Apple AirPort Utility 5.6.1 on macOS High Sierra - Update

macOS High Sierra, the new major release of Apple's operating system, is here . I did a clean install onto an external USB3 SSD yesterday evening. This morning I tested the old AirPort Utility 5.6.1 combined with AirPort Utility 5.6.1 Launcher, by Corey J. Mahler, and again, it works just fine. I connected the base station to the computer using an Ethernet cable, otherwise via Wi-Fi, the old AirPort Utility does not find any base station.

Apple AirPort Utility 5.6.1 on macOS Sierra - Update

I'm testing the latest Apple OS, macOS Sierra. I did a clean install of the new operating system onto an external USB3 SSD, just to see if all the programs and peripherals I use are compatible.

I also tried the old AirPort Utility 5.6.1 combined with AirPort Utility 5.6.1 Launcher, by Corey J. Mahler, and for me, it works just fine as you can see on the picture below

Gmail and POP3

In my experience the optimal way to manage a Gmail account, is either using an Android device and setting the Gmail app appropriately, or through a browser getting to the Gmail site page.

Trying to get to work Gmail with a different email client is leading to mixed result. In this case if you are still relying on the old POP3 protocol and using different devices to manage your electronic messages, I recommend reading the following Gmail help page

Using POP on multiple clients or mobile devices

Apple AirPort Utility 5.6.1 on El Capitan - Update

Thanks to Cucho Olivares that commented my previous post, here's an update.

It is an update note that comes from Corey J. Mahler, the guy who wrote the AirPort Utility 5.6.1 Launcher.

Here's the note

"It would appear that Apple has changed something in the network stack in a recent update to Yosemite. This update has resulted in AirPort Utility v5.6.1 not being able to find some AirPort Units some of the time. While this is annoying, there is a simple fix: Connect the AirPort Unit you wish to view in AirPort Utility v5.6.1 to the Mac running the utility via a wired (i.e., Ethernet) connection. I have yet to hear of any case where this has not solved the connectivity issue."

This is the link, the note is taken from

AirPort Utility v5.6.1

Scroll down to Old Content and expand.

10 May 2015: AirPort Units Not Showing in AirPort Utility 5.6.1 under OS X 10.10 Yosemite (Likely Limited to 10.10.3 and Later)

Apple AirPort Utility 5.6.1 on El Capitan

I have an "ancient" :-) but still working AirPort Extreme (mod. A1034).
The latest AirPort Utility included with El Capitan, can see my AirPort Extreme base station but cannot manage it.
The latest version of AirPort Utility be able to configure the A1034 model is 5.6.1 still available on Apple Support site at this link https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1536 but, is not working on El Capitan (or is it?).

Well, it turned out that AirPort Utility 5.6.1 can also run on El Capitan despite its icon's prohibition sign

Follow along this guide to know how.

First of all, you need to download the Apple AirPort Utility from the link above, plus this little Apple Script utility, AirPort Utility 5.6.1 Launcher, by Corey J. Mahler from his site here.

• Create a new folder on the desktop. For this example I'll name it Foo.
• Double click AirPortUtility.dmg downloaded from Apple support site
• Open Terminal and issue the following commands

cd ~/Desktop/Foo
xar -xf /Volumes/AirPortUtility/AirPortUtility.pkg
cat AirPortUtility.pkg/Payload | gunzip -dc | cpio -i

Open the Foo folder and rename Utility AirPort as AirPort Utility 5.6.1

The last step is very important, otherwise Mahler's Script does not work.

• Create another folder on the desktop, in my example AirPortUtil561
• Move AirPort Utility 5.6.1 and AirPort-Utility-5.6.1-Launcher.app_.zip inside AirPortUtil561
• Open folder AirPortUtil561
• Double click AirPort-Utility-5.6.1-Launcher.app_.zip
• Trash AirPort-Utility-5.6.1-Launcher.app_.zip
• Trash the desktop Foo folder

The final result in AirPortUtil561 folder is

Double click AirPort Utility 5.6.1 Launcher to start the old AirPort Utility 5.6.1

*** Enjoy

You can put AirPortUtil561 wherever you want as long as you include the two items above.
I tested this on El Capitan but should also work on Yosemite and Mavericks.

*** Dismiss the warning about a new AirPort Utility version when the program launches.

Bring back old style logon panel in Windows 7

The following procedure modifies Windows' registry. Proceed with caution.

Launch Windows' registry editor, Regedit.exe. Go to the following location.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

In the right side pane, change the key's value of

dontdisplaylastusername

to 1.

If you don't see any dontdisplaylastusername, create a new DWORD key. Name it dontdisplaylastusername and set its value to 1.

Possible values of dontdisplaylastusername are

0 - The name of the last user who logged on successfully appears in the Log On to Windows dialog box. This setting is designed to make logging on faster and easier.

1 - The User name field in the Log On to Windows dialog box is blank. This setting is designed to enhance the security of the system by not displaying a valid user name.

Standard user can't FTP on OS X default FTP service

If you, like me, are used to work with a standard user and need, for a number of reason, to enable OS X's FTP service ( Enable FTP service in OS X Lion ), typical case is multifunction printer sending scanned documents to your Mac, you'll be surprised to know that you cannot login successfully unless you are an administrator.

host01:~ admin$ ftp localhost

Trying ::1...

Connected to localhost.

220 ::1 FTP server (tnftpd 20100324+GSSAPI) ready.

Name (localhost:admin):

331 User admin accepted, provide password.

Password: 

230 User admin logged in.

Remote system type is UNIX.

Using binary mode to transfer files.

This is what happen trying to login with a standard user

host01:~ example$ ftp localhost

Trying ::1...

Connected to localhost.

220 ::1 FTP server (tnftpd 20100324+GSSAPI) ready.

Name (localhost:example): 

331 User example accepted, provide password.

Password: 

530 User example denied by SACL.

ftp: Login failed

User example denied by SACL

SACL stands for Service Access Control List, that is, Access Control List applied to services.

Honestly I don't know if this is a normal behavior on pre OS X Yosemite's version. I'm actually running 10.10.5.

Anyway, the problem is easy solvable following the instructions below.

Open Terminal and issue the command

dseditgroup -o edit -u admin -a example com.apple.access_ftp

The password asked is admin's password. The command above add (-a) the user example to the group com.apple.access_ftp by the administrator user admin. It also works if the user you are issuing it, is a standard user. 

To remove (-d) example from the com.apple.access_ftp group issue

dseditgroup -o edit -u admin -d example com.apple.access_ftp

 Addendum 

The procedure described above is also valid for OS X El Capitan