Mac OS X 10.3.5 (#11): Solution for non-mounting disk images; Success with gimp-print for problematic printers; more
Mac OS X 10.3.5 (#11): Solution for non-mounting disk images; Success with gimp-print for problematic printers; more
Solution for non-mounting disk images We previously reported issues with Disk Utility being able to mount disk images. Users upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3.5 are receiving various errors, including "- 536870208" when attempting to do so.
Now MacFixIt reader Theodore Lyman has received a workaround from Apple that, in his case, allows disk images to once again work properly:
"Tech support was unable to resolve this immediately after having me go back to my base system i.e. no cards, extra memory etc. Also as I mentioned, Disk Utility would not create images either, giving the same error message. What was also unusual about this was that there was no option for the size of the disk image as there usually was. the pull down was gone.
"Solution - after about 24 hours, an Apple tech called me back with this solution - which did work.
"From the /System/Library remove the following files - "Extensions.kextcache", "Extensions.mkext", and the folder "com.apple.kernelcaches"
"I then was told to run sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions (in the Terminal) to reset the cache info."
If you has success with this solution, please let us know.
Success with gimp-print for problematic printers; other solutions Several readers, including Lorne Champman, have had success with the open-source gimp-print drivers for printers that do not function properly under Mac OS X 10.3.5. He writes:
"I too had problems printing to a USB connected Epson Stylus PHOTO 820 after upgrading to 10.3.5. I kept getting messages about communications problems with the printer and nothing would print. Looking in MacFixit I saw the report of similar problems - took your advice re Gimp-print and had it solved within 10 minutes."
Some other printer problem solutions that have worked for readers include:
Switch to "generic" One reader writes "I had the same problem when installing a Lexmark T630 printer on a new 15 inch PowerBook Aluminum and another T630 on a new G4. Both computers had OSX 10.3.4 install.
"In both cases the T630 produced noise but nothing on paper. Someone in a forum suggested I switch to 'generic' in the Print Center Info Window, which works fine."
Re-installing printer drivers Several readers report that simply re-installing their printer drivers from the original media, or from the manufacturer's web site, allows normal printing under Mac OS X 10.3.5.
A reader writes "My blue and white G3 tower is connected to an Ethernet LAN along with a 2 USB iBook and two other Macs. After upgrading (start up from Panther CD, Disk Utilities repair disk, restart, repair permissions, install 10.3.5, restart, repair permissions, restart) this G3 and the IBook to 10.3.5, my Epson C 84 printer began leaving one half page unprinted and sending the message about communication errors. I went through the MacFixit install routine and reinstalled the Epson drivers from the Epson CD. All is now well. The printer prints as it was supposed to. The printer is connected to the G3 tower, so nothing was done to the IBook, and it works correctly. "
Re-creating non-printing documents If you are having problems with specific documents, try re-creating the document in the application that originally created it. In other words, copy the content from the problematic document into another, freshly created blank document, and re-attempt printing.
A reader writes "I have also been having printing problems after updating to 10.3.5. On my HP 2210 All-in-One, print jobs have stopped several times right in the middle of printing a page. Turning on print jobs back on in the Printer Setup Utility has sometimes, but not always, gotten the page to continue printing.
"Two days ago I had a Word X file that refused to print to either printer even after reinstalling the printing software. I found that copying the data from the file and then creating a new Word X document got it to print from the new copy. "
More on font issues, possible solutions We continue to cover problems with some fonts not displaying properly under Mac OS X 10.3.5. In some cases, documents containing certain fonts show no text. In other cases, previously available fonts no longer show up in FontBook or other font management utilities.
Jim Marting describes his scenario "About half the time, I have to reboot to get any program to recognize all the fonts which I have enabled in FontBook. Sometimes, Fontbook does not even show over half of the previously enabled fonts, but that clears up on reboot."
Frank Easterbrook reports that this problem primarily affects Type 1 fonts, in his case, and can be resolved by converting the Type 1 fonts to TrueType:
"I too have encountered the problem, reported this morning, with Adobe Expert fonts not working properly under OS 10.3.5. This also affects other Type 1 fonts that use the same character encoding that Adobe adopted for its expert sets.
"I also have found a solution. Apple's change affects Type 1 fonts but not TrueType fonts. Tools are available to convert Type 1 to TrueType. (I used Metamorphosis, an old tool that runs in Classic.) Once this has been done, both new and existing documents display all of their characters in all programs. Many people will find conversion preferable to reverting to 10.3.4. "
AirPort connection dropped A number of readers are reporting that their AirPort connections are consistently dropped at random intervals since upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3.5.
One reader writes "Since upgrading to Mac OS 10.3.5, my Airport Extreme has been dropping connection. The Airport menu extra does not show the lost connection, neither does Internet Connect or iTattle. Basically the problem is that Mac OS X thinks I'm not connected to the internet at all. If I connect to the internet using a wired Ethernet it's fine, but Airport just drops the signal."
Another reader corroborates "Soon after installing 10.3.5, my IBook connection via airport extreme to a 54g belkin router was disrupted and my internet connect refused to accept changes to reestablish the connection. I reinstalled Mac OS X with only the 10.3.4 update; My connection is now o.k.."
Again, if you find the AirPort signal drops too frustrating or disruptive and need to downgrade to Mac OS X 10.3.4, your best bet in this scenario is to perform an archive and install process from the Panther CD/DVD, and then re-apply the Mac OS X 10.3.4 combo updater.
Loss of refresh rate settings Yesterday we reported loss of some display resolutions in Mac OS X 10.3.5. We've now received reports from a handful of additional readers who are unable to use certain monitor refresh rates.
Jozef Remen writes "After upgrading (to Mac OS X 10.3.5) I'm not able to set my refreshing rate higher than 75 Hz at resolution 1152x870, but with 10.3.4 I was able to get to 85 Hz. Also I have much less ref. rates options at other resolutions (like 1024x768). My monitor supports up to 100 Hz at 1024x768 but I'm able to get only 85 Hz max. I have Quicksilver G4/933 with GeForce 4 MX 64 MB. Nothing like PRAM reset, Safe boot, detect display and so on works."
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
For more information on Mac OS X 10.3.5 problems and solutions, see our special report on the update.
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