Macintosh Trouble Shooting Guide

1. Can you hear your modem dial out?

If YES, go to step 2. If NO, try the following:

A. Make sure that your modem is turned on and the phone line is properly connected to the phone jack. (Most modems have two places to insert the cord. Choose the one WITHOUT the picture of the telephone.)

B. Go to Config PPP or FreePPP and make sure "Open" under Config PPP or "Connect" under FreePPP is selectable. If it is gray, restart your Mac and make sure the PPP extension is loaded.

C. If PPP is in your Extensions folder, but is NOT loading, there is an extension conflict. Some fax extensions or AOL software will conflict with PPP applications. Disable these two extensions by taking them out of the extensions folder in your system folder. If the PPP application is still NOT loading, you must turn off each extension one by one to see where the problem lies, restarting your computer each time. THERE IS NO EASIER WAY. And make sure that you have only one PPP program (Free PPP generally works better).

D. If all connections are OK, the problem may be modem initialization. If this is the first time that you are connecting, check with your modem manufacturer or the book supplied by your modem manufacturer to verify the modem initialization or modem string which looks something like: AT&F1 &C1... Some modems may simply use AT&F as their string. This string of letters, numbers and symbols must be entered in CONFIG under Config PPP or in MODEM SETUP under FreePPP. Then try to dial out. If you can dial out, go to step 2.

If you are using FreePPP and you are not sure what your modem initialization string is, you may select AUTODETECT INIT STRING in MODEM SETUP. (FreePPP will try to configure the proper string.)

E. If you still cannot hear the modem dial out, you must verify that the extension is loaded at startup. If it is not, then you will see a gray box when clicking on CONNECT in FreePPP or when clicking on OPEN in Config PPP. If the gray box is present, REINSTALL Config PPP or FreePPP and follow the above procedures again.

2. If the modem dials out, but will not connect or stay connected, the problem could still be modem initialization. Try step "D" above, then try to dial out once again. If your modem still will not connect, go through the following steps.

A. Check that your login name (user name) and password are entered in all lower case without any spaces.

B. Check that your connection scripts are correct. Make sure the LOGIN command has either a capital "L" or no "L" at all. Often, when the "L" is eliminated, the modem will connect (though "ogin" looks a bit strange). Try to dial out.

C. If you still cannot dial out, use the AUTHENTICATION method described below.

1. Under Config PPP, click CONFIG.

2. Enter your login name and password (all lower case and without any spaces).

3. Click OK, then click on CONNECTION SCRIPT. (Make sure each OUT button is selected and nothing in the <CR> column is chosen.) Erase any information in the boxes.

D. If your PPP software is configured correctly yet you cannot dial out, you need to try another modem to see if your modem is the problem. If the same problem exists with another modem and you have two phone lines, try the other jack. Otherwise, contact aNet's tech support staff.

3. I can connect without a problem, but my email is not working. A message comes up saying aNet's server cannot be located. What do I do?

TCP/IP programs are usually the cause of this problem. Try browsing the Internet to see if you can connect to sites other than aNet's home page. (Try a few locations.) If you can surf the Web without a problem, the problem lies in your email setup and you need to follow steps A and B below.

If you CANNOT connect anywhere on the Web, go to step C.

A. Make sure that your POP and SMP Host servers are set correctly.

B. Make sure that your POP account is set correctly (ex: renee@anet.net). Now try to use your email software.

C. If you cannot use your email software or Web browser, the problem (90% of the time) is that you are no longer logged on to the Internet. After 15 minutes of inactivity, aNet will automatically disconnect you. You are actively using the Internet when you are browsing the Web and when you are sending or receiving email, but you are not using the Net when you are writing an email message off-line.

If you have lots of messages to send, then queue each message after you are done and then log on and send your mail in bulk. To do this, go to SPECIAL on your menu bar and select SETTINGS. Deselect IMMEDIATE SEND, leaving the box to the left blank. (This will allow you to queue messages. If you need to send a message right away, just go back to the same location and recheck the same box.)

If you find that you are being disconnected in less than 15 minutes, there could be noise on the phone line. Older buildings often have this problem. If you think that noise on the line is Interfering with your connection, contact your phone company. (They might need to rewire your phone line).

D. If inactivity is NOT the problem, Mac TCP/IP may not have been loaded or set up correctly. To check your TCP/IP setup, follow these 5 steps:

1. Go into your SYSTEM FOLDER and select CONTROL PANELS.

2. Choose TCP/IP. (A TCP/IP window will appear.)

3. Under CONNECT VIA, select FREE PPP or CONFIG PPP.

4. Under CONFIGURE, select USING PPP SERVER.

5. In the Name Server Box, type in anet DNS information

4. I can connect, but sometimes some sites refuse my connection. How can you explain this?

Sites are continuously updated, and the site you are trying to connect might be down for maintenance. Or, if the site is popular, too many people might be logging into the site at once. There can only be a certain number of simultaneous connections to a site, so keep trying or try back at a later time.

5. I am trying to download a file, but my connection seems very slow. What's happening?

The speed at which file is downloaded depends on many factors: the server the file is located on, the amount of people using the Internet, and your modem speed, among others. With the explosive growth of the Internet, you should expect occasional slow downloads, until the Internet's backbone connections are upgraded.

6. I can connect to aNet and check my email, but I cannot go anywhere outside of aNet's servers. Why?

There are a number of places the PIP (connection) to your destination site can be broken, since your request has to travel through many computers and organizations to get to its final destination. If you have tried several places like http://www.yahoo.com (which is accessible most of the time), and still cannot connect, call aNet. Our connection to the backbone (which goes through telephone lines) might be down. Note: This very rarely happens.

7. I can connect but cannot do anything else.

Call aNet to make sure its servers are not down. Sometimes a hard disk or computer can fail and force us to temporarily shut the computer down.

8. Sometimes I get disconnected suddenly. Why?

If your call waiting is not disabled and someone calls you while you are online, you will be disconnected. To be sure it is disabled, make sure you dial *70 before you log on, or include it as a prefix when your modem dials out.

9. Sometimes my modem dials out but is unable to connect with aNet.

If you have a voice mailbox with your phone company and you have messages waiting, your broken tone (beeping) will not allow the modem to connect. You may have to erase your messages before dialing.

10. I get the message "A connection was established but was unreliable" and then I get disconnected. What should I do?

If you have a Global Village Platinum modem, try step D first. If you have any other modem, go to step A.

A. This message is probably due to a bad modem string. Make sure you have the latest PPPAutoDetectDB from the FreePPP site. If it doesn't work with Autodetect, use the global "at&f1&d0" init string.

B. If it still happens every single time you try to connect, then there is probably some kind of error in your user name and/or password. Always check to make sure the "caps lock" is off, so that your username and password are in all lower case. Also check for extra suffixes after the user name, for punctuation or extra spaces.

C. If the problem persists, you might want to delete the existing connection from the accounts tab and make a new one.

D. Global Village Platinum modems are notorious for this error or for appearing to connect but being unable to view Web pages. Go into the Control Panels folder. Locate the Teleport control panel. Try turning compression off.

The best init to use for the 28.8 and 33.6 Platinums is: AT&F1W1s95=44.

Another suggestion from Global Village that tends to help with some of these problem modems is to try "CTS only" for the flow control:

To do this, go to Config PPP or FreePPP. In Config PPP, click on CONFIGURE and under FLOW CONTROL, choose "CTS Only". In FreePPP, click on ACCOUNT, then EDIT, then CONTINUE, and under FLOW CONTROL choose "CTS Only".

11. I have been getting an intermittent error when I disconnect the PPP connection. A dialogue box appears: "The application unknown has unexpectedly quit, because an error of type 1 occurred." The status on the PPP control panel says "cleaning up" and the disconnect button remains "disconnect" and is not highlighted. I can't reconnect unless I restart my computer. Why does this happen?

You must use FreePPP version 2.5v3 or newer. If you already are, you have a background application that is conflicting. Try the following:

A. Make sure you have all the 2.5v3 components installed (nothing mismatched).

B. Eliminate some extensions that run in the background, like Claris Instant Organizer, Quickmail notifier, or others.