A terminal problem

no_funno_fun
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hey.



I'm looking for some help regarding a problem I have.

Whenever I connect to the internet (dial up) the terminal window will quickly flash on screen for a moment then disappear. Thats it.



I don't think anything is actually affected by it, but it's annoying! and I don't want to just let it continue. So any help would be appreciated.



By the way, I have an iBook G4 with OSX 10.4.8



Thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by no_fun View Post


    Hey.



    I'm looking for some help regarding a problem I have.

    Whenever I connect to the internet (dial up) the terminal window will quickly flash on screen for a moment then disappear. Thats it.



    I don't think anything is actually affected by it, but it's annoying! and I don't want to just let it continue. So any help would be appreciated.



    By the way, I have an iBook G4 with OSX 10.4.8



    Thanks



    Do you have any software installed from your ISP? What is happening is that a file somewhere with the ".command" extension is getting executed.



    It's almost never necessary to install any software to use dial-up. Mac OS X handles it in the Network pane.



    Does Terminal stay open, but with no windows, when this happens?
  • Reply 2 of 8
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,322moderator
    Maybe there is a dameon running in the background checking for an internet connection and doing something as soon as it finds one. Antivirus software tends to do this on Windows so maybe one of the antivirus software packages available for the Mac is doing it. Check your startup item in system prefs > accounts > login items and see if there's any suspicious program getting started. If there's nothing there, a program may have also put something in /private/var/run.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    no_funno_fun Posts: 7member
    I dont have any software installed from my isp.



    Terminal doesn't stay open. It doesn't appear in the recent items folder either.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    no_funno_fun Posts: 7member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Maybe there is a dameon running in the background checking for an internet connection and doing something as soon as it finds one. Antivirus software tends to do this on Windows so maybe one of the antivirus software packages available for the Mac is doing it. Check your startup item in system prefs > accounts > login items and see if there's any suspicious program getting started. If there's nothing there, a program may have also put something in /private/var/run.



    how do I check /private/var/run. ?



    login items only has



    itunes

    itunes helper

    ical alarm scheduler

    speech synthesis server



    Also I don't heve any antivirus software, unless it came preinstalled.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,322moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by no_fun View Post


    how do I check /private/var/run. ?



    You can use the Finder Go menu and type that URL in. A better thing to do would be to restart the computer, open Activity Monitor in /Applications/Utilities, list all processes and take a note of which ones are running. Take a screenshot if possible.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by no_fun View Post


    Also I don't heve any antivirus software, unless it came preinstalled.



    Macs don't usually come with anti-virus software so if you haven't installed any, it probably won't be that.
  • Reply 6 of 8
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    You don't have "Connect Using A Terminal Window" checked in Network's Internal Modem pane PPP Options?
  • Reply 7 of 8
    no_funno_fun Posts: 7member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lundy View Post


    You don't have "Connect Using A Terminal Window" checked in Network's Internal Modem pane PPP Options?



    turns out this was the problem.



    Thanks for all your help.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Thanks for the follow-up!
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