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Apple's OS 9 Fix Creates New Problems

Posted by jimjag on from the every-little-fix-deserves-another dept.

ocipio was the first to write "Though many people who impressed by Apple's quick response to fix a problem in the OS 9's Open Transport protocol. Apple released OS Tuner 1.0 which when applied causes connectivity problems. An Apple spokesman said that the patch was only intended for people in a specific situation. The spokesman also said that the bug patch and the need to restart their machines after changing TCP/IP settings only applies to those with high-speed Internet connects. I guess no one in western Michigan needs to worry. The article on ZDNet can be found here." jimjag adds: I can confirm this behavior on a brand spanking new iBook and iMac DV. Unless you change your TCP/IP settings a lot, it's no real big deal, but for some IBook users, it might be a pain.

3 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. Bad for adoption of security patches by netpuppy · · Score: 3

    This really doesn't help the general adoption of security patches. Even Microsoft can occasionally release a security patch that doesn't adversely affect the system. If we are to expect joe user to adopt security patches, it helps if they work and don't break anything else. Otherwise, it just leads to the NT Service Pack attitude ... "I'll install it after a couple of months, when I'm sure it doesn't blow up my system."

    --
    good. fast. cheap. (pick any two, you can't have all three)
  2. O T Tuner works for me.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4

    I installed the patch, and it works just fine. I'm on a cable modem and haven't noticed any difference in performance. And I watch VERY carefully for changes in performance.

    Macnn.com described an interesting alternative fix that might offer more control for TCP/IP internals:

    "Included on the Mac OS 9 CD-ROM is a TCP/IP Extras Folder, inside is a control panel named TCP/IP
    Options. This panel includes several options to modify several switches within Open Transport INCLUDING
    Disable IP Path MTU Discovery which is the mechanism that the DoS attack uses. I have successfully used
    the TCP/IP Options control panel on my OS 9 machine for several days now. My assumption is that the OT
    Tuner extension does the same thing, but the control panel may be a cleaner alternative."

  3. Forget the patch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    This patch wasn't a bugfix, it explicitly disabled a feature in OpenTransport. The thing was only released to pacify the idiots at Slashdot and elsewhere who have a vision of Macs being abused in a massive DOS attack. Don't forget that DOS attacks are still highly illegal, so why should I preemptively cripple my system because it COULD BE abused for illegal purposes?