10.5.2 and Apple External Modem Dialup - computer freezes when dialing up

Question

Hi,
Many thanks in advance for your attention.
Since upgrading to OS 10.5.2, the computer freezes (the cursor freezes) each time I try to dial up to internet. The only way to unlock computer is to shut the power button off and start over.
I am using the Apple External Modem.
Had no problems before (10.5.1, 10.5, Tiger, etc.). So far I seemingly have no problems with any other app. Only when I try to connect (dialup) to the internet.
I did the usual repair and verify permissions before and after installation.
I did a repair and verify Disc (from the Install Disc) after these problems.
Both reported no problems.
I also tried trashing Internet Connect prefs files in Home Library.
I see a lot of posts and looks for Wireless connection problems.
The only dialup solution I've read so far are people who went back to 10.5.1.
- Ross

Answer 1

Ross Corsair wrote:
Hi,
Found this as a suggestion on how to fix the 10.5.2 internet dialup problem, but it is so vaguely written, I have no idea what the tipster is talking about.
I assume the tipster means one types these commands in Terminal?
If someone can explain the following in English, I would be grateful.
I had problems sharing a dial-up (Modem) PPP connection. I want to use NAT for security reasons and found that only the first connection after reboot worked. Subsequent connects would fail due to NATD not rebinding the new PPP bindings. Restarting NATD fixed the problem. Luckily PPPD fires off some scripts in /etc/ppp depending on connection status. The following script restarts NATD after every successfull connect if you save it as /etc/ppp/ip-up (don't forget to make it executable):
#!/bin/sh -
N_P=`ps -uxc -U root | grep ' natd$' | awk '{ print $2 }'`
if [ "$N_P" != "" ]; then
logger -i -t $0 "Sending SIGHUP to natd (PID $N_P)"
kill -HUP $N_P
fi
Yes, this meant to be run in the terminal.
Really, the poster expected that these commands would be saved in a sh script and executed that way.
Create a txt file and past those commands into it. It will need to be saved with execution permissions.
What does it do?
N_P=`ps -uxc -U root | grep ' natd$' | awk '{ print $2 }'`
This asks the system for a list of running processes (ps -uxc) where the user is root (system admin) and passes this list to grep (which filters the list looking for a process with the string 'natd$'. This passes a single line out of the process list to awk which simply prints the second item in the list.
The end result is that the procid (process id) for the natd process is stored in the variable N_P.
Next -
if [ "$N_P" != "" ]; then
logger -i -t $0 "Sending SIGHUP to natd (PID $N_P)"
kill -HUP $N_P
fi
This checks whether a natd process was found - $N_P not null string.
If a process was found - the logger command writes and entry to the system log and then the script tries to kill the process gently (kill -HUP).
This should clear the natd process which should restart if you try and dial again.
The script is not really vague - just needs a comment or two to make it understandable to those who are not Unix geeks.