The Problem with ConfigPPP / MacPPP

[VMSZealot]

ConfigPPP is notoriously fragile, and I’m stuck. I first encountered the problem discussed in this thread, and now I have an exciting new problem. When I click ‘Open’ in ConfigPPP it dies instantly with the unhelpful dialogue box “Resource Error”. I’ve tried both Printer and Modem port, and the issue is the same either way. I’m able to use MacTerminal to open a connection to the Raspberry Pi - so I’m confident that the problem isn’t a hardware fault.

Does anyone have any idea? The computer is a 1987 Mac SE (not FDHD), with 4MB RAM, running System 6.0.8, with no expansion cards (and no hacks). MacPPP is 2.0.1, and MacTCP is version 2.0.6.

 

[VMSZealot]

The problem was solved by dropping back to MacPPP 1.1.1 - but I'm perplexed as to why 2.0.1 didn't work. Not in System 7 either.

Mind you, there seem to be a few oddities with my Mac SE. It complains about memory when running Star 'Roids, Arkanoid and Mac Man (and of those, only Star 'Roids will run), and it won't run Fool's Errand at all. It just beeps three times and then needs to be restarted with the power button. And yet…

Apple Personal Diagnostics reports no problems with the Mac SE at all. A clean bill of health. So yes. Weird. Any thoughts on that conundrum anyone?

 

[chartreuse]

Was wondering if you ever tracked down this resource issue? I recently got a Mac Classic and am running System 6.0.8 and am getting the exact same issue with MacPPP 2.0.1 as well. It does seem to suggest that the issue is not with your system though, perhaps it's an issue with one of the archived versions of 2.0.1 or the like.

I was also wondering where you managed to source any pre-2.0 versions, I've not had any luck tracking them down to even give them a shot.

 

[jblang]

I'm hitting the same issue on a Mac Plus running 6.0.8 with MacTCP 2.0.6 and MacPPP 2.0.1. I also have only been able to find MacPPP 2.0+... It would be great if you can point us to where we can find the old version of MacPPP.

 

[jblang]

I found MacPPP 1.1.3 binaries on an FTP site and uploaded to https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-ppp (the 1.1.3 previously on macgarden was only source, not binary). Unfortunately I still couldn't get it to work on my Mac Plus using 6.0.8. It no longer throws the resource error, and appears to connect to slirp correctly, but when I run any program that uses TCP, I get some system-crashing error, either "address error" or "stack ran into heap" or something like that.

Edit: I have succeeded in getting my Mac Plus online with System 7.0.1 using MacTCP 2.0.6 and InterSLIP 1.0.2d2 connecting to Slirp on a Raspberry Pi with a USB serial adapter and a Mac DIN to DB-9 null-modem cable. Unfortunately MacWeb 2.0 complains that there is not enough memory (Mac Plus is maxed out at 4MB), and though it works well enough to access some sites from www.frogfind.com, it is very easy to accidentally load a web site that is too big and cause the Mac to run out of memory and crash. However, if you're careful it is possible to pull up the Mac Plus article on Wikipedia, for example.

 

[jblang]

 

[chartreuse]

I found MacPPP 1.1.3 binaries on an FTP site and uploaded to https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-ppp (the 1.1.3 previously on macgarden was only source, not binary).

Ah thanks, I was meaning to upload it there as well. I tracked down 1.1.3 on probably the same Japanese FTP site (ftp.sra.co.jp) but forgot to update this post with the link to it. I'd also later noticed it was bundled on the floppy of some other software, though I'm forgetting which disk image that was now... I'll try and find that again in-case it was a different version.

Unfortunately I still couldn't get it to work on my Mac Plus using 6.0.8. It no longer throws the resource error, and appears to connect to slirp correctly, but when I run any program that uses TCP, I get some system-crashing error, either "address error" or "stack ran into heap" or something like that.

I'm not entirely sure on the error. On my Macintosh Classic with 4MB of RAM and 6.0.8 I've been able to connect just fine to the internet. NCSA Telnet, MacWWW, Fetch, ircle 1.5.6. I'm using MacPPP 1.1.3 combined with MacTCP 2.0.6 on here.

Downside to 6.0.8 is that the only browser that works AFAIK is MacWWW/Samba which is nearly useless on any website with no virtual hosting support, images, or tables or such. I've managed to load my own personal website on it only because it's configured in a way not to need the Hostname field.

 

[jblang]

I've found frogfind.com to be great with MacWeb 2.0, but that requires System 7.0.1. If you're not already familiar, frogfind is a search engine and HTTP proxy for retro computers that strips out all the stuff old browsers can't handle, and it works pretty well. My Mac Plus is kind of finicky to get started on 7.0.1--I think it's pushing the memory limits pretty hard--but once I get connected to frogfind successfully the first time, it generally works for as long as I want to use it, but other times it will hang loading frogfind for the first time, the mouse will freeze, and I have to reset.