Apple fixes Mac OS X upgrade

Cnet ^ | 10.03.03 | Staff Writer, CNET News.com

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Apple Computer on Friday posted a new release of Mac OS X, after an earlier minor upgrade caused some systems to have problems connecting to Ethernet networks.

The Mac maker said the new version of Mac OS X 10.2.8 includes an updated Ethernet driver for 450MHz and 500MHz dual-processor Power Mac G4 systems. Apple pulled the original system software upgrade shortly after its release last week, following complaints of networking problems.

Apple said the new software includes an updated battery status menu to better reflect the remaining battery life on PowerBook systems. The software has also been made compatible with the Power Mac G5; with the original version of 10.2.8, G5 customers were told not to install the software. The update is available for all customers who use the Software Update utility built in to Mac OS X, Apple said.

For customers who had already installed 10.2.8, Apple recommends installing the new version. The company has several suggested workarounds for Mac owners who still cannot connect their machines to the Internet to get the upgrade. The company recommends that customers try downloading the update to another computer and burn the installer program to a CD. They also can try using a hub rather than directly connecting to a broadband modem or use a wireless network to avoid the Ethernet connection problem.

Version 10.2.8 is the latest update to Mac OS X, which originally shipped in March 2001. The current Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar" version was released in August 2002, while another upgrade, code-named Panther, is due out by the end of this year.

Several Mac enthusiast sites reported this week that Apple has finished developing Panther, with the software reaching what's known as "Golden Master" stage, meaning that it is ready to be sent for duplication. An Apple representative would not comment on those reports.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Can't recall a Windows OS ever having this problem. Doesn't Apple test their products? I have only heard positives from end users of OSX. Except for this minor glitch.

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[freedomcrusader]

LOL! How are you supposed to download the fixed version if you can't make a network connection?

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Use a Windows PC ?

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Chelsea with a haircut?

[Rodney King]

I'd buy a Mac, but I'm not gay.

[general_re]

How are you supposed to download the fixed version if you can't make a network connection?

You can borrow my Win2K machine ;)

All kidding aside, this is why that class-action thing against MS is ridiculous - nobody writes bulletproof operating systems, immune to bugs, hacks, and cracks. Some are surely better than others, without a doubt, but if this MS lawsuit is successful, the minute Your Favorite OS has a problem like this, you can expect the lawyers to smell blood in the water. Count on it.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Ouch! Flame suit firmly in place?

[Flyer]

I have only heard positives from end users of OSX

If I had the geeky knowledge I think I would come up with a Mac virus just to end the "My dog's better than your dog" wars here.

Then I would have to infect that dang penguin.

[freedomcrusader]

Fortunately, I'm at a PC right now and do not use a Mac. Otherwise I couldn't have posted!

[js1138]

Can't recall a Windows OS ever having this problem.

Actually Microsoft did release a security update a couple of months ago that pitched several hundred thousand users off the internet. That makes it difficult to get the fix.

Fortunately the updates can be uninstalled without access to the net.

Lots of big corporations hold off installing the updates for fear of bugs. That's why their pants are down when the exploit worms arrive. Better to live with bugs than worms in my opinion.

[general_re]

Speaking from my own experience, I will say that often it's not a matter of simply avoiding updates, as I'm sure you know. But companies that have a couple of critical apps, or crufty old legacy apps that need to work, will tend to take a good long time testing patches before going live, rather than patching willy-nilly and potentially breaking something important. Unfortunately, that delay for testing often exposes them to problems as well. Can't win for trying, some days ;)

[Publius6961]

Apple fixes Mac OS X upgrade

I hear the chilling wails of all those teen Mac users in the distance, commiting hara kiri

All 36 of them...

[savedbygrace]

First, did you read the article? There were two suggestions mentioned.

Second, Apple had previously posted a KnowledgeBase article explaining the steps to take to revert back to the previous version, v10.2.6, which gives the user his/her Ethernet connection back.

[js1138]

Yes, I can recall database programs that took forever to work with Wondows 2000, ones that still don't work with XP. I worked for a software company that dumped 40 million dollars on a database program that had to be re-written from scratch several times as the development tools evolved. I quit just before the purge, but to the best of my knowledge, not a single developer survived that fiasco.

All the really talented programmers I've known have a tendencey to overreach the technology, then wonder why things don't work with new releases of the OS. All te successful programmers I've known have a tendency to use vanilla code. I've got programs written on UNIX C fifteen years ago that compile and run under XP.

[SengirV]

LOL! How are you supposed to download the fixed version if you can't make a network connection?

LOL, a work-a-round was available within an hour - if you could manage to get on the internet from anywhere else.

[Joe Bonforte]

"The Mac Killed My Inner Child"

[freedomcrusader]

Of course I read the article, I'm using a PC.

How does one come to know about the fixes, absent access to another machine, not similarly afflicted?

Just making light of the situation.

[general_re]

Sometimes it can't be helped. I can remember taking a month just to test NT4 service packs before deploying them to the users, and all those desktops basically did was function as glorified VT100 terminals, hooking up to this nasty old COBOL app running in a broom closet somewhere. But we lived in constant fear of breaking that old thing - not that it was likely, and we never really found any showstoppers, as you might expect. But when breaking the mini means costing the company large amounts of money on a per-minute basis - and on a more personal level, when breaking it means that you get to leave at the end of that day with all your stuff in a box - you tend to get a little paranoid... ;)

[js1138]

Ah, the good old days. Right now I'm consulting with a small maufacturing company. Internet access has been getting flakey for several months, and last week, after installing the latest security updates, it became non-existent. Afte six hours on the phone with Microsoft We got everything working. Seems the folks wh installed the server had a few non-standard settings in the IP properties, and the security upgrades finally said they weren't goin to take it anymore.

So Friday evening I reboot the server, hoping to clean up a few leftover glitches, and half the services won't start due to logon failures. I love scurity.