After you use System 7.5.2, you may say to yourself, `Apple shouldn't have.' Here are some ways to fix what perhaps shouldn't have gone out the door.
Ted Landau
WHEN APPLE FOISTED System 7.5.2 on owners of PCI-based Power Macs and PowerPC-based PowerBooks, its goal was to provide faster system software with new features. For instance, this version of the system software comes with new communications software called Open Transport, which supports such a variety of network protocols that it will make it easier for developers to create cross-platform applications. Unfortunately, this version of the system software is so full of bugs and incompatibilities it can make your skin crawl, not to mention your Mac freeze and crash. There are ways to exterminate these bugs -- or at least keep them at bay until Apple releases the next major upgrade of its system software. Try out these fixes for some of the most common problems:
Crashes and Other Anomalies
PROBLEM: If you have problems when you use a specific utility, chances are that that utility is conflicting with other software. There are so many utilities that conflict with System 7.5.2 that you're bound to run into one of them. Here's the shortlist of utilities to watch out for:
* RAM Doubler versions prior to 1.6 will eventually make
your Mac crash (even 1.6 may cause problems).
* Now Menus prior to version 5.0.2 may show an empty folder
in a hierarchical menu (layers of folders and files that
appear on the Apple menu), even if that folder is actually
chock-full of items.
* SAM (Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh) prior to version
4.0.5 and Symantec's Copy Doubler prior to version 2.0.6
don't work.
* Formatting utilities, such as Drive7 and Hard Disk
ToolKit, all have versions that are incompatible.
* Claris Emailer prior to 1.0v2 conflicts with Open
Transport.
* Microsoft Office may cause you to get type 11 error
messages.
SOLUTION: Upgrade any program that gives you trouble after you've made the switch to System 7.5.2. Contact vendors to get upgrade information.
Printer and Modem Freeze-ups
PROBLEM: If you're getting the cold shoulder from your printer or modem when you try to use it, the culprit is probably System 7.5.2's printing software.
SOLUTION: Get Apple's System 7.5.2 Printing Update 1.1 or a later version. The extensions and driver it includes fix a host of serial-port-related problems. If the Printing Update doesn't fix your printing stalls and you have a serial printer, such as Apple's own LaserWriter 300, look online for a separate printer-driver upgrade specifically for that printer. Also, if you use Apple's Desktop Printing Software, make sure you upgrade to version 1.0.3 or later.
A Whiny Control Panel
PROBLEM: Have you tossed out AppleScript, figuring, "Who needs it?" You may need it more than you realize. Unless it's active, the Sound & Displays control panel won't work and you'll be pestered with an error message telling you so whenever you try to open this control panel.
SOLUTION: Even though you may never use AppleScript, if you threw it away, reload it. If you disabled it, reenable it. Also, make sure the SystemAV and AVSetup extensions remain in the Extensions folder and are enabled.
Internet Lockout
PROBLEM: If you've had problems accessing the Internet with your PCI-based Mac, welcome to the club. Open Transport, the new communications software that comes with System 7.5.2, has been the cause of so many problems that it's already in at least its fourth release. It's likely to make your Mac crash and freeze while you're surfing the Net, especially if you use Eudora or Netscape.
SOLUTION: Upgrade Open Transport with the latest version you find in the Apple support area of an online service.
If you use PPP software (such as MacPPP or FreePPP), make sure you also have the latest version of that software. Even with the latest upgrades, you may have to turn off virtual memory to get things to work.
If you get completely fed up with Open Transport hassles, you can simply get rid of its TCP/IP components. To do this, disable the TCP/IP control panel as well as the Open Tpt Internet Library and OpenTptInternetLib extensions. Then install MacTCP instead. It comes with System 7.5, which you'll probably have to buy. You may also be able to find MacTCP on disks that come with some books about the Internet, such as Adam Engst's The Internet Starter Kit (Hayden Books, 1995).
GeoPort Jam
PROBLEM: Having trouble with your GeoPort Telecom Adapter, which lets your Mac use telephony software? Do you also have a printer connected to your Mac via LocalTalk? I thought so. In an almost unbelievable gaff, Apple's telecom software (which you need in order to use the GeoPort) doesn't work if you have a LocalTalk device connected to your Mac.
SOLUTION: A future version of the telecom software (later than 2.4) is expected to fix this. In the meantime, you'll have to unplug your LocalTalk cable before you can use the GeoPort.
Command-Key Depression
PROBLEM: No, this is not a mental condition that can be treated with antidepressant drugs. It's a phenomenon in which your PCI-based Mac thinks you're constantly pressing down on the Command key after the processor wakes from sleep mode. That means, for example, that when you press the O key, the Mac interprets it as Command-O and issues an Open command.
SOLUTION: Pressing the Command key after the Mac wakes up should rid you of this depressing situation.
Memory Loss
PROBLEM: You may find that your system software takes up more and more memory as the day goes on. This is because of System 7.5.2's increased use of shared libraries. When you run an application that uses a shared library, the library loads into system-software memory but doesn't necessarily get released again when you quit the application (especially if virtual memory is off). Thus, as you continue using shared-library files, your available memory shrinks.
SOLUTION: You could perform a forced quit from the Finder to free up memory, but that could leave your Mac unstable. The best way to get the wasted memory back is to restart your Mac. Then turn on virtual memory to avoid losing memory in the future (see the "If All Else Fails" sidebar for an exception to this rule).
Disappearing Data
PROBLEM: If you thought you were lucky to get one of the first PCI-based Macs to roll off the assembly line, think again. PCI-based Macs available in August 1995 have a design flaw that may make you gasp. When you run Norton Disk Doctor on the hard disk of one of these Macs, Disk Doctor may report that all your files are gone. The only thing that's actually wiped clean is a directory of files. It'll still take some work to rebuild the directory, and you may or may not get your files back.
SOLUTION: If you have one of the first PCI-based Macs to ship and you haven't run into this problem yet, you should take measures to eliminate any chance of losing your data in the future, by getting and running Disk Spot Check. Available online from Symantec, this freeware utility can also help if you've already fallen prey to this problem, because it includes instructions on data recovery.
Happily, Apple fixed the manufacturing flaw within a month of discovering it. So, unless you bought a PCI-based Mac before October 1995, it's highly unlikely that it'll perform the data-disappearing act.
Flashing Screen
PROBLEM: Does your Mac's screen flash a second time at startup, just after the Mac OS screen appears? We can't really call this one a problem. But if this phenomenon has you alarmed, let us put your mind at ease. The double-flash is normal. It means that the Mac is loading an updated version of the video-driver software.
SOLUTION: If you really want to avoid the flash, hold down the Command-Shift-N-D keys at startup. Unfortunately, if you do, you'll have to use the older, presumably buggier, driver. Aside from being a bit irritating, the only problem this flash causes is that it wipes out any custom startup screen display you may have chosen.
Joyous Reunion
Many System 7.5.2 hassles can be solved by software upgrades. Most of the rest have simple workarounds that shouldn't interfere with getting your work done. The upgrades and workarounds we've described here may even make your Mac stable enough that you'll forget how desperate you once were to get System 7.5.2 out of your system.
Ted Landau, author of Sad Macs, Bombs, and Other Disasters (second edition), is convinced that all these problems are part of a plot to force him to start working on a third edition of his book.
You could lose every piece of data on your disk if you run Norton Disk Doctor on certain PCI-based Macs. The preventive medicine is Symantec's Disk Spot Check freeware.
If All Else Fails / General Fix-it Tips
IF THE OTHER FIXES we suggest don't solve all your problems, you may need to throw out a wider troubleshooting net.
1. Here's a technique that may help no matter what system
software you're running -- delete all preferences files for a
problem program, and restart your Mac. Before you can delete the
preferences files of extensions, you must start up with
extensions off (hold down the Shift key during startup).
2. Do a clean reinstall of the system software. To do so, open
the installer on the system-software install disk. Then hold
down Command-Shift-K when you get to the Easy Install window.
Choose to install a new System Folder when you get that option,
and click on the Clean Install button. After doing the clean
install, you'll have to reinstall all the extensions and control
panels that didn't originally come with your system.
3. You can try resetting the PRAM (parameter RAM), but with a
PCI-based Mac, that's not enough -- you need to also reset the
nonvolatile video RAM (NVRAM). To do this double reset, shut
down the Mac (don't use Restart), immediately hold down
the Command-Option-P-R keys at startup, wait for the Mac to
chime twice, release the keys, and let startup proceed. If you
don't hold down these keys immediately, you will reset only the
PRAM.
4. Delete the Display Preferences file. It's in the Preferences
folder in the System Folder.
5. As a last resort, disable PlainTalk speech recognition and
ColorSync control panels and extensions. Also turn off virtual
memory, even though we earlier advised turning it on to avoid
memory loss. It may be more important to skirt communications
