Colour Classic: a System 7 networking puzzle

[equill]

My recently-acquired CC had a dead 80MB HDD. I transferred the 250MB HDD from an LC III acquired at the same time as the CC in order to get the cleaned-up (including the MLB) and upgraded (10MB RAM, 512kB VRAM, Asanté NIC) CC working. I replaced (because the software will not allow the Sharing Setup fields to be left blank after there have been entries) the former owner's user-name, machine name and password with my own so as to use my LAN for software transfers, if needed, and archived the HDD's content to an external HDD for the moment. I then erased and reformatted the HDD, installing Silverlining 5.8.3 drivers so that I could install System '7.1.3', which I also archived off for safety.

I then transferred the 250MB drive to a cleaned-up Classic (4MB) that had arrived in the same bunch. A 68000 processor, however, cannot cope with 32-bit addressing, Appearance CDEV and just about anything that you can think of but the off switch, but that story appears elsewhere. So I took a 1GB HDD from a Quadra 605 that was lounging about, and formatted and partitioned the HDD as 300MB/700MB in the CC before transferring the archived installation of 7.1.3 from the external HDD to the 300MB partition. For divers reasons I then upgraded the CC from 7.1.3 to 7.5 to 7.5.3 to 7.5.5, with OT 1.1.1/2, using legit. Install CDs all the way.

Now the crunch. Under 7.5.5 the CC began complaining at startup that 'there were too many open connections for Network Time to open another'. OK. A pain, but presumably soluble. Then, at the first opening of Chooser to use the LAN, a persistent connection window inviting connection to 'Shared disk Quantum 250MB', which, you will recall, had gone to live in the Classic, and never had had an ethernet connection to the LAN or the CC. No number of Cancel or Connect selections got rid of the window. Only Force Quit of Chooser abolished it, after which operation of the CC was normal, if slow, as befits 7.5.5 on a CC.

If you have survived this far, the question now is: Have you an inspired guess or a programmer's knowledge why this might occur? Not trashing and reinstalling every piece of filesharing and networking software (including OT 1.1.1 and 1.1.2), deletion of preferences, PRAM clearing nor MLB resetting has removed this pesky window. My guess is that there is a remnant record somewhere of a past choice in Chooser (a checkbox) to connect automatically at startup to the mythical Quantum 250MB shared disk. Where is that choice stored? I wish to stomp firmly on it. Is the relevant file invisible? NUM FastFind will show invisible files only if one knows their names to begin with, not invisible files as a class.

I could, of course, do a scorched-earth reformat and re-install, but my curiosity is aroused. Short of interference from the Mothership, all suggestions will be entertained, even if only briefly. Ta.

de

 

[Metalchic]

try removeing the appleshare extensipon from your extensions folder. see what it does from there, isualy tho deleteing the ENTIRE preferences folder the folder itself and everyhting then makeing a new direftory namd Preferences to take its plce then rebooting should wipe the memory of the auto connect.

 

[Mike Richardson]

edit - n/m

 

[wally]

If you turn on file sharing, select the hard drive icon, go to the finder File menu and select Sharing..., hopefully the item on the top "Where:" line is your hard drive name, not the dreaded Q250. Select (click the empty x box) Share this item and it's contents then unselect the x box. Does this make the phantom memory of the entire Q250 perhaps once having been designated as a shared folder go away? Don't know where all this is stored, but deep in the File Manager (Files: About the File Manager page 2- 18 ) is a notion of "blank access privileges" where files copied into an existing directory can be given the same access privileges of the root directory, including sharing attributes, perhaps an opportunity for cross contamination on your external drive where both the archived bits from the original Q250, and the later Q250 resanitized with 7.1.3 bits, intermingled before the 7.1.3 seed transfer to the 300MB partition.

 

[equill]

Wally

Thank you for your pointer, which was a little cryptic until I inserted the (missing) 'Inside Macintosh:' for myself, and pulled the relevant volume off the shelf. What I gather is that I am suffering from a persistent alias to Quantum 250MB, jealously guarded in some location by AppleShare. If I can induce Alias Manager to help me to assassinate Quantum 250MB I may get somewhere, but, if I cannot do so, it's back to scorched earth and reinstall, as forecast.

My thanks to all three of you above for your advice.

de

 

[equill]

Just to add to the sense of mystery and awe, I record that booting to another, completely independent installation of 7.5.5 (or even 7.6.1) on an external drive, and then opening AppleShare from the System Folder of the problem installation of 7.5.5 on the CC's internal drive, works perfectly. A full panel of printer icons on the left (and AppleShare, of course), and effective communication and mounting of the drive alias from a remote drive or volumes. No sign of 'Quantum 250MB', the real one of which continues to sleep happily in the unconnected Classic.

Truly, in this case, Diabolus ex machina.

de

 

[equill]

A small epiphany to the above. Being as how the diabolus appeared to have taken up permanent, but undiscoverably cryptic, residence in my CC I was obliged to use the blowtorch. To conserve the CC's resources while yet allowing it to dance a little, I installed a pared-down System 7.5.3 according to gamba:

http://home.earthlink.net/~gamba2/753min.txt

but with a few essentials not listed by him, viz. OT 1.1.2, WorldScript I and II (so that TattleTech 2.84 would load) and a few other faves. After startup, the System uses about 3MB of RAM. The result is one sprightly (as much as a maxed-out native CC can ever be) end-of-line compact AIO.

de