Category Archives: networking

fixed : AppleTV keeps getting new IP address continuously

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Question :

I am using the IP Scanner (and LANscan) software to check my network performance whenever I encounter network problems. I have found that my AppleTV keeps getting multiple IP addresses from my router using DHCP…

What is going on and how can I fix this ?

 

Answer :

The most probable cause of your problem is that you are connection over WiFi and the AppleTV is positioned somewhere where WiFi-reception isn’t optimal, and where multiple base stations are giving an equally strong WiFi-signal, which is causing the AppleTV to constantly switch from a connection to the one WiFi-base station to the other and back again.

There is a slight chance that you have this problem when connecting over Ethernet LAN-cable also… in that case you might have some interference or data-loss on the cable which usually isn’t problematic, but still is sub-optimal…

The best and easiest way to fix this is to give the AppleTV a fixed IP-address.

To do so, do this (in tvOS 7.4 – for other versions of tvOS the actual screens may differ) :

  • unplug the AC-power cable from your AppleTV
  • restart your router (or unplug it from power for 30 seconds)
  • plug the AC-power cable back into your AppleTV
  • turn on your TV (the one that’s connected to your AppleTV)
  • turn on your AppleTV
  • goto Settings (the app that has a Sprocket/Gear-icon)
  • in the Settings-window, click on General
  • in the General-window, click on Network
  • in the Network-window, click on WiFi (or Ethernet if you use it)
  • in the WiFi-window (or Ethernet-window), click on Configure IP
  • in the ConfigureIP-window, make a photo of all settings or write them down (because this exact info is what you are going to enter manually), then click on Manual
  • in the IP-configuration window, roll the dials until the IP is set, then click OK
  • in the Subnetmask-configuration window, roll the dials until the Subnetmask is set, then click OK
  • in the Router-configuration window, roll the dials until the Router IP is set, then click OK
  • in the DNS-configuration window, roll the dials until the DNS is set (or use 008.008.008.008), then click OK
  • then wait for the setting so be accepted while the wheel spins
  • then exit, exit, exit until you’re back on the Home screen

That’s it !

Note : if you want to be completely sure that your AppleTV has accepted all settings, you can unplug and replug your AppleTV from power, but that is not as important as it used to be in older versions of tvOS – and you need to check afterwards in Settings to be completely sure

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : error during firmware-upgrade on Time Capsule

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Question :

When I ran the AirPort Utility software today, I noticed that I had a firmware upgrade waiting for my Time Capsule. So I ran the upgrade and that seemed to go okay, until I got a firmware-error…

I know that when you do a firmware upgrade on a hard disk your hard disk is usually bicked and ready for the trash… but what about a Time Capsule ?

What should I do ?

 

Answer :

Most of the time, for a Time Capsule the problem is not dramatic if you run into a firmware upgrade error.

Take these steps, and stop as soon as you succeed :

1- if you have multiple base stations (like Time Capsules or AirPort devices), make sure you run any firmware upgrade on your remote/satellite base stations first, before you run the firmware upgrade on the central/main base station

2-  just run the firmware upgrade again (it may just work fine next time, even without any significant change)

3- just run the firmware upgrade again (yep… just try again… sometimes that’s all it needs…)

4- pull the AC-plug from the base station, then wait 30 seconds and replug the AC… then run the upgrade again

5- pull the AC-plug from the base station, then press the reset button (the little hole – can be pressed with a ballpoint-tip or a paperclip-end) on the base station for 30 seconds… then run the firmware upgrade again (…and don’t forget you’ll have to setup your base station again afterwards)

…that’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

 

 

fixed : which cable to quickly migrate data to new Mac ?

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Question :

I just got myself a new Mac. Ofcourse, I am using the Migration Assistant to transfer the data from my old Mac to my new Mac, but my new Mac is a MacBook Pro that only has USB-C ports… and my old Mac doesn’t have any USB-C ports…

What is the best way to transfer / migrate my data ? Should I use WiFi or a cable ?

 

Answer :

You could migrate your data over WiFi, but that is less stable than a cable-connection and therefore usually more time-consuming.

The fastest way would be to use a Thunderbolt3-cable that has a USB-C connector on one end and a traditional Thunderbolt connector on the other… but those are extremely expensive and therefore not worth to buy if you’re going to use it for migrating your old data only.

Your best option is to use a far cheaper USB3.1-to-USB-C-cable, like this one :

AmazonBasics USB3.1-to-USB-C-cable (buy from Amazon.com)

AmazonBasics USB3.1-to-USB-C-cable (buy from Amazon.co.uk)

AmazonBasics USB3.1-to-USB-C-cable (buy from Amazon.de)

Note 1 : such a cable is also included with most USB-C enabled external SSDs, so you might already have one lying around – just make sure that the one you use is USB3.1-compatilbe

Note 2 : if you are considering using a regular USB-to-USB-cable together with a USB-to-USB-C-adapter… don’t do so ! That will in most cases mean that you are making a USB2-connection which is far slower than a USB3.1-connection

Note 3 : if you are considering using an Ethernet-cable together with a USB-C-to-Ethernet-adapter… don’t do so ! An Ethernet-cable is not as straight forward to set up, and most likely it will contain a USB2-maxed component, so it will be far slower than a USB3.1-connection and be far more expensive

enjoy !

fixed : internet on wireless but not on LAN according to AirPort Utility

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Question :

Lately I have had aΒ badΒ and unstable internet connection. I have a Mac and it has been working fine for years. My internet provider is Vodafone-Ziggo.

I tried to find out what was wrong using the AirPortUtility.app on my Mac, and I found something strange : when selecting my wireless WiFi-network, my internet connection is presumed working, but when selecting my wired LAN-network, I get an error message saying there is no internet connection.

If it would have been the other way around, I could think of an explanation… but having wireless internet connection from my router and not LAN-internet just doesn’t make sense…

I’ve tried numerous resets of the Ziggo-modem, of my TimeCapsule and of my Mac. Nothing helps.

Do you have any suggestions on fixing this ?

 

Answer :

Even thoughΒ you’ve tried most of the available options already, there is one other thing I would suggest to try :

  • make sure the UTP/Ethernet/LAN-cable is correctly connected into both your Mac and the ‘local network device’ (be it a TimeCapsule, a router, a modem, a network-switch or a wall-socket)
  • then, on your Mac : click on the Apple-icon (top-left on your Mac’s desktop screen)
  • in the pulldown menu, click on “System Preferences”
  • in the window that opens (“System Preferences”), click on “Network”
  • in the window that opens (“Network”), click on “Ethernet” in the list on the left
  • in the info that appears on the right, check if it says “Status : Connected”
  • if it doesn’t, your UTP/Ethernet/LAN-cable isn’t connected properly, so check all network-cables again until it saysΒ “Status : Connected”
  • then, click the Advanced-button
  • in the window that opens, click on the DNS-tab
  • in the info that opens, at “DNS Servers:” make sure that you have at least included one of the following DNS Servers : 8.8.8.8 (Google), 8.8.4.4 (Google), 208.67.222.222 (OpenDNS) and/or 208.67.220.220 (OpenDNS)
  • if none of those DNS Servers are listed yet, add them by clicking on the +/Plus-button bottom-left
  • then click on the Proxies-tab (of the elongated TCP/IP-button)
  • in the info that opens, make sure to remove the check-mark at both “Web Proxy (HTTP)” and “Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS)”
  • in case both were already switched OFF, I would suggest to switch both of them to ON
  • then leave the rest as is, and click on the OK-button
  • in the previous window that appears, click the “Apply”
  • now check the AirPortUtility.app again, and you should see that the internet connection is back up for both the wireless and wired/LAN connection
  • also check by opening Safari (or another internet browser) and refresh the page by clicking on the circular arrow in the address bar

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : reset password on QD520 IP-camera without a Windows-PC [Mac-only]

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Question :

A friend donated a QD520 IP-securitycamΒ to me. It looks great and from what I’m reading, I should be able to get it working with Mac-software, but I when I try toΒ access the device in Safari, it asks for a password (that my friend couldn’t remember), so I can’t login…

There’s no reset button on the QD520, so I will need to reset the password with special software, but it turns out that that software is Windows-only, and I only have Macs…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

You are completely right about the Windows-only software… but I managed to port the reset tool to Mac using WineBottler, and using that, you can reset the QD520 and it’s password back to factory settings.

After the reset, the QD520 will be back to these factory settings :

login = admin

password = Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  [ BLANK / NOTHING / EMPTY ]

IP (static) = 192.168.1.10

interface language = (simplified) Chinese Β  Β  [ yep, that’s a very uncomfy downside of resetting… unfortunately ]

 

Here’s how to reset the QD520 :

  • connect the QD520 to your network
  • use the free LANScan.app (or something similar) to find the QD520’s current IP address [ the LANScan app can be downloaded for FREE from the Mac App Store ]
  • download Winebottler here, and use it to run theΒ Windows-only version of the PasswordResetToolΒ you can get here orΒ in this Xmeye Camera Software bundle (or use Winebottler to create a Mac-compatible version of the QD520passwordresettool)
  • as the original Windows-version PasswordResetTool needs a Telnet connection to communicate with the QD520 IP-cam, you now have to enable Telnet (or Netcat to be more precise) to it’s IP address on your Mac as follows :
    • on your Mac, go to Applications –> Utilities –> Terminal.app
    • double-click on the icon to run Terminal.app
    • there you will see your username-with-a-dollar-sign-attached-to-it ; immediately after that, typΒ this :
    • ncΒ xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 23
    • so : N C space QD520-IP-address space 2 3 (in which 23 is the Telnet port number)
    • now you will see an ‘answer’ in the Terminal.app :
      • ????????LocalHost login:
  • when you see that text appear, doubleclick on the QD520passwordresettool to run it
  • when it’s open, at “Device IP”, fill in the QD520-IP-number, and click the “Reset” button
  • when you get the feedback message “Reset OK, Waiting for reboot your device, please!”, click the “OK” button
  • that’s it !
  • don’t forget to quit both the QD520passwordresettool and the Terminal.app

enjoy πŸ˜‰

NOTE #1 : as mentioned before, the QD520’s IP address will now be 192.168.1.10 and the interface will be in Chinese unfortunately, however, you will be able login now !Β ( using login = admin / password = [empty] )

NOTE #2 : unfortunately, there is no Mac-friendly solution to change the QD520’s settings like IP-address and Password just yet… for that, you will still need to use Internet Explorer for Windows with ActiveX and JAVA Runtime installed… [ we are working on a solution for that, but as ActiveX is not supported on Intel-Macs, that’s an extremely hard nut to crack and might even be too complicated… ]

fixed : SPL-C ERROR page printed by Samsung printer

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Question :

when I tried to print to my Samsung printer via my Home-network today, the spooling process was very slow, then hung, and then a printed page rolled out of the printer with this text only :

SPL-C ERROR – Disconnected from Host. Please check the connection and try again.

POSITION : 0x3dc5 (252981)

SYSTEM : src_5.59/os_hook

LINE : 1978

VERSION : SPL-C 5.59 05-04-2012

So I restarted the printer, made sure there wasn’t any paper stuck, and tried again. This time I the spooling process was very slow again, hung again, and a similar page rolled out of the printer with this text :

SPL-C ERROR – Disconnected from Host. Please check the connection and try again.

POSITION : 0x15ea5 (89765)

SYSTEM : src_5.59/os_hook

LINE : 1978

VERSION : SPL-C 5.59 05-04-2012

So despite the difference in ‘position’, the problem remained.

What can I do to solve this ?

 

Answer :

This seems to be a weird bug popping up on some Samsung printers connected to Macs once in a while. To solve this problem, do this :

  • quit any printing jobs that are active
  • shut down the printer (take the power cable out)
  • on your Mac, go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners
  • there, delete the problematic printer (by selecting it in the list and clicking the minus-button)
  • then, restart your Mac
  • switch the printer back on (reconnect the power cable)
  • login on your Mac
  • go to System Settings > Printers & Scanners
  • add the printer to the list again (by clicking on the plus-button, and selecting it from the printers found)
  • then close the System Preferences and try printing your document again

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰