MacX: MacTCP Configuration Problem



Article Change History
----------------------
04/20/93 - REVIEWED
* For technical accuracy.



I'm having a problem setting up MacTCP (to use MacX). I'm trying to run MacX
from the Macintosh OS (as opposed to A/UX). I have an Ethernet connection
between my Macintosh IIx and a RISC UNIX box running X/MOTIF over TCP/IP. The
entire Ethernet consists of the UNIX box, two TCP/IP X-stations, and three
Macintoshes. There are no routers, gateways, Domain name servers, RARP, or
BootP servers on the Ethernet. The Macintoshes can talk to each other via
EtherTalk just fine. Also, I can see the UNIX box and X-stations communicate
by running EtherPeek on one of the Macintoshes.

I installed the Communications Toolbox, moved the MacTCP Tool (that came with
MacX) into the "System Folder:Communications Folder", and moved the MacTCP CDEV
files into the System Folder. I also followed the advice in the "MacTCP Setup
Tips".

I configured MacTCP (the CDEV) by bringing it up in the Control Panel. I
selected:

- Ethernet (as opposed to LocalTalk)
- Address "Manual" (and entered 192.0.0.4)
- No Routing
- No Domain Name information

I restarted. (The AppleTalk connection is set to LocalTalk.)

When launched, MacX displays an alert with the message: "None of the connection
tools are working at the moment--check that they are properly installed and
restart MacX. Until this is done, no incoming X-client connections can be
accepted."

I tried this with both the MacTCP files that came with MacX and those I got
separately from APDA, and had the same results.

Specific Questions
------------------
1) How do I tell MacX what the address of the UNIX box is, or if MacX is really
a network "server" on Ethernet, how do I tell it what its name is?

2) Is the MacTCP host file needed?

3) Does the Communications Toolbox tool MacTCP expect anything special of the
MacTCP CDEV?

Additional Information
----------------------
I have a copy of NCSA Telnet (for MacTCP) that will not run on the Macintosh
IIx described above. Unfortunately, it doesn't display an error message; it
just displays its initial banner and quits after about 5 seconds.

Can you help?

According to the information that you provided, the MacX and MacTCP
installation procedure seems to be correct. One thing that should be made more
clear is the "MacTCP Tool" must be put in the "System Folder:Communications
Folder" folder.

We found that there is a problem using the IP address 192.0.0.4 in the MacTCP
configuration, which we think is not a valid class C network number. In a
class C network, 192.0.0 is a reserved network number, and it should not be
used by any MacTCP configuration. This might be the reason that MacX is
displaying the warning message. IP address 192.0.1.4, for instance, can be
used as a valid IP number.

Make sure that the network number specified in the MacTCP IP address is valid
and is the same network number as the other UNIX machine on the Ethernet.

If MacX and the UNIX box are configured correctly and connected on the network,
their IP addresses should be known to each other. Also, on a UNIX box, you can
issue the "ping" utility to send an ICMP packet to a MacX server to see if it
is up or not. On the MacX server side, you can run the "MacTCP Spy" to see if
the MacTCP is up running.

MacX is just a network "display" server, not a network server, in general, like
an NFS. If your MacTCP is configured with a Domain name server, all name
inquiries can be via the Domain name server. The host file is not necessarily
needed. The "MacTCP Tool" does not need a "special" version of the MacTCP
CDEV.


Published Date: Feb 18, 2012