The update, MacOSX 10.1.4 (through “Software Update”), delivers improved networking, security, and additional disc recording device support. MacOSX Server 10.1.4 fixes some security and mail issues.
MacOSX 10.1.4 Released
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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The ethernet adapter on my iMac is kaput. No more web updates. No more MacOSX usage. No more Mac for me.
Darn, and I have 2 Tulip PCI cards sitting idly in my PC graveyard. I will never buy a closed system again.
That is the main reason I don’t like systems as a unit, because if the hardware is dead you have to be without your entire computer while it gets fixed. Have you tried just doing a clean install (since i don’t own a mac I don’t know if new systems come with the install discs or a recovery disc or what), or ala windows layering a new install on top of the broken one (dunno if you can even do it on a mac, but its saved my arse a couple of times in windows 98).
These updates are screwy! Last time I installed the .3 update I couldn’t connect to my NT server anymore – finder crashed every time. This is crazy!
Web browsing over dial up massively improved (with opera 5.0) and system boots from shutdown much faster too.
They may be closed systems but you can still get them repaired, and the new iMacs haven’t even been out long enough for the first string to lose their warranty.
Does anyone make an external adapter that you could use?
“Darn, and I have 2 Tulip PCI cards sitting idly in my PC graveyard. I will never buy a closed system again.”
LOL .. like it has been said before, why go from a software monopoly (MS) to a hardware monopoly? At least with the software, you can pirate it if you so desire
I just downloaded the Gnu-Darwin 2.5 beta for x86. Anyone else tried it out yet?
Prior to 10.1.4 my 56K modem in my iMac G4 sucked. Never could hold a connection longer than 5 minutes. All of a sudden after I updated to 10.1.4, it became more stable. Good job Apple, I would have appreciated this sooner.
Closed systems are preferable for users who would never look at modifying the guts of their computer. The idea of swapping out an ethernet card to a novice user, the target of the iMac market, would be extremely scary. These are the people who are afraid to explore the *software* on the computer, much less the hardware. Furthermore, a cheap USB or FireWire ethernet adapter, for less than $40, will get you up and running again. These systems aren’t completely closed because of the FireWire and USB buses.
Corey,
Corey,
I have it installed. The biggest problem I’ve had so far is that none of the gnu-darwin specific packages are actually on the CD 🙂 Apparently someone screwed up when making the ISO.
I also had to manually install the 3Com driver, and the driver isn’t loaded every time I boot the machine.
All in all, I wouldn’t recommend installing it unless you like fighting with your operating system.
Zenja wrote;
>>The ethernet adapter on my iMac is kaput. No more web updates. No more MacOSX usage. No more Mac for me.<<
Zenja… you know you can take the iMac apart to fix and upgrade it right? If you’re not sure how to go about it, there is a book a Books A Million called ‘My iMac’ from IDG Books that gives you all kinds of helpful hints on how to take apart the iMac and other stuff. If you want I could help you track down the Ethernet part you’re looking for.
Genaldar wrote;
>>or ala windows layering a new install on top of the broken one (dunno if you can even do it on a mac, but its saved my arse a couple of times in windows 98).<<
Yes you can install on top of the OS without affecting your file system and your files.
T Ly wrote;
>>Prior to 10.1.4 my 56K modem in my iMac G4 sucked. Never could hold a connection longer than 5 minutes. All of a sudden after I updated to 10.1.4, it became more stable. Good job Apple, I would have appreciated this sooner.<<
This is something that Apple should of had fixed a longtime ago. That was one of my major compplaints to them, along with the dialing in being sometimes fast, and sometimes slow, which wasn’t the case with OS 9… but now I have ADSL, I have had zero problems since, and it is cheaper than dial-up here in Europe. You can get unlimited internet service with dial-up, but you still have to pay for the local call unfortunately. That is why I went with ADSL, no calls to pay for.
I installed the update as well last night and haven’t seen any quirks yet, my Ti-Book hasn’t been updated yet, so I might wait a day and see how this update works, but it’s probably no big deal.
“They may be closed systems but you can still get them repaired, and the new iMacs haven’t even been out long enough for the first string to lose their warranty.”
Not my point. My point is if my nic dies, I drop in an old one from the box ‘o stuff. Or if my monitor dies, I connect it to the fuzz box (crappy old monitor, I named, cause I was bored). With a closed system (imac, those weird ultra small desktops, etc.) all that can be done is sending the entire system out for repair, which means you can’t get any work done. So even if something is covered by warrenty, that doesn’t help you use your computer while its at some authorized service center.
I wonder how common that particular bug is. Its got to be fairly wide spread. If so us windows users can now fire back with “well at least our modems worked right”, when a mac fan says ms makes buggy software. Seriously though, if it is at all widespread I can’t understand why apple didn’t have a fix sooner (X has been out for what almost a year now?). Or was it something that started with 1.1.3.
Buying an iMac is a conscious choice for a closed non-expandable system. Apple sells macs in tower cases that can take PCI cards…including extra/replacement NIC’s.
You can add PCI cards, replace or add hard drives, CD/DVD/CDRW/DVD-R drives, Zip Drives, CPU etc etc… I have one that I overclocked by setting one jumper. This is all on top of any external USB/Firewire solutions. Hardly “closed”.
If you made the choice for an iMac then its YOUR fault you dont have an expandable mac. BTW, whatever company Farallon became is selling USB NIC’s similar to those oft ridiculed in the Windows world. Its amazing that so many PC users with “expandable” PC’s use USB NIC’s…lol its the storage device hung on the PRINTER port all over again.
When my cable company came to install our broadband service we were offered two NIC’s, one on the the mac (which unlike most PC’s at the time came with 10/100 (or any for that matter) ethernet, On the mac we were offered a PCI NIC. Or he said he could install an USB NIC dongle thing on our PC (which already had a PCI NIC). Expandable indeed…
Shmegglefurt is right… The iMac has limited upgradability similar to the old Packard Bells with that stupid ‘Daughter Board’ that gets in the way of flexibility in a system. Though you can upgrade the older iMacs with HDs, CPUs and different video/sound cards, it’s a tedious task compared to that of a PowerMac or a normal PC tower system. That is why my next purchase will be a PowerMac… the main reason I went with the iMac (other than a small footprint) was to make sure I wanted to the Mac route full stop. And since I have been using Macs for over 3 years and own 3 of them (a friend of mine gave me an old Mac SE/30 that is 13 years old and still works flawlessly with System 7, with MS Office installed 🙂 I have decided to stick with the platform as my main machine, even for work (with the Ti-Book).
I think that most people that buy iMacs usually don’t care about full upgradability and just want a system that just works for years on end. I have had a few quirks with my old iMac in the past, but it has never been anything major that put me without a computer. Once the Third party companies know how to go about aftermarketing parts for the new iMac, then you’ll have the upgrade stuff you need, but make sure your warranty with Apple has expired, or you’ll lose out if you screw it up :-
CatBeMac wrote:
<<
…That was one of my major compplaints to them, along with the dialing in being sometimes fast, and sometimes slow, which wasn’t the case with OS 9…
>>
When I was still using 10.1.3, I noticed that in the instances where my Mac dialed up to PPP fast, that is when I would have reliability issues. But when it takes a long time to dial and make the connection (the icon stops blinking) I have a solid connection and it doesn’t kick me off.
“X has been out for what almost a year now?”
OSX came out March 2001. It is now April 2002. So, Apple had more than a year.
Apple’s update plan is like MS- many updates- too many version/patches to keep track of.
A.A.: The updates are hardly complicated to manage. How many security updates has Microsoft released? I can count like 200 easily, and all you get is dates and different numbers to figure out how they are ordered. Atleast it’s versions like 10.1.3 logically if you actually had some commen sense you’d realise that 10.1.4 comes after 3.
Is that such a hard concept? Plus if your a person who uses Software Update on your Mac you click a couple buttons your system reboots and wow new system software is installed.
I have Software Update check once a week. I don’t have to even remember to check. When it tells me about new updates I install the ones I know I need. Nice and easy.
I thought dial-up reliability was finally fixed with the 10.1.4 update. Nope. The iMac internal modem still sucks.
>>I thought dial-up reliability was finally fixed with the 10.1.4 update. Nope. The iMac internal modem still sucks.<<
Yeah I reported that to them during the OS X Public Beta days, but they seem to ignore the issue… it got on my nerves as well, which was another reason I pushed to ADSL!
dumb question, but…
Is your ‘Disconnect if Idle for [?] minutes’ deselected under PPP options?
I have not had a problem with the disconnect only the fast vs. slow dial-up.
Just curious 🙂
Apple would like to open the Tulip driver source just like they did with the Intel 855x NIC driver, but their license doesn’t allow it.
“Is that such a hard concept? Plus if your a person who uses Software Update on your Mac you click a couple buttons your system reboots and wow new system software is installed.”
Windows has the same exact thing, including a program you can run to check for reccomended updates, so its not like mac is alone in this (windows has had both for at least 3 years). But some non-ms fans paint desktop windows as hard to keep up to date, completely forgetting these.
I know that Windows has the same utility built in. But I was basically just responding to A.A.’s comments on how messed up all the updates for Mac OS X are. I was basically explaining to him that Windows has tons of updates too, and Windows and Mac OS X are relatively easy to upgrade.
Just taking his feet out since he had no clue what he was blabbing about.
Well, Babya System updates (thatr’s my app) are like Apple’
s:
eg:
logical updates:
9.0- major version
BS 9 .. release 01-07-02
9.1- 19/02/02
9.15- 13/3/2002
9.3- 30/3/2002
10.0- 04-06-02
10.0.1- 12/04/2002
I’ve tried various configurations. With and without the Disconnect if idle option. The behavior is just sporadic and inconsistent.
I’m having such a wonderful time with the Mac so I’m trying not to let a little thing ruin everything. I’m learning to live with this problem.