haven't tried it.

Wirelessly connect Nintendo systems to Time Capsule

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 07:30:00 -0700

For some reason, the Nintendo DSi cannot currently connect to a WEP-protected network on the Time Capsule. However, when you remove the WEP key, the Wii will no longer be able to connect as-is. Here is the only way I've found so far to get all three current Nintendo systems to connect to the Time Capsule's network:

Remove any security settings (you can still use MAC address filtering and have a closed network, however).
Manually set up the connection on the DS/DS lite/DSi by just entering the network's name
Manually set up the connection on the Wii by entering the network's name and DNS servers

You should now have all three systems connected to your network, and be able to use all the online features. If anyone finds a better solution, please post it in the comments.

One way to share links to networked files

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:30:00 -0700

Problem: You work with 50 people using Macs, and you need to direct someone to a file on the server which is buried 12 layers deep in the folder hierarchy. Unlike the web, OS X provides no way to "bookmark" a file.

Solution:

Drag the file into an empty Firefox window.
Copy and paste the file path from Firefox's address bar.
Share by email, iChat, or whatever.

Comment: This is the most elegant solution -- and it's far from that -- that I can find. It seems absurd the Finder can't do this. We waste thousands of man hours per year because there's no easy way to share locations of files on our server; that seems as sensible as the web without hyperlinks! If you have alternative solutions, please share them in the comments.

10.5: Install (or boot from) an image over local network

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:30:00 -0700

I needed to reinstall OS X, but my discs were broken. Fortunately, I had an image of the installation DVD on my server, so I figured that I should be able to boot into that image over the network. Well, it wasn't that easy.

In the end what you will need is a computer running two servers: one tftp server and one web or NFS server, preferably NFS, since you don't have to worry about making sure you have Apache 2 or newer to support huge file transfers over http. You'll also need some command-line skills, too.

The first step is to get four files:

A bootloader
A kernel
An mkext file (which is a bunch of drivers)
The image you wish to boot

All of these items are actually relatively easy to get. The first three are obtainable from inside a functioning OS X environment (or rather, an environment into which you, at the ver...

10.5: Enable and disable the firewall via AppleScript

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:30:03 -0800

I started using MarcoPolo recently to switch networks on my Macbook when moving between home and work. I also wanted to turn the firewall on and off easily, but could not find and scripts to switch the Leopard firewall between "Allow all incoming connections" (my definition of OFF) and "Allow only essential services" (ON).

So here is the ON script:

-- Firewall on script
--
-- Growl support - remove next line if you don't use Growl
register_growl()
-- Make sure support for assistive devices is active
tell application "System Events"
  if UI elements enabled is false then
    te...



Install vpnc as a replacement for the Cisco VPN client
Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:30:02 -0800
Here's how to build vpnc as a drop-in replacement for the Cisco VPN client. Why on earth would I want to do this? Because, in my opinion, Cisco's client is a pretty poor piece of software, you shouldn't have to have a Cisco contract to download the thing, and I am a big proponent of open source software.



This process has been tested under Mac OS X 10.5.5 and Ubuntu Intrepid 64 bit, and it's written up in detail on this page on my site. Here's the executive summary version:

Requirements:

A UNIX system. (Sorry, Windows folks. I have neither the time nor patience to even try to set it up under Windows).
A development environment (Xcode).
A basic working knowledge of UNIX.
The ability to follow instructions.

Required software:

libgpg-error [download]
libgrcypt  ...
   



Enable mounting of remote CD/DVDs on any Mac
Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:30:04 -0800
The CD/ROM in my computer busted, so I decided to try to remotely mount the CD from another computer on mine.  I know the MacBook Air can do this, so I reasoned that any Mac could. It turns out it is possible, but the solution is far from obvious -- after much searching, I found the solution here.



Here's a quick synopsis. Go to System Preferences » Sharing, and enable 'DVD or CD Sharing.' (I think you need to do this on both machines -- the one with the drive and the one without the CD/ROM drive). Then, on the computer that does not have the CD drive on it, go to a Terminal window and enter:

$ defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser EnableODiskBrowsing -bool true
$ defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser ODSSupported -bool true

Reboot this machine, and when the reboot is finished, you'll see the remote CD/DVD under...
   



Use VLC to watch movies before they're fully copied
Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:30:01 -0800
I have two computers -- a Power Mac and a MacBook. I have massive amount of storage space on my desktop, but for portability's sake, I don't typically connect hard drives to my MacBook. This means I keep all my movies on my desktop. But what if I want to watch them on my MacBook? I don't want to deal with plugging in hard drives, or waiting for a movie to transfer over the network before I start watching.



So here's what I do. I first begin a file transfer across the network of the movie I want to watch. (I typically do a file copy, not a move, so when I'm done, I can just trash the file on my MacBook.) I wait a second to let it get a head start, and then open the partially-transfered movie in VLC. Note that opening from the Finder won't work; either open the file inside VLC, or drag the file onto VLC in the Dock.



Now, VLC is going to think the file is broken, and ask if you want to repair it -- don't. Y...
   



Require Admin rights to create Ad Hoc network
Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:30:03 -0800
In some cases, you may not want your OS X users to have the ability to create an Ad Hoc network. This can cause all kinds of issues if they are broadcasting their own SSIDs through out your network. After some extensive Google searching and hitting up some mailing lists, I was able to configure the AirPort daemon to require Administrative privileges to create an Ad Hoc network.



This is not widely documented, and I have only tested it in 10.5. I also rebooted my machine to restart all daemons after running the command. If you try running it in 10.4, you will have to test it as I do not have a Tiger machine around me to test this out.



Open up Terminal and run the following command:

sudo /usr/libexec/airportd en1 ‑ibss_admin 1

To undo this, simply rerun the code, but replace the ending 1 with a 0, and then all users will be able to create Ad Hoc networks.
   



Set up an AirPort Base Station for fast 802.11n-only use
Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:30:00 -0800
If you want the fastest possible wireless network, and you have all N-compatible clients, then on your AirPort Base Station, set the following options:Radio Mode: 802.11n only (5GHz)
In the Wireless Options section, insure that Wide Channels are selected
Other vendors use wide channels in the 2.4GHz spectrum, but this is a problem as doing so can use up to 75% of this spectrum. Not great if you have a cordless phone, or neighbors that are also using 2.4GHz hardware mentioned above. As the 5GHz the channels don't overlap like they do in the 2.4GHz range, then this can be done. In 2.4GHz, if you wanted to have three non-interfering networks, they would each have to be five channels apart so that they don't overlap -- 1,6,11 for example. 

You should get speeds up to 500MB per minute between two 802.11n clients with this setup.

[robg adds: I don't know if these are ideal settings or not -- if you have advice on setting up the fastest N-only ...
   



Older wireless Macs and D-Link wireless N routers
Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:30:03 -0800
I bought a new D-Link DIR-625 router and got it to work with all my computers except one -- an older PowerBook Pismo with an AirPort wireless card. I kept getting the error that it couldn't connect to the airport network. The machine would connect to my old router, and to my neighbor's router, just not my new D-Link router. For days, I tried everything I could find to fix it. I called support multiple times, and tried everything that they suggested.  Their suggestions were of no help, however.



I finally stumbled on to the fix myself. I had to change the wireless mode from "B,G and N" to just "B and G," and then it worked fine. The problem is that my new MacBook has N wireless and now can't use my new N router at full speed. I guess that is why it is still called "draft" N router!
   



Toggle HTTP, FTP and HTTPS proxies via widget
Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:30:01 -0800
I wrote a free widget for switching HTTP, FTP or HTTPS proxies, and it currently works for Ethernet or AirPort networks.



The widget is basically a front end for a bash script, which does the hard work. I also had to write an Objective C tool for parsing of current configuration information. It is all free, so if somebody would like to see the source, just let me know.



[robg adds: I haven't tried this one.]
   



10.5: Enable X11 listening on port 6000
Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:30:00 -0800
Are you having difficulty redirecting X11 to your Mac running Leopard without using ssh -X? Someone figured out that Leopard turns off listening to X11 traffic on TCP port 6000 by default. The following steps will TCP listening back on, so that the X11 server will service a client request. 

First see if your server has TCP listening turned off by executing the following command: defaults read org.x.X11 | grep nolisten. The output will read either "nolisten_tcp" = 1; which is bad, or "nolisten_tcp" = 0; which is good. If TCP listening is off, turn it back on. I did this both as root and my default non-root username, as I didn't know which one took precedence:sudo defaults write org.x.X11 nolisten_tcp 0defaults write org.x.X11 nolisten_tcp 0
Shut down your X11.app, then in Terminal, type xterm, and as normal, the X11 terminal should pop-up. In the xterm, enable all remote users by typing xhost +. Back ...