New MacBook Pro and VZAccess Manager

[Mister-Marcus]

Not sure exactly what changed.  But it seems something did with the custom build of 10.6.6 that comes with the new 2011 MacBook Pros.  VZAccess Manager now will not load at all. 

"VZAccess Manager Failed to launch the Wireless Device Manager.

This process is required in order for VZAccess Manager to run properly."

Is the error that comes up.  Reinstalling does no good.  Nothing seems to matter.  Only thing different is the underlying hardware.  Can't be 10.6.6 because the previous MacBook Pro had the same version with no issues.  I'm guessing something more changed in the custom 10.6.6 build.

Any ideas?  It's really mind boggling how sensitive VZAccess Manager is to OS X builds.

[enyalius]

Unfortunately (and quite frustratingly), the version of Snow Leopard that shipps with the new MacBook Pros runs off the 64-bit kernel, not the 32 like most other MacBooks up to this point (including my old Black MacBook, which ran VZAM just fine under its native 32-bit mode).  The issue seems to stem from the fact that Verizon's VZAccessManager software does not support 64-bit on OS X (unlike Windows, where 64-bit is supported).  

I continue to look for a workaround until Verizon gets their rears in gear on this one.  Frankly, I'm quite **bleep** (as a long time customer) that Verizon didn't see this coming.  Snow Leopard shipped with both 32- and 64-bit modes when it first came out on August 28, 2009.  COME ON, VERIZON!  THIS OS HAS BEEN OUT FOR OVER 2 YEARS ALREADY!!!

Also, in case you were wondering, NONE of the VZAM versions for any device currently supports 64-bit OS X, making only the older 3G MiFi devices an option for anyone making the sizeable investment in the new Apple hardware.

[Mister-Marcus]

I don't think that's it.  Snow Leopard has always run in 64 bit but supported 32 bit programs.  VZAccess is definitely running in 32 bit mode, that much I can confirm.  This almost strikes me as a permissions issue.  What I don't know is why such a permissions issue would be happening now when not much changed.

[clopez]

Same problem here. I was able to get it all to work in Windows 7 inside Parallels. If only there was way to route that internet signal back to OSX...

[enyalius]

Marcus,

While Snow Leopard has always supported 64bit, most MacBooks didn't have chipsets that were capable of running a 64bit OS before now.  My BlackBook is the perfect example: despite having a 64bit Core2Duo 2.4GHz processor, OS X 10.6 always ran in 32bit mode because the chipset on the mobo didn't support anything higher.  

If you are curious, jump on a Mac that supported the 4G card, open terminal and type: "uname -a" (without quotes).  If it says "i386" (or something similar) as my BlackBook did, it's running the OS in 32bit mode.  If that command returns something like: "x86_64" as my new 2011 MacBook Pro does, it's running OS X in 64bit mode.

Verizon tech confirmed with me that this is the issue, as well.  While I am reluctant to trust most tech support, the evidence that the site lists that only 32bit OS X 10.6.x is supported by VZ Access Manager, plus the fact that it worked on my BlackBook (32bit) but not my new MacBook Pro, and a few other pointers lend me to believe that this tech had it right.  I can only hope that Verizon releases an updated version of VZAM very, very soon (whatever the problem is) that allows us to use our overpriced data plans with our overpriced Apple laptops or they'll have a lot of angry customers.

I do see where your argument is coming from, though, Marcus.  The error does say that it can't access the the network manager (or, something to that effect), but I believe this is due to the lack of 64bit support.  

[Rob_W]

I ran into this issue last night with my new 15" Macbook Pro (quad core i7).  The Verizon Access Manager is not compatible. 

Here is the kernel info, just FYI... ignore it

> uname -a
Darwin 215.sub-72-101-95.myvzw.com 10.7.1 Darwin Kernel Version 10.7.1: Mon Jan 31 14:55:53 PST 2011; root:xnu-1504.10.48~4/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64 i386

With Mac OS 10.6.6 there is a WWAN (wireless wide area network) option (you can find more info at support.apple.com - search for WWAN).  My USB760 is now natively supported by the OS, and VZAccess is no longer required.  To get it working, I did the following:

1. Attach the USB760 device.

2. Drag the CD icon to the trash - THIS IS REQUIRED, as it allows the WWAN to detect the device

 - Once you trash the cd, give it a few seconds and you should see "New Network Device Detected"

3. Entered the phone number of the device -- you can get it from VZAccess or the associated network profile

  - At this point the cell bars showed up on my menu bar...

4. Click Connect

Things to note:

 - Once the device is set up, it will add itself to the "Network Preferences" under "System Preferences"

 - You may have to drag the CD icon to the trash each time you use it.  A small price to pay...

 - VZAccess is not longer required

 - Most fairly current EDVO solutions are supported by this method, there is a list of supported devices at support.apple.com

Good Luck,

Rob

PS - I used this method and the USB760 to post this

[enyalius]

Rob_W,

Thanks for your post; that's really exciting news!

I believe I found the post you are referring to on Apple's Support page regarding WWAN native support.  Unfortunately, none of the Verizon 4G devices (Pantech UML290 and LG VL600) are currently supported by this tech.  I'll look into it and see if I can get it to work, anyway, but I'm not hopeful at this point.

Another thing to note, especially in these Bleeding Edge days of early 4G, without VZAM you will not be able to switch between 4G and 3G automatically, making the native support a limited use case at best.

[Rob_W]

Two things I tried that did not work for me, but may offer some insight to you...

1. Go to /Applications, right click on "System Preferences" and "Get Info".  Select "Open in 32-bit" (or what ever it says).  That is one of the issues VZAccess has.

2. Right click on VZAccess and "Get Info".  Select "Open using Rosetta".

My thought was, if I could avoid the 64-bit issue, I might get the app to run.  I was able to get it a tad further, but not able to detect the device.

[enyalius]

Rob_W,

Again, thanks for the suggestions.  I had previously tried both the things you listed above, but, for whatever reason, I wasn't given the option to "Open in 32-bit" for VZAM (it was an option in the CMD+I for some apps but not others).  I believe that the "Rosetta" option, which was avable for VZAM, provides compatibility for leagacy Mac products (pre-Intel architecture), so it shouldn't have any effect.

I was able to get it working by forcing OS X to use the 32bit kernel instead of the default 64bit kernel.  I made a post with instructions here for anyone who might be interested.  I really think that this is the best bet until Verizon fully supports Snow Leopard.

[Mister-Marcus]

Something doesn't add up.  I hear what you're saying and I get that it worked, but there's got to be something else going on.

Any MacBook Pro of the 2010 or 2009 gen can hold 8 GB of RAM.  Snow Leopard can access all of that RAM.  That seems to indicate that it is indeed running in 64 bit, not 32 bit.  However VZAccess Manager works fine on those machines.  Additionally, other older programs such as Entourage, VMWare, and 32 bit VLC all run without a problem.  It's only VZAccess Manager that is affected.

It seems to me that there is some process - an individual process or file - that is being run 64 bit that VZAccess Manager depends on to run 32 bit.  Now I know VZAccess is somehow connecting without a dialup entry being active; it's just using IPv6 to communicate.  I wonder if there's some type of networking file or files that VZAccess is not being allowed to get to for some reason on the newer MacBooks.

EDIT: OK, I at least know what changed....seems at a firmware level it is telling Snow Leopard to boot straight into 64 bit mode, rather than 32-with-64-support mode.  Question is to what benefit?  What is it that tells them they should do that?