Mac OS X 10.2.5 Update Available

jarrettwold2002 writes "ThinkSecret mentioned that 10.2.5 would be out this month; well, it's out much sooner than the usual end of the month dates that Apple loves. It might be available via Software Update later today or tomorrow, but is available for purchase on CD via the Apple Store, right now. 'The 10.2.5 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, utilities, services, and technologies: Address Book, AirPort, AppleScript, Bluetooth, Classic compatibility, Disk Copy, Disk Utility, Finder, Help Viewer, iChat, Image Capture, IP Firewall, Kerberos, Mail, OpenGL, Print Center, Rendezvous, and Sherlock.'" The release notes are not yet available. Update: 04/10 23:09 GMT by P : It is now available via Software Update, too.

Comments

Re:Safari?

[Roto-Rooter Man]

Mac IE is stable. It just sucks ass, that's all.

Re:Safari?

[insensitive_clod]

You can expect that in 10.3, but this is just another double point release...

Whoa...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's new... an *intentional* link to a nonexistant page...

Re:Whoa...

[Anonymous Coward]

If the release notes are not done, then I wonder how well tested the release will be? Considering the past, I'll wait...

Re:Whoa...

[Anonymous Coward]

I've actually never seen the release notes 'released' until a little bit after the update is available in Software Update. Why I don't know. They probably want to make the update available first, and then distribute the release notes... maybe to keep from feeding the mac rumors idiocy.

Re:Whoa...

[jkujawa]

Apple puts its software updates in one place, and they're picked up by Akamai's caches from there.

Re:Whoa...

[Anonymous Coward]

he was talking about the support side of things... and getting all the parts from the various parts inside apple in one package

Re:Whoa...

[davesag]

Poor documentation doesn't equal bad code

no but it does imply bad programming.

Re:Whoa...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it only implies poor documentation.

Re:Whoa...

[ianezz]

> Poor documentation doesn't equal bad code

no but it does imply bad programming.

And a hell in long-term maintenance as well... (learned it the hard way).

Re:Whoa...

[shamino0]

The Software Updates utility links to the page. Obviously, the script/user who made the update available hadn't yet put the release notes in place at the time the article was written.

It's there now, however.

Re:Safari?

[ahector]

It makes sense that Apple won't be bundling Safari with the OS until it has reached 1.0. As nice as it is right now, it's still a beta, and generally you don't give your users a beta for a default browser.

I wonder if it will address battery issues

[thunderbird46]

Some (Dual USB) iBook users are having battery problems with 10.2.4 -- seems 10.2.4 messes up something in the power management so that when running unplugged the machine'll run till some arbitrary level of charge remaining (from 50%-90% of capacity left) and then suddenly go into sleep. Plugging the machine in starts the battery charging from 0%. Here's hoping 10.2.5 addresses that.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[elysian1]

Nope. I don't think it does. That wasn't in the kb article.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[Halo1]

From the Archive.bom file in the installer:
[snip]
./System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/Battery.menu
[snip a lot of files below that directory]
./System/Library/SystemConfiguration/PowerManageme nt.bundle
[snip also several files in that directory]

So even if they didn't fix that issue with the update of the PowerManagement bundle, at least they tinkered with the display of the battery status :)

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[blakey_4]

I just installed the new update and it seems to improve the battery life or at least the display shows that the battery life is extended. I'm running off the battery. Before the update it showed I have about 1:05. After the update, it now shows I have 2:10 left on the battery and it's at 55%. Usually my battery lasts about 2:30.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[leifm]

I called AppleCare with this problem(mine cut out around 30-40%) and they sent me a new battery, no argument.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[Anonymous Coward]

Yup, something's different. I use that unix script fro OSX hints to check my battery status in more detail. The "flags" variable changed from being just 5/0x005 for plugged in to 838860805/0x32000005.

The script may be found here.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[Anonymous Coward]

The battery problem extends beyond the iBook. I have a dual 867 mhz G4 and 10.2.4 caused my date and time to reset every time I shut the system down. One suspected reason is that the clock battery is being drained (for whatever reason) and thus cannot maintain the date and time after shut down. Apple has not addressed this issue and a number of people seem to have it. Boooooo!

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[thunderbird46]

It's looking like that's what I'm gonna have to do, 10.2.5 seems to be making it WORSE. And I'm stopping typing this message now because at 93% I think my machine's gonna turn off any moment now -- that's what it did the first time I tested it with 10.2.5. Argh. A 8 month old battery, lightly used, shouldn't DO this.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[thunderbird46]

Yeah, it seems they did. I actually get a second or two of it showing 0% before the sudden drop in power and forced sleep now! Progress! :p

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[SiO2]

My iBook developed a rather nasty case of the "underpowered" battery shortly after I installed 10.2.4. I contacted Apple support and the very helpful tech I spoke with had a replacement battery shipped to me as a warranty replacement. I live in Ohio. It arrived the next day. For some reason a lot of tech product ships from Ohio. Since replacing the battery, my iBook no longer experiences the problem. If your laptop is still under warranty, give it a shot. You can also try this procedure from Apple's KB.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[JonathanBoyd]

There is some weirdness as work here. Menubar display says 99% and 'Battery is charged' when I click on it. batt.bash says 99.5% charge and it isn't going up :p

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[Halo1]

That's normal. OS X charges your battery to 100% and then waits until the battery is back at 95% before it starts charging again. This is done to prolong the battery life.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[leifm]

Well make sure you call before your 1 year of AppleCare runs out. They asked me to reset the PRAM, which I had already tried, and after I told them that they started the battery exchange process. It's an odd problem, my girlfriend has the same iBook I do, bought used on eBay, and her battery doesn't have this problem.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[JonathanBoyd]

It was charging up from ~60%. After putting the iBook to sleep and looking at batt.bash again a couple of hours later, it was up to 100%. Not because it had charged any more, but because to capacity had dropped off slightly :p I wouldn't mind, since I use it as a desktop anyway (have to fly back and forth between home and uni every term and can't afford 2 computers), but I don't have a functionning power adaptor the moment because my old one frayed at the bit where you plug into the computer, which is of cours,e impossible to repair, so I have to fork out £65 for a new one and beg/borrow/steal from my sister when she's not using her iBook, in order to keep mine charged. Grr.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[thunderbird46]

I called them this morning, they're sending me a new battery. yay.

Re:I wonder if it will address battery issues

[Anonymous Coward]

Addresses an issue in which the date may unexpectedly be set to 1969 or 1970 during startup.

Need anything to help wash down those words you're eating?

Is this a typo?

[Pirogoeth]

Here's the release notes from 10.2.4:

The 10.2.4 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, utilities, services, and technologies: Address Book, AppleScript, Classic compatibility, Disk Copy, Disk Utility, Finder, Help Viewer, iChat, Image Capture, IP Firewall, Kerberos, Mail, OpenGL, Print Center, Rendezvous, and Sherlock. It provides audio, disc recording, graphics, printing improvements, AFP and WebDAV networking and Windows file service improvements, as well as USB, FireWire and SCSI device compatibility enhancements. The update also provides updated security services and includes the latest Security Updates.

Looks pretty similar...

Re:Is this a typo?

[azpcox]

Nope, it's the real thing. The CD was just added *above* the recently announced FCP4 full version and upgrade. Go check it out:

store.apple.com

Re:Is this a typo?

[Pirogoeth]

I'm sure it's not a typo here. My point is, it might be a typo on Apple's site. Here's what they have as the note on the Apple Store site:

The 10.2.5 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, utilities, services, and technologies: Address Book, AirPort, AppleScript, Bluetooth, Classic compatibility, Disk Copy, Disk Utility, Finder, Help Viewer, iChat, Image Capture, IP Firewall, Kerberos, Mail, OpenGL, Print Center, Rendezvous, and Sherlock.
The update includes improvements to AFP, Web services, dial up connections over PPP, and Windows file services, as well as audio, disc recording, graphics, and printing improvements and USB, FireWire and SCSI device compatibility enhancements.
The update also provides updated security services and includes the latest Security Updates.

Compare this to what I wrote above; almost word-for-word the same.

Re:Is this a typo?

[dankow]

Looks pretty similar...

That's because this is a combo installer, and those are all the changes since 10.2. Read the link, and you'll find out that there's a page that lists the 10.2.5 changes separately.

Re:Is this a typo?

[Halo1]

Although the web document doesn't mention it, if you look at the contents of the update (lsbom MacOSXUpdate10.2.5.pkg/Contents/Archive.bom), you'll see that all those components are indeed updated (again). And I'm sure I don't have the combo-updater, since I've already got 10.2.4 installed and the update is "only" 40MB.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Airport Fixes?

[peterdaly]

I hope this update will make my 12" TiBook with Airport Extream stop crashing my Linksys Wireless access point.

That is really a problem for me.

-Pete

Re:Airport Fixes?

[sporty]

Isn't this a Linksys problem if it crashes due to errant traffic? You may wanna talk to them about this, incase someone with 10.2.4 lives next door :)

Re:Airport Fixes?

[Anonymous Coward]

just get the latest firmware. fixed it for me...

Re:Airport Fixes?

[baryon351]

That would make sense to me too.

I once worked at a place that had banned macs from the network, as the mac Novell client could login with many extra write permissions over most drives it shouldn't have been able to log in to, and could quite easily have screwed things up badly.

Of course, blaming the macs for having a 'buggy client' was the easy solution, instead of finding why the server actually allowed this to happen :P

Re:Airport Fixes?

[weave]

Really? Any sources for this? We just bought two netgear access points and they kept hanging up. Wonder if it's related (since I've been occasionally using it with a 12" PB with AE card...)

Re:Airport Fixes?

[anwnn]

I just troubleshot my Airport Extreme 12" TiBook with a Linksys 4-port Wireless router. It was dropping packets like crazy, even within 5 feet of the router.

I then switched the router to channel 11, and can report great success. Give it a shot.

Re:Airport Fixes?

[phyxeld]

Linksys definitely has a problem if rogue clients can crash their APs, but Mac OS X boxes really do do some weird wifi stuff. Quite often, when my airport card is on, linux users nearby who are on their consoles see a constant stream of kernel messages about "undersized frames". If I turn off my airport, it stops. I've seen a few macs do this, with a few different linux boxes. The common factor between the linux boxes is that they all were running (or had recently been running) in RF_MON mode. In any case, it only happens sometimes, and it's definitely caused by the presence of airport-enabled macs. Quite strange.

There are a lot of oddities I'm really hoping this update will fix. Among them, the sometimes-forgetting to ask for my encrypted disk password upon waking from sleep: If it doesn't ask, the disk just hangs, and the machine has to be rebooted. I really hope thats fixed. Currently I have to remember to hdiutil detach -force disk1 (or whatever df shows the volume mounted as) before I close the lid, if I don't want to risk crashing.

I can't seem to find the standalone combo update for download yet. The update is in Software Update, but I usually like to download the 10.2.x combo updater, so I can keep it with my 10.2 disks for later use. Tried guessing links from previous updates, but no luck. Anybody got a link to the combo update yet?

Re:Airport Fixes?

[phyxeld]

Right after I posted that, I reloaded apple's downloads page for the 50th time, and it just showed up.

The combo updater is here. Yay.

Re:Airport Fixes?

[batobin]

You have a 12" TiBook? Jesus, I didn't know they made those. I was under the impression that Apple only made 12" Aluminum PowerBooks.

Re:Airport Fixes?

[Anonymous Coward]

TiBook + lots of beer + power saw in the garage =
>> 12" TiBook next morning

Re:Airport Fixes?

[Paradise Pete]

"Wait till they get a load of me!" -- Joker, Batman the Movie

I thought Peter North said that.

Re:Airport Fixes?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe it's something wrong with the airport extreme's packet sizes.

Re:Airport Fixes?

[phyxeld]

Note: After running 10.2.5 for a couple days, I'm sad to say that the encrypted disk issue has not been fixed :(

Bluetooth update?

[davesag]

I wonder if I'll finally be able to use my mac as a virtual bluetooth headset. i mean i love being able to dial, send sms messages and answer the phone from my mac but then i have to go into the other room and find my phone to actually talk to anyone. It would be much more awesome to just click answer and then speak/listen, and to be able to use the voice activatable functions in the phone etc. Then my phone can stay in its drawer where it belongs until it's walkies time.

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Anonymous Coward]

I get such a kick when people think of something nobody else has ever thought of before and then say, "I wonder when we'll finally get this?" As if Apple's holding out on you.

You guys crack me up.

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Sophrosyne]

I think you should write the program that relays your cellphone's blue tooth headset data to your mac, then to your headset! YOU CAN DO IT CAPTAIN!

Re:Bluetooth update?

[lowmagnet]

Except bluetooth headsets already exist, and there is already a standard way of interfacing them. So what's *your* point?

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh. Can't you read? "I wonder when we'll finally get this thing that nobody else has and that I have just thought up right now on the spot." Duh.

Re:Bluetooth update?

[davesag]

My point is I already own a Mac and a phone, my Mac has a mike and a speaker. I use my Mac to drive the phone in every respect except to actually talk to people via voice, and issue voice instructions to the phone. So rather than spend more money on a bluetooth headset that I'd only lose anyway, I want the bluetooth stack in osx to handle audio. Consider the possibilities.

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Zane Edwards]

Looks like this updates Bluetooth Microsoft keyboard and mouse.

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Hadlock]

fuck that, i want the same functionality MS cardfile did for me in windows 3.1 - dial the number for me. huzzah for "large type" in the address book, but it's not particularly damn difficult to put the capability to dial that phone number for me and put me on speaker phone. so long as i have a modem, i want this capability. i'll pick up on handset if the need arises, but what i'd give for a freeware solution or actual apple software to do this....

Re:Bluetooth update?

[davesag]

the address book will dial the phone and answer the phone, just not let you talk on the phone.

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Alan Partridge]

funnily enough, I asked Apple for a very similar thing just the other day - I want to use my BT headset for audio IO on the Mac for voice recog and TTS purposes - sounds like the same overall capability though.

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Hadlock]

cardfile? or address book? i double checked and can't find anything that will let you dial or awnser the phone in 10.2.x

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Anonymous Coward]

My Mac has a Mic and speaker too. But alas, they are both underneath the same grill. Hence, if you activate both at the same time.... yeooooowwwwww, feedback!

Re:Bluetooth update?

[davesag]

Address book. It works fine for me. Person calls, a window pops up saying "blah blah calling... " shows the number and asks if i want to answer the call or not. to dial just click and hold on the number in the address book and voila, the options include "large type", "SMS message", or "dial". This does of course presume you have a bluetooth phone and it's been paired to your Mac.

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Anonymous Coward]

Currently the Bluetooth stack in OS X does not have support for the SCO API which is what is needed for headset functionality. There have been several discuessions on Apple's bluetooth-dev mailing list about the posibility of adding the API, but it basically comes down to people requesting it. File a bug report that SCO is needed in the Bluetooth stack, if they get enough of them someone might actually add it to the list of features to add.

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Mononoke]

It would be much more awesome to just click answer and then speak/listen, and to be able to use the voice activatable functions in the phone etc.

So, you want to squeeze full-duplex audio through what is essentially a low-bandwidth data path?

Re:Bluetooth update?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bluetooth was designed by the cellphone industry specifically for full-duplex audio (headsets).

Re:Bluetooth update?

[davesag]

why not? the bluetooth headsets do, the phone itself pushes audio both ways through an even lower width pipe; the GSM network.

nothing is impossible except skiing through a revolving door.

Here is the link

[qwertme]

here

Re:Here is the link

[bjtuna]

that link is unusable since it includes the information from your session. it returns a "your session has timed out" error.

Now Available

[Transfan76]

I am currently able to access the update via Software Update

Re:Now Available

[Roto-Rooter Man]

Here's the correct link for the release notes.

Re:Now Available

[Roto-Rooter Man]

Whoops, mentioned in the story. What i meant to say is that the story's link is for the combo update, for the solo update replace the 6 at the end with a 5.

It's available for download...

[Anonymous Coward]

... now.

Ok, so now it is REALLY out.

[ToadSprocket]

Just popped up on software update. Link to doc is Here

As of 3:05 EDT 4-10-03 its up

[k_187]

SU has found the update and is installing now. the Kbase doc is up too: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=254 06 -- Say yay for Karma

Re:As of 3:05 EDT 4-10-03 its up

[Anonymous Coward]

yay for Karma

Bluetooth Mouse?

[Iron Chef Unix]

The update states: Bluetooth Setup Assistant now works with certain Microsoft keyboards and mouse devices Does that mean we can use a bluetooth mouse and keyboard now? As far as I know, this was not supported before.

Re:Bluetooth Mouse?

[rastachops]

If so, I'm likely to go out and buy an MS Bluetooth mouse. It looks cool but I was disappointed to find out that it is not compatible with my nice new 12" Powerbook!

10.2.5

[Anonymous Coward]

Now on update site

There it is!

[Anonymous Coward]

Just got it via Software Update. It wasn't available at first, and then 5 minutes later it was...

Neat.

10.2.5 contains 10.2.4

[NaugaHunter]

The specific 10.2.5 changes are here.

It's out, and fixes the clock reset issue

[carou]

It's downloading as I type. And I'm glad to see in the release notes:

Addresses an issue in which the date may unexpectedly be set to 1969 or 1970 during startup.

Re:It's out, and fixes the clock reset issue

[paradesign]

yea esp since the lab computer im writing on now thinks its january 1st 1970, and thers nothing i can do about it without admin access.

My ibook crashed after install of 10.2.5

[Anonymous Coward]

My Ibook crashed while performing a smb mount after i installed 10.2.5, be careful!!!

Re:My ibook crashed after install of 10.2.5

[NeuroKoan]

Mine installed fine.

Free Space "needed"

[marklark]

It might just be me... But Software Update told me that I needed "499MB" of free space to do the installation.

I started cleaning out some chaff from the disk and wasn't finding enough, so I started digging around in the internals of the .pkg (looking for the Perl script that checks such things) - to no avail.

So... After downloading it to the Desktop and starting it up, it tells me that I only need "163MB" of space.

Cool. On I go.

Re:Free Space "needed"

[rackniraz]

I'm not sure, but I think it might need some space to expand the images.

I tried to install a large update on my Wallstreet (the Wallstreet requires the OS be on the first 8gb of the partition) on a partition that had a good 500mb free, a consequent of poor planning on my part. It told me that for a 97mb download, I needed about 699mb free. Kind of disappointing, but a reformat/repartitioning fixed that, and it's all good now.

Audigy/Extigy support

[Anonymous Coward]

With Audigy/Extigy support rumored for some time now, is anyone able to report back on whether 10.2.5 has improved on this?

IIRC, previous versions had very basic support for the Extigy, and no support for the Audigy at all.

Re:Audigy/Extigy support

[batobin]

Audigy/Extigy aren't the only two audio devices I hoped they'd support. I've been bugging Apple for awhile now about adding Edirol USB support. I don't understand it. The products aren't new, and they worked under OS 9. But with OS X they crackle every time audio starts/stops.

I read the list of changes for 10.2.5 beta, and "improved audio support" was mentioned. Now 10.2.5 is final, and they took it out. Maybe it's been postponed.

10.2.5 out on Software Update.

[mikedaisey]

You can get it now at Software Update in System Preferences, or if you rae feeling kicky download the stand-alone installer at:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=1 20 210

Update features (from versiontracker)

[dynayellow]

Bluetooth Setup Assistant now works with certain Microsoft keyboards and mouse devices.
Includes Bluetooth support for Nokia 7650 and P800 phones.
Improves compatibility for discs burned with certain Panasonic consumer burners.
Adds Image Capture support for Canon EOS 10D, ZR65, and ZR 70 cameras.
Adds disc burning support for several device-LaCie d2 DVD Multi U&I Drive and d2 CD-RW 52x24x52x, Visual Frontier COHH-B1-A48 and COSP-B1-C24, MacPower Cold Chisel 24x12x24x8x, and these BUSlink devices: FW5252FM FireWire 52x24x52x CD-RW drive, FW4848FM FireWire 48x12x48x CD-RW Drive, RW4040FM FireWire 40x12x40 CD-RW Drive.
Addresses an issue in which domain name lookups could fail if the DNS server responded with a very large reply packet.
Improves the way that LDAPv3 connections time out when idle.
Addresses a potential data loss issue that could occur when copying certain files to an SMB volume.
Addresses issues with Internet Sharing when certain types of DSL or cable modem connections are shared.
Improves security by resolving an issue in which a guest could gain read access to the contents of a shared Drop Box folder remotely.
The Internet preference pane can now store .Mac passwords that are up to 32 characters long.
Addresses an issue in which some Apple internal modems could not establish or maintain a connection to certain Scandinavian Internet service providers
Improves Mail's selection of character encoding for messages sent in these languages: Arabic, Bulgarian, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian.
Improves Mail responsiveness for accounts configured with multiple POP servers, when the servers are unavailable.
Addresses an issue in which an application could unexpectedly quit when printing, if /tmp was missing or unavailable.
Addresses an issue in which a damaged GIF file, such as a Web site graphic, could cause an application to unexpectedly quit.
Addresses an issue in which certain PICT graphics could not be displayed.
Addresses an issue in which the date may unexpectedly be set to 1969 or 1970 during startup.
Addresses an issue when using the Hanin input method for Traditional Chinese in which Carbon applications could unexpectedly quit if a modifier key (such as Control) was pressed when no text insertion point was available.
Addresses an issue in which Classic fails to start ("Error 1016") when applications available to a non-Admin user are restricted.
Addresses an issue in which the Classic environment could become unresponsive after placing a Classic application's save confirmation dialog box in the background.
Addresses an issue in which using the Command-Option-Shift-Q key command would immediately quit the Classic environment.
Improves the reliability of AppleEvents traffic (inter-application communication) between software running in the Classic environment and native Mac OS X; addresses an issue in which a user might not be able to logout after using a Mac OS 9 version of America Online (AOL).

Re:Update features (from versiontracker)

[davesag]

Improves Mail's selection of character encoding for messages sent in these languages: Arabic, Bulgarian, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian.

all well and good but it has not added Greece, Russia Thailand, Bulgaria or the Ukraine to the Address Book's list of Address Formats. This is such a pain as lots of people in my address book are in those countries, and I am pretty sure that MapQuest supports those countries. ahh well perhaps in 10.3.

SMB Hangs

[justzisguy]

I'm not really wanting to go out of my way to test this, but does anybody know if the system hang from an inaccessible mounted SMB volume has been fixed? This bug has been around for a long time now...surely it can't be that hard to issue a timeout?!?

Re:SMB Hangs

[trouser]

I've seen this with SMB and AFP (TCP/IP and AppleTalk) shares. I think it's a Carbon lib problem. Finder is, incomprehensibly, written using Carbon and therefore has problems understanding things like Unix file permissions and networks. So we may be waiting for a new Cocoa Finder before this problem goes away.

Re:SMB Hangs

[geekwagon]

I've had this problem before too (it is damn embarrasing when you are trying to show off your Powerbook and realize you forgot to unmount your network drives before you put the machine to sleep! I usually have to reboot, even a force quit of the finder doesn't work..)

I just tried it again after 10.2.5, and now it gave me a beachball for 10-15 seconds, unmounted the disk, and gave me the control of the finder back. I tried it with an appleshare disk too, that one did the same old "beachball of death" though. The AFP one eventually timed out, but it was more like a full minute which is longer than most peoples patience.

Now if only we could get credential caching like 2k has.. hard to use a network authentication when you aren't always plugged into your network..

Re:SMB Hangs

[geekwagon]

Well, I spoke too soon. While the Finder removed the disk from the desktop when it became unavailable, it still had an entry in the automount /Volumes folder. As soon as I tried to open a terminal window the whole system went to hell. I had to make the disk available again, unmount the disk in the terminal and rmdir the folder it left in the /Volumes dir to get things working right again. Urrgh.

Re:SMB Hangs

[displaced80]

Same here.

However, this has the (benefit?) that if the share re-appears on the network, it automatically shows up on the Desktop.

This behaviour should probably be configurable, otherwise it's going to pi$$ people off.

re: the Carbon Finder - as the rest of the OS is improving, the Finder's looking weaker by comparison. That being said, it has improved somewhat. Just not enough ;)

Still, let's see what Panther brings. I think at this late stage, Apple are well aware of the Finder's technical and usability shortcomings. Panther will no doubt improve on what we have - either through a new Cocoa Finder, or a progression based on a more capable Carbon API.

Re:SMB Hangs

[voixderaison]

I'm not a fan of the Carbon Finder either, but the reasons behind it are not entirely incomprehensible. Apple needed to demonstrate a major, important, if-it-doesn't-work-it's-show-stopping application in Carbon, so they could keep multiple teams focused on the Carbon framework. Most of the other major apps were destined to be Cocoa apps, so the Finder seems a natural choice. The Carbon Finder was also derived to some degree from a Classic Mac OS code base -- making it an even better demonstration for Microsoft, Adobe and the gang.

If it had been put to a vote, I would have voted twice for a Cocoa Finder, hired some thugs to close the polls early in the Carbon-voting districtists in Florida, made quiet promises to a few media conglomerates to make sure the questions didn't run too deep, maybe bought me a judge or two, and helped some ballot boxes get lost...

something is wrong with 10.2.5

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a TiBook within 30 minutes my computer froze twice... which had never happened before in the past year I have been using Mac os X

Available via Software Update

[Anonymous Coward]

Its now available through software update. I just installed. No crashes yet.

Fixes SERIOUS Directory Services vulnerability.

[netsrek]

According to a vulnerability report release by @Stake, this fixes a serious security hole.

http://www.atstake.com/research/advisories/2003/a0 41003-1.txt


Overview:

DirectoryServices is part of the MacOS X information and authentication subsystem. It is launched at startup, setuid root and installed by default. It is vulnerable to several attacks ultimately allowing a local user to obtain root privileges.


Details:

During the startup of DirectoryService, the application creates a lock file by executing the touch(1) UNIX command. It executes touch through the system() libc function. This function is inherently insecure and its use is strongly discouraged in privileged applications.
Since this call to system() does not specify a full path to the touch(1) command, it is possible for an attacker to modify the PATH environment variable to specify a directory containing her own version of the touch(1) command. In this instance, this would cause DirectoryService to execute arbitrary commands as root.

In order for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability, they must first cause DirectoryServices to terminate. This can be done by simply connecting to port 625 repeatedly using an automated program.

OpenGL is much faster

[presearch]

In my game tranquility, I'm seeinga solid 10% increase in frame rate. Very nice Apple! Thanks.

Re:OpenGL is much faster

[EggZact]

That game rocks, thanks for the heads up!

Other Security Fixes

[preggie_greggie]

From the apple security mailing:

Mac OS X 10.2.5 is now available. It contains fixes for recent
vulnerabilities in:

Apache 2.0: Fixes CAN-2003-0132, a denial of service vulnerability in
Apache 2.0 versions through 2.0.44. Apache 2.0 is distributed only
with Mac OS X Server, and is not enabled by default.

Directory Services: Fixes CAN-2003-0171 DirectoryServices Privilege
Escalation and DoS Attack. DirectoryServices is part of the Mac OS
X and Mac OS X Server information services subsystem. It is
launched at startup, setuid root and installed by default. It is
possible for a local attacker to modify an environment variable
that would allow the execution of arbitrary commands as root.
Credit to Dave G. from @stake, Inc. for the discovery of this
vulnerability.

File Sharing/Service: Fixes CAN-2003-0198 where the contents of the
write-only DropBox folder can be revealed. When enabled, Personal
File Sharing on Mac OS X or Apple File Service on Mac OS X Server,
a "DropBox" folder is available by default to allow people to
deposit files. This update no longer allows the permissions of
the "DropBox" folder to be changed by a guest.

OpenSSL: Fixes CAN-2003-0131 Klima-Pokorny-Rosa attack on PKCS #1 v1.5
padding. The patch from the OpenSSL team, which addresses this
vulnerability, is applied to Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server.

Samba: Fixes CAN-2003-0201 which could allow an anonymous user to gain
remote root access due to a buffer overflow. The built-in Windows
file sharing is based on the open source technology called Samba
and is off by default in Mac OS X.

sendmail: Fixes CAN-2003-0161, where address parsing code in sendmail
does not adequately check the length of email addresses. Only the
patch from the sendmail team is applied to the currently-shipping
version of sendmail in Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server.

Somewhat unrelated but interesting. Old KBASE doc.

[Anonymous Coward]

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=900
And so on, they are just numbered sequentially.

This one is dated from 1984 and is about the apple lisa. :o)

Security Update Components in Mac OS X 10.2.5

[Rouxfus]

This information was distributed on Apple's security-announce mailing list:

Mac OS X 10.2.5 is now available. It contains fixes for recent vulnerabilities in:

1. Apache 2.0: Fixes CAN-2003-0132, a denial of service vulnerability in Apache 2.0 versions through 2.0.44. Apache 2.0 is distributed only with Mac OS X Server, and is not enabled by default.
   
   Directory Services: Fixes CAN-2003-0171 DirectoryServices Privilege Escalation and DoS Attack. DirectoryServices is part of the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server information services subsystem. It is launched at startup, setuid root and installed by default. It is possible for a local attacker to modify an environment variable that would allow the execution of arbitrary commands as root. Credit to Dave G. from @stake, Inc. for the discovery of this vulnerability.
   
   File Sharing/Service: Fixes CAN-2003-0198 where the contents of the write-only DropBox folder can be revealed. When enabled, Personal File Sharing on Mac OS X or Apple File Service on Mac OS X Server, a "DropBox" folder is available by default to allow people to deposit files. This update no longer allows the permissions of the "DropBox" folder to be changed by a guest.
   
   OpenSSL: Fixes CAN-2003-0131 Klima-Pokorny-Rosa attack on PKCS #1 v1.5 padding. The patch from the OpenSSL team, which addresses this vulnerability, is applied to Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server.
   
   Samba: Fixes CAN-2003-0201 which could allow an anonymous user to gain remote root access due to a buffer overflow. The built-in Windows file sharing is based on the open source technology called Samba and is off by default in Mac OS X.
   
   sendmail: Fixes CAN-2003-0161, where address parsing code in sendmail does not adequately check the length of email addresses. Only the patch from the sendmail team is applied to the currently-shipping version of sendmail in Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server.
   
   

System requirements: Mac OS X 10.2.x (Jaguar)

Mac OS X 10.2.5 may be obtained from:

1. Software Update pane in System Preferences
2. Apple's Software Downloads web site:
3. 
   Updating from Mac OS X 10.2.4:
   http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n120210
   The download file is titled: MacOSXUpdate10.2.5.dmg
   Its SHA-1 digest is: 1f98f9a21c3f17be823e2d63d90e534df01b3fdf
   
   Updating from Mac OS X 10.2 through 10.2.3:
   http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n120211
   The download file is titled: MacOSXUpdateCombo10.2.5.dmg
   Its SHA-1 digest is: a8ed6287d5bd0bdf67a2c0fd97b3af810f178d21
   
   

Information will also be posted to the Apple Product Security web site:
http://www.apple.com/support/security/security_upd ates.html

This message is signed with Apple's Product Security PGP key, and details are available at:
http://www.apple.com/support/security/security_pgp .html

Re:Security Update Components in Mac OS X 10.2.5

[bpbond]

This is a

test.
How are you?
How

• are

you?

WiFi woes...

[saitoh]

Like someone stated earlier, I hope Apple works on their wireless stuff (or hell, networking in general). Throwing karma into the wind, I installed an airport card, and 10.2.0 all at the same time (hey, save uptime ^_^), but upon booting and waking up, it would no longer do DHCP for ethernet. It would connect if I was plugging the cord in, but not if it was plugged in prior to starting the system or waking up. I was miffed for a month or two and finally gave up and did a complete re-install of the system. Didnt help, so after another month, I removed the card, but it didnt solve the issue...

I've seen a few other people have this problem, but nothing widespread. Hoping someday, it will be solved... Kinda like that Scandanavian ISP thingy.

Note, if you have any hints on this, please let me know, thank you.

Re:WiFi woes...

[Anonymous Coward]

I may have had similar problems. Not really sure about the reason, but after installing 10.2.4, my DHCP-over-Airport connection started to go down after sometimes just 2-3 minutes after establishing it. My ISP said they didn't do any work in my area, or anything that should affect me at the time. The problems stopped a few weeks ago, without me doing any reconfiguration/installation...

Re:WiFi woes...

[foniksonik]

Try running the Disk Utility and Repair Privileges. It could be that you have a faulty install CD which is setting privs incorrectly and not allowing the rc script to start up your Ethernet on boot.

Some different info is here

Have you updated with any of the post 10.2 updates?

Your problem may be fixed in 10.2.1 or later...

Re:WiFi woes...

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, your problem could be as easy as network connection priorities. I'm at a boarding school with a very restrictive firewall and therefore often use my iMac's modem to dial out. At first I couldn't get it to work at all if ethernet was plugged in at all but I soon sound out that it was connection priority in the Network preference pane.

I opened up the Network pane and selected "Active Network Ports" in the "Show:" menu. I then dragged "Internal Modem" above "Built in Ethernet."

What this does is check the modem for a connection BEFORE the ethernet each time I open an application. It doesn't dial up if no connection is present, which is very helpful. Any program open before I dialup continues to use the ethernet and any application after uses the dialup connection. Now I can dial up to get a connection, and even mix-match internet connections with different tasks so I don't have to sign on and off of AIM before and after I finish downloading a file off of a P2P network or FTP.

I hope this helps your situation.

Re:WiFi woes...

[saitoh]

Thanks for the tip, but no dice. Still doesnt start up. An interesting thing is that when I change the DHCP Client ID, it allows me to get a new address (well, it atleast attempts it), but still drops me to the nonconnected static address.

Any other hints? I asked over at osxfaq.com once and the mods there helped me for a bit, but still no avail. They thought it was something to do with the booting initially and the settings remained during waking cycles.

Re:WiFi woes...

[saitoh]

It was suggested before, although I wasnt sure why. Thanks for the explanation. Unfortunately, it didnt solve the problem (either way, or any number of configurations). Any other ideas?

stalled copying of large files/ directories

[MyDixieWrecked]

I just updated and I'm restoring my mp3 archive from CDs and the copies keep stalling about 200mb into it.

I'm about to try to copy everything from the terminal...

anyone else having any problems like this?

my cube too

[stego]

My desktop keeps giving kernal panics, even if I just let it sit there w/out logging in. If I loggin, I get a few minutes of normal activity before *panic* -- I'm at a bit of a loss...

Safari is unbelievably fast 10.2.5 :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Safari v71 with this upgrade makes browsing the net a dream for an iBook user (600mhz) (2-sec page loads)...thank you Apple!!!. I can just imagine what its like for Mac users with a G4.

Re:Safari is unbelievably fast 10.2.5 :)

[suyashs]

.5 of a second; but it really depends on the cacheing situation, your connection, the site, and if there are java applets or not.... Complex code can also slow it down a little (very little)...

Re:Safari is unbelievably fast 10.2.5 :)

[flumignan]

Likely, they've added pipelining.

Re:Safari is unbelievably fast 10.2.5 :)

[c13v3rm0nk3y]

Really? I've recently stopped using Safari regularly; pages with a lot of little GIFs and tables (like, every poorly designed web site in the world) render so slow, I've had to no choice but to go back to Camino.

The 10.2.5 update changed little in that regard for me.

If they would just fix CUPS

[Confessed Geek]

I wish they would fix the problem with printing from Adobe to Linux CUPS queues. It produces a PICT/PS format- PICT w/ embedded PS - data stream that only the OS X cups filter can handle (pictpwtops filter).

Send this to a Linux CUPS broadcast queue and it goes in the bit bucket or starts spewing garbage.

"Just Works" my derriere.
Only Apple could take an open printing system and make it proprietary.

Re:If they would just fix CUPS

[tholomyes]

You give Microsoft too little credit!

Re:If they would just fix CUPS

[flumignan]

The problem is not Apple's fault. It is not the CUPS people's fault, either. It mainly lies with the application developers of Carbon CFM programs. Here's the short answer:

CUPS 1.1.18 process jobs using filters; when the pictwpstops filter recieves a job, it looks for a Document Structuring Convention (DSC) -- a standard established by Adobe. Adobe themselves do not use that standard on all their applications. That declaration will spell out in the outputted PS what part is in binary and what part is in ascii. The developers at CUPS state that if a program does not follow this convention, their filter will process the job as binary, entirely, and without regard to two other protocols (which I'll describe next.

PS printers receive binary jobs and process them using either BCP or TBCP (or neither). That decision on what protocol to use varies from printer to printer, it even varies on why type of interface the job is received or, I believe, what protocol is used to send the job (PAP versus IPP). Even whether the job is vector-based or raster will change the way the printer chews up the binary.

When your PS printer gets the job, it's getting malformed PS. The simple way around this is to tell your application to send the job NOT as binary (since it likely isn't following the DSC specification). Should the app produce ascii PostScript, the CUPS filters, including the pictwpstops filter (that's essentially Mac OS-specific due to Mac OS 8/9's dependance on PICT for QuickDraw display) will ALWAYS output ascii PS and your printer will be happy.

Your Linux CUPS queue is getting malformed, binary PS and running the pstops filter on it -- but it's still processing junk. Junk in, junk out.

Other than outputting your jobs via ascii from your programs' printing sheet, you should be yelling at the manufactures of various applications for not following the DSC specification. Meanwhile, the CUPS people say that with 1.1.19, the filters will be binary, BCP and TBCP aware; likely, that will mean it will "know" about your printer (perhaps via the PPD, which includes the capabilities of the printer) and output accordingly.

Alternatively, use only Cocoa applications to print; they use Core Graphics PDF to PS (cgpdftops) filter.

Re:If they would just fix CUPS

[Confessed Geek]

Thank you very much! The real details on this seem to be pretty scare. I wish there had been a solution that came with your post, but I guess we will just have to wait.

BTW.. MOD PARENT UP! (not my post but flumignan's)
+ Informative

dear iSync team members

[webdev]

There's a new phone on the market called P800 from sonyericsson. It's pretty cool, it does have bluetooth support (as you're aware of since 10.2.4) -but it also has these other applications called Calendar and Messages. You should check these out too. I think these two apps would go great together with iSync.

Re:dear iSync team members

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a Sony P800 and was very keen to install the new 10.2.5 update... Result: Very disappointed, I fail to see any differences on how my phone was handheld by 10.2.4.
Bluetooth sending file over bluetooth is not a problem. It works great.
Now in the Address book I can click on the bluetooth icon and it will not display an error message, but sending SMS or making a phone call will just do nothing.
also, setting up a serial port over bluetooth still creates an error.

and there's still no way to synchronize the P800 with the mac :(

no prob on my Quicksilver

[maxentius]

DP 1ghz desktop, 512 MB, no issues whatsoever.

Update didn't work.

[speechpoet]

My PowerBook's still a WallStreet.

Re:Somewhat unrelated but interesting. Old KBASE d

[trash eighty]

and this one is about the apple //c!

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=8 99

as my //c still works it good to know there is still troubleshooting info is still around :D

pb g3 fw will not start up after update

[Anonymous Coward]

after downloading and installing 10.2.5 on my powerbook G3 firewire, the system froze on a black screen. After a 'hard restart', holding the powerbutten a while, my poor PB starts into the 'apple with rotating circle' screen for 5 sec. and then I get two garbled bars of pinstripes horizontally across the screen and the system will not start. any suggestions on how to recover from this? (all my mail accounts were on the mac, and I didn't have a log-in for /. jet.... therefor AC, sorry)

Re:pb g3 fw will not start up after update

[tillemetry]

Upgrade the firmware dude. It'll go away.

(thats what happens when I, I mean you, don't read the upgrade requirements carefully :)

Worked for me.

Good luck.

Re:pb g3 fw will not start up after update

[frapding]

(the AC of this thread was ME...) I had the firmware updated allright, I was using 10.2.4 uptill then. But thanks for the tip.
Here's how I recovered:
I booted from 10.2 cd and reinstalled, then reapplied the 10.2.5 update, and no probs this time.
Imagine my rejoicing when after all that my mail-accounts, address, prefs etc were 'imported' (using the 'save previous system' in the 10.2 installer)

Mail is crispier, so is safari, but boot- time has gone up a little -but who cares if you can have days and days of uptime without probs?!

New NIS Client

[orgchartleafnode]

After upgrading to 10.2.5. you can open the Directory Access app and see that it now has an option to configure NIS. Nice.

Fix?

[sulli]

I am still hoping for the following fix:

Mail: Corrects problem in which Mail is REALLY FUCKING SLOW

I can hope, yes?

Open GL updates

[mgbaron]

3d games are perfoming markedly better on my system...has anyone else noticed this?

Samba WINS is Still Hosed

[good soldier svejk]

WINS remains broken. OS X Samba can't browse across a router. At least it not longer has that annoying behavior where you can only browse the WINS server itself.

Weird thing happened with 10.2.5

[serialdj]

Weird thing happened when I tried to reboot from Battery after applying the patch.

When my iBook 800 rebooted, I got the silver boot screen for 5 seconds then it turned off my machine. After a few attempts of it doing the same thing I tried to reboot with it plugged in.

Re:Kernel Panics

[Anonymous Coward]

It happens PowerBooks too -- Apple said if you unplug your USB devices (especailly hubs) you won't get the panics anymore.

*groan* No USB devices? That's crap!

Re:Kernel Panics

[stego]

After I unplugged everything -- scrolly mouse, FW drive, scanner - it booted fine + has stayed cool w/ everything plugged back in, through a reboot and hours of steady use. Weird problem - I'm glad that it stopped happening...

apache virtualhosts dead

[mr_burns]

10.2.5 killed my virtualhosts. It commented stuff out in my httpd.conf without making a backup. I fixed the conf and bounced the daemon, still no dice. It'll host stuff up from the default directory if I surf there via IP, but not by domain name. I checked my DNS box too, everything's just peachy there (linux x86) so it's not a resolving issue.

This blows. I use vhosts for work.

fixed

[mr_burns]

after uncommenting the vhosts modules, bouncing the daemon doesn't do the trick. I rebooted and it's all swell now.

php, perl, ssl and other mods are commented out by the installer (both load and add). I uncommented php4 before the reboot and it's still not working though, so this might not be a global fix for all non-functioning modules.

OS X 10.2.5 kernel panics

[Anonymous Coward]

I experienced kernel panics immediately after upgrading to 10.2.5 using Software Update. I could at most get 5 or 10 minutes of operation before failure, and a required power-off and reboot. Since the kernel panic message mentioned USBHub in the software stack, I thought I' disconnect my extra USB (2.0) hub with iMic, printer, UPS and Palm connector. The system then kept running long enough for me to download the OS X 10.2.5 Combo updater and re-install 10.2.5 from this.

So far, the system is stable, with USB hub unconnected, but it still fails at around 5 minutes when the hub is re-connected. Now I need to wait for a fix or downgrade, painfully I suspect.

Address Book

[xombo]

My address book file corrupted when I changed from english to japanese, now when I changed back to english, when I point over it, I get three japanese characters and then when i try to open it, it just doesn't do anything. the icon on it changed to a peice of paper and the big applications A thing. I was hoping the 10.2.5 update would fix this, but no go. Any ideas on how I can restore the address book?