What does the AppleShare IP 6.3.3 Patcher do?

The AppleShare IP 6.3.3 Patcher (also known as ASIP Patcher, or simply Patcher) allows you to install Apple Share IP 6.3.3 v1 on Macs running 9.2.1 or 9.2.2, including QuickSilver G4s and later that were never "officially" supported by Apple. This is accomplished by making a very minor change in the AppleShare IP Update install script; it updates it to version 1.1.3--taking the guts from v1.1 and inserting the important niblet from v1.3, hence 1.1.3! You can read more about the hack below.

What are the benefits of installing AppleShare IP 6.3.3 on 9.2.x?

Check out this site's associated page regarding Mac OS 9.2.x. A pretty good rundown is available there. Take special note of the OpenTransport benefits.

What machines does ASIP Patcher work with?

This Patcher should work with any machine that can boot Mac OS 9.2.x, including the new Wind-Tunnel G4s. However I have NOT tested them. Also, because the main AppleShare IP install script does a mach Gestalt check (to see what Mac it is running on), Old World machines may not qualify.

How do I install the Patch?

1. Download AppleShare IP 6.3.3 Patcher.

2. You will need to have the AppleShare IP 6.3.3 Installer files write-accessible in order to apply this patch and install AppleShare. This will entail either copying the CD to your hard drive (which will make a new folder containing the installer files) or by creating a Read/Write disk image of the CD with DiskCopy.

3. Locate the Software Installers folder within the root of the AppleShare Install folder and open it up. Within that folder, locate and open the AppleShare IP Update folder. Finally, within this folder you will find an installer script file named "Update AppleShare IP". This is the file we will be patching, so take note of the path you followed to find it!

4. Unstuff AppleShareIP633_92x_hack.sit if it isn't already unstuffed and open the application, "AppleShare IP on 9.2.x patch".

5. Read my rant on why Apple sucks. Also, take a moment to wish my Pop a Happy Birthday...considering that I spent the day investigating and making this patch rather than throwing him a party it is the least you can do. Click the "Patch" button to continue.

6. From the Open file dialog box, select the Update AppleShare IP file we searched out prior.

7. Press the "Patch" button to begin the patching process. If everything goes well, you will be presented with a dialog box stating the Patch was successful! The original file is archived in the folder with the version (1.1) appended to its filename, so if things go haywire you can always back out.

8. Install AppleShare IP 6.3.3 as you normally would. You can, if technically proficient enough, burn this patched installer back to CD for safekeeping, it is interchangeable with v1.1.

FAQ's:

None ... yet.

Oooh, wait ... I do have two Questions that need answered:
Q. What exactly does the ptch resource in 221.rsrc, as part of the AppleShare/9.0.4 Update, DO?
A. ???

Q. What is Apple's policy on the redistribution of "free" updates for End-Of-Lifed products? (the 6.3.3 update specifically) Can we post an image of that install CD on this site?
A. ???

A bit of history...

OS 9.1 was the final Mac OS version that Apple supported running AppleShare IP 6.3.3 on. Apple stated when 9.2 was released that AppleShare IP 6.3.3 was NOT compatible with 9.2 and that it should NOT be installed on those systems. Sure enough, during the attempt to run the 6.3.3 Installer under a 9.2 system, an error dialog is presented stating that the version of the OS is not compatible with AppleShare IP. No additional details have been provided by Apple regarding the reasons why. Differing reports of success in getting ASIP 6.3.3 installed and working appeared on the AppleShare IP Discussion list, but without Apple weighing in on the situation, details remained hazy.

However, in late 2001 Apple released two minor updates to AppleShare IP--touted as 6.3.3v1.2 and 6.3.3v1.3--but ONLY to the Education market as part of a "supported" Quicksilver AppleShare IP Server bundle. This bundle was not offered to the overall community, not even to recent ASIP 6.3.3 purchasers. By denying the AppleShare IP community of these updates, Apple effectively removed all upgrade paths available to licensed users--these paths included new, faster G4 computers and the OS 9.2.1 and 9.2.2 updates. Again, Apple was silent in regards to what changes were implemented in these revisions to make them compatible with 9.2 and they were steadfast in not providing the updates to customers outside of the Education market...the party line was "Upgrade to OS X Server". Unfortunately, in a tremendous blow to loyal AppleShare IP customers, Apple provided absolutely NO pricing breaks for that upgrade.

There was intense in-fighting on the AppleShare IP Discussion list concerning getting ASIP running on 9.2. Many, including myself, demanded at least an explanation from Apple as to what components had been updated, considering that they were supporting 6.3.3 on certain machines (Educational) but not others. The apologists on the list, quite condescendingly, countered that Apple had probably spent considerable R&D time on the updates (and their subsequent testing) that could not be recouped by releasing them to the general public and therefore the community should simply accept the situation. Further, given that several outstanding issues STILL existent in 6.3.3, I was interested in knowing if bugs had perhaps been fixed in the later versions. (As witnessed in the case of 9.2.1 and 9.2.2, Apple had become LESS than forthcoming with the correct technical merits of software updates in lieu of forcing users to purchase new hardware. Anyone who has installed 9.2.2 over 9.1 can certainly testify to the additional robustness, speed, and network stability that "unnecessary" update brings.) However, because of Apple's limited circulation of the patches, no one on the AppleShare IP list could provide definitive evidence as to what the v1.2 and v1.3 revisions provided (at least no one was willing to divulge that information if they had it).

The discussion over the revisions degraded into one side of angry admins painted as conspiracy theorists and another side of smug apologists omnisciently spewing the Apple Party Line. To this day, the general, innocent question from new list members as to why their copy of AppleShare 6.3.3 won't install on 9.2.x elicits a torrent of debate. Perhaps only the question of how to get the AppleShare IP 6.3.3 Update in the FIRST place surpasses it in fury. (Read on, maybe we can help there too!) I made several impassioned pleas for help in "acquiring" the v1.2 and/or v1.3 updates in order to deconstruct the components and determine the cause of the incompatibilities. I had independently determined that the error dialog box popped by the installer was in fact triggered by the AppleShare 9.0.4 Update script, which made a tragic assumption about the need for that update after Mac OS 9.1. In an odd twist of fate, the 6.3.3 Installer is really a conglomerate of installers and a disk image. One of the installers that gets run is the AppleShare 9.0.4 Update, which Apple had released well prior to the release of Mac OS 9.1. The tragic assumption that the installer script for this update makes is that it is hardcoded to check for OS releases greater than 9.1 and die. Basically, it was designed to insert one version of a ptch resource into the current System suitcase if it was 9.0.4 and another ptch resource and an updated Apple CPU Plugins file if it was 9.1. Keep in mind, this updater was released BEFORE 9.1 was released...so Apple was looking ahead here. (See A little bit more history below) The "fix" for the installer script was very simple, almost laughably so...by using ResEdit to fiddle two characters in inrl 1003--effectively telling the script to die with an upper limit of 9.2.3--the script would run. It took me all of five minutes to figure it out. When I negated the update, the installer ran without a hitch. So two questions remained: 1-Was the 9.1 ptch resource to be used in 9.2 and up, was there an updated one, was it even needed? (the Apple CPU Plugin wasn't needed, because it was superceded in 9.2) -and- 2-Were all the other components in the revisions the same? The apologists maintained that the other components MUST have been updated for 9.2, therefore requiring all this extra effort that Apple was protecting, and that we should just be happy using 6.3.3 v1.1 and OS 9.1--like Apple said. Apple is ALWAYS right...and honest. Of course that fueled me even more considering I wanted the advantages of any bug fixes the revisions might also contain. Still, without anyone willing to do the necessary legwork to compare the multiple installers, the questions remained. And I wasn't the only one asking them...

When I finally got my hands on a copy of the v1.2 disc recently, thanks to a currently anonymous but very appreciated volunteer, I was utterly FLABERGASTED. In about ten minutes time I deduced that absolutely NOTHING of importance had changed except for a variety of vers resources, that for some reason the Tome file included as part of the 9.0.4 update was no longer compressed, and the fact that TWO BITS IN THE 9.0.4 UPDATE INSTALLER SCRIPT WERE FIDDLED. I couldn't believe it. I spent another hour comparing items with ResCompare and Toast. The vers resources changes are inconsequential; Apple basically did a find and replace on the files, changing their version number from 1.1 to 1.2 and the Copyright notice. None of that impacts executing code. As for the Tome (which includes ONLY the CPU Plugins file), it was different because they had also changed the vers resource in it...however, it never even gets installed under 9.2, remember? So it all boiled down to two fiddled digits.

Now I was hot. Extremely hot. But I wanted more...what had they done with the v1.3 update? Was there anything hiding out there that could bite me? I went searching, and did find something upsetting. On September 6, 2002, Apple had updated Knowledgebase Article 16145 to acknowledge that the only differences in v1.2/1.3 were installer script changes. That was the first time I had seen that published; and they certainly didn't bother to post that information to the AppleShare IP Discussion list! And finally I got the break I was looking for--nearly a year after my quest began--an offer of the v1.3 CD image. Aside from similar minor changes in vers resources the v1.2 update had, Apple made a slightly different change to the 9.0.4 Update installer script: instead of dying in the presence of a particular development build of 9.2.x, the script performs a mach Gestalt call to make sure that it isn't running in the Classic environment. Obviously with the "death" of Mac OS 9, there really isn't any need to check for any newer version (and there really wasn't any need earlier--there is really no excuse except for poor planning to account for the release of both v1.2 and v1.3!).

All that time...all the arguing...all the apologies...all the misinformation. It all came down to less than half an hour with ResCompare, Toast, ResEdit, and Capella to show the world that Apple had intentionally withheld an update. More importantly, the withheld the simple knowledge that a nearly-year-old flaw in a secondary installer script was causing the problem! And for what purpose? Quite simply to force adoption of their new, unproven (un-purchased) server offering. No other conclusion could rationally explain these actions---this was and could only have been a deceitful act of greed.

A little bit more history...

-this page courtesy of Scott Boone