The OT/PPP control strip module is a plug-in for Apple's Control Strip that displays information about your "state of affairs" with regards to Apple's native Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) implementation for Open Transport. It also works with Apple Remote Access versions 3.0 and above. It visually informs you whether or not you are presently connected using PPP, and can optionally display the amount of time you've been connected, the baud rate you're connected at, and indicate PPP activity (data being sent and received.) OT/PPP Strip also works with Apple Remote Access version 3.0 and up.The first image below shows OT/PPP strip as it will first appear. The second shows OT/PPP strip with everything shown, while connected.
This module also allows you to open and close PPP connections, and to switch between whatever configurations you've defined for PPP, directly from the control strip itself. With this control strip module, the only reason you should ever have to open the PPP control panel is to set up new configurations to use (and, you can open the control panel conveniently from the control strip!) The OT/PPP Strip menu is shown below.
System Requirements
Obviously, you must have the Control Strip, Open Transport, and either Open Transport/PPP or Apple Remote Access 3.x installed on your Macintosh in order to use this control strip module. AppleScript is also required. As far as I am aware, this module should run on any Macintosh which meets the minimum requirements for those other packages (System 7.5.3 or greater, as well as Open Transport 1.1.1 or greater, are required for OT/PPP.)
Although I have not explicitly tested with any of them, this module should work with any of the Control Strip replacements floating around on the 'net that support the Control Strip API. It will not take advantage of any special features of those packages, though.
Installation Instructions
For Mac OS 8.1 and earlier systems:
After installing the required system components, if you haven't already, simply drag the OT/PPP Strip module to the Control Strip Modules folder (it's in your System Folder. For some reason, even though the System Folder is smart enough to route things like fonts and extensions to the right places, it can't handle control strip modules by itself yet.)
Drag the Breathing Room extension into your Extensions folder.
You will need to restart your machine once you've followed the above steps.
The OT/PPP Strip should appear in the Control Strip once your machine has rebooted.
For Mac OS 8.5 and above:
All of the required system software components should have been installed as part of the basic system installation. Smply drag the OT/PPP Strip control strip module directly onto the Control Strip itself. The Control Strip will load OT/PPP Strip dynamically. There is no need to restart your machine. In addition, the Breathing Room extension is no longer needed under MacOS 8.5 -- feel free to throw it away.
Using the OT/PPP Control Strip Module
This is fairly simple (or, at least it should be.) When first installed, OT/PPP Strip will appear in your Control Strip as an icon of a (very small) globe (if this globe is crossed through with a red "X", something is wrong with the installation of some part of your software – see below.) Clicking this with the mouse will pop-up the confiuration menu, which allows you to select what items to show in the Control Strip, open the PPP (or Remote Access) control panel, or connect or disconnect PPP.
The top section of the menu lists all the configurations you have defined, and you can switch between them by selecting them from the menu. Since it's bad for you to switch configurations when the control panel is open (the control panel expects to be the only thing switching configurations,) the configurations will be greyed out if the control panel is open.
The Module draws with a Red "X"! What happened?
A software component that I depend on is missing. Turn on Balloon Help and point at the module to see which one. It could be one of the following:
The OT/PPP Control Panel - OT/PPP Strip couldn't find either the PPP control panel or the Remote Access control panel. You need to either re-enable it or reinstall either Apple's Open Transport/PPP software (it is important to note that MacPPP and Open Transport/PPP are completely different products!) or Apple Remote Access 3.0 or above. The control panel must be in the Control Panels folder for the control strip module to find it. If you've moved it, return it to the Control Panels folder. You can always place an alias to it wherever you had previously moved it to.
AppleScript - OT/PPP Strip needs AppleScript to be active to work. Either turn it back on in the Extensions Manager, or reinstall it if necessary.
PPP Commands - This is another part of Apple's Open Transport/PPP software (it is called Remote Access Commands if you use ARA) that must be installed. Look for it in the Scripting Additions folder, in the Extensions folder. It may not have been installed correctly when OT/PPP or ARA was installed – you'll need to boot your machine with the basic system extensions, especially AppleScript (do not boot with extensions off) and reinstall Apple's OT/PPP or ARA software.
The Remote Access Connections file - this is Open Transport/PPP's preferences file. It should be in the Preferences folder of the active System Folder, in a folder named "Remote Access". You should not have different copies of the Remote Access Connections file in the Preferences or Remote Access folders, even with a different name. If you back up the file, place the backed-up copy somewhere outside the System Folder.
Version History
1.0.5 - Compatible with Mac OS 9.0.
1.0.4 - Minor bug fix. Made sure that connection dialog was properly displayed under Apple Remote Access
3.0. Updated release notes to reflect changes in Mac OS 8.5. Released.
1.0.3 - Minor bug fix. Corrected case where a resource fork was closed as if it were a data fork. Released.
1.0.2 - Added final support for Apple Remote Access 3.0. Released.
1.0.1 - Minor icon change from 1.0.1b3. Released.
1.0.1b3 - Fixed connection monitoring - the CSM will now detect the connected state again.
Minor code reorganizing (now only checks Power Manager gestalts once.)
Added (barely perceptible) indicator for when CSM is "sleeping" (not polling PPP state.)
1.0.1b2 - Corrected text strings for balloon help.
Added numerous additional safeguards for sleep and spindown for third-party stuff.
Menu should now adjust based on product name (support for to-be-released Apple software.)
International systems with localized PPP Commands osaxen should now recognize when the
connection is active.
If modem speed is unrecognized by OT/PPP, the CSM now assumes 9600bps for scaling activity
lights.Speed should still display as unknown.
1.0.1b1 - Now correctly calls SBSafeToAccessStartupDisk to prevent spinning up spun-down hard drives
(may still fail with drives spun down by software other than the Power Manager.)
Made finding the Remote Access Connections file more robust to support as-yet-unreleased
Apple software.
1.0 - Resources now load correctly into System heap. Added Breathing Room system extension to
fix problems with desk accessories under some configurations.
1.0b3 - Should now list configurations properly on international systems.
Balloon help is more informative if the module does not load correctly.
1.0b2 - Configurations are now correctly sorted in the menu.
1.0b1 - Fixed a memory leak caused by reusing AEDescs
1.0a2 - Fixed flicker on updates, improved activity lights, better management of configurations.
1.0a1 - Initial release to testers, 68K only.
Known Problems
There are no outstanding problems in OT/PPP Strip (the 1010 errors seen by some people under Mac OS 8.1 and earlier systems are corrected with the addition of the Breathing Room extension. Breathing Room must be installed for this to work. You do not need to install Breathing Room under Mac OS 8.5.)
Note that, under Mac OS 8.1 and earlier, it is still possible to get 1010 errors in applications other than the Finder and desk accessories: simply use the Get info panel to increase the application's preferred and minimum sizes by about 50K and the problem should go away.
Contact Information
You can contact the author by email at <mailto:djw@ici.net>, or by surface mail at the following address:
Dennis J. Wilkinson, II
71 Pondview Circle
Taunton, Massachusetts 02780
USA
Feel free to report any bugs discovered in OT/PPP Strip to the author at these addresses. They'll probably be fixed as I have time to fix them, but since OT/PPP Strip is freeware, I can't provide real support at this time.
OT/PPP Strip's web site is located at:
<http://home.ici.net/~djw/otppp/otpppstrip.html>
In addition to being a download site for the current version of OT/PPP strip, it also contains some techincal information about the product.
Legalese (otherwise known as The Licence Agreement)
This is a legal agreement between you and Dennis J. Wilkinson, II, covering your use of OT/PPP Strip. Be sure to read the following agreement before using the software. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT USE THE SOFTWARE AND DESTROY ALL COPIES OF IT.
This copyright software is distributed as freeware. You may use this software without any charge and may distribute to others. The software is owned by Dennis J. Wilkinson, II and is protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Therefore, you must treat the software like any other copyrighted material (e.g. a book or movie).
Commercial distribution of the software is restricted without permission of Dennis J. Wilkinson, II. I'll be more than happy to allow you to redistribute this software, but you must first obtain a license from me. I may be contacted at the above address.
You may not rent or lease the software, nor may you modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the software. If you violate any part of this agreement, your right to use this software terminates automatically and you then must destroy all copies of this software in your possession.
The software and related documentation are provided “AS IS” and without warranty of any kind and Dennis J. Wilkinson, II, expressly disclaims all other warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. under no circumstances shall Dennis J. Wilkinson, II, be liable for any incidental, special or consequential damages that result from the use or inability to use the software or related documentation, even if Dennis J. Wilkinson, II has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Massachusetts. If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of this Agreement, or portion thereof, to be unenforceable, that provision of the Agreement shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible so as to effect the intent of the parties, and the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.
Dennis J. Wilkinson, II. 71 Pondview Circle, Taunton, MA 02780. United States of America.
All trademarks are held by their respective owners.
