Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) Compatibility Reports

Jaguar Special Report in HTML Our Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) Special Report, which consists of extensive troubleshooting insight and commentary from Macintosh industry figureheads including Microsoft and Tenon Intersystems, is now available in updated HTML format for Pro subscribers. More.

Help Viewer crashes Several readers note that installation of the FAXstf 10.0.8 upgrade causes the Apple HelpViewer to crash under some circumstances. A SmithMicro representative told Thomas Moreland:

"As we have been able to duplicate this issue using a new install of Mac OS X v10.2 with no third-party softwares installed, including FAXstf X, it is unclear if this is a FAXstf X issue or not. We have reported it to Apple and are working with them on the issue. It is not advisable to remove the help files or modify the software in any way, as this may have unintended effects. Rest assured, we are working with Apple to find a solution to this issue."

David Putnam offers this portential workaround:

"I deleted all help files in the user/library/preferences the main library should be fine since I was able to work with help with other login names. I then deleleted all help files in the user/library/cache. I deleted all broken aliases to help folders. Once I had done all of the above and also deleted com.apple.help.plist and com.apple.helpviewer.plist within user/library/preferences I was able to successfully launch the help viewer. I noticed that most of the help files were now gone. I started to do a search for all “help idx” files to add an alias for the help folder containing each of these files which was working great but realized that I might add the wrong help file for an application. I then discovered that launching each application and then selecting help from the pull down menu would automatically add the right help link. Through the process of adding all the help files I suddenly discovered that the new FAXstf X 1.0.8 help file corrupts com.apple.help.plist and com.apple.helpviewer.plist. You can trash these files and immediately launch help viewer but opening the help within FAXstf will cause the help viewer to quit again until deleting the files mentioned."

Uploading files with #02 naming Pat Fallis reports a strange limitation in Jaguar's ability to upload files with specific naming schemes to servers:

"I have run across an issue that we have been able to reproduce on several machines that are currently running Mac OS X 10.2. In a nutshell, if you are copying a file from your local machine to a folder on a server and the name of the file ends in '#02' you will get a series of error messages, the copy will not work, and you may crash the Mac. Simply renaming the file solves the problem.

"The first error asks if you want to overwrite the file that exists, even though no such file exists. If you cancel and try again repeatedly you will crash finder in such a way that it will not be able to relaunch and you will have to hard boot. If you tell it to go ahead it gets caught in a loop an nothing copies. The data stream will be open between both machines but it seems to be in some sort of loop. The other error is the 'folder window' where you put the file (on the server) will suddenly get 2 additional aliases pointing to the server volume. Every time you retry this you will get at least 2 more of these icons."

MinView Joe Gudac reports problems using his switch box after upgrading to Jaguar:

"I have used a MinView (Monitor and USB) switch box for almost 3 years with my G4/400 and a PC. Since upgrading to 10.2 (Jaguar) I have run into a problem where the G4 locks up when either starting the screen saver or during the screen saver. I thought it was the Logitech Wireless Mouse, but disconnecting it didn't clear the problem. I disconnected the USB connection to the hub in the MinView switch box and the problem went away."

FontVista, FontDoctor updates coming MacFixIt received the following note from Morrison SoftDesign regarding Jaguar compatibility for FontVista and FontDoctor:

"An update to FontDoctor (v5.1.2) will be released on Tuesday of next week. It will address all known problems and issues related to OS X 10.2 Jaguar. FontVista will also be updated the following week. Both updates will be offered free of charge to currently registered users of v5.1 or higher."

FireWire target disk mode Joe Edgell reports that upgrading to Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) ceased functionality of FireWire target disk mode (enabled by holding down the T key on a target system's keyboard at startup) on an iBook:

"I have a flat panel iMac and a dual USB iBook. Been using the iBook in target disk mode to sync files for some time. I recently installed Jaguar on both. Now, target disk mode does not work. The iBook will boot properly with the moving FireWire symbol, but the hard drive does not show up in the Finder on the iMac."