Frequently Asked Questions about the Whacked Mac Archives

Archive-name: Whacked Mac Archives FAQ
Version: 2.2.0
Last-modified: 204321DEC97EST
Address comments to whacked@l0pht.com

What has changed since version 2.2.0
None so far.

Document Location
http://www.l0pht.com/~spacerog/whacked.html
ftp://whacked.l0pht.com/pub/????????/whacked.html

FTP File Transfer Protocol
HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol
HTML HyperText Markup Language
LHI L0phT Heavy Industries
MIE Microsoft Internet Explorer WMA Whacked Mac Archives

General:
1. What are the Whacked Mac Archives?
2. Where are the Whacked Mac Archives?
3. Why do you do this?
4.How long have the archives been online?
5. How do I access the Archives?
6. What kind of machine do you use for the FTP site, and how is it connected to the Internet?
7. What System and FTP Server software do you use?
8.

Access problems:
9. I ftp'd to l0pht.com but there where not any files, why?
10. When I try to FTP it says "400 To many users" what does this mean?
11. When I try to FTP it says "Unable to connect" what does this mean?
12. My web browser says "FTP Error, Could not login to FTP server." what does this mean?
13. My web browser says "Network connection refused...." what does this mean?
14. My web browser says "Error: 404 - File not found" what does this mean?
15. I was able to connect but I don't have a login and password, can you give me one?
16. Why are the transfer rates so slow?

Problems with Downloaded files:
17. When I tried to decompress file XYZ.sit it gave me a "file is corrupted error." How come?
18. I download file XYZ.sit from your site but I can't figure out how to use it, can you help?
19. I am looking for file XYZ, do you have it?
20. I can never get into the archives can you mail me the files?
21. I can never get into the archives is there another way I can get the files?

Problems with Uploading Files:
22. Where should I put my uploads?
23. How should I compress my uploads?
24. I uploaded file XYZ.sit to your server a week ago and now it isn't there. How come?
25. Can I upload commercial or pirated warez to your site?
26. Can I upload porn to your site?

Other:
27. Do you know of any other FTP sites where I can find similar files?
28. Do you know of any Pirate FTP sites?
29. Can I mirror your archive?
30. My question was NOT answered in this FAQ what should I do?
31. I sent you mail but never got an answer, how come?
32. I've been trying for hours to connect to the site without success. Is there any particular time when its not so busy?
33. I have been trying for days to get into the FTP site but my browser keeps saying that the connection was refused becuase there where to many users. Is the site really that busy?
34. Hey, man, could you put a link on your page to my worthless totally lame but super K-rad and Elite page?
35. I'm a really hot babe with big hooters and will do _anything_ if you mail me some files.

1. What are the Whacked Mac Archives?

The Whacked Mac Archives are an FTP site that contain numerous Macintosh Hacking, Phreaking, Cracking type utilities, programs, text files, Virri, etc.

2. Where are the Whacked Mac Archives?

Physically the WMA are located on an external hard drive connected to a Mac IIci which is located within the offices of L0phT Heavy Industries conveniently located on the same side of the Charles River as MIT in the Boston, MA area.
Virtually the WMA are located at 199.201.145.20 or whacked.l0pht.com. Remember thats a Zer0 in L0phT.

3. Why do you do this?

Why do I leave my machine on 24 hours a day, constantly search the net for new files, sort and catalog new uploads, allow this FTP site to suck my bandwdith, take abuse from the users, spend countless hours archiving and cataloging the files, writing this FAQ, etc, etc, etc....? I do it for the girlies, the cash, and the fame. Yeah, right. Like some Babe is gonna oogle me just because I have an FTP site. (If life where only that easy) Like I'm getting rich paying for an ISDN line. Like where are all the TV cameras and movie offers? Currently I am not to sure why I do this. It does take a lot of my time to keep this up. Originally it was just a way to shut up all the idiots on usenet asking "Where is file XYZ?" I figured it would save me time in having to mail them all out. Little did I realize then what it would evolve into. Just be glad it is here today, because it may just all disapear tommorow.

4. How long have the archives been online?

The FTP site was first made accessible to the World in late December 1994 and have been in semi continuos operation ever since.

5. How do I access the archives?

This is a FTP site and as such you will need an FTP client. On the Mac, Fetch 3.0 and or Anarchie-180 work rather well. If your in a pinch most web browsers will support the FTP protocol, however web browsers are NOT recomended. Once your client software is chosen just point it to

199.201.145.20 or whacked.l0pht.com
ftp://whacked.l0pht.com/pub
http://www.l0pht.com/~spacerog/index.html

6. What kind of machine do you use for the FTP site, and how is it connected to the Internet?

The WMA are currently run from an external 200MB Hard Drive that has been placed in an old Apple 20SC case. The drive is connected to a pieced together Mac IIci 20/160. The Mac IIci is currently in a Leading Edge PC case. (Don't ask how.) The power supply came out of a dumpster. The floppy was rescued from a dieing Mac SE FDHD. The Monitor has hole in its side and has been completely rebuilt twice. Sometimes when I look at this conglomeration I am surprised it works. But it actually works rather well.
The whole thing is connected via 10BT ethernet from a donated Nubus Ethernet Card (Thank You!) The ethernet is then connected to our donated Hub (Thanks again) which is connected to an Ascend Pipeline 50 for our 128K ISDN connection to our service p rovider. They are connected to both Sprint and MCI nets with a T3 connection to each, I believe.
For the most part any speed problems you may encounter when connecting are due to the poky old 200 meg drive that houses the archives. If anyone has a larger, and more importantly, a faster drive they would like to donate or trade for a Whacked Mac A rchives CD let me know.

7. What System and FTP Server software do you use?

The WMA are run from a Mac IIci 20/200 running MacOS 7.5.5 with Open Transport 1.1.2. I have tried numerous other configurations but i have finnally got this sorta stable so I'm not messing with it. I am usingPeter Lewis's NetPresenz 4.0.1 [registered (Yes, I paid the lousy ten bucks.)] to serve the files.

8.

9. I ftp'd to l0pht.com but there weren't any Mac files, why?

L0pht.com does not contain the WMA. L0pht.com does contain the Black Crawling Systems Archives, the Information Retrial Guild Archives, the Cybertek Archives, and the Cult of the Dead Cow Archives. < /a>
The WMA are on whacked.l0pht.com. This is a totally separate machine than l0pht.com. It is just on the same internal network.

10. When I try to FTP it says "400 To many users" what does this mean?

This means that there are to many users. Duh! Due to bandwidth limitations, machine speeds and in an effort to curb leaching I have had to limit the FTP site to a maximum of three (4) users. When this limit is reached you will get that error. The only solution is to keep trying until one of those spots free up.
Once you do get in please remember that there are other people waiting for access so get what you need and get out.
Please do not send me mail complaining about this limitation. The files are being offered to you for FREE! As such you have no right to complain. Just wait in line like everyone else.

11. When I try to FTP it says "Unable to connect" what does this mean?

Occasionally I have to take the FTP site off-line. When I do so you will get this error message. I usually take the site off-line when I am using the machine to read mail, FTP new files, test uploads, etc... This usually only amounts to a few hours a week. So if you get this message just try again in a little while.

12. My web browser says "FTP Error, Could not login to FTP server." What does this mean?

First ditch the web browser (Netscape, Communicator, Internet Explorer, et.al.)they are usually very lousy FTP clients. This means that there are to many users currently accessing the site. Due to bandwidth limitations, machine speeds and in an effort to curb leaching I have had to limit the FTP site to a maximum of three (4) users. When this limit is reached you will get that error. The only solution is to keep trying until one of those spots free up.
Once you do get in please remember that there are other people waiting for access so get what you need and get out.

13. My web browser says "Network connection refused...." what does this mean?

First ditch the web browser (Netscape, Communicator, Internet Explorer, et.al.)they are usually very lousy FTP clients. Occasionally I have to take the FTP site off-line. When I do so you will get this error message. I usually take the site off-line when I am using the machine to read mail, FTP new files, test uploads, etc... This usually only amounts to a few hours a week. So if you get this message just try again in a little while.

14. My web browser says "Error: 404 - File not found" what does this mean?

First, ditch the web browser (Netscape, Communicator, Internet Explorer, et.al.)they are usually very lousy FTP clients. This means that you are trying to access a web site at whacked.l0pht.com. Well there is no web site there. There is an FTP site but not an HTTP site. If you wish to access the WMA via the web then point your browser to http://www.l0pht.com/~spacerog/index.html or ftp://whacked.l0pht.com/pub. However it is reccomended that you get a real FTP client like Fetch or Anarchie.

15. I was able to connect but I don't have a login and password, can you give me one?

You would be surprised how much mail I get asking for this information. If you have to ask this you really shouldn't be here but what the hell.... Login with the name "anonymous" without the quotes and use your email address as your password.

16. Why are the transfer rates so slow?

If you think they are slow now you should have been around when I ran this site from a Mac SE over a 28.8 SLIP connection. Transfers are downright zippy now.
Currently the biggest speed bottlenecks are the server itself a Mac IIci and the fact that the hard drive has an average seek time of about half an hour. (Anyone got a fast Hard Drive they want to donate or trade? How about a 040 or PPC based system?)

17. When I tried to decompress file XYZ it gave me a "file is corrupted error." How come?

Most likely the file was downloaded incorrectly. Make sure that you have MacBinary turned on. If you don't know how to do that then check your clients documentation.
Otherwise check your decompression utility most of the files here are compressed with Stuffit Deluxe 4.0 there are some Zip files and Compact Pro archives as well. I usually use Stuffit Expander as my decompression engine and it works rather well and is freeware available in all the usual places.
I have personally checked all the files here locally as well as tranfered them to numerous remote sites without problem. Trust me the problem is not on my end.
It has recently been reported that Netscape 2.0b5 (And possibly most other web browsers) do not correctly interpret MacBinary information. Therefore if you are having problems and are using any version of Netscape (MIE or any other browser)try downl oading with Fetch or Anarchie. You really shouldn't use a web browser for FTP anyway. If you must use Netscape try option clicking on the file name. Supposedly this initiates a binary transfer which should be beneficial.

18. I download file XYZ from your site but I can't figure out how to use it, can you help?

In a word, No. I do tech support as part of my real job and I'll be damned if I am gonna do it in my spare time. If you can't figure out how to use a file or what its purpose is then you probably have no business with the file. Use some of those hacking abilities that you are so proud of to figure out the file by yourself. Try reading the documentation it comes with, try emailing the author, etc... If you have no hacking abilities then I suggest you go and get some before you download anything else from this server.

19. I am looking for file XYZ, do you have it?

I keep a complete list of all the files with descriptions that are contained on the WMA in ftp://whacked.l0pht.com/pub/?????/filelist.html or http://www.l0pht.com/~spacerog/filelistFTP.html.
unfortunately this list has gotten way to big to maintain a text only version. If you have downloaded this file to your local hard drive then just open it as a local file in your favorite browser.
Things are constantly being uploaded and I do my best to move them out of the uploads directory as soon as possible. Unfortunatly I am not as diligent about keeping the File List up to date. So if your looking for a particular file and it is not li sted in the filelist that doesn't mean its not there.

20. I can never get into the archives can you mail me the files?

No. I will NOT mail files to anyone. That's the whole purpose of having this FTP site so I don't have to mail files to everyone who asks. Besides if I did mail files to everyone who asked I would have no life. (Actually I do have no life but that's beside the point.)

21. I can never get into the archives is there another way I can get the files?

Yes, Virginia there was. Due to the abnormal amount of traffic this site has created, a CD-ROM disk was pressed to further distribute the WMA. The Whacked Mac Archives CD was available but sold out. You should have really ordered your copy when you had the chance. Unfortunatly now all the CDs are gone except for a few that I have kept to trade for cool hardware. Now the only way for you to get the files is to wait in line like everyone else.

22. Where should I put my uploads?

Uploads? Uploads? You mean not everyone leaches? Thank you so much. If you want to upload feel free to put them wherever you like I'll figure it out. If you would like to be extra Special K then place them in the /uploads directory. Thanks.

23. How should I compress my uploads?

I prefer Stuffit archives. But if you like Compact Pro or Zip or GZip or PackIt or LHA or whatever feel free to use it. If I feel the format is too esoteric or exceedingly lame I'll just recompress it with something else.

24. I uploaded file XYZ.sit to your server a week ago and now it isn't there. How come?

Have you looked everywhere on the site? I usually move things out of the uploads directory fairly quickly. Look around, I'm sure its there. If not then I probably felt the file was inappropriate for this the server so I removed it. If what you uploaded was commercial software or ended with the letters .jpeg or .gif then I probably removed it. If it didn't fall into any of those categories then it was probably corrupted.

25. Can I upload commercial or pirated warez to your site?

I can't stop you from uploading it but I will delete it as soon as possible. This site is rather high profile and it operates in an exceeding grayer area everyday. What with the SPA (Software Publishers Association) and Large software publishers coming down on us little guys I'd rather not take the risk of distributing illegal software.

26. Can I upload Porn?

Sure, feel free. I can always use more porn. Porn is good! I like Porn! The files will not remain on the FTP site however, I can't afford the bandwidth dirty pictures create. If you have a pornographic program by all means add it to the archives. Just no pictures, OK?

27. Do you know of any other FTP sites where I can find similar files?

Not really. I am sure there are other sites out there. Created by people who downloaded a few files from the WMA and then decided to start thier own site, however they usually don't tell me when they do this and after I spend all my free time mainta ing this site I have very little time to "surf" and check out everyone else. If you want other sites then go look for them.

28. Do you know of any Pirate FTP sites?

I am sure there are plenty of them out there however I don't know of any. I'm not a big warez guy anymore. I'm more into hardware so I don't keep track of the Zero day warez sites. I'm sure if you look hard enough you'll find them.

29. Are there any mirrors for the archives?

L0phT Heavy Industries has decided not to accept applications for official mirror sites at this time. If that decision changes it will be posted here.

30. My question was NOT answered in this FAQ what should I do?

If your question has not already been answered in this document AND you can formulate a semi intelligent E-mail message then send me one at whacked@l0pht.com. If it is not intelligent then don't expect an answer. See also Question #29. You may want to read this before you send me mail however.

31. I sent you mail but never got an answer, how come?

I get a lot of mail and I do mean a lot. More than I can possibly answer. I make a sincere effort to answer all intelligent inquires however most of the mail I get is gibberish and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever (Trust me, some of this crap must have been written by greedy three year olds.) or has already been answered in this FAQ. I have compilied some of the more entertaining letters in a file called lamemail.html. (Updated 09NOV96) I don't have the time to baby-sit people or to teach them the basics of anything. So if you have no idea what you are talking about then save us both some time and ask your question somewhere else, try usenet.

32. I've been trying for hours to connect to the site without success. Is there any particular time when its not so busy?

This site is _always_ busy. There is no slow time or off peak hours. One time is no better than any other. The WMA get over 10,000 raw hits per day, thats over 416 hits per hour or seven hits per minute. With that kind of traffic it makes it busy _all_ the time.

33. I have been trying for days to get into the FTP site but my browser keeps saying that the connection was refused becuase there where to many users. Is the site really that busy?

YES, the site is that busy. However since you say that you are using the not recomended method of FTPing by using your web browser my guess is that it is just reloading the "Server Full" message from your cache as opposed to actually trying to connect to the FTP site. Try an actual FTP client to do your FTPing with. I suggest Fetch or Anarchie available at the major Mac FTP sites everywhere.

34. Hey, man, could you put a link on your page to my worthless totally lame but super K-rad and Elite page?

Reasonable advertising rates are available. If you would like a link on the Whacked Mac Archives I am sure some sort of finacial arrangement can be reached. If you don't wanna pay for a link don't even bother sending me mail. I don't need return links, or membership into lame hacking groups in return for links. In case you haven't noticed this web site has at least some substance and not just a big page full of links to other pages full of links.

35. I'm a really hot babe with big hooters and will do _anything_ if you mail me some files.

You would think I would get letters like this all the time wouldn't you? Unfortunatly the life of an FTP site administrator is not as glamorous as one might think.