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- Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system,comp.sys.mac.misc
- Path: sparky!uunet!spool.mu.edu!umn.edu!lynx!nmsu.edu!dante!bgrubb
- From: bgrubb@dante.nmsu.edu (GRUBB)
- Subject: **IMPORTANT** System 7.1 Installer bug
- Message-ID: <1993Jan1.162014.619@nmsu.edu>
- Sender: usenet@nmsu.edu
- Organization: New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
- Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1993 16:20:14 GMT
- Lines: 53
-
- When I upgraded from 7.0.1 to 7.1 I discovered something interesting.
- If you just use the installer to move up to 7.1 (as opposed to a 'clean'
- install) the installer duplicates the system fonts in both the system FILE and
- the fonts folder. It also seems to stomp the purgable bit for the fonts
- duplicated. As a result these fonts are loaded in twice and are not purged
- from memory, RAM like crazy. When I removed the fonts from the system file
- and rebooted I gained almost 100K of RAM back and 200MB of Hard disk space
- from what 7.0.dot had used. When I reinstalled the fonts that had been
- duplicated the system heap stopped bumping into the application heaps and
- causing 'There is insufficent memory to keep folder X open.' problem in the
- finder I had.
- When I called Apple system 7.1 technical support the represenitive I talked to
- stated "We [Apple] are telling people to remove ALL the fonts from the system
- file in system 7.1 as they are are not supposed to ANY [fonts] in that
- file...[and] ...when upgrading from a older system the installer leaves the
- old system fonts in the system file. We recommend booting from the installer
- disk to avoid this problem."
- Though I could not get him to admit this is a bug in the installer, from the
- evidence it is QED (Progression of logic) that there is a bug.
- A QED progression is a general true statement followed by a specific true
- statement and then a conclusion from the the two statements example:
- All men are mortal
- Charles Darwin was a man
- Therefore Charles Darwin was mortal
-
- The QED in the case of the System 7.1 installer is as follows
- 1) Bug: a programing error; error in syntax or logic; the program does not
- do what it is supposed to do (Dictionary of Computer Terms 3rd ed.)
- 2) System 7.1 installer can leave fonts in the system file which should not
- be there. (From the Apple represenitive)
- 3) Therefore there is a bug in the System 7.1 installer.
-
- I suppect that this bug in the installer is the reason that for some people
- 7.1 seems bigger in RAM and disk space then 7.0.dot. I also suppect that
- this is the reason that some people have had printing problems.
- This in not only personal experience with the 'direct from Apple 7.0.X to 7.1
- upgrade US version' but a know problem at Apple with the System 7.1 Installer.
- I don't know if other countries upgrades might have this problem or not.
-
- In any case if you have upgraded to 7.1 and NOT used a 'clean' install CHECK
- YOUR SYSTEM FILE FOR FONTS. If you find any there note which ones they are
- and remove them. In the fonts folder replace the fonts that had been
- duplicated in the system file with the ones from your System 7.1 font disk.
- (Otherwise they will not be 'purged' from memory like they should be and
- cause system heap problems.)
- It could save you grief in the long run.
-
- "Eliminate the impossible and what ever remains, no matter how improbable,
- is the truth" -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle through Sherlock Holmes in The
- Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier, Sign
- of Four and The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans.
- "A rose by any other name smells a sweet"--Shakespeare
- "The Computer is your friend"--Parinoia RPG
-