Subject: Info-Mac Digest V16 #83 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="Info-Mac-Digest" --Info-Mac-Digest Info-Mac Digest Thu, 09 Apr 98 Volume 16 : Issue 83 Today's Topics: (A) Problem with Zip Disks going "bad" (Q) How to remap a key? [*] QuickNailer 1.5--The Preview in Bulk & HTML Tool [Q] PowerCenter Problems ANNOUNCE: AppleShare-based Info-Mac archive back online DFA 8.1 DFA 8.1 DFA 8.1 (short & long) with LC III & MacOs combos DOS Mounter info requested Eudora to Netscape External SCSI and StarMax5000 question/problem Fools and Color Fwd: ZIP Problem G3/OS 8.1 and Appletalk and ... G3/Reboot HFS+ heart attack! Info-Mac Digest V16 #81 midi freezes! more on Epson Stylus 600 problems Netscape and G3 Type 1 or 2 crashes New Mac Questions OS 7.6.1 and an HP 550C OS 8.1/HFS+ oddities OS8.1 freezing on startup Problem with Zip Disks going "bad" The Info-Mac Network is a volunteer organization that publishes the Info-Mac Digest and operates the Info-Mac Archive, a large network of FTP sites containing gigabytes of freely distributable Macintosh software. For more information, visit the Info-Mac Web site at . Email Addresses and Instructions: * To submit articles to the digest, email . * To subscribe, send email to with subscribe in the Subject line. * To unsubscribe, send email to with unsubscribe in the Subject line. * To change your address, unsubscribe from the old address, then subscribe from the new address. If that fails, try using the list maintenance form at before contacting us. * Please send administrative queries to . * To submit files for the archive, email the binhexed file with a description to . Submissions must be made by the author or with permission of the author. It may take up to a week to process; check mirror sites for the status of new uploads. FTP and Web Addresses and Instructions: * To submit files larger than 800K, email a description to and then use an FTP client to upload the binhexed file to info-mac.org, using the userid "macgifts and the password "macgifts". Or, click . * A full list of Info-Mac mirror sites is available at the URL below: * Search the archive at . Info-Mac volunteers include Gordon Watts, Adam C. Engst, Demitri Muna, Mike O'Bryan, Michael Bean, and Liam Breck. The Info-Mac Digest is sponsored in part by StarNine Technologies, developers of Internet server software for the Macintosh, including Web and email publishing systems. We'd also like to thank AOL for the main Info-Mac machine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- --Info-Mac-Digest Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------" Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Info-Mac Digest V16 #83" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 22:21:13 -0600 From: "IQTech-P.Reilly" Subject: (A) Problem with Zip Disks going "bad" >I bought a zip drive just a few months after they came out. Since then, >I've now accumulated about 2-3 bad disks. These are zip disks that once >worked fine, but now they will not even mount. I can't seem to repair them >with any utility I've tried, including Hard Disk Toolkit, Norton Utilities yada, yada, yada... The infamous "clicks of death" is a foreshadowing of failure of the media and often the drive mechanisms themselves. This has been documented at length on various usenet groups and was part of a class action lawsuit settlement with Iomega. .. Patrick L. Reilly, Valpatken, Ltd., Home of The Organized Macintosh Digest, http://www.valpatken.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 21:29:11 +0000 From: Buzz Subject: (Q) How to remap a key? Anyone able to shed some light on the following problem? I am in the UK and I want to be able to use both the UK pound sign and the hash mark. I have two keymap options British or US. The British one gives a UK pound sign for the key press and the US version gives a hash mark for the same . An ideal solution would allow me to use the British map but replace the '=A7= ' with the hash. I am using a duo dock running OS 7.1 and I'm a bit new to Macs so any and all advice would be appreciated -- Buzz buzz@harley-d.demon.co.uk - Homepage http://www.harley-d.demon.co.uk/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 12:59:25 -0700 From: Stephen Baber Subject: [*] QuickNailer 1.5--The Preview in Bulk & HTML Tool Announcing QuickNailer 1.5, the shareware media *preview in bulk* and web site construction tool. Do you have more images than you can comfortably manage? Or, do you need an easy and flexible way to make image indexes for your web pages? Maybe you just want to know what is taking up all the space on the server *right now* and print a report. QuickNailer gracefully combines an intuitive image thumbnailer, font viewer, contact-sheet maker, and media cataloger with a flexible and complete tool for producing HTML image indexes with image maps, frames, or linked pages. Try out QuickNailer today and you'll find it the easiest and most powerful way to view and organize media with an unbeatable price, outstanding performance, plenty of features, and an uncluttered, finely crafted user interface. Made by hard working artists and engineers who care passionately about the Macintosh. With QuickNailer you can: ->Import a few or a few thousand digital media files (including Layered Photoshop, Progressive JPEG, GIF, TIFF, QuickTime Movies, EPS preview, TIFF, PNG, BMP, etc. etc.) by dragging-and-dropping anything (files, folders, volumes, shared disks, CD-ROMs, aliases), pressing of a folder hot key, or using the astoundingly fast-opening QuickNailer Media Catalogs. ->Generate fully-functional multiple indexed web sites (automatic image conversion, image tables, client side image maps, frames, navigation buttons, color schemes, insert HTML header and footer files, tab-delimited data files); Export WYSIWYG contact-sheets (useful for submitting multiple index files to internet newsgroups); Save several types of fast loading media catalogs; Print to Postscript or QuickDraw printers. ->Preview media (as variable-size thumbnails displayed with the information most relevant to you, individual images, slide shows [with QT movie playback], cell animation, tiled images [optional text or image overlay], all at any magnification level); View fonts dynamically (with single styled character copy for that perfect dingbat). ->Perform file maintenance (edit file name or comments, put file in trash, launch file using any application software, move file to another folder, open file's folder). ->Search and rank by keyword relevancy (using full path name, comments, file name, folder name, volume name); Find similar files (using file name, file size, creation date); Search for color; Find representative files from each folder; Find corrupt or damaged files. QuickNailer includes an integrated hyper-linked help system and tutorial (printable). The program is PowerPC accelerated and has been rigorously tested and internationalized. This version is available in English and German (Deutsch) languages. Major new features for version 1.5 include: German (Deutsch) language; Installed Fonts Window; Character Matrix Window; Printing; HTML Client-side image maps; HTML navigation buttons; HTML support of QuickTime movies; Search full path name; Import/Move To/Reveal Folder menus; Launch menu; Get latest version browser control; Better file error reporting; Smarter HTML code generation; Important bug fixes and stability enhancements; and much more. Please see the Softwhir web site for more information. (Minimum requirements: 68020 CPU; 4 MB RAM; QuickTime 2.5; System 7.1. Recommended configuration: 68040 or PowerPC CPU; 8 MB RAM; QuickTime 3.0; System 7.5.5 or newer.) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 02:26:39 -0400 From: darrell Wood Subject: [Q] PowerCenter Problems Hello, Are you familiar with PowerWatch, which is a site dedicated to PowerComputer owners, also has the database Tech Talk, I believe is the name, from PowerComputing...This is where Owners of PCC would post questions on line when having difficulty and PCC tech support would answer on line, and this is searchable database. Perhaps an answer lies there, also the site and members are very helpful. PowerWatch is wonderful, having assisted me several time's with my PowerCenter Pro 180. URL for PowerWatch http://www.powerwatch.com/ Good Luck Darrell Wood woodword@idt.net http://www.geocities.com/soho/lofts/7323 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ On Thu, 2 Apr 1998 21:27:44 -0600, AAofL wrote: > >I have a Power Computing PowerCenter 132. This computer has always been a >problem child. I have two major problems at this time. I hope to find a >way to fix them, but this is my last resort before I start replacing parts. > >1. My CD Rom does not recognize all of the time. It picks and chooses >when it wants to work. >2. My internal hard drive seem to be dead. I falls off. Sometime I get >the message "Disk error some data may have been lost." I can't seems to >keep it mounted. FWB, Norton and Diskaid are not able to help. I have >also tried a lowlevel format but it didn't work either. > >History >On this computer I have replaced the battery and have had problems with the >L2 Cache. > >Help >Keith Hamilton >TIA > > AA of L Printing, Inc. > > >713.946.2208 - voice * 713.946.7356 - fax > "Printing with a Personal Touch" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 11:41:54 -0700 From: alan@opendoor.com Subject: ANNOUNCE: AppleShare-based Info-Mac archive back online Just a quick note to let people know that our AppleShare-based Info-Mac archive is back online. Although it has been up and down at times recently, now that we have completed development of our ShareWay IP products (used to provide the AppleShare-over-IP capabilities of the archive), we believe that the archive should be up just about all the time. Our AppleShare-based Info-Mac archive provides all the features of standard Info-Mac mirrors, plus the following advantages: - Access directly from the Finder - Quicker downloads due to the elimination of binhex encoding - Ability to search the archive through Find File - Ability to make aliases to parts of the archive The archive can be accessed through the Chooser and AppleShare client 3.7 or later (included with Mac OS 8) by simply typing "afp.opendoor.com" for the server's IP address. With the appropriate helper app (like AFP Engage!), it can also be accessed directly through the URL: Details on the features and implementation of the archive are available at: +-----+ | | Alan Oppenheimer | | Open Door Networks, Inc. |o | Internet solutions as easy to use as the Macintosh itself | | alan@opendoor.com | | http://www.opendoor.com +-----+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:47:43 -0400 From: Murph Sewall Subject: DFA 8.1 On 4/7/98 1:42 PM -0700, David Ryeburn wrote: >What system were you running on the LC III? The LC III has 7.1 installed; I hadn't thought to try that version of DFA from a 7.6 floppy... (think I might try that soon :) -Murph ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 15:57:21 -0400 From: Murph Sewall Subject: DFA 8.1 On 4/7/98 12:29 PM -0700, David Ryeburn wrote: >By the way, there seem to be two different versions of DFA 8.1 -- the one >on the Disk Tools disk and the one that one gets with a normal 8.1 upgrade. The one on the Tools disk is about 97KB and refused to load on an LC III (68030 processor) whereas the One installed by the 8.1 upgrade is 156KB and won't fit on a 7.6 Tools Disk unless HD Setup is removed. However, the 156KB version DOES run on 68030 Macs. I *suspected* that the 97KB version is native PowerPC, but perhaps not if: >7.5.5 case was on our old Quadra 700, so it works with 680x0 machines too. -Murph ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 10:19:52 -0400 From: Murph Sewall Subject: DFA 8.1 (short & long) with LC III & MacOs combos The long and short of Disk First Aid 8.1 is that the 97K version found on the PPC Tools disk works on a 68030 LC III (8MB RAM, Apple formatted 160 MB HD) with MacOS 7.6 but *not* OS 7.1 (the error is -186 "unable to decompress a compressed resource." The 155K version of DFA 8.1 installed by the OS 8.1 updater WILL work under OS 7.1 on an LC III (and presumably even a 68000 Mac SE) I was able to create a standard 7.6 Tools Disk 1 by 1) trashing the older version of DFA, 2) rebuilding the Tools Disk desktop (simply removing the old DFA leaves the disk 1K short of enough space to copy DFA 8.1), 3) copy DFA 8.1,, and 4) boot the Tools Disk (so it can create a desktop file that will then work after the write protect tab is set). -Murph ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 08:09:21 -0500 From: mlcook@jerez.cca.rockwell.com (Michael Cook) Subject: DOS Mounter info requested Greetings. I'm using System 7.1 on a Performa. I can use a Zip drive to save folders, etc. on a Zip disk, and do the normal Zip disk operations. But I can't read DOS formatted Zip disks. Reading DOS formatted Zip disks would be a great help in transporting files. My version of PC Exchange doesn't handle Zip disks. I downloaded DOS Mounter from Software Architects, Inc. at www.softarch.com But the time limited version available for downloading only works for System 7.5 and above. Their pre-System 7.5 version does not seem to be available. Would someone point me to a tool which will let me read/write DOS formatted Zip disks? It could be the correct version of DOS Mounter, or some other tool that does the equivalent job. Suggestions, please. Thanks, Mike Cook ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 11:04:10 -0500 From: Bryan.Walls@msfc.nasa.gov (Bryan Walls) Subject: Eudora to Netscape In article <6gcoc1$pr0$1@grapevine.lcs.mit.edu>, digest@info-mac.org wrote: >Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 02:27:38 -0400 >From: >Subject: > >Question: I am using Netscape 4.0 as my browser and Eudora 3.01 as my mail. >When I find a www site given in a Eudora message,and click to the link, I >find that I am opening my older Netscape 3, which I had trashed when >upgrading to 4.0. >Can anyone tell me why Net 3.0 opens and NOT 4.0?? >TIA to all for answers Because Eudora remembers the proper handler, rather than asking Internet Config (assuming you're using IC). Next time you click on a URL in Eudora, hold down the option key. Eudora will ask you which app to use. Select Netscape 4.0. That's what will be used from then on. -- Bryan Walls My Words are not NASA Policy EB12 MSFC, AL 35812 Bryan.Walls@msfc.nasa.gov ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:06:11 -0400 From: Anthony.Beard@phila.gov Subject: External SCSI and StarMax5000 question/problem Note: Please send replies to jams@voicenet.com not at this address! Hi fellow digesters! I recently obtained a Motorola StarMax5000/300mhz ppc603e from an auction for a very good price. The system is a minitower with internal zip and cdrom drives. It also has an internal 3D accelerator (ATI Rage ??), 4.xGB IDE HD, many expansion slots and best of all, internal/external scsi hookups. The system is superb for me since I'm upgrading from a Mac IIsi (circa '92). Since this new computer has the basics, I need to transfer many filez from the IIsi to the StarMax and would like to do the transfer fast. At first, I created my own private LocalTalk network using the two printer ports of each machine. After doing some fine tuning and manipulation, I was able to see the other machine's volume(s). I then started a plain vanilla AppleTalk copy (Starmax logged into Mac IIsi), transferring the IIsi's data to the StarMax. Boy was I in for a surprise. The MacOS 8 on the StarMax estimated completion time to be 3 HRS! I reversed the host/client by logging the IIsi on the StarMax. Still, it took forever for a meager 300K file to transfer!! I know that Localtalk tops out at 230K/sec but this was worse than that. At this time, I decided to go to my next alternative (which should have been my first :-( I have an external scsi HD which I could easily transfer data quickly from the IIsi to the hard drive and then from the drive to the new computer. I installed the scsi software on my Starmax so it could recognize the external scsi. Now the problem(s): Upon restarting, I turned on the external HD and waited and waited till the OS loaded. Nothing happened. The mouse would move but nothing loaded (the gray background was visible & the pointer). I then turned off the SCSI drive and voila, the system booted up. Now I know that there was no conflict with the other scsi devices (CDrom=scsi#3, ZIPdrive=5). I had the external HD set to every other available scsi number besides those two. I've changed scsi cables also, still it would freeze the system. I thought that the system might see the HD when it's loaded up so I turned on the Ext. HD but that only froze the system; when I turned off the HD, the system unfroze allowing me to work normally. Could this be a software problem with the Charismac Anubis software using a PowerPc system? Is there a problem with the external scsi port? I haven't tried to call Motorola just yet. I could try to open up the StarMax and install the external HD inside using the internal scsi bus; but I shouldn't have to do this, and I'd rather not! Perhaps there is a logical explanation that someone may know and wouldn't mind revealing. I'm going to open up the external drive, pop the HD inside the StarMax and go from there. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your responses via email & digest. Please send replies to jams@voicenet.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 14:04:05 -0700 From: Mark Hurty Subject: Fools and Color In InfoMac Digest V16 - #81 Jack Campin wrote: [edited for brevity...and levity] > (For the amount of time I need to look > at websites written by fools who encode information in colour, I can go > use a neighbour's system). > Colour? How foolish! Give me the Sistene Chapel in black and white! (That damned fool Michaelangelo, who's he think he is anyway?) Mark Hurty a fool -- and glad hurty@idiom.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 21:58:17 -0700 From: Daly Jessup Subject: Fwd: ZIP Problem Robert Zimmerman wrote: >...how about just >replacing the PC Exchange preferences file (grab it from Leslye's machine >or better yet go to the MacWorld site and grab their PC Exchange >preferences file with all contingencies considered file). I went to MacWorld and hunted around, but did not find the PC Exchange preferences file. Is there somewhere special to look? Thanks. Daly ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 17:43:52 -0400 From: Marc Leroux Subject: G3/OS 8.1 and Appletalk and ... I spent the weekend loading my (wifes) new G3 system and noticed a couple of annomolies. If the G3 is booted first, I can't see the shared drives on my Centris 610 when it finally starts. I have to reboot the G3 to get access to the Centris 610. Also, copying files across the localtalk network sometimes cause one or both systems to freeze up. The G3 is running OS 8.1 with Speed Doubler and Ram Doubler (latest updaters applied to both). I'm using conflict catcher as well. These (and Stuffit) are the only 3rd party utilities I have installed. The Centris 610 is running OS 7.5 and a gazillion extensions (hey, it's an old system!). I used to use the localtalk connection all the time when I had a mac at work and have never had problems with it. Are there any anomolies with this type of setup that people have run into? TIA marc leroux marc_leroux@ems.abb.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 17:46:40 -0400 From: Marc Leroux Subject: G3/Reboot How do you restart a G3/minitower when it freezes? Is there any concept of the old programmers switch? I hate to pull the plug out when it happens. TIA marc leroux marc_leroux@ems.abb.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:07:22 -0400 From: Murph Sewall Subject: HFS+ heart attack! I had some volume problems that Disk Doctor didn't detect and DFA 8.1 said it couldn't fix. In the end I reformatted my 4 GB drive with the extended HFS (saves LOTS of space :-) but Disk Doctor 3.5.2 won't even attempt to diagnose the drive anymore :-( so I'm depending on DFA 8.1 to keep the volume in good order. So... when the PowerMac 6500 froze, I popped in the tools disk and ran DFA. Hmmm... that seemed too quick, so I clicked the volume and AAAARRRGGGGHHHHhhh only ONE (1) file titled: where_have_all_my_files_gone? Hooboy, I thought I'd been hit by a virus (seemed unlikely since I'd just rebuilt the whole drive, mostly from CD's). Well, there was this no icon file sitting there, so I popped in the OS 8 CD (which has SimpleText on it) and double-clicked the file which opened and explained to me that I should look down when I reach into the drawer for the tools disk and make sure that I've got the latest one (I'd booted the OS 8 Tools *not* Tools PPC with OS 8.1, and 8.0 doesn't recognize HFS+ volumes). OK, it *was* nice of Apple to leave that little HFS partition to explain what's up when the Mac is booted with an earlier OS, but I'd have rather they used a file name like: this_volume_requires_os8.1 instead of something that appears as the kind of "ha ha" message favored by authors of viruses and Trojan Horses. -Murph ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 12:21:07 -0400 From: feldspar@cryogen.com (Antaeus Feldspar) Subject: Info-Mac Digest V16 #81 > Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 02:27:38 -0400 > From: "Norman R. Friedman" > Subject: Eudora to Netscape > > Question: I am using Netscape 4.0 as my browser and Eudora 3.01 as my mail. > When I find a www site given in a Eudora message,and click to the link, I > find that I am opening my older Netscape 3, which I had trashed when > upgrading to 4.0. > Can anyone tell me why Net 3.0 opens and NOT 4.0?? > TIA to all for answers > norm@helix.nih.gov > > IF I FORGET THEE OH JERUSALEM... > > NISAN B'REB SHAMAI > (Norman R. Friedman & Mishpocha) Eudora stores its own preferences for "helper applications" instead of reading them from Internet Config (I believe there's an option to do this, but it's discouraged.) What you want to do is hold down "option" as you click the link. Eudora will ask you to select the new helper application for that link type. -jc ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 09:45:42 +0100 From: Ale Subject: midi freezes! every time i open a .mid file through movieplayer (converting) or SoundApp, my mac crashes! i'm working on a 6500... do you know what to do? bye Ale why'd you have to leave me there hanging in my infant hair, waiting you only have to read the lines of scribbly black and everything shines http://www.karawari.com/gemjm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 09:03:01 -0700 From: Greg Lyzenga Subject: more on Epson Stylus 600 problems from the recent thread on the ES 600: ------------------ >>Has anyone else had trouble installing an Epson 600 printer to their Mac? >>Because of AppleTalk I have been not been able to install the printer and >>it is very frustrating. > >I have some good news and some bad news for you, Bob. The good news is the >SC600 works fine with most Macs from IIsi through G3. The bad news is it >won't work at all with AppleTalk. > >I've had one for over four months now, and the output looks *great*, >although it can be a bit slow on slower macs. Also, the spooler uses a >folder in your Extensions folder to store print jobs, so if you're tight on >free disk space, you'll be limited in the size of your print jobs. And if >you're short on RAM as well, you may not be able to background print, as >the spooler makes the Finder memory allocation grow by approximately 4 Meg. ------------------ I recently recommended the Stylus 600 to my mother-in-law, who needed a printer for use with her *old* Mac LC (10 MB RAM, System 7.5.5). Although it is working (sort of), I have some problems. 1) I also find it to be very slow. Probably can't do much about this without a faster CPU. 2) The printer dialog box is too big to display on the 12" screen of the LC! I know that most folks nowadays have *at least* a 13" monitor, but this seems like an unnecessarily unfriendly bit of software design. Fortunately most of the crucial items (like the "Print" button) can be at least partially seen, so the basic functionality is possible. But it's very frustrating not to be able to access everything. 3) I can't for the life of me figure out how to turn on background printing. Maybe it's hiding off-screen in the oversized dialog box? Or maybe 10 MB is not enough to enable it? I'd be grateful if anyone can offer hints on any or all of these annoyances! - Greg Gregory A. Lyzenga, Dept. of Physics, Harvey Mudd College -> lyzenga@thuban.ac.hmc.edu <- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 19:05:06 -0700 From: Mark Subject: Netscape and G3 Type 1 or 2 crashes On 4/7/98 12:31 PM Behme pondered the significance and wrote: >Despite a clean install (not at the same time!) of both the stand-alone and >Communicator versions and offering NS up to 20Mb to frollick in, it simply >cycles through the start-up process, refuses to open and gives me >consistent Error messages 1 or 2. Try deleting the Netscape folder located in your preference folder and do a reinstall (remember to save the bookmark.html file or your out your bookmarks). I had this problem with a G3 at work and this did the trick. Mark <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> "Whatever it was that wasn't wrong and couldn't be reproduced and works like it always has...has apparently been fixed." <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> mark marks@mailzone.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 17:15:31 -0400 From: Marc Leroux Subject: New Mac Questions I'm the owner (well, OK, my wifes business is) of a new G3 mini-tower system and have a question about best practices for setting up our new environment. We still want to keep our old Centris 610 ('cause she can still do accounting, etc. on it) and I want to be able to share files. The Centris 610 doesn't have an ethernet connection, so we have to use localtalk. I want to be able to run localtalk, a modem and a serial printer from the G3 (3 devices, 2 ports). What's the best way to handle this? Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA marc leroux marc_leroux@ems.abb.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 10:51:29 -0600 From: "Stephan, Jeff -SSC.CON" Subject: OS 7.6.1 and an HP 550C I have a CI with system 7.1 and an HP 550C that work fine. I could turn on the computer, work, and then turn on the printer and print a document. I was using the HP 6.0.3 driver. I bought a StarMax with 7.6.1 installed. I put the 6.0.3 driver into the extensions folder and tried to use the printer. I couldn't even see the driver in the Chooser. When I learned about the 6.0.4 driver, I got it, loaded it, it showed up in the Chooser window, selected it, and tried to use the printer. It didn't work. I did everything I could think of and nothing worked. I checked all connections. Still nothing. With the printer on, I restarted and lo and behold, the printer worked. Well, I assumed, I must have done something wrong. The next day, I turned on the computer and, while working, realized that I needed to print something. I turned on the printer and tried to print the document. The HP Print Monitor indicated that the printer may not be turned on. So I closed everything out and restarted. I watched the icons march across the screen and noted one that looks like a printer. I opened the document and printed it fine. I turned off the printer and restarted. I noted the same icon march across the screen. I turned on the printer after the system was up. I opened the document and tried to print again. It failed. My question is why can't I turn on my printer after the computer is up and running and have it work? Since I still have my CI (the kids use it), should I just put the printer back on the CI and AppleTalk the two together? It is hard to believe that 7.6.1 can't handle a printer off/on situation like 7.1. Or could this be StarMax printer port problem? Or is the 550C just too old? Any ideas? jeff ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 11:49:56 -0600 From: Ted Logan Subject: OS 8.1/HFS+ oddities >I just upgraded to OS 8.1 and HFS+ on my Performa 6400/180, 256K L2 cache, >and have found that my Monolpoly CD ROM disk is not recognized when I start >the game. The disk appears on the desktop and installs the game. When I >start the game I get a message that the CD cannot be found even though the >icon is still on the desktop.The game ran just fine under OS 8.0 on the >Performa and runs in a somewhat unstable fashion under OS 8.1 on a >Powerbook 1400cs/166. > >Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your help. Don't know if HFS+ (Extended Macintosh Format) has anything to do with your particular problem, but I can report the following: During a visit last week to the one and only Macintosh dealer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is a surprisingly sophisticated town, electronically speaking, I asked about the Macintosh G3/300 and HFS+. The three Macintosh salespeople in the store told me that I should leave the HFS+ formatting disk "in the bag," when [read "if"] I get my new G3 because "no one who is not a developer should attempt to use HFS+ yet, and probably not even most developers. Too many unresolved issues. Wait." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 10:40:59 +1000 From: Stephen Peilschmidt Subject: OS8.1 freezing on startup Since upgrading to 8.1 from 8.0 a couple of weeks ago I am suffering freezes on startup. I do not recall making any changes that may have caused this. Has anyone had similar problems and how have they solved them? What I ahve tried, multiple desktop rebuilds, trashed the Finder preferences, used Norton Utilities, Disk First Aid, Tech Tool without any real success. I sounds like an extension conflict - but I dont think I have added any new extensions. Hardware details - Power mac 7500 (with 604/120 processor), System 8.1, RAM disk, 96 megs of real ram. Symptom details - computer freezing after all extensions loaded but before the desktop icons are drawn. Its random, sometimes happens - sometimes not - but its been happening a lot lately - and I'm getting sick of it. Update: OK this problem is getting to be a major pain - I now cannot get a successful restart on my Mac now without replacing the Finder and also the Finder preferences. I cant understand why the Finder and preferences are sooooo fragile. I would dearly love to have this problem solved - are you listening Apple??????? - as it is getting beyond a joke to not be able to start the Mac without it freezing. (Last night I restarted about 20 or so times and had freezes on every occassion - I eventually gave up went to bed - it started OK this morning) I am tempted to downgrade back to 8.0 which didnt seem to have this problem. I'm all ears if there is a solution found. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 11:43:10 -0500 From: Bryan.Walls@msfc.nasa.gov (Bryan Walls) Subject: Problem with Zip Disks going "bad" In article <6gcoc1$pr0$1@grapevine.lcs.mit.edu>, digest@info-mac.org wrote: > >I bought a zip drive just a few months after they came out. Since then, >I've now accumulated about 2-3 bad disks. These are zip disks that once >worked fine, but now they will not even mount. I can't seem to repair them >with any utility I've tried, including Hard Disk Toolkit, Norton Utilities, >Iomega Tools, and similar utilities on Windows machines. In fact, when I >had a friend try it on his PC, his machine CRASHED while attempting to >mount the disk. Not very good. > >Anyone know how to reuse these disks? Why does this happen? > >With the first disk, I assumed it was my fault because I replaced the >driver with HDT's. I've done that with other disks with no problem, but >this time I had actually told HDT to initialize the disk, as well. > >From MacFixit : >Following up on a previous posting here at MacFixIt, Larry Melkus writes >that FWB and La Cie told him that they know of no problems with their >formatting software (HDT and Silverlining) on Jaz cartridges. However, >Iomega posted the following additional explanation of their position:"I >strongly recommend you do not use FWB with our drives. You are literally >playing Russian Roulette with your data. FWB (HDT) is a known conflict >with our software. While it is a fine program, it keeps trying to take >control of our drive and operate it. Our drives are made to be very >friendly with other programs and if FWB takes over control it may >operate it but you will have problems down the road because it was not >made to operate our drives. It is our recommendation to disable FWB if >you want to use our drives. You will save yourself a lot of headaches >down the road. The driver that Images Tools writes to the disk creates a >special track on the disks called the 'Z Track' that is used for on-the >fly data recovery. The way it works is this: during the writing of a >file to the disk, if the drive heads cross an area that the drive feels >has lost integrity, that portion of the data will be rewritten to the 'Z >Track' instead of writing over the questionable area like other drives >do. This is done to preserve your data and map out questionable sectors >on the disk. Other software programs do not have this function and that >can cause you problems down the road. While FWB is a fine driver >software, we hear horror stories everyday about what it does to peoples >data when used with our drives. If you have formatted our disk with FWB >we recommend take the data off the disk and re-format the disk with >Iomega Tools. While we do not support using 3rd party software with our >drives, Norton's Disk Doctor seems to work very well with our drives and >disk. We have not encountered any problems associated with using NDD >with our drives." >But with the other two disks, they failed from doing simple Finder "erase >disk" to the standard Mac OS (HFS) format. I had the Iomega driver >installed--it just wouldn't work. It would stop while erasing to say a disk >error occurred and ejected the disk. Further attempts to reinsert the disk >caused it to be ejected pretty quickly afterward. Restarting allowed the >disk to stay in the drive, but the computer would offer to initialize it >for me and would still fail. > Have you tried the very latest Iomega software? Like Disk Tools 5.5.1 ? They added several new capabilities. >ALSO, several disks play the annoying "click-click" noise over and over >again while reading certain sectors. I am not sure if these sectors are >always the same, because I've not done real in depth testing or anything; >although, it seems to happen with the same files in the same point of the >copy process, so I think it is sector or at least track related. Sometimes >these attempts to write or read from the disk do succeed (eventually), but >sometimes they fail and the Finder reports that it couldn't copy a certain >file. > That sounds like the famous "click of death", though it sounds like it may be caused by bad disks. I would suggest pressing the eject button on your drive with no disk inserted. That resets the drive, and may actually fix the problem. The click can be caused by problems with either the drive or the cartridges. Do they click on your PC friend's drive? Defective disks have a lifetime guarantee from IOMega, so you can just return them for new ones, if it's the disk. A bad disk can potentially damage the head on the drive, causing the drive to transfer the problem to other disks. In that case, you need to replace both the drive and the disks. An out-of-warantee fix from IOMega costs $79 (They ship you a new drive, you return the old one in the box, and they bill your credit card). Their number is 1-888-4io-mega. -- Bryan Walls My Words are not NASA Policy EB12 MSFC, AL 35812 Bryan.Walls@msfc.nasa.gov -------------------------------- --Info-Mac-Digest-- End of Info-Mac Digest ******************************