Tiger Fax Server

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Tiger Fax Server

I have an old Blue & White that I have upgraded to a G4 processor.

I would like to put it on my home network as a headless server for storing files and to use as a fax server. My network is composed of cat 5E & 6 cabling with two time capsules (two houses connected with Cat 6, in-house is all Cat 5E), a D-Link Gigabit router with the wireless turned off, an Intel Mini configured with 10,6 server (soon to be changed to 10.6 non server), two Intel based 17" MacBook Pros, a 15" G4 PowerBook, and a couple of Windoze laptops.

I am looking for information about the headless setup and the fax server.

I hope this is the right place to post this message, as I couldn't find a community that dealt with antiques like my B & W.

This is an upcoming project and I am trying to get all the information I can before I start. Any help will be greatly appreciated --- Zee

Blue and White with G4 processor-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.4.7), ...

Posted on May 20, 2011 1:29 PM

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Answer 1

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BDAqua

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239,213 points

May 20, 2011 3:51 PM in response to Zee08

Hi, not sure what you want a FAX Server to do exactly, but you can set the Mac up as a headless computer & easily control it by enabling Apple Remote Desktop, Remote Login, Remote Apple Eents, Personal File Sharing, & Windows Sharing in the Sharing Pref Pane.

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Answer 2

Zee08 Author

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Jul 7, 2012 5:44 PM in response to BDAqua

Sorry it has taken so long to reply. My project got put on hold due to illness in the family.

Could you provide links to direct me in setting up --- Apple Remote Desktop, Remote Login, Remote Apple Eents, Personal File Sharing, & Windows Sharing in the Sharing Pref Pane as you have suggested?

Thanks

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Jul 7, 2012 5:52 PM in response to Zee08

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

Open System Preferences>Sharing, enable all of those & Personal Web Sharing to advertize services.

ARD & Remote Login do the same thing, you can only use one.

Post back if you need more specifics or have problems. 🙂

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Answer 4

Jul 8, 2012 6:57 AM in response to Zee08

I am retired now but I have managed Mac web servers for about 15 years.

I have never bothered about headless - I like playing with the real thing!

I still have a Quid Pro Quo web server running on a 233 MHz G3 with OS 9.2.2 at http://links.zero.eu.org/

As you may have discovered there is nothing that OS X Server does which you cannot do yourself with a standard OS X although it can be more tedious to set up.

When I used to play with web servers on a standard OS X my preference was not to use the Web Sharing provided by Apple but to install the latest Apache and edit the config files with a text editor.

I do server administration at the server and editing on a G4 via file sharing. All pages are hand crafted HTML. I can do bulk edits across several sites and thousands of pages in seconds with BBEdit Lite.

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Answer 5

Zee08 Author

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Jul 9, 2012 10:39 PM in response to Neville Hillyer

Thanks for the input. I viewed your site and liked what I saw.

Perhaps I used the wrong term when I said server. What I want to do is use this B & W box as a stand alone fax machine that anyone on the network can access to send and receive faxes, hence the headless part. It will be standing alone in the dark somewhere in the house.

Sorry if I misled anyone.

--- Zee

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Answer 6

Jul 10, 2012 2:58 AM in response to Zee08

You are trying to cope with too many things at once. Start with your fax requirement.

Fax is a very old raster scan technology designed to be transmitted as tones over a voice telephone line it does not work over DSL or ADSL.

You can either use a voice telephone line with an old modem or fax/printer with a shared Mac or send your message over DSL for a service elsewhere to convert to a fax and send it for you.

I suspect incoming faxes can only be printed or displayed as an image with suitable software.

Do you want to use a telephone voice line?

Do you need an incoming fax facility?

Do you have a printer with a fax facility.

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Answer 7

Zee08 Author

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Jul 10, 2012 8:45 PM in response to Neville Hillyer

My intention is to use the built-in modem and a single telephone line and number.

Outbound faxes would be files from a word processor, text editor, etc. or scanned images.

Inbound faxes would always be images.

My objective is to have a single device that anyone on the local network that will be able to remote login and be able to send and receive faxes.

My concerns are:

1. Getting the machine to boot without a monitor.

2. Outbound faxing via remote login.

3. Remotely administering and monitoring the machine.

4. Sending the incoming faxes to the proper user/home directory

Inbound and outbound faxes would be handled by the machine using a single telephone line. I have used the OS X faxing software on a single user basis, but have never tried it with multiple user accounts on a single machine.

I believe that I can accomplish:

1. using auto-login to the guest account at bootup.

2. using remote login for users.

3. using remote login for admin.

I would like health and status reporting to be handled via some sort of feed instead of remote login.

I am unsure how to accomplish #4 as I have a single phone # provided by the cable company that provides my internet access and they do not offer additional numbers with distinctive ringing.

Additionally, I would use the same machine for additional file storage.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. --- Zee

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Answer 8

BDAqua

Level 10

239,213 points

Jul 10, 2012 9:21 PM in response to Zee08

Well Zee,

I think you can acomplish all this with Screen Sharing, Fille Sharing, & possibly adjusting Permissions, & maybe a way to fool the G3 into thinking a Monitor IS attached, but let's try Screen Sharing first.

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Answer 9

Jul 11, 2012 4:51 AM in response to Zee08

I see you prefer large font sizes!

I have no experience of fax or printer sharing but it looks simple:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh1801.html

You may find the following helpful:

http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=397055

I would set up the fax Mac with an auto-boot unprotected non-admin account so that other family members can use it for fax etc.

Do it the easy way - initially use an old keyboard and a small flat monitor - I leave mine attached to my server.

I think you will have to try it to resolve some details - it should not take long to set up.

Fax auto-detect may be a problem - some let it ring 6 times before the fax kicks in - some purchase a fax auto-detect hardware device.

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Answer 10

Zee08 Author

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Jul 12, 2012 8:19 PM in response to Neville Hillyer

Yes I do prefer larger fonts. Even with bifocals on and cataracts removed the fine print is forever increasing in font size.

Tried the first link and got "Document Not Found" but the second link looks promising.

Thanks --- Zee

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Answer 11

Jul 13, 2012 4:02 AM in response to Zee08

The link was working at the time I posted it but since then many Apple documents have disappeared.

Here is a related link about a problem but it does indicate how easy it should be to set up print and fax sharing:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24379

I am not sure how you are posting with a larger than normal font size but rather than enforce your font size on others perhaps you could change your minimum font size in Safari/Preferences/Advanced to a satisfactory size for you. Hopefully this setting alone will not affect others.

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