Comments on: Moan. Whinge.

By: Leon McDermott

Leon McDermott — Fri, 28 Nov 2003 20:56:35 +0000

Ooh, odd. Whenever I do a restart, I need to have mine plugged in for it to actually work, otherwise it refuses to acknowledge the modem's existence. And it never drops the connection. (I just got in from work, and despite it being connected for 11 hours without doing anything, it was still fine...)

By: Jack Mottram

Jack Mottram — Fri, 28 Nov 2003 18:47:37 +0000

Stir - er, it just worked fine straight off using the BT drivers.

Well, as fine as it gets with that modem - I still can't restart with it plugged in without causing a kernel panic afterwards, and it drops the connection if I leave it idling away.

There must be some difference between iBooks and PowerBooks, or one of the apps you use is doing bad things maybe?

By: Jack Mottram

Jack Mottram — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 17:06:35 +0000

I might see if I can get mine to work this evening - might as well in case the old laptop has a spasm sometime. Will let you know how I fare/curse you for making my computer explode...

A quick look in the usual places turns up one person who found success using the 2.012 drivers, which makes me slightly hopeful.

By: stirmonster

stirmonster — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 14:07:37 +0000

leon - please do tell!!!! you must have access to a driver that neither alcatel nor bt are making available! i NEED you to email me it.

jack - titanium powerbook 1 now belongs to generalape, titanium powerbook 2 is literally held together by gaffa tape and the screen has gone while titanium powerbook 3 is alive and well and on my lap.

By: Leon

Leon — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 14:02:21 +0000

Aye, got it working in the end, though I had to track down the CD that I was sent by BT, and reinstall all the drivers etc. Stir, you're welcome to borrow the CD if you want, though I don't know if it'll work with your modem, given that it's a bit older than mine... yet to encounter the dreaded kernel panic scenario, though I'm sure it's gonna happen someday.

By: Jack Mottram

Jack Mottram — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 11:56:57 +0000

Hee. Like I say, Don, it's down to personal preference, and I just don't mind paying a fortune for all that soft- and hardware... and if I did switch to PC, you'd have to put up with me phoning you up on a half-hourly basis for tech support, since I don't know anyone else who uses one!

Stir - Leon just installed Panther, and managed to get his Alcatel modem working after 'a hairy half an hour' - hopefully he'll show up here and explain how. Although I bet he hasn't had to unplug it yet - take it it's the kernel panic horrors that stop you using it? And what happened to yr collection of pristine/broken TiBooks?

By: Donny

Donny — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 10:09:45 +0000

Simple Solution:

Put all Apple branded software and hardware (which you have paid a fortune for) in a box and hide it away from sight. Go to an Internet cafe (PC based, of course) or use a PC at work and go to www.dell.co.uk, fork out Â£800 and write off the whole Mac thing as a bad experience.

Moral:

This happens everyday. It's normal. Don't feel embarrassed. You are not alone.

By: stirmonster

stirmonster — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 00:06:16 +0000

believe me, i have tried every possible methos to get my broadband working and zilch is happening. i only have the one mac so i am stuck with it and my airport is of ye olde non extreme slow connection type.

By: Donna

Donna — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 21:38:05 +0000

my brain just fell out my ear

i am going to put my fluffy slippers on and have a cup of tea

By: Jack Mottram

Jack Mottram — Sun, 23 Nov 2003 15:24:06 +0000

I only connect to the interweb on this computer via Airport or Bluetooth 'n' phone (eugh, can I sound like more of a wank?!) so I won't be entering that circle of modem hell...

You have one or two spare Airporty Macs lying around, surely ;) - just keep one running a pre-Panther version of OS X connected to the internet, then click Start in System Preferences -> Sharing -> Internet (or somewhere like that)

Even then, I needed to install the drivers at http://www.btopenworld.com/drivers (version 2.012 instead of the 2.01 that Alcatel have for download), trash the status monitoring app and associated stuff you get with the modem and select 'Alcatel Modem' in the modem settings, not 'Null Modem [some number or other]' like it tells you to in the docs... oh, and you need to use an app/script/whatever to maintain some level of internet activity otherwise the modem hangs up.

Moral of the story: USB is not an appropriate way to connect a modem to a computer. (I think - perhaps Donny could explain why!)

Also, to the Mac haterz: I know PCs work - it's a matter of personal preference!