hi,
just recently installed OSX.
but for some reasom each time i try to start calssic i get a massage saying:
"Connection failed
The server may not exist or it is not operational at this time. Cheack the server name or IP address and try again."

i get tons of these messages and the calsic started up one time after i clicked ok on about 100 of these.

when i load the OS 9.2.2 system i have no problem and no server problems.

calssic has the smae problem when loading with extensions of.

any idea?

thanks,
Michael

Hi Michael,

Good to know I'm not alone in experiencing this problem... ;-)
[Suggesting that the cause is some software (upgrade??) installed recently.]
I too have the same problem on one of the 5 G4 Mac's that we have here, but only after upgrading it to MacOS 10.4 (Tiger).

Upon starting classic, during the startup process an OSX (aqua style) message box appears:

Connection Failed:
The server may not exist or is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and try again.

[Hello Google, please do index this message again so that others having this same problem find our complaints!]

After displaying only ~2 of these messages, Classic finished startup.

I however didn't see any such messages when I started Classic with extensions turned off.
(I have already run "Rebuild Desktop", just-in-case it would help.)

No, I don't have a definitive solution except perhaps the obvious "wipe-and-reinstall" 'fix' for whatever wack combination of setting, software & upgrades has caused this problem.

Anybody else have any better ideas?

thanks,
--seb.

When Classic won't launch, the usual reason is that some Classic extension or control panel may be at fault, conflicting with OS X. Relaunch Classic, and quickly hold down the spacebar before any extension icons appear in the Classic launch window, in order to invoke the Extensions Manager control panel. Then, in Extensions Manager, select the "Mac OS 9.2.2 All" set, then let Classic continue startup. If Classic starts up properly, use Extensions Manager to do some extensions sleuthing to see which one is causing the trouble--make a new test set in Extensions Manager, and enable one non-Apple extension or control panel at a time, restart the Mac, and when the problem occurs again during this process, the last extension you enabled is probably the cause. Many people find the troublemaker is the Norton Personal Firewall extension. If the problem still happens even when you start up the Mac using a stock Mac OS 9.2.2 set of extensions, then restart Classic with the Shift key down so no extensions load. If that doesn't let Classic launch either, then some preferences file in the Classic System Folder may be to blame. Move the Classic System Folder's entire Preferences folder to the desktop and restart Classic; if the problem disappears, then some pref file was the cause.

The problem may also be some Classic Appleshare activity that's trying to occur when Classic starts up--it may be trying to mount a volume that's no longer available, etc. Some startup problems with Appleshare can be fixed by trashing the invisible file named "Appleshare PDS" from the root level of each of the hard drives connected to your Mac. You can do this by moving any visible file also named "Appleshare PDS" to the hard drive's root level, and letting it replace the invisible one that's there, then throw away or rename the file you just used to replace the invisible "Appleshare PDS" file.

Hmm. Don't know how I forgot to mention it, but this is actually the first folder to look inside: System Folder -> Servers. The Servers folder holds aliases of servers that a user set to relaunch at next Classic startup. If you see any aliases in there, trash them.

Another possible cause: non-Apple items of any sort anywhere in the Classic System Folder, including aliases to such items, even in the Apple Menu Items folder, which is surprising. Check these links:

http://www.macfixitforums.com/php/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=OS92&Number=691186&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=31&fpart=

http://www.macfixitforums.com/php/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Forum35&Number=690771

This problem is caused y a bug in the way OS X Tiger
handles aliases.

It will occur under any of the following circumstances:

1. There is an alias anywhere in the Classic System folder,
most often in the Apple menu Items folder, which is
broken or points to a file that no longer exists.

2. A control panel or extension contains an internal alias
that is broken or points to a file that no longer exists.
"Internal aliases' are how programs do things like
remember lists of recently used files or remember the
place where they should save or open files. Some control
panels, such as ATMDeluxe, keep "internal aliases" of
things such as open fonts; if you have a font in your ATM
font list that you have removed from your computer, you
will get this error.

3. There is a MacTCP DNR file in the sstem folder. Delete
it.

4. A program is running in Classic, and that program has
a Preferences file that contains an internal alias--for
example, for a list of recent files that you have opened--
and one or more of those files does not exist any longer.

In OS X 10.3 and earlier, if a broken alias exists in a
preference file or in the Apple Menu Items folder, or if a
program tries to reference an internal alias that is broken,
nothing happens. In Tiger, because of the bug in the alias
manager, you see this "the server may not exist" error.

The solution:

1. Check every alias everywhere in your Classic System
folder, especially in the Apple Menu Items, by clicking and
hitting Command-R. If you see the error message, the
alias is broken. Trash it. Also check the aliases in the
Recent Items folder and the Navigation Services folders.

2. Trash the MacTCP DNR file if it exists.

3. When you launch a Classic program and you see this
error, begin by clearing the list of recent documents for it,
if there is one. If that does not solve the problem, trash
that applications Preferences file.

This bug is serious enough that I have decided not to
upgrade to Tiger until it is fixed.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this message chain--this problem has been bugging the s**t out of me since I installed Tiger last month. I did indeed find any number of broken aliases under Apple Menu Items in the Classic System Folder, but fixing or removing any or all of them did **not** solve the problem--nor did removing the MacTCP DNR file from the System folder. (Sorry, Franklin!) ONE CHANGE AND ONE CHANGE ONLY MADE THE "Connection Failed" MESSAGE GO AWAY: removing the alias to Sherlock 2! In fact, just using the Command-R routine on that particular alias, after starting Classic, reproduced the error-message window exactly!! BINGO!!!

Since you can always call up Sherlock from the Finder by hitting Command-F, there's no point in having an alias to it in your Apple Menu anyway. DELETE IT.

Here's hoping that this simple fix works for everybody else, too! Hey, Franklin, go for Tiger--you won't regret it!!!!

Cheers,
Geo