OS X Odds & Ends: COX.net; Canon printing glitch; Dock menu limit; Acrobat crash & language modules; more

COX.net and DHCP errors: a follow-up Regarding our recent article on COX.net installer and DHCP errors, Pam Phillips replies: "I don't know why Cox sent out those large packages for the conversion from @home to cox.net. All you need is the form letter with the authentication number which basically allows you to set up your email via http://members.cox.net. As far as TCP/IP settings as concerned, connect via DHCP. That's it. Cox is not going to use client IDs. There is no reason to run their software installer. If people are still using a fixed IP address, simply wait until @home is no longer available and then change TCP/IP to DHCP. It's far simpler than the package implies. BTW, once email.cox.net has been setup, mail accounts can be used immediately."

Canon printing glitch? Peter Schaufuss writes: "With my Canon S600, I'm having problems printing from applications which bypass the Print dialog box (mainly Virtual PC 5, but also Word X when using the Print button in the Toolbar for Print Preview). Print Center stops with: Error Code: -9589. I can print OK when using Print dialog box. Today I noticed at the Apple Boards that several other Canon owner are having the same problem."

Dock menu limit? Phil Hubbard found that the Dock menu listing the contents of folders only shows a maximum of 97 items. For a folder he had that contained 132 items, he could find no way to list the additional items.

Update: Charles Bouldin confirms this and suggests using piDock as an alternative.

Language modules block Acrobat launch? This Adobe Forums thread describes a problem where Acrobat Reader and Acrobat quits on launch. It seems to be related to a language module conflict. A MacFixIt reader using Acrobat 5.0.5 solved the problem thusly: "In the 'language' tab of the International pane of the System Preferences, I disabled Deustch (German) along with all other unused languages and tried, just for kicks, launching Acrobat. It suddenly worked."

File gets placed inside a package Paul Miller had an odd symptom. A script he was trying to run from a server, which used to work fine, suddenly started giving an error. So he checked on the local Mac for a file of the same name (a situation that had caused problems before). He found such a file. The odd thing was that it was inside the Contents/MacOS folder of the FileMaker Pro.app package. he had no idea how it got installed there.

Palm bug? According to a user report at securityfocus.com: "Hotsyncing via Palm Desktop 4.0b76-77 for Mac OS X creates backup folders and files that are world-readable...even if umask is set to 077." In other words, assuming we understand this statement, anyone logging in to your computer could read your backup files.

Update: Daniel Katz replies: "This is only important if it is in a world executable directory that itself is in a world executable directory that itself. In other words, if someone can't get into your directory, it doesn't matter what permissions a file in that directory has. So, while this file may be world-readable, this probably is only a minor bug and not a serious problem."

Apple Network Assistant A reader asks us if an OS X version of Apple Network Assistant (or even a version that runs in the Classic Environment) is being planned. We have not heard.

Custom page sizes A reader asks: "Is there a way to access Custom page sizes in the Page Setup dialog box for OS X?"

Explorer reinstall? Many readers have asked: "I want to reinstall the version of Internet Explorer that comes on the OS X install CD. What's the simplest way to do it - short of reinstalling OS X?"