Troubleshooting Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) #8: FireWire; Sorenson; Fixing fax problems; more

CNET staff

Sept. 2, 2009 10:28 p.m. PT

5 min read

[Part 1,Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7]

FireWire: drive manufacturers blaming Panther In our continuing coverage of the Mac OS X 10.3 vs. FireWire issue - which affects both FireWire 400 and 800 drives - several drive manufacturers are now placing the blame squarely on Panther. One MacFixIt reader received the following response from Maxtor, which previously denied that its drives were affected by this problem:

"I understand you have heard of problems with the OS 10.3 and our external drives. The only issue we have heard about is file system corruption on the external drive when 10.3 is installed. The unofficial remedy to correct this type of problem is to install the new OS when the external drive is not installed on your system (that is, the external drive data cable is not plugged in). We saw this issue with previous OS system updates and this seems to be an issue with 10.3 Panther."

In-house, we are currently trying to answer two questions about the Panther FireWire problem:

Can drives attached via FireWire target disk mode be damaged/corrupted by a Mac OS X 10.3 installation?
If your drives survived the initial Mac OS X 10.3 installation, is there a chance they could be ruined at a later date with regular Panther usage?

Please send us your thoughts.

Sorenson Pro 3 codec Several reports indicate that the Sorenson Pro 3 codec will not work under Mac OS X 10.3 with QuickTime 6.4. Readers inquiring about the problem are receiving the following response from Sorenson:

"We have been made aware of the problem and although our product should work we are just going to release an update to our codec. You should find the update on our website within a few weeks."

If you need the Pro 3 codec functionality, it will still work in the Classic environment.

Fixing fax problems Rob Yager offers a series of workarounds for those having problems with Mac OS X 10.3's ability to forward the faxes it receives by email to addresses you specify. The service makes use of postfix - an mail sending application built into Mac OS X, and in some cases, some items are not installed correctly.

1. The service makes use of some special users that need to be configured. In many installations, the script to do that isn't run. A way to fix that is to type the following in Terminal: sudo /Library/Receipts/Essentials.pkg/Contents/Resources/CreateSystemUsers

The only space is between sudo and /Library. You'll need to enter your administrator password

2. After you have done this, it is probably an idea to repair permissions using DiskUtility

3. Edit /usr/libexec/fax/faxnotify using your favorite UNIX editor to replace the line that reads

stdout, stdin = os.popen2('/usr/bin/mail ' quote(recipients) with stdout, stdin = os.popen2('/usr/sbin/sendmail -oi -t')

This removes some unwanted space between the last of the headers and the MIME boundary line in the message. If you don't do this, the received message will not recognize the attachment it contains which is the fax.

4. You may need to edit /etc/hostconfig If there is a line which says

MAILSERVER=-NO- change it to MAILSERVER=-AUTOMATIC-

This will allow postfix to start when your computer has processed the fax and delivers it to postfix to forward on.

5. Restart and test

Epson Scanner workaround We previously reported problems using the Epson 3200 scanner under Mac OS X 10.3. The problem involves Apple's Image Capture jumping in line ahead of the SilverFast SE software. MacFixIt reader David Story offers a workaround:

"In order to make the SilverFast SE software run and bypass Apple's Image Capture and recognize the Epson Scanner on the Firewire port, I stuffed the Epson Monitor which normally sits in the Application folder (to deactivate it) and I removed the Epson Scanner which normally sits in the Library/Image Capture/Devices folder. I placed both of these temporarily in the Application folder to put back at a later date when Epson fixes their software. If you do not stuff the Epson Monitor, merely removing the Epson Scanner will not work.

"If you do not take the above steps but still wish to use the scanner, you must always run the Activity Monitor in the Utility Folder and kill all Epson threads before running any software, either the Epson Scan or Silverfast SE (after each startup). This is a nuisance to have to complete after each boot up and prior to scanning though."

HP statement on all-in-one support We previously noted lack of full functionality with Hewlett Packard's all-in-one print/scan/fax devices under Mac OS X 10.3. The company has now made an official statement on the issue:

"Many current HP products have 'Print Only" drivers built into the new OS 10.3 (see table). To maintain full functionality of your HP All-in-One products, please wait for the 10.3 HP software driver that will be available with the next few weeks. "

Griffin g4port Earlier reports of problems with the g4port have been met with the following response from Griffin "We are aware of this and we are working on a driver update."

In the meantime, MacFixIt reader Nicholas Riley notes that the Stealth Serial Port driver works fine with the g4Port under Mac OS X 10.3.

CopyPaste workaround We previously reported that CopyPaste X 1.6 causes the "c" key to malfunction in Mac OS X 10.3. The software's author has now provided a temporary workaround until a software fix can be supplied:

"While running CopyPaste with OS X 10.3, the lowercase 'c' will not type. I have to hold it down with effort in order to get it to type. Quit CopyPaste and the problem goes away.

"The problem is a conflict with the use of the Command key preference that CopyPaste relies on - it is this that disables your 'c.' Start CopyPaste and immediately go to the Preferences Menu .If you change the first popup preference to not use the Command key, it will enable the 'c' to work. The next two settings must have a selection other than 'no clip archive.' Be careful not to select a shortcut that conflicts with other application shortcuts if you have had no clip archive selected previously. For example Command-shift-V will conflict with an Entourage shortcut to paste as quotation."

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