Macintosh to VAX Connectivity and Fatal Error 1020


Article Change History
----------------------
02/08/93 - RETITLED
* To accurately describe the article.


I am having problems with my Macintosh Plus (System version 6.0.4)
communicating with our VAX system. We are using PacerLink 5.3 for VAX
access via AppleTalk (Fastpath access onto fiber-optic Ethernet backbone).
My Macintosh occasionally freezes, forcing me to turn it off to reboot.
Today, I got a dialog box that told me I had a Fatal Error #1020. According
to the (somewhat sketchy) information I have, that should indicate an
AppleTalk problem.

What specifically does that error indicate, and where should we concentrate
our search for the source of the problem?


If there are other users in your general area, follow these diagnostic
steps:

1) Start by taking the Macintosh over to one of those network
connections and see if the same problem occurs. If it does not occur
there, verify the connection at the original location. If so then
continue with the next suggestions.

2) Check out the software at the Macintosh end. If possible, try
another user's software (or hard disk with the software on it), so you
can identify whether or not you have a software problem.

If other users are not experiencing the same problem, the network is not at
fault. Our guess is that it's a software problem at your machine either in
Pacer (likely) or in the System software (doubtful).


Published Date: Feb 18, 2012