Mac OS X 10.3.6 (#12): Possible fix for filename truncation bug; Installer package appears as a normal folder; more

Possible fix for filename truncation bug We continue to cover an issue file names being truncated when copying files, especially when copying to/from a remote volume.

A new workaround for the issue, submitted by MacFixIt reader Stuart Ramdeen, has been verified by a number of independent users. Ramdeen writes:

"I have found that the kext /System/Library/Filesystems/AppleShare/afpfs.kext appears to be the culprit.

"The version that ships with 10.3.6 is 6.5.7, which I guess amongst other things, was supposed to improve afp performance and reliability with network home dirs (although that's for another discussion....). The version it replaces in 10.3.5 is 6.5.6. I have found that if you put version 6.5.6 back, the truncation problem goes away."

The easiest way to perform this workaround is to copy the aforementioned afpfs.kext file from a Mac that has not been upgraded to Mac OS X 10.3.6 and use it to replace the same file on the afflicted Mac OS X 10.3.6 system.

Alternatively, you can download the Mac OS X 10.3.5 combo updater, and use a tool like Pacifist to browse through its contents, locate version 6.5.6 of afpfs.kext and use it to replace the version installed by Mac OS X 10.3.6.

Installer package appears as a normal folder Some readers report that after installing Mac OS X 10.3.6 (or one of the recently released security updates), all .pkg files appear as folders, without the usual package icon. Attempting to open the .pkg, in this situation, opens the package as a folder rather than launching the Installer application.

In some cases, this issue is caused by a problem with the Installer application -- which is located in Applications/Utilities on a normal Mac OS X installation. Check to see if this application exists in the proper folder, and make sure it opens correctly.

If the Installer application is missing, or does not properly open, copy it from another machine or use Pacifist to extract it from your original Mac OS X 10.3.x disc and place it in the Applications/Utilities folder.

Applying combo updater for sleeping problems MacFixIt reader James reports that he was able to overcome newly introduced sleep problems by re-applying the Mac OS X 10.3.6 combination updater:

"I found that my PowerBook and a flat-panel iMac G4 wouldn?t automatically sleep until I installed the 10.3.6. Combo update. That seems to have fixed it in both cases now."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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