My first Mac... so this might be obvious stuff....
This is my first posting of any kind pertaining to Macintosh computers. I hope this stuff isn't so obvious that it's silly....
I got my new iMac G5 17" 1.8ghz, and I'm likin' it! But.... I have no idea what to do about getting on the wireless networking in the house. My dad and brother have a 802.11g DSL setup from Qwest which works well enough on their PCs, and I thought I should be able to use that if I installed the AirPort Extreme card--right? I haven't gotten anything whatsoever to show up to make me think the card can even see the networking. I've poked around the AirPort part of "Internet Connection," as well as the 802.1X part of Internet Connection, but see no signs of a network to connect with. I've downloaded two other utilities that I hoped would help me out: AirPort Management Tools from Apple, and then this other utility called MacStumbler. None of these shows me any kind of activity or whatever that could be a network.
The other thing I'm having trouble with is "Classic." I seem to not have it. Should I not? Where do I get it?
Sorry if this is all really dumb.... I'm only just learning.
Thanks,
Justin
I got my new iMac G5 17" 1.8ghz, and I'm likin' it! But.... I have no idea what to do about getting on the wireless networking in the house. My dad and brother have a 802.11g DSL setup from Qwest which works well enough on their PCs, and I thought I should be able to use that if I installed the AirPort Extreme card--right? I haven't gotten anything whatsoever to show up to make me think the card can even see the networking. I've poked around the AirPort part of "Internet Connection," as well as the 802.1X part of Internet Connection, but see no signs of a network to connect with. I've downloaded two other utilities that I hoped would help me out: AirPort Management Tools from Apple, and then this other utility called MacStumbler. None of these shows me any kind of activity or whatever that could be a network.
The other thing I'm having trouble with is "Classic." I seem to not have it. Should I not? Where do I get it?
Sorry if this is all really dumb.... I'm only just learning.
Thanks,
Justin
Comments
Welcome to the Mac world, and congratulations on acquiring your iMac G5! Oh, and your questions aren't "dumb"; the only dumb question is the one that doesn't get asked.
First, what does the AirPort icon (up at the top in the menu bar) look like? If it's an empty cone-shaped icon, that means that AirPort is turned off. Click on that icon and select "Turn On AirPort". The icon should now have curved lines radiating from the point of the cone. The more lines, the better your wireless signal. If the lines are black, you're connected. If they're greyed out, it sees the network, but doesn't have access. If security is enabled on the router, you'll have to supply that password to get in.
When you installed your Airport Extreme card did you connect the antenna? It's a real thin white wire with a brass connector on the end. That connector gets plugged into the AirPort card, in the end of the card opposite the card edge connector.
If the antenna is connected, is it possible that your wireless router is set to not broadcast the network name? That's not usually set by default, but if it is set neither Airport Extreme nor MacStumbler will be able to see it. That doesn't mean you can't join the network, you just have to know the name. What you would do is click on the AirPort icon up at the top in the menu bar, and select "Join Other" (or "Connect Other"; I don't have my Mac in front of me, sorry!) from the drop down menu. Give it the network name, and unless they've got security set, you should get right in.
As far as Classic goes, I don't think Apple would have done away with it just yet. It should have been installed. If it's not you should be able to install it off of the DVD that came with the iMac. Click on Go (in the Menu bar) Utilities, and then double click on Software Restore. Insert the disc when prompted, and just check what you want to install.
Well, I hope this helps. Again, welcome, and I hope you really enjoy your new iMac! Please let us know how things work out.
Regards,
Marc
Originally posted by silver.surfer
This is my first posting of any kind pertaining to Macintosh computers. I hope this stuff isn't so obvious that it's silly....
I got my new iMac G5 17" 1.8ghz, and I'm likin' it! But.... I have no idea what to do about getting on the wireless networking in the house. My dad and brother have a 802.11g DSL setup from Qwest which works well enough on their PCs, and I thought I should be able to use that if I installed the AirPort Extreme card--right? I haven't gotten anything whatsoever to show up to make me think the card can even see the networking. I've poked around the AirPort part of "Internet Connection," as well as the 802.1X part of Internet Connection, but see no signs of a network to connect with. I've downloaded two other utilities that I hoped would help me out: AirPort Management Tools from Apple, and then this other utility called MacStumbler. None of these shows me any kind of activity or whatever that could be a network.
The other thing I'm having trouble with is "Classic." I seem to not have it. Should I not? Where do I get it?
Sorry if this is all really dumb.... I'm only just learning.
Thanks,
Justin
Glad you like your iMac G5. I'm considering getting one myself. We'll see...
You can check to see if Classic is there by opening your System Preferences and looking in the "System" category towards the bottom of the window. It should be just to the right of "Accounts". AFAIK, you can "disable" classic by removing that icon from the System Preferences window, but you can't choose to not install it. It should be there. Just out of curiousity... are you planning on using Classic for anything?
Ditto on the above post re: Airport Extreme. Check to make sure Airport is on. You can turn it on using the Internet Connect app or from the menu bar. If all of that still doesn't work for you, maybe try moving closer (next to) the wireless router and see if you're just too far away from the access point. Check the antenna as well, as was suggested in the previous post. Installing those Airport cards yourself is a little tricky... I had problems with mine in my PowerBook 12" when I got it.
Good luck and welcome to the Mac!
Okay, the AirPort is turned on, as I've got the lines-triangle instead of the hollow one, but it's gray instead of black. My brother tried setting up the connection, and he put in the names/passwords, and that doesn't seem to make any difference. I also had a third icon yesterday where the triangle was solid I think, and gray, with a hollow "something" in the center. I don't know anything about what that would have been.
And if there's a problem with the antenna, I don't think it's that it's not plugged in, as that was the first thing I checked out when I was having trouble getting this all set up.
I go into the System Preferences and it says Classic is not installed. I started up the install on the disk, but there's no "Classic," so is there anything else it might be called? There was one item that didn't have any description, but its title looked French to me... and I don't understand French.
Oh yeah, I've got one other problem that seems pretty screwy to me. The Apple website "help" doesn't think my iMac's serial number is an iMac. I'm not sure what to do about that at all.
Regards,
Marc
Originally posted by silver.surfer
The other thing I'm having trouble with is "Classic." I seem to not have it. Should I not? Where do I get it?
All you're answers can be found in this Apple Technical Article which says that OS 9 quit shipping with Jaguar (10.2).
Originally posted by fahlman
All you're answers can be found in this Apple Technical Article which says that OS 9 quit shipping with Jaguar (10.2).
Ummm... No.
silver.surfer has a new iMac G5.
The iMac G5 technical specification page says:
Mac OS X version 10.3 ?Panther,? includes Classic environment
BSS/IBSSID | SSID | WEP | AP | Channel | Strength
********** | ****** | No | Yes | 7 | 100
I put the BSS/IBSSID in for the bin-hex number, as that was the only number I could guess that it was--is that right?? And then the SSID is the network name I believe? I wish I had a little more of a clue about what I was doing....
Originally posted by mslifkin
OK, the fact that you're seeing grey bars means that your AirPort card is seeing the wireless network, you just don't have access, yet, You need to find out what the hex value of your router's password is. If you use a Windows machine to access the router's firmware you should be able to get this information. Once you have it click on the AirPort icon; do you see your wireless network listed? If so, click on it. If not, click on Other ..., and give it your network name. Click on the Wireless Security dropdown box, and select WEP 40/128 hex. Enter the hex codes on the password line. For some reason Mac OS X will not work with an ASCII password. If you see a checkbox saying "Add this to your keychain" check it, otherwise you'll have to supply that password every time you want to connect.
Regards,
Marc
Also, my brother suggested that I add that we did a kinda "test" where I created a network from the iMac and then went to see if it showed up on his computer, and it didn't. We made sure to use a different channel and everything. I don't know if that tells you anything though.
i'm not gonna help with your Airport .... mine just worked.
I've also got a new iMac G5 (20").
Classic isn't installed out of the box, but it IS available ... find the disc "Additional Software and Hardware Test" that came with the iMac. On that disc is a file called "About Additional Software & AHT.rtf" ... read it.
Basically, It tells you to run the "Install Additional Hardware" pkg to install OS9 ... you won't be able to boot into OS9 (as if youwould want to) but it will run Classic then.
Originally posted by silver.surfer
Thanks for the reply. This didn't do it though... What does it mean that the AirPort and 802.1X tabs on the Internet Connection window are orange?? The rest of the icons are gray/graphite. I tried putting the hex info into the "password" on the 802.1X tab, and then it tries to connect I guess, but doesn't even stop and give me an error like the AirPort tab does. Here are the types of things I've been able to get off of my brother's computer concerning the network:
BSS/IBSSID | SSID | WEP | AP | Channel | Strength
********** | ****** | No | Yes | 7 | 100
I put the BSS/IBSSID in for the bin-hex number, as that was the only number I could guess that it was--is that right?? And then the SSID is the network name I believe? I wish I had a little more of a clue about what I was doing....
Also, my brother suggested that I add that we did a kinda "test" where I created a network from the iMac and then went to see if it showed up on his computer, and it didn't. We made sure to use a different channel and everything. I don't know if that tells you anything though.
As MCQ pointed out, there is no security set on your router, so everything I said about entering hex codes is not needed. Your router is set to channel 7; I think AirPort is set to channel 10 by default. I couldn't get my airport to work at first, either, until I set my router to channel 10. I'm not quite sure how to change the AirPort channel, but it should be relatively easy to change the channel of the router and the other PCs on the network. I'm sure that will solve your problem.
Regards,
Marc
Originally posted by neutrino23
It may be you have no signal. Make sure that airport is turned on then run Macstumbler. It will show you all the active networks visible to your machine regardless of how the network is configured.
Okay, so what do I do about having no signal? The AirPort card is on, or at least the Internet Connect program says it is. But MacStumbler doesn't show any kind of activity whatsoever.
Originally posted by silver.surfer
Okay, so what do I do about having no signal? The AirPort card is on, or at least the Internet Connect program says it is. But MacStumbler doesn't show any kind of activity whatsoever.
OK, this is progress, I guess. From your first post I gather the wireless router is working with two other computers so there should be some signal for the iMac to see. You've installed an Airport Express card and have Airport turned on. I think there can only be three reasons MacStumbler doesn't see a signal.
1. Your iMac is too far from the wireless router or there is too much stuff (walls and such) in the way. I'll guess this is unlikely. Just as a test you could set up the iMac within a few feet of the wireless router and see if it gets any signal appearing in MacStumbler.
2. When you installed the AE card you didn't attach the antenna wire properly. I've never looked at this on the iMac so I can't comment. I know that these are pretty small. I see from another of your posts that you have rechecked this. You've probably already checked this but you could pull the card out and reseat it.
3. There is a problem with the antenna/cable on the iMac. The cable could be crimped somewhere or not properly attached to the antenna. If you can follow the cable back to the antenna you might see something. Don't touch anything, just observe. My PowerBook had a similar problem. It could only see a signal if it was less than about ten feet from the base station. I sent it back and Apple repaired it.
You have a new computer. Apple will take good care of you. Give them a call. When you call them it would be better if the iMac is set up near the router so that they can immediately eliminate distance as a factor. This will save you time.
Thanks for all the help so far though!
Justin
Originally posted by silver.surfer
Alrighty, I've now got the AirPort and antenna properly plugged in all the way. So that's cool! But I guess my reception is really bad or something because the network will disappear and reappear frequently ("frequently" meaning every minute or two, and then it's gone more than it's present). Hopefully there's something I can do about this....
Thanks for all the help so far though!
Justin
How far is it from the WiFi router to the iMac? If it is in the same room it shouldn't be a problem. If it is 30 or 40 feet away with a few walls in between that may be an issue. When you are connected how many of the grey bars in the little airport icon change to black? If you never get much better than the corner dot then the signal strength is probably too weak.
Thanks for the help!
Justin