I have shares on two Samba servers with the same name - server1/home and server2/home. In trying to get OS X to work with them simultaneously,I have discovered three Finder bugs and a workaround for them.

Firstly, the bugs:

1. Using the GUI to mount one share and then the other (using Connect to Server...), OS X gets confused and simply replaces the first share with the second. I can't access both shares at once!
2. Switching to the terminal and using mount_smbfs to attach the shares to mount points (see other mount point hints on how to do this), the Finder gives an alias error on the second mount point folder if I have opened the first share before mounting the second. Note that this is purely a Finder problem, and the open/save dialog is happy to use both shares simultaneously.
3. Writing a shell script to make sure that both shares are always mounted together, the Finder refuses to work with the mount point folders if the containing folder is open when the script is run - it can't seem to cope with the change in state from folder to mount point. This is probably a general mounting bug and not specifically related to my two shares having the same name.

Now the solution, if it's not clear already ... write a shell script to mount all the shares together, and make sure the folder containing the mount points is not open in the Finder when it runs:

#!/bin/bash
mount_smbfs //username:password@server1/home ./s1home
mount_smbfs //username:password@server2/home ./s2home

I know this script could be more secure etc. but it illustrates the point!

The Bluetooth File Exchange v1.1 that comes with OS X 10.2.4 allows ftp browsing of the Mac by another Mac or even by a Windows computer. First, in System Preferences->Sharing, click the box to turn on Personal File Sharing. Then pair the computers using the Bluetooth File Assistant.

On the Mac to use as the FTP "server," place files and folders (but not aliases) to be shared in the folder /Users/Shared. On the Mac to use as the FTP "client," open Bluetooth File Exchange. If it asks you to select a file to send, click "Cancel." On the File menu, choose "Browse Device" and select the "server" Mac. A directory window will open with buttons for "Get..." and "Put..." and you will be able to "download" and "upload" files.

I got the same setup working between my Mac running 10.2.4 and a Windows 98 computer. I used the software that came with the D-Link DT-120 bluetooth USB dongle for Windows/Mac. As with most Windows software, it's hard to describe how to install it, but I did manage to transfer files both ways. In fact, the /Users/Shared folder appears as a folder on the Windows desktop.

It's not quite Rendezvous and the range is limited to 10 meters, but the ability to wirelessly swap files among Macs and Windows PCs will be great to have.

You can set up additional Rendezvous web sites in Apache using the RegisterResource command in the Apache conf file. The format is:

  RegisterResource "Name" path [port]

"Name" is the Rendezvous name that shows up, path is the path to your site, relative to the machine name, and [port] is an optional port number to connect to. Note that the paths are relative to the default site name. I've not found a way to register virtual domains. In fact, Apache will generate an error and refuse to restart if you have RegisterResource inside a VirtualHost declaration.

If you've had a problem keeping your clock accurate using network time, this tip may help out. Network time is controlled from the System Preferences, Date & Time pane, Network Time tab. Symptoms of the problem include:

• The "Use a network time server" checkbox turning itself off after a restart.
• The clock drifting even though the "Set Time Now" button seems to work.

OS X has a confusing "feature" that makes diagnosing the problem difficult: After a restart or after disabling and enabling the "Use a network time server" checkbox, OS X attempts to synchronize the time using a different method than when you press the "Set Time Now" button. After a restart or enabling "Use a network time server," OS X sends Network Time Protocol (NTP) messages using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) from port 123 of your machine to port 123 of the specified NTP Server. The server replies from port 123 to port 123 of your machine.

After pressing the "Set Time Now" button, OS X sends NTP messages from a very high port number (about 49150) of your machine to port 123 of the NTP Server. The server replies from port 123 to the same high port number of your machine.

Read the rest of the article for information on diagnosing and repairing this problem...

I stumbled across the fact that QuickTime Player (and most any QuickTime capable application) can play Cisco IPTV streams. There is no built-in way in QuickTime to find and open them. However, if you have a .sdp file for the stream, QuickTime will open and play it. One way to get an sdp file is via the program MacTV.

Select the stream you want in the list and choose "Save SDP..." from the file menu. The default helper for .sdp files, as it happens, is QuickTime Player. So now you can just double click the document to play in QTP or perhaps you'd prefer to drag it onto BBEdit or....

What's the point? Why not just use MacTV? Perhaps little, but if nothing else, QuickTime Player has controls for brightness, contrast, bass, treble, etc (possibly only in QuickTime Pro - not sure) while MacTV doesn't. Also a handy thing about .sdp files is that you can schedule the opening of them via cron (try Cronnix for an OS X GUI to cron) or any other similar scheduling tool.

I recently purchased a new Airport Extreme Base Station, only to realize afterward that my printer was not listed on Apple's Airport Extreme Printer Compatibility webpage

I was even more disappointed to find sparse documentation inside the base station box for different ways that a printer could be configured through the base station. Fortunately, after plugging in the printer to the base station, the printer was visible in Print Center by setting up a new "Rendezvous" printer.

If your printer works in Jaguar 10.2.3, I'm guessing it will work with the new Airport Extreme Base Stations, even though Apple and its business partners would prefer you buy a new printer. I have an Epson Stylus Photo 750, and it works great, wirelessly now.

[robg adds: I don't have an Extreme unit to test with, so I can't verify this one...]

I've experienced that the Princenter.app's option "automatic installation" of a PPD is not a good way to configure a LaserWriter Pro 610 under Jaguar. After a lot of unsuccessfully attempts - and a growing wish to come back to OS 10.1.x - finally I've tried the following way:

1. Launch Printcenter.app
2. Remove the printer (that doesn't work at all!)
3. Select 'Other' in the pop-up menu of Installation window
4. Select the Laserwriter 630 PPD in 'Classic's System Folder -> Extensions -> Printers Description folder.

Now I can print my documents in Jaguar!

I used a second AirPort base station (version 1, grey) to extend the range of my first base station (or any other access point) for sharing my internet connection. With that, I'm able to access the internet with a remote computer that has no direct access to the first AirPort base station. Please don't tear me appart for the use of the word "repeater / bridge". I know, it's technically not correct, but I think it describes somehow what I was doing here. Here is how I set it up:

Base station 1 -> Computer 1 + Base station 2 -> Computer 2

I found this out when setting up my Wi-Fi network.

To access LocalTalk/AppleTalk printers through wi-fi TCP/IP connections (when using non-AppleTalk wi-fi routers), use LocalTalk Bridge to connect LocalTalk to Ethernet. Then use an OS X machine on the Ethernet to share the AppleTalk printer to TCP/IP. In more detail:

I have an iBook (OS X.2) connected to my home network through a Linksys Wi-Fi switch. I have a G4 (OS X.2) connected through 100bT. Also I have a PowerMac 7300 (OS 8.5) connected through 10bT. The 7300 is also connected to a LocalTalk/AppleTalk PostScript LaserWriter 4/600 printer.

Using the free Apple control panel LocalTalk Bridge, I could connect the LocalTalk printer to the Ethernet AppleTalk network. When I turned on Appletalk on the G4, I could print directly to this LaserWriter, as long as the 7300 was turned on. So far so good. But the Linksys Wi-Fi switch does not send AppleTalk packets to my iBook, so I could not print from the iBook.\

However when I turned on printer sharing on the G4/OS X machine, my iBook saw the LocalTalk LaserWriter as a shared printer of the G4. Now I can print directly from my iBook. The only drawbacks are that both my G4 and my 7300 need to be turned on. Also I found that direct printing from Appleworks would result in no fonts send to the printer. When exporting print jobs from Appleworks to PDF and printing the PDF, this problem is resolved.

For several months now, my automated nightly incremental backups to an NSF-mounted remote device have been failing. After many false leads, I finally traced the problem to the program automount in /usr/sbin.

This program causes the remote disk to disappear when you log out, and things like remote backups at 2am will then fail. They even fail if you are logged in but the screensaver comes on. This unfortunately is (now) the default behavior, and automount, without asking or warning you, hijacks your NFS mounting point, moves it to its own directory, and creates an alias. I wonder if Bill Gates wrote this? Anyway, you can turn it off by editing the file /etc/hostconfig and changing the line AUTOMOUNT=-YES- to AUTOMOUNT=-NO-.

This will take effect after a restart. If you currently have NFS devices that have been automouted, you will have to unmount them by hand, delete the alii created by automount, remake the corresponding directories for the local mount points and then remount.

This can all be done in NSF manager except for the last step, which now fails with a cryptic "system error 255". You can get around this by mounting with the root command mount -a.

Now my backups work at 2 am like they are supposed to.

[Editor's note: I have not tested this hint...]