Set your default font size in IE5 to 12pt in order for this page not to look like shit.

Mac OS X Public Beta FAQ

by Sixkiller

Us in EFNet #MacOSX have been getting alot of duplicate questions, so here's the lot, with answers. I'll update this as frequently as possible. This should make it a frequently updated, quality FAQ. In other words, a FUQFAQ!

Huh?

If you are completely new to Mac OS X, and terms such as Carbon, Cocoa and Classic mean nothing to you, try my Mac OS X pages at http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sixkiller/.

Note: Newly added questions are at the bottom of the page.
So please check out the entire document before asking on IRC.

Q: Where can I get Mac OS X Public Beta ?
A: http://www.apple.com/store or #MacFilez.

Q: Isn't it downloadable from Apple ?
A: Nope.

Q: What?
A: It isn't... You can buy it from the Store.

Q: On what boxes does the Beta run ?
A: On all of Apple's G3/G4 macs and on
....a handful of G3-upgraded PCI Macs.

The beta unfortunately does not run on
non-G3/G4 upgraded pre-G3 Macs. The list:

Macs that will not run the Mac OS X Public Beta

PowerBook 1400	5500 Series	7100 Series	8200 Series
PowerBook 2400	6100 Series	7200 Series	8500 Series
PowerBook 3400	6200 Series	7300 Series	8600 Series
4400 Series	6300 Series	7500 Series	9500 Series
5200 Series	6400 Series	7600 Series	9600 Series
5400 Series	6500 Series

Not to worry quite yet though, as to what I've heard, the
kernel (which is G3/G4 only right now) might be replaced
by Apple later. Who knows (But no guarantees either).

Q: Does it really require 128 Mb of RAM ?
A: Not really. I installed it on a friend's G4 with 64 Mb
....and it worked...

Q: What/where/how does the Mac OS X Beta install?
A: You insert the CD and hold C during startup.
....You will be taken straight into the Mac OS X installation
....procedure, after which you restart and get an Assistant.
....Mac OS X Public Beta installs on any of your HFS+
....partitions, regardless of whatever's already on it.
....It does not need formatting any drive, disk or volume,
....nor does it throw away any of your current files.
....The default installation takes about 750 Mb (Not 1.5 GB).

Tip: Short on space after installing OS X Public Beta ?
Delete the folder /Applications/GrabBag/QuickTime Movies.
It takes up nearly 160 Mb.

Q: Has Mac OS X Public Beta broken anyone's Mac yet ?
A: Caution: Yes. I've received several reports of people losing
....their files and applications installing Mac OS X Public Beta.
....Be safe, not sorry, and back up your important stuff before
....installing this OS.

Q: My CD doesn't boot ! :-(
A: Tut tut. You should know by now that you may never mount
....a Toast image that has a bootable system folder on it !
....When you mount a Toast image in Toast, it's mounted read/write
....by default. Your Finder then updates the desktop file on the volume
....without asking. Since the Mac OS X Public Beta CD has a system
....folder with only a "BootX" file in it, the Finder will most likely
....unbless it, as the criteria for a blessed sysfolder are a System and
....Finder file. I.o.w, when you mount a bootable image in Toast, you
....wreck it. You'll have to get it again, or simply buy it.

Q: Does OS X Beta 1 come with any developer tools/compilers?
A: Nope. You may copy them from Darwin, as Darwin and
....OS X are binary compatible.

Q: Where can I get some apps for OS X then ?
A: Try these:
1) The Mac OS X tab on www.versiontracker.com
2) Softrak on www.stepwise.com

Q: What do I do when an app is stuck in some task?
A: Press Command + Option + Escape.
....You can force quit any app from here, without
....affecting the rest of the OS or the applications running.

Q: How do I get back to Mac OS 9 standalone ?
A: You can get back to your old Mac OS bootup by either
....opening your System Disk control panel in Mac OS X's
....System Preferences, or by simply holding down the Option
....key in the early bootup process until you hear a second chime.

Q: How do I get back to Mac OS X from there ?
A: You can get back to Mac OS X by opening the System Disk
....(Not Startup Disk) control panel in Mac OS 9, then selecting
....the volume that you've installed Mac OS X Public Beta on.

Q: Help! Mac OS 9 standalone crashes after using it in Classic.app.
A: Mac OS X Public Beta installs a new OpenTransport in your
....Mac OS 9 System Folder when running Classic for the first time.
....This version of OT conflicts with NetBarrier, so Mac OS 9 will crash
....if you run it standalone. Remove NetBarrier and Mac OS 9 standalone
....should work fine. If you never had NetBarrier installed in the first place,
....try disabling any other third party software that has something to do
....with the Internet or local networking.

Q: I can't use the Carbon build of Ircle 3.1b6 !
A: Indeed that one doesn't work... wait for a new build.

Q: Macster PR.5.5 opens in Classic or doesn't open at all!
A: Indeed Macster doesn't appear to work with everyone.
....It does with some people though, so keep your eyes
....open for a possible solution.

Q: Any Carbon or Cocoa IRC clients out there yet ?
A: Yep. There is a Carbon built of Ircle that doesn't work,
.... but there's also Snak (which is Carbonized) and the
.... Cocoa IRC client JediKnight.

Q: Why can't I install JediKnight ? It gets "Operation not permitted".
A: Your root and system directories are locked by default.
.....Perform the following in a Terminal to fix this:

.....su root
.....(you'll have to enter your password here)
.....chmod 775 /

.....This way your / will be unlocked and JK should be able to install.
.... Note: Some people still cannot get it to work. Beats me.

Q: How do I turn on sshd so my telnet access is secure ?
A: Here's the procedure step by step...
1) Open a Terminal and do "su". This will switch to
....the root user. after you enter your password.
2) Add the following lines to /etc/hostconfig:

....SSHSERVER=-YES-

3) Type this at the root# prompt: /System/Library/StartupItems/SSH/SSH

Q: Nice. I'll start giving people telnet accounts now.
A: NO. Do NOT give anyone shell accounts to your OS X box.
....This is because all your disks except for root are given
....777 permissions by default. This means that all your users
....will have the same priviledges as root. Also, NetInfo is far
....from secure. No shadow passwords, and all the passwords
....use plain crypt.

Q: Can I use my iDisk in Mac OS X ?
A: Yep. all you need to do is press Command-K in the Finder,
....then type idisk.mac.com and hit return.

Q: What can you tell me about getting audio working when it's not?
A: If you have a native G3 (Beige G3 or higher) and you don't have audio remove all USB/PCI hardware not necessary and try again. Unsupported hardware prevents KEXTs from being loaded, and this is evident when you run kmodstat (as root).

If you have a pre-G3 motherboard like a TNT or Tsunami then please note the AWACS driver for these machines hasn't been converted to a KEXT and thus must be compiled into the kernel to use. Don't attempt this until Darwin 1.2 is released. There are only KEXTs for Burgundy, Screamer, and DAC chip sets as well as USB. If you want to know what audio chip you have type ioreg -l and search for "sound". The "compatible" field lists the chip name. DON'T try to load the KEXT manually using kextload if unsupported hardware (like Cynborg 3D USB joystick or Orange PC PCI card etc.) is preventing automatic loading of KEXTs (which is evidenced by kmodstat)! Darwin is designed to load KEXT *AUTOMATICALLY* so if it fails to load any there is a hardware problem. Strip your mac to the bare essentials first!

Q: How do I get my Airport to work in Mac OS X ?
A: I've found some info on Hotline concerning this,
and I've made a page based on it. Hope it works.
Click here for the Airport procedure.