Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

jeffnudi · 12:58 PM

I have an AirPort Base Station and an AirPort card in an iBook. The iBook and the base station work fine. I can access the internet with no problems. I also have a G4 (AGP) which is hard wired to the base station through the ethernet port. This has worked fine since I bought the AirPort and iBook last January. Both computers are running OS 10.1.5. A few weeks ago I lost my DSL connection for a day or so, and since it came back, I can only access the AirPort Base Station through the iBook. This is the frst day that I have had time to try to trouble shoot this problem.

When I open the AirPort Admin Utility on the G4 it does not list any base stations. When I select other, I get an error message that states "The AirPort Admin utility was unable to read the configuration of the selected base station. An error occurred while reading the configuration."

I have tried to switch the cables between the G4 and the base station and still get nothing.

Since I have no idea what to do next, I am seeking help with this. Any help will be appreciated.

Awimoway · Nov 13, 2002, 08:02 PM

I had this problem (the "The AirPort Admin utility was unable to read the configuration of the selected base station. An error occurred while reading the configuration." message) earlier today, when I was first setting up my base station. Let me warn you that I am very green at networking, and I don't really know why what I did worked, but this is what Apple support walked me through:

In Sytem Prefs > Network, I created a new location (they told me to name mine "Admin," but I assume it doesn't matter). In the new location, under the TCP/IP tab, change Configure to Manually, then make the IP address 10.0.1.10, the subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and the router 10.0.1.1. The support guy said that when I am in Admin, I can configure the Base Station but cannot access the internet. So I have to switch my Network locaton back to Automatic to access the internet.

Dunno if that applies to you, but maybe it will.

Now maybe you can help me figure out how to see and access the two computers (PowerMac G4 and iBook) on my home network (scanning the networking forum for guidance on this issue is how I found your post).

ghporter · Nov 14, 2002, 05:31 AM

I agree-it sounds like the base station's configuration got corrupted, or more likely the DSL modem's configuration got changed. The network settings in your G4 no longer match the base station's and thus it won't see the base station.

Let us know how Awimaway's suggestions work for you.

jeffnudi · Nov 15, 2002, 10:09 AM

Thanks for the replies. I have been on the road the past few days and have not had a chance to check in here. I will try this when I get home this afternoon. I will let you know how I make out.

ghporter · Nov 15, 2002, 01:35 PM

Make sure you let us know how it turns out. It's good to get feedback when you give someone a suggestion, and even better to hear that your suggestion was right!

jeffnudi · Nov 16, 2002, 12:07 PM

Thanks for the help. I forgot I was going to a motorcycle show last night, so I didn't get to work on this until now.

I went into System Preferences - Network and created a new location called "Fix", and enerted the information you provided. This let me see the AirPort base station, but did not let me access the internet. I went back to System Preferences - Network and changed Configure to "Using DHCP" because that is how the iBook is set up, and my internet access worked.

Thanks again, I really appreciate the input. I was becoming so frustrated that I was thinking about buying an Airport card for the G4 and using it as a virtual base station, and getting rid of the real base station.

jeffnudi · Nov 16, 2002, 12:15 PM

Awimoway:

Did not mean to ignore the question at the end of your reply. It sounds like you want to access files on one computer from the other. (Is that right?) I have never tried this, but now you have me curious. Do you need File Sharing and AppleTalk on to do this? If I come across something. I will let you know.

Jeff

Awimoway · Nov 16, 2002, 10:03 PM

Originally posted by jeffnudi:
Awimoway:

Did not mean to ignore the question at the end of your reply. It sounds like you want to access files on one computer from the other. (Is that right?) I have never tried this, but now you have me curious. Do you need File Sharing and AppleTalk on to do this? If I come across something. I will let you know.

Jeff

I have figured it out. AppleTalk is the way to do it. Let me know if you want to know more.

jeffnudi · Nov 17, 2002, 07:05 PM

Yes, I would be interersted, if I don't need any more hardware.

Awimoway · Nov 18, 2002, 01:07 AM

Originally posted by jeffnudi:
Yes, I would be interersted, if I don't need any more hardware.

Nope, you've spent enough.

What you do is turn on AppleTalk in the Network Prefs and turn on file sharing in the Sharing Prefs. Then there are a number of ways to access one computer from the other. One way is, in Finder, to go to Go > Connect to Server and then look for your other computer there (it's name will be displayed at the top of the Sharing Prefs Pane), and click on it, or enter the other computer's IP address in the text box at the bottom of the Connect to Server window.

I believe this connection actually runs through your ISP from one computer to the other, but if you were to be disconnected from your ISP (say, if you have a dialup connection), you can still do this. The name of the other computer probably won't show up, but you simply enter the IP address and you should have success. You may need to first create a computer to computer network (click on the airport icon in the menu bar and go to the Create Network option) to make this work.

The third way would be to connect through your browser, using the http address the Sharing Prefs pane gives you when you highlight file sharing and turn it on.

One last tip�this is the silly little thing that was getting in my way. All of these methods will lead to a login window asking for your user name and password. My login windows were all defaulting to the extended "My Name" format when what I needed to have entered was the condensed "myname" format. Of course, if you are using a single word user name, then this isn't a problem.

Awimoway · Nov 18, 2002, 01:09 AM

Nope, you've spent enough.

What you do is turn on AppleTalk in the Network Prefs and turn on file sharing in the Sharing Prefs. (Take care not to turn FTP on�I understand that this will make you highly vulnerable to hacking.) Then there are a number of ways to access one computer from the other. One way is, in Finder, to go to Go > Connect to Server and then look for your other computer there (it's name will be displayed at the top of the Sharing Prefs Pane), and click on it, or enter the other computer's IP address in the text box at the bottom of the Connect to Server window.

I believe this connection actually runs through your ISP from one computer to the other, but if you were to be disconnected from your ISP (say, if you have a dialup connection), you can still do this. The name of the other computer probably won't show up, but you simply enter the IP address and you should have success. You may need to first create a computer to computer network (click on the airport icon in the menu bar and go to the Create Network option) to make this work.

The third way would be to connect through your browser, using the http address the Sharing Prefs pane gives you when you highlight file sharing and turn it on.

One last tip�this is the silly little thing that was getting in my way. All of these methods will lead to a login window asking for your user name and password. My login windows were all defaulting to the extended "My Name" format when what I needed to have entered was the condensed "myname" format. Of course, if you are using a single word user name, then this isn't a problem.