Reproduced with permission from NeXT Computer, Inc., USA, NeXT on Campus, Winter 1991. ã 1991 NeXT Computer, Inc., USA

NeXTanswers
On-line answers for commonly asked questions about NeXT computers

Have you ever wished for a personal technical support engineer?  NeXTanswers provides the next best thing.  It is a directory of commonly asked questions and the corresponding answers about NeXT technology.  Using Digital Librarian users can easily search NeXTanswers.

NeXTanswers is a powerful, time-saving tool that is useful to everyone from a novice NeXT user to an administrator supporting hundreds of NeXT computers.  Topics include user applications, system administration, and programming.  There is also information about NeXT user groups, archive servers, and how to contact NeXT to become a registered developer.  In addition to NeXTanswers, users can obtain NeXT Technical Support NotesÐlonger documents that cover topics such as Serial Connectivity, UUCP, and performance tuning.

How to get NeXTanswers
NeXTanswers is updated and distributed monthly. It and NeXT Technical Support Notes are available from an authorized support center or by anonymous ftp from a public archive site, Purdue University, for example. (See "NeXT Archives," page xx.)  You should feel free to distribute NeXTanswers.

NeXT also encourages users to contribute to NeXTanswers.  If you want to contribute, search NeXTanswers with the key words "submitting NeXTanswers," and you'll find detailed instructions on how to submit your contribution. NeXT appreciates all submissions, but does not guarantee that all will be included.

Using NeXTanswers
Suppose you want to find out what kinds of SCSI hard disk drives  work with software Release 2.0. Use Digital Librarian to search NeXTanswers for the key word "SCSI," you will find the answer. All NeXTanswers follow a basic question and answer format.

Q: What SCSI hard disk drives are compatible for use with NeXT computers?

A: NeXT offers a complete line of hard disks for use with NeXT computer systems.  They range in size from 105 MB to 1.2 GB.  These drives have been carefully qualified by NeXT and include NeXT's one year warranty.  Contact your authorized NeXT reseller for more information on these drives.

The NeXT system software also supports many third-party SCSI hard disk drives not sold by NeXT.  For the NeXT system software to support the drive, your system must be running software Release 2.0 and be connected to the drive with the correct cable.  Also, the drive must support the following SCSI commands and revisions:

	· "Inquiry" and "Read Capacity" commands
	· SCSI Rev. 17b or greater
	· 10 (ten) byte read and write command blocks

Check with your SCSI disk drive manufacturers for details.  NeXT does not provide information about third-party drives.

See also:  QA579 regarding SCSI cables.

Finding More Information
The SCSI hard disk NeXTanswer references another NeXTanswer. Search for "QA579" to find more information on SCSI hard drives.

Q: I have a 68040 upgrade kit for my computer.  Do I need to order a cable adapter for my SCSI drive?

A: The new interface cable is only needed for peripheral SCSI devices.  This cable has a new 50-pin SCSI-2 type connector to the NeXT machine, and a SCSI-1 connector to the SCSI device.  The part number is N7007.  As of October 5, 1990, the price is $50.

The following NeXTanswers include some of the questions NeXT Technical Support groups are most frequently asked.

Deleting text in WriteNow
Q: I deleted some text in a WriteNow document.  It's still in the .wn file.  Why?  What's going on?

Q:  How do I ensure that text I delete in a WriteNow document is actually removed from the .wn file?

A: WriteNow preserves the previous version of a document in the .wn file, along with changes from that version to the current version.  To ensure that deleted text is truly deleted, hold down the Alternate key while saving the file.  In WriteNow's Window submenu, the "Revert to Saved" and "Revert to Backup" commands are both dimmed, indicating the backup version is no longer available.  When you close the file, a panel appears briefly indicating "Reclaiming space in documents."

If you edited the file, another approach is to close the window before saving.  A panel comes up in which you should click "Save/Compact."  This also deletes the backup.

Restoring the default NetInfo database
Q:  How do I go all the way back to a default (vanilla) NetInfo setup?

Q:  How do I undo making a machine a Configuration Server?

A: You need to do two things: get a default NetInfo database, and get an original host configuration database.  The following assumes you're running the C-Shell.

	cd /etc/netinfo
	foreach db (*.nidb)
		mv ${db} ${db}-old
	end
	cp -rp /usr/template/client/etc/netinfo/local.nidb .
	cd ..
	mv hostconfig hostconfig.old
	cp -p /usr/template/client/etc/hostconfig .
	halt
	DISCONNECT THE COMPUTER FROM THE NETWORK
	REBOOT

NOTE that this is NOT sufficient for undoing a clone server!

Appending text to the end of a text object
Q: How can you add text to the end of a text object?

A: The trick is to make a zero length selection at the end of the text, and replace the text there.  Your code might end up looking something like this:

	docView = [myScroller docView];
	length = [docView textLength];
	[docView setSel:length :length];
	[docView replaceSel:newString];
	[docView display];

Cleaning Optical Disks
Q: Is there an approved way to clean dust from an optical disk?

Q: I have an optical disk that continually spins up and spins down.  What can I do?

A:  Dust can cause problems when it contaminates an optical disk.  For the long term, NeXT is investigating how to reduce the amount of dust that finds its way into the optical disk.

For the present, cleaning a dusty optical disk isn't difficult.  Use a soft lens-cleaning tissue (available at any photo-supply store).  Hold the gate open on the disk case and look at the shiny side of the optical disk.  With the tissue, GENTLY wipe the disk from the center towards the edge.  Rotate the disk and repeat the process until you clean the entire disk.

Release 1.0 and 2.0 NetInfo Compatibility
Q:  Is 1.0 NetInfo compatible with 2.0?

A:  1.0 and 2.0 NetInfo are functionally completely compatible.  You may mix 1.0 and 2.0 NetInfo servers as you wish.  However, there is a difference between 1.0 and 2.0 NetInfo databases.  1.0 NetInfo data files are upwardly compatible to 2.0, but not the other way around.  In other words, you can move a NetInfo database from a 1.0 to a 2.0 system, but not in the other direction.