[nrg5698]

I tried searching, but came up empty. I am having problems accessing Appletalk devices (printers, other Macs via AppleTalk). If I connect directly via ethernet and switch AppleTalk over it's fine. I have experienced this with other Intel macs, connecting through an Airport base station (extreme and older). Any clues...is there an issue with Intel macs using appletalk thru airport? Thanks

[Mojo]

After sending you a private message I did a little searching at MacInTouch and the Apple forums...

Apparently the MacBook Pro problem was fixed in 10.4.6: MacBook Pro does not display printers via AppleTalk over AirPort

MacBook owners may still be having problems: Apple - Support - Discussions - MacBook can't find AppleTalk printer ...

I have found MacNN to be of limited value when it comes to trouble-shooting problems like this one. In the future I recommend using Google to search for answers, along with MacFixIt and the Apple forums. TechSurvivors.net is a friendly place with a "knowledge base" somewhere between MacNN and MacFixIt/Apple.

[ghporter]

Gee, Mojo, thanks for the vote of confidence...

AppleTalk is not as well supported through many networking devices as many Mac users might like or need. Wireless networking is particularly hard to get AppleTalk to work through, even Apple's own products. The update in 10.4.6 should fix the part of the problem associated with MacBook Pros' AirPort cards. However, the discussion in the second link seems to be far less about MBPs and AirPort and more about OTHER BRANDS not supporting AppleTalk-which is a known issue throughout the industry.

Finally, even though part of the issue had to do with computer-specific hardware, it's a networking problem. nrg5698, if this had been posted in the Networking forum, you'd have had an answer-probably including the OS X update and caveats about third party support of AppleTalk on Monday, not Friday afternoon. If I'd seen the thread earlier, I'd have moved it there. Glad to have you here, nrg, and I hope you won't take Mojo's negativity about our capabilities too seriously.

[Mojo]

It's just my opinion based on several years of experience on various Mac forums. I was merely offering the OP some alternatives should he/she come up short at MacNN. I might expect an administrator to be defensive about his own forum but shouldn't you have just a wee bit thicker skin...?

[ghporter]

Chiming in is fine, but I'd hope that you'd give folks a little slack for not answering a non-trivial question immediately. I did quite a bit of research before my post-once I saw it in a computer-specific forum. As I pointed out, networking questions get better, quicker answers in the Networking forum, and it was just chance that I looked at that thread.

I'm not so much defensive as disappointed that someone with quite a long history here-if not a lot of posts for that period of time-would think that a question like this would go unanswered due to lack of technical knowledge or intention to help (that's how your post sounded to me). I've found far more good, solid technical details here than any other so-called technical forum on any computer related subject. It's just that we have users with particular interests that frequent the forums they're interested in-and they ignore threads in those forums that aren't on topic.

[Mojo]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

I'm not so much defensive as disappointed that someone with quite a long history here-if not a lot of posts for that period of time-would think that a question like this would go unanswered due to lack of technical knowledge or intention to help (that's how your post sounded to me).

That is not what I said nor intended to say. The OP had not received a reply and I offered some alternatives that I have found useful when I am looking for information, Plain and Simple. It wasn't necessarily a slam against MacNN.

What I have noticed about MacNN is a certain lack of maturity among more than a few of its members, which shouldn't be suprising because it seems dominated by 20-somethings... Less effort seems to be directed toward trouble-shooting topics and more time is spent on other Mac-related topics that have little to do with problem-solving, which is why I tend to find answers more quickly using Google or at MacFixIt and the official Apple forums. TechSurvivors generally attracts older forum members who are more invested in the community fostered there over the past seven years. The body of technical knowledge may not be as great as other forums I know of but the level of civility and cordiality of the discussions are always greater than at most forums I frequent.

This thread is a good example of what I am speaking to... The original poster has never responded to my private message nor has he posted a message indicating that he solved his problem, how he solved it or even acknowledged the assistance offered here. In most cases where the OP doesn't bring some sense of "closure" to a topic, the value to the forum community is greatly diminished because the knowledge base is incomplete. A search that turns up this topic will probably have less value because we don't know if the info I provided acutally helped the OP.

Perhaps the OP just gave up and didn't come back, or maybe he isn't aware of the basic protocals of online tech support forums. But it doesn't make me want to spend much time offering help at MacNN when it appears that a person's time and efforts to help are not really appreciated.