OS X Odds & Ends: "AirPort card not installed" error; AppleSCCSerial.kext follow-up; more

"AirPort card not installed" error A reader had a problem where, running Mac OS X 10.0.4, the AirPort Dockling gave a message that said "AirPort card not installed" - even though an AirPort card is installed and works in Mac OS 9. He found reports of others with this symptom posted to the Apple Discussion Boards. Following one suggestion, he logged out and logged back in as a root user. The AirPort card was then recognized. However, when returning to his normal login, the AirPort card failed to be seen again. This sounds like some form of a permissions issue - where the AirPort software cannot be accessed via the typical login. However, we have no more specifics at this time.

AppleSCCSerial.kext follow-up Marcus Denny writes: "Further to my recent post regarding the fix for the AppleSCCSerial.kext file, I note that a few people have been having problems with using the console to get the kext to automatically load. I have put together a little install package which should make things run a lot smoother. It should be substantially easier to install."

Memory Stick eject problem Eric Hildum purchased a Sony MSAC-US1 USB Memory Stick Reader to download photo images to my PowerBook. Under Mac OS 9.1 this all worked just fine. However, under OS X, inserting a Memory Stick causes the stick to mount as a disk, and also starts an application to easily download the pictures to my Pictures folder. So far, so good. The problem is that I cannot eject the 'disk' so that I can remove the Memory Stick to insert another (this memory stick reader does not automatically eject, I have to physically remove the memory stick). If I eject the disk, it immediately mounts again. Removing the memory stick without ejecting the disk results in a warning message. At this point it appears that the only way under OS X to remove or change memory sticks is to reboot."

Mac OS X 10.1 won't fix battery drain error? A reader claims that the latest build of Mac OS X 10.1 does not fix the "excessive heavy battery drain during sleep" that occurs in PowerBook G3 Wallstreet models (see previous coverage). Of course, the fix may still be made before the final version is released, but the latest builds appear to be very close to a golden master version. Not much more is likely to change. Release of Mac OS X 10.1 is expected sometime this month.

A reminder: new Software Restore requires erasing volume Not new news, but something that we wanted to emphasize for those with new Macs: As we previously reported, Macs that come pre-installed with Mac OS X now include a set of 4 Software Restore CDs that reinstall the combined Mac OS 9 and OS X initial installation. This replaces the older Mac OS 9-only single CD. However, the new Apple Software Restore application no longer includes the "Restore in Place" and "Restore Saving Original Items" included in the old version. The only way to use Software Restore now requires that you erase the entire volume. See also related Knowledge Base articles 60847 and 106294 as well as this related MacFixIt item).

Easy Classic launching A MacFixIt Forums thread (Easy Classic launching) discusses ways to launch, quit and monitor Classic directly from the Dock.