Subject: Info-Mac Digest V16 #238 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="Info-Mac-Digest" --Info-Mac-Digest Info-Mac Digest Tue, 12 Jan 99 Volume 16 : Issue 238 Today's Topics: [*] TidBITS#462/11-Jan-99 (A) Finder problem (A) Note pad not working (Q) FTP with a Finder interface (Q) What happened to the After Dark directory on info-mac? [Q] Apple Telecom Fax and a 3Com 56k PCMCIA Cannot make Temporary Items [Q] Changing the trash and other locked icons EPSON Stylus Printers and iMac/USB information making a startup CD for G3 Netscape hanging Why not try 4.0.8? (A) New Sherlock Plug-ins web site PowerBook 170 - missing modem script Teletext and tv cards for PCI Mac USB Modems 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. 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, Michael Bean, Liam Breck, Hugh Lewis, Tom Coradeschi, and Shawn Bunn. 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 #238" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 23:00:00 -0800 From: TidBITS Editors Subject: [*] TidBITS#462/11-Jan-99 TidBITS#462/11-Jan-99 What's your favorite flavor? At last week's Macworld Expo in San Francisco, Apple surprised us with a handful of iCandy, speed-bumped iMacs in five fruity colors. However, the excitement didn't end there as Apple introduced a significantly changed Power Macintosh G3 and new displays. In this issue, we have the hard numbers behind the new Macs, plus impressions and observations from one of the more successful Macworld Expos in recent history. Topics: MailBITS/11-Jan-99 New iMacs, New G3s, and Mac OS X Server Macworld Expo SF '99 Keynote Notes Macworld Expo SF '99 and the Macintosh Ecosystem [Archived as /info-mac/per/tb/tidbits-462.etx; 30K] ------------------------------ Date: 11 Jan 99 09:51:09 -0500 From: "D. Scott Beach" Subject: (A) Finder problem cesar@lava.net (Ed Cesar) writes: >I am experiencing an frustrating problem with Finder. Whenever I open an >application all the icons on my desktop dissapear. I can make them >reappear by clicking on Finder in the window in the upper right hand >corner of my screen. While it is not a serious problem, it is an irritating >one. I'm using a Performa 6300CD with 65 MB of RAM. Ed: I'm sure you've been given the answer by now but here it is again. Go to your General Controls and "X" in the box that says to show Desktop when in background. - Scott Scott Beach Toronto, Canada ------------------------------ Date: 11 Jan 99 09:45:25 -0500 From: "D. Scott Beach" Subject: (A) Note pad not working Ezra asked: >>I have lost the use of my note pad file. When I try to open it via the >>Apple menus (or directly) I get the message: >> >>>The document 'Note Pad File' could not be opened because the applicaton >>>that created it could not be found. >>Could not find translation extension with appropriate translation.< Then Daly commented: >I would use some universal file opener such as CanOpener to try to open the >Preferences file for NotePad, to recover the text. > >You could go to your MacOS Easy Open Control Panel and click the "Delete >Preferences" button, then create an Extensions Manager set containing only >MacOS Easy Open, AppleScript, and whatever you might absolutely require in >order to run your computer, and rebuild the desktop. Then rebuild again >with your regular set active. That MIGHT recover the file. Now I toss in: It sounds like the problem may be in Notepad, not its file (the applicaton that created it could not be found.). Try replacing Notepad DA with a fresh copy after doing what Daly suggests. - Scott Scott Beach Toronto, Canada ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 23:06:40 -0500 From: abrody@smart.net Subject: (Q) FTP with a Finder interface Dear Digest readers, OK, I've tried Transit, Fetch, Anarchie Pro 3.5, NetPrezence, Vicom, Mirror, and NetFinder. So far though I have not seen what I am looking for though, and have asked here before about it. Call me picky, but I would like to see an FTP program able to do the following: 1. Open multiple ftp sessions and transfer files between them using drag and drop, assuming of course you have the permissions to access both servers. 2. A simple intuitive interface like AppleTalk in the Finder. The beauty is with AppleTalk I can treat all hard disks remote and local the same way. Attach to network FTP accessible drives from the Finder, and view them as though they were local folders using the Finder's View as Icon, View as small icon, view as list options, and the ability to arrange icons. It should be seamlessly integrated with the Finder. Just the same way mounting network drives with the File Manager on Windows for Workgroups and NT is possible. 3. Like Anarchie, be able to change the URL of the ftp site on the fly, and be able to ftp to http:// sites. 4. Be as fast Anarchie at downloading and uploading files to the net using cable internet. 5. A button on the window to toggle between using http for the web and using http for downloads. 6. Drag to the trash like Transit 7. FinderPop contextual menu compatiblity like Transit, to be able to launch files from the ftp site straight into applications on the Mac, or straight into a folder that I choose to put it in. No open/save dialog box necessary. 8. Switching from Binary to MacBinary to ASCII should be a direct menuitem, and not a submenu as it is in Anarchie, or a preference like it is in Fetch. If anything, Binary should be the default mode of transfer. On Anarchie MacBinary appears to be and that is a pain as it always adds a .bin extension if I forget to switch to binary. At least with a binary transfer you get the exact file as it appeared on your hard disk. 9. Allow moving Mac applications as is to Unix servers without truncating the application size. Often compressing or adding a .bin or .hqx extension will corrupt the file. Sending as a binary program I should be able to pick it up with another Mac elsewhere. 10. Multiple interfaces like Finder Views would be great. Anybody else want to add to this wish list? Anybody know of an FTP program that will do all this? Thank you. Sincerely, abrody@smart.net ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 22:29:53 -0500 From: abrody@smart.net Subject: (Q) What happened to the After Dark directory on info-mac? Dear Digest readers, I finally found the desire to get After Dark and did, but now that I would like to get more screen savers I find that I can't find that many After Dark modules on the info-mac archive. I seem to remember there were hundreds at one point. I even remember there was a directory of After Dark screen savers. Now the Hyperarchive at MIT only reports two or three screen savers and no directory. I searched in the cfg and gui directory and neither has a screen saver directory like they used to. Now sure I could go and buy an info-mac CD-ROM of some past year, but how do I know which one has all the old After Dark Screen Savers? Or has it been moved to a different directory? If so which one is it in? If there are more After Dark Screen Savers out there on info-mac, please be sure the heading of your screen saver posting includes After Dark in its name. Otherwise the Hyperarchive won't find them when one searches for After Dark. By the way I would specifically like to see a Pipes like screen screen saver like I see on Windows NT all the time. By the way I did finally get After Dark to work with MacOS 8.5.1. Thank you. Sincerely, abrody@smart.net Check out over 500 internet sites updated monthly at: http://www.ameritel.net/lusers/abrody http://www.smart.net/~abrody (mirror of above site) http://members.home.net/abrody (mirror of above site) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 20:08:37 +0000 From: Marlon Deason Subject: [Q] Apple Telecom Fax and a 3Com 56k PCMCIA I can't seem to get Apple Telecom Fax to recognize my 3Com 56k PC card. I can set the pick menu to 'Upper PC slot' which is a start, since the slots only show up if the PowerBook thinks something is there. But when I send a fax, the program goes through the motions up to the point where it would initialize the modem. Then, instead of the melodious whale song I want to hear, I get a dialog saying 'your modem is not PCMCIA Class 2 compliant'. In the prefs for Telecom Fax there is a pick menu that says 'PCMCIA Class 2'. If I choose from this menu Class 2 is the only choice. Can I infer from this that there may be a way to add additional protocols to the list? And what about 3Com? How can a new modem not support a protocol that both of my old 28.8 cards did? After close scrutity of the ads for it in the catalogs (I through the box away), it says 'Megahertz 56k cellular modem PC Card - V.90'. It mentions support for speakerphone, caller ID and voice mail, but curiously not fax. Could this list price $209 modem really not support fax protocol? Puzzled. Marlon Deason http://home.earthlink.net/~marlond/macguerrillas/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 14:30:21 +0100 From: Eduard Hoenkamp Subject: Cannot make Temporary Items [Q] I erased my folder "Temporary Items" but the system won't let me make a new one. Anyone in the know? Eduard. ------------------------------ Date: 9 Jan 99 20:14:10 CST From: Llewellyn Mordecai Subject: Changing the trash and other locked icons Bob Wall wrote: >I would like to change the icon for my trashcan. Are you sure you want to do this? It involves using resEdit(or Resorcere= r) on your System file. The process: Make a copy of your System file. Open the file in resEdit. Look for the ic18 icon(or ic14 or whatever) Open it(doubleclick) There will be a lot of icons. You are looking for the empty trashcan(-39= 93) and the full trashcan (-3984) = Open one of them. Change the icon.(You can do this by drawing in the window, or pasting in = an icon you've created elsewhere) Save the file. Quit resEdit. Replace the System File with the one you were messing with. Restart. (Be sure to have a backup whenever you mess with your System File) Mordecai ____________________________________________________________________ Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=3D1= ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 21:11:05 -0500 From: "Fritz Wonnacott" Subject: EPSON Stylus Printers and iMac/USB information Hi all! I've recently acquired an iMac with a SuperDisk drive to replace my aging Performa 5200CD machine, which I now use the 5200CD as a file server connected to the iMac through an Ethernet connection. Attached to the Performa 5200 is an EPSON Stylus 600 which I had been told could be attached to the iMac by the purchase of a somewhat expensive USB to Parallel cable that is made by EPSON and installing the associated USB driver software. This DID NOT WORK... after much reading, searching and advice from the web and trying every suggestion I had resigned myself to the fact that I would have to break down and get a printer that was specifically designed to work with my iMac's USB port. On the back of the printer there are 3 ports -- a standard Centronics, a special USB port and a standard 8-pin Macintosh Serial port. Today (1/9/99) there was a local area computer show that has VERY little in the way of Macintosh software and hardware. One of the vendors had on hand an EPSON Stylus 740 printer. I had heard that this printer was USB capable but I hadn't seen anything as to what the back side of the printer looked like, but I knew it had to have a Centronics (parallel) port on it so I gambled on the vague hope that the USB-Parallel cable I'd purchased earlier for the older printer would work on the iMac. After coming home with the printer, I got the cable out of it's box, which I'd repacked as I was going to send it back for a refund. After loading the driver I'd downloaded from EPSON's website for iMac and a subsequent reboot, in trepidation I selected the Chooser and clicked on the 740's printer icon. Success! The iMac found the USB port and the 740 is printing just fine with the USB/Parallel cable. Here's the kicker!! On the box for the USB/Parallel cable nowhere is it mentioned that it will work with an EPSON Stylus Color 740!! Lots of other Stylus models are listed but this one is not! For whatever reason, the USB connection is stable and the first thing I printed was a couple of t-shirt transfers for my girlfriend's daughter. I did a 1,440 dpi printing on the transfer paper and they came out beautifully! Anyone want to buy an EPSON Stylus 600?? (I'm kidding... I still need that one for use on the server from time to time...) -- I don't do .INI, .BAT, or .SYS files. I don't assign apps to files... I don't configure peripherals or networks before using them... I have a computer to do all that... I have a Macintosh. Fritz A. Wonnacott ICQ# 4257551 Think different ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 10:24:07 +0900 From: Tito and Shari Poza Subject: making a startup CD for G3 I want to burn a startup CD (a bootable CD) for my G3 DT 266 using Adaptec Toast but no matter what I do, I cannot make a disk which is bootable. I have tried several things including making disk images of the original G3 startup disk that came with my G3, mounting it, deleting the (visible) contents and replacing them with the system I want to boot from. I'm also always certain to select the "bootable" option in Toast before burning the disk. I have heard that computers with an internal IDE drive have difficulties booting from CDs made with consumer-level burners. Any advice would be appreciated. Shari ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 18:33:54 -0500 From: Louis Bergeron Subject: Netscape hanging Why not try 4.0.8? (A) Why not try Netscape 4.0.8? Perhaps this could help. >>John McGibney said: >I don't think its peculiar to system 8.5. I have system 8.1 and Netscape >>Navigator 4.05 on my Mac 6100, and it does the same thing also. It >>downloads a >>page and then hangs for 5-10 seconds before displaying it. I also tried >>Communicator 4.5 and it does the same thing. I wrote in to InfoMac about 1 >>month ago and got no replies. It has to be a conflict with something in the >>system folder but I never bothered to really diagnose it. Maybe OT/PPP or a >>library file accessed by OT/PPP. Did you upgrade to OT/PPP 2.0? I think it >>comes with the 8.5.1 system upgrade. > >I've had the same experience with Systems from 7.6.1 to 8.1 with Netscape >4.0x. However, I believe it is particularly related to the processing of >certain HTML tables. I notice the slowdown specifically on pages that >display stock and mutual fund values; my wife has seen it on a web based >bulletin board she uses. For most web pages I don't see this particular >slowdown. > >For what it's worth, the exact same web pages will render in IE several >times faster. >Bill Rausch, Mac and Unix User and Programmer, brausch@owt.com >613 Lynnwood Ct, Richland, WA 99352 509-375-5147 Louis Bergeron C.P. 936 Rouyn Rouyn-Noranda Qc Canada J9X 5C8 Telephone-Phone (819) 764-3862 Telecopieur-Fax (819) 764-3758 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 23:00:59 -0500 From: "David J. Wang" Subject: New Sherlock Plug-ins web site Hello, I've put up a new website for Sherlock Plug-in website called "(yet-more) Sherlock Plug-ins" which can be found at http://home.members.com/djwang/sherlock/". Right now, plugins are available for several miscellaneous sites, but the two most interesting archives are somewhat seasonal: those who received DVD players under the Christmas tree might be interested in downloading the DVD package which includes plug-ins for The BIG Picture, DVDFile, the forums at DVDResource page, Home Theater Forum, Home Theater Magazine, Image Entertainment, the DVD section at the Internet Movie Database, and Netflix. those who will need to be doing taxes shortly (boo, hiss) might be interested in downloading the tax package which includes plug-ins for IRS, Ernst+Young, and Deloitte & Touche. I expect to be adding additional plug-ins for both those categories over the next couple of days. Thanks, David ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 17:33:53 +0900 From: lordsym@respo.or.jp (Simon Howell) Subject: PowerBook 170 - missing modem script Hi there ! A friend of mine has dumped a sick PowerBook 170 into my lap and I need some advice. The Machine : Powerbook 170. System 7.5.5. OTT 1.1.2 and FreePPP 2.5.?. It has a very ancient and slow Apple Fax Data Modem installed. The Problem : If I ask FreePPP to connect to the web, FreePPP can't get past the "Looking for modem..." stage. It waits for a while and then comes up with an error message along the lines of "was waiting for OK from the modem but it doesn't seem to be responding...". I looked in the system folder for the modem script (CCL file ?) and it is missing. my problem is that the owner doesn't have the original disks that came with the modem. I checked the apple website and I tried downloading various versions of modem software but nothing seems to work so far. I tried to trick it by using AppleExpress Modem software but it simply comes up with the message, "this software cannot be used with this computer". So, does anyone have a copy of the necessary files that they could send me ? thanks very much, regards, Simon lordsym@respo.or.jp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 19:24:30 +0100 From: bromo@flashnet.it (Vittorio Barabino) Subject: Teletext and tv cards for PCI Mac Hello, I have a PCI Mac (Apple 7600) and I'd like to buy a TV tuner card. The ix micro would be great... but apparently doesn't support the teletext! (you know... tv programmes, wheather broadcasts ecc.) -is it true? -are there alternatives? (The Apple tv card would be great, but my Mac doesn't have the performa slot for that, only PCI) Many thanks!! -- Ciao, \+----------+ "La risposta e' dentro di te... Vittorio --| : ) o | ...MA E' SBAGLIATA!!!" [da Roma]  /+----------+ Enciclopedia d.Fantascienza: http://www.fantascienza.com/edf ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 04:25:33 +0100 From: thinktank@easynet.co.uk Subject: USB Modems --============_-1296183545==_ma============ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Question: Who makes USB modems for the iMac (and new G3 towers)? And what on earth possessed Apple to do away with serial ports without warning potential consumers! --============_-1296183545==_ma============ Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" Question: Who makes USB modems for the iMac (and new G3 towers)? And what on earth possessed Apple to do away with serial ports without warning potential consumers! --============_-1296183545==_ma============-- -------------------------------- --Info-Mac-Digest-- End of Info-Mac Digest ******************************