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Finding the darn OSX client


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Ok, am I the only one using a totally airport based network? No matter what I do I can't find the clients. I have even reconfigured my router (necessary because of apple's problems with cable modems) and I still can't see them. I too am a long term retrospect user and this really is bad CRM.

 

 

 

 

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There are two ways to back up over Airport currently:

 

 

 

1. Assign each AirPort client a static IP address.

 

 

 

2. Turn on Ethernet Bridging so the AirPort client gains an IP address from a DHCP server on the Ethernet network.

 

 

 

It will not work if AirPort is sharing its IP address to connected computers using DHCP (NAT). Retrospect will be able to see these clients via multicast, but will not be able to communicate with them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I owe you a big one, CallMeDave! Your "toggling the pitond" worked first try for me after 3 months worth of "Client not visible on network." Everything seems to be working fine now. I wish everyone had the luck I just had.

 

 

 

Incidentally, the client on my PowerBook is now communicating fine with my Backup Server via an Airport Base Station configured as the DHCP server.

 

 

 

Good luck to all!

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  • 1 month later...

I’ve been following this thread with interest because I recently upgraded to Retrospect Desktop 5.0.205 with one client for backup across my Airport network (Powerbooks G4 and G3, both running OS X 10.1.4). I have two airport base stations set up for roaming in my apartment, but performed my testing with only one station turned on, to ensure that both computers were on the same subnet. I went through the checklist below, and in addition installed a LinkSys EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch to handle my DSL modem so that the airport base station could be configured as a bridge. I conducted all tests both with client and server computes using DHCP addressing from the LinkSys router, and with static addresses within the router’s permitted range. I have not yet been successful in finding the client computer, except when I had the client and server connected directly via crossover cable.

 

 

 

Any suggestions appreciated!!

 

 

 

William Wolfe

 

 

 

Client

 

1. The client machine has a valid IP address (tried with static address and DHCP from router).

 

2. The status is Ready.

 

3. Airport is the only active network port and is listed first.

 

4. The client service, pitond, is running.

 

5. Classic mode is not running.

 

 

 

Server

 

1. On the server, Airport is the only active port, and is first on the list.

 

2. The server has a valid IP address (tried static and DHCP).

 

3. I have Retrospect Desktop. To be sure that both computers are in the same subnet, I turned off the second Airport base station to deactivate roaming before testing.

 

4. Successfully pinged the client from the server using single Airport subnet.

 

 

 

Network and Third Party Factors

 

1. The LinkSys EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch has no disabled TCP/IP or UDP ports.

 

2. Multicast is enabled on router, and all security options are at their most permissive settings.

 

 

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In reply to:

I have not yet been successful in finding the client computer, except when I had the client and server connected directly via crossover cable


 

What about trying a Computer to Computer wireless network? I wonder if the AirPort Base Station is keeping the needed UDP & TCP/IP ports closed...

 

 

 

Dave

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Re: "What about trying a Computer to Computer wireless network? I wonder if the AirPort Base Station is keeping the needed UDP & TCP/IP ports closed..."

 

 

 

Interesting idea... I tried it, thinking that it would certainly work (though not solve my problem, since I need bridging to the wired net), but it didn't. I created a computer-to-computer wireless net, assigned fixed IP addresses to both computers, stopped and started the pitond process, etc.--but no client!

 

 

 

I'm stumped.

 

 

 

William

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In reply to:

I'm stumped


 

Me too.

 

I found another Airport equipped PowerBook, and here's what I tried.

 

 

 

Configure each with non-routable IP address (192.168.1.xxx), subnet mask 255.255.255.0, no router or dns information. Network preference pane had only AirPort as an active network port.

 

 

 

On the client machine I setup a wireless network.

 

Made sure the OS X Client was running.

 

 

 

On the machine running Retrospect, I joined the wireless network.

 

Launched Retrospect, Configure->Clients->Network and there was the client.

 

 

 

Dave

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Re: "I found another Airport equipped PowerBook, and here's what I tried..."

 

 

 

Yep--that's exactly what I did, with the same result. I'm confused, because I was under the impression that people were successfully using OSX client with Retrospect Desktop over Airport...

 

 

 

William

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Re: "...and there was the client."

 

 

 

Oops. Just read your message a little more carefully! I'll go back to the drawing board, uninstall everything, etc. Must be something about my particular installation.

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

William

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Re: "I'll go back to the drawing board, uninstall everything, etc. Must be something about my particular installation."

 

 

 

I did the above, including a de-install from the client installer and reinstallation, then replicating the steps outlined in your message, but no go. It clearly must be something about my setup that differs from yours, but I can't figure out what it is. Strange that it should work fine with a crossover cable. Oh well. Thanks for your interest.

 

 

 

William

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  • 8 months later...

I had an even stranger situation: the client (10.2) was visible in the client selection part of the window, but clicking it yielded -1028, client not visible! Followed all (re)install and removal guidelines in this thread, to no avail. Then discovered that the personal firewall (in the system preference panel named 'sharing') was activated, without activating Retrospects port. The machine was even reachable over the network for ordinary file access, so it took a loooong while before I checked retrospects port to be open :-(

ard

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I had that problem as well but with a user's notebook, the Retrospect client said it was ready - turns out he had switched on the personal firewall feature in OS 10.2.x which of course stops remote backups from happening!

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In the hopes of helping others out, I'm passing along a tip that resolved my problem with clients not showing up. I had the problem where no clients (Windows or Macs) on my local Ethernet would show up in Retrospect Desktop under Mac OS X (10.2.4). I had gone through all the troubleshooting checks, and everything was as it should be, but no clients would appear. Based on hints from this thread that Airport networking could be a source of problems, I went back to my "Netwok Port Configurations" (Network Panel in System Preferences), and tried unchecking the Airport Port. Immediately, I saw clients appear in the Retrospect Network Panel that happened to be visible on my screen. Everything now works.

 

Note that I had my Ethernet port at the top of the list, and the Airport service was actually turned off. In other words, all my clients were on the Ethernet subnet and Airport was not being used. This strikes me as a bug in either Retrospect or Mac OS X. I should not have to turn off the Aiport nework port. For the record, I'm using a PowerMac G4 MP 500 for the Retrospect server with an Airport card installed. Since I'm not currently using Airport from this machine, this workaround has solved my immediate problem, but it is only a workaround.

 

I would also like to see Dantz provide more information on networking or debugging suppport. Disabling the "add by IP address" option is an unnecessary restriction, as others have noted. It would also be nice to have some feedback from Retrospect as to what network ports the application is currently using, and which ports it is listening to for broadcasts. This was a very time consuming problem to debug.

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