This is a list of questions/answers that users commonly have when trying to set up or run their PPP connections. If you received a printed version of this document, please be aware that the most up-to-date version is available on the Web at http://www.yale.edu/iic/trouble/new-mac-ppp-faq.html.

List of Questions

• Q1: I try to run FreePPP, but I get a "FreePPP not installed or selected" error message. Also, the "Open PPP" and "Close PPP" options under the modem menu are grayed out. I have system 7.5.2 (or earlier) and I'm using Classic Networking (i.e. MacTCP). Free PPP is selected in the MacTCP control panel, but it doesn't show up in the Extensions Manager. What's going on?
  
• Q2: I am going to be dialing up to my PPP account from another area code and I need to tell Free PPP to make it a long distance call. How do I do that?
• Q3: I'm running Netscape 4 on a Macintosh, and when I click on the Pantheon link on the Yaleinfo page, or when I try to use Netscape to connect to any "telnet://" sites, my telnet program starts up, but it doesn't try to open a connection to any host. It seems like Netscape isn't telling my telnet program what site it's supposed to connect to. What's going on?
  

List of Answers

Q1: I try to run FreePPP, but I get a "FreePPP not installed or selected" error message. Also, the "Open PPP" and "Close PPP" options under the modem menu are grayed out. I have system 7.5.2 (or earlier) and I'm using Classic Networking (i.e. MacTCP). FreePPP is selected in the MacTCP control panel, but it doesn't show up in the Extensions Manager. What's going on?

A1: If your computer can handle it (i.e. if it has enough RAM) you really ought to be using system 7.5.3 or 7.5.5 (free upgrades available from Apple at www.apple.com). In the meantime, though, try the following: open the MacTCP control panel, select something other than FreePPP, and close the control panel. Open it again, select FreePPP, and close it again. Try running PPP. You may need to do this every time you want to do PPP.

Q2: I am going to be dialing up to my PPP account from another area code and I need to tell Free PPP to make it a long distance call. How do I do that?

A2: This is quite simple to do with FreePPP. Open the Dialup Applications folder and run the FreePPP Setup icon. There are three pull-down lists, one of which is labeled "From:". There are two settings in here: local and long-distance. All you have to do to get it to dial as a long-distance call is to set this to "long-distance".

Q3: I'm running Netscape 4 on a Macintosh, and when I click on the Pantheon link on the Yaleinfo page, or when I try to use Netscape to connect to any "telnet://" sites, my telnet program starts up, but it doesn't try to open a connection to any host. It seems like Netscape isn't telling my telnet program what site it's supposed to connect to. What's going on?

A3: This is a bug with Netscape 4, which is fixed in version 4.5, so the easiest way around this is to upgrade to version 4.5. But if you don't want to upgrade yet, you can do the following (pardon us for being proud of discovering this wacky fix):

• Insert your Yale PPP Installation CD (or the first floppy disk).
• Start Netscape, select "Preferences" from the "Edit" menu. Click once on the arrow next to "Navigator", then click once on "Applications".
• Click once on the entry labelled "Netscape/Telnet", then click the "Edit" button.

• Click the "Choose" button. In the resulting window, click the "Desktop" button, double-click the "Yale Macintosh PPP" icon, then double-click the "Yale PPP Installer". (Note that you could use any application that only has one file type; we assume if you're reading this you have the "Yale PPP Installer").
• Click the "Choose" button again. In the resulting window, click the "Desktop" button, double-click "Dialup Applications", then double-click "Better Telnet".
• Now select "CONF" as your "File Type". Click "OK", then click "OK" again.