The "Connect" button is greyed out


What it means

If the Connect button in the FreePPP Setup is greyed out, it is unclickable. It also means that for some reason the dialler is unable to see the FreePPP extension. Keeping in mind that the dialler needs a TCP program of some sort (in this case, the MacTCP or the TCP/IP) to see the PPP extension, it's safe to assume one of three things. Either the TCP program is not installed in the Control Panels folder (where it HAS to be), the FreePPP extension isn't in the Extensions folder (where it has to be), or another extension is blocking the dialler's ability to see the FreePPP extension. Here we go...

Procedure

  1. Go to the menu and choose "About this Macintosh..." It will generate a screen something like this:

  2. Look at the System Software version number. In the above example, it's 7.5.5.
  3. In the table below, find the version of the system software that the customer is using. This will tell you which TCP program to look for on their hard disk.

    System Software

    TCP Program (Control Panel)

    System 7.1.x

    MacTCP 2.0.6

    System 7.5 and System 7.5.1

    MacTCP 2.0.6

    System 7.5.2

    Incompatible with our dialler (it's possible, but much easier to upgrade to 7.5.3. Simply call Apple at 1-800-293-6617, ext. 984 and ask for it. They charge $15 to $25 for it.

    System 7.5.3

    MacTCP 2.0.6 or TCP/IP

    System 7.5.5

    MacTCP 2.0.6 or TCP/IP

    System 7.6

    TCP/IP

  4. Go up to the menu, go into the Control Panels, and see if the required Control Panel is there. If it is, click here. If it's not:
    1. Go up to the menu and choose "Find File" You'll see this:

    2. Make sure that their "Find item" option is set to their hard disk
    3. Perform a search for "TCP" (this will find any and all items with this text string-- including either of the control panels).
    4. It will display the results of the search in a window like this:

    5. If it finds the correct control panel, then it's in the wrong folder and needs to be moved. If you click on the found item in the upper half of the "Found Items" window one time only, it will display that item's location as a hierarchical list of folders in the bottom half (see above). You should be able to drag the icon out of the upper half and place it on the desktop. Don't worry when it stays in the "Found Items" window after you release mouse button-- it will place the icon on the desktop as well.
    6. Close the "Find File" windows
    7. If a TCP/IP was found, click here, otherwise follow these directions for the MacTCP:
      1. Click on the MacTCP once, go to the "File" menu, and choose "Get Info..." You will see something like this:

        If the version number (as shown above) is 2.0.4 (or even lower) and they have another provider, such as AOL, they can upgrade it, or install a newer version (the correct version ships with System 7.5 and higher). Until the upgrade of either the MacTCP or the System software they will NOT be able to connect.

        Assuming that it's version 2.0.6, or that one of the upgrades has taken place:

      2. Double-click on the icon.
      3. Double-click on the System Folder
      4. Drag the MacTCP from the Desktop into the Control Panels folder
      5. Close all the open window
      6. Restart the computer
      7. When the computer finishes booting up, verify that the settings are correct.

      TCP/IP Procedure

      1. Double-click on the icon.
      2. Double-click on the System Folder
      3. Drag the TCP/IP into the Control Panels folder
      4. Restart the computer
      5. When the computer finishes booting up, verify that the settings are correct.

      If it gives you an error message stating that "The control panel could not be loaded because Open Transport is not installed", click here.

The Next Step

Okay. So you found the correct Control Panel, so you know that the "middle-man" program is where it needs to be. So what else could be the problem? Well, the first thing is to isolate the correct Control Panel. If they are using the MacTCP, click here; If they are using the TCP/IP, click here.

MacTCP Procedure

  1. Go up to the menu, choose "Control Panels" and bring up the MacTCP. If it gives you an error stating that the Control Panel could not be opened due to an error of type -39, click here. If everything goes smoothly, you will see something like this:

    If the version number is anything other than 2.0.6 (see above for location of version number), click here.

    If the "FreePPP" icon isn't selected, it needs to be. It's possible that rather than a "FreePPP" icon, there is a "PPP" icon. If this is the case, the system is kind of messed up, and a complete removal and reinstallation of the Erol's software is in order. If they're both there:

    1. Double-click on the
    2. Double-click on the System Folder
    3. Double-click on the Extensiosn folder
    4. Drag the "PPP" extension to the Trash
    5. Restart the computer

    Additionally, it is also unacceptable if there's anything in this window called "InterSLIP", "InterPPP" or "AOL Link". If any of those three icons are visible in this window, follow the directions below to disable them. If everything checks out, click here.

    1. Double-click on the icon.
    2. Double-click on the System Folder
    3. Double-click on the Extensions folder
    4. Whichever file was found in the MacTCP that shouldn't be there is in this folder (ie the AOLink or InterSLIP). Drag it/them onto the desktop (You can drag them to the Trash if the customer is positive that they will never use it again).
    5. Restart the computer
    6. When the computer finishes booting up, go to the menu, choose "Control Panels", and bring up the "MacTCP".

  2. Click on the "More..." button and verify that the rest of the settings match these. If they do, great! They should. If not, correct them and click on the "OK" button in the lowerleft-hand corner to close the settings screen, then close the MacTCP by clicking on the little square in the upper left-hand corner.

  3. Bring up the FreePPP Setup from the Erol's Internet folder and see if the "Connect" button is now black (clickable). If it is, this problem is solved. Just have the customer click on the button in question, and if they have two phone lines, it should connect. If they only have one, you should have them do this anyway, so that you can at least hear the modem try and dial.

The only things left

If all is well in the Control Panels, there's really only one other place to look-- the Extensions.

  1. Go up to the menu, choose "Control Panels" and then choose "Extensions Manager".
  2. Disable problematic Extensions. Don't forget to restart the computer afterwords.
  3. Bring up the FreePPP Setup and see if the "Connect" button is black now. If it is, click on it. If the customer has multiple phone lines, they should be able to dial and connect now. Even with just the one, you'll be able to hear the modem try to dial. It probably will. On the off chance that it doesn't, take note of the following:

It's possible that if you had removed "InterSLIP" or "AOLink" from the Extensions folder that the "Connect" button will still be grey. If this is the case-

  1. Go up to the menu, choose "Control Panels" and bring up the MacTCP
  2. Set the active extension from "FreePPP" to "LocalTalk" (If LocalTalk isn't there, pick a different one. It really doesn't matter).
  3. Close the MacTCP
  4. Restart the computer
  5. Bring the MacTCP back up and set the active extension back to "FreePPP"
  6. Restart the computer again.

This should take care of any possible "trauma" the MacTCP experienced during this process. If after all of this, the Connect button is still grey (unlikely in the extreme), remove and reinstall the Erol's software. >