Q: Where can I obtain the latest version of AutoBoot ?
A: I always upload new versions to the Internet. Look on any Info-Mac mirror for the latest version. Also check the AutoBoot web pages if you want info on the latest release, download sites, tips, ...
http://www.vl-brabant.be/mac
Troubleshooting AutoBoot
Q: How do I know if AutoBoot is functioning correctly on my Mac ?
A: After you install AutoBoot, you can use the included bomb-applications to check if AutoBoot is working ok. At least one of the bomb-applications should cause a System Crash. After a little while, AutoBoot will restart your Mac, which confirms that AutoBoot is functioning correctly on your Mac.
Q: My Mac doesn't restart when I crash it using a bomb application. What can I do ?
A:
1. AutoBoot is incompatible with the Mac OS Ramdisk. You should disable the ramdisk (memory control panel: RAM disk)
2. make sure AutoBoot is the first extension to load at startup. Extensions load alphabetically, so you can influence the order in which they load.
3. try disabling all other extensions and control panels. If AutoBoot works now, re-enable other extensions and control panels until you find the conflicting extension/control panel.
Q: Why isn't Autoboot able to always restart my Mac when it freezes up ?
A: As a software solution, AutoBoot depends on a minimum level of remaining system activity to be able to restart the Mac. AutoBoot does a great job in most circumstances, but certain types of crashes and freeze-ups are too severe for AutoBoot to handle. The shareware system allows you to try AutoBoot for a while and see if it works for you. If you experience that AutoBoot can't solve your freezes, you should consider buying a hardware "watchdog" (e.g. Powerkey Pro, MacCoach, Rebound, Lazarus,...). These generally work on the principle of power cycling your Mac when it freezes and do a good job in cases that AutoBoot can't handle, but are always much more expensive than AutoBoot.
Error Messages
Q: When AutoBoot restarts my Mac, it gets stuck on restart with a dialog warning me to shutdown properly in the future. What can I do ?
A: Switch off the shutdown warning in the general controls control panel.
Q: AutoBoot reboots my Mac after a crash but the log file always says "reason unknown". What is wrong ?
A: The feature which reports the reason for the crash no longer works on some Macs. I hope to fix this one day.
Q: AutoBoot says it has restarted my Mac (reason unknown), but it was me who restarted the Mac. Why ?
A: AutoBoot always says this when the Mac was not shutdown properly. It can not always distinguish between an improper shutdown and an AutoBoot reboot.
Q: I get an error saying "The Application ... has unexpectedly quit because an error of type ... occurred". Why doesn't AutoBoot restart my Mac ?
A: AutoBoot doesn't restart your Mac because this is not a System Error but an application error. Another utility I wrote (Keep It Up) takes care of this problem.
Q: AutoBoot says it can't load some resources. What is wrong ?
A: You need to make sure the AutoBoot control panel is present in the control panels folder. Make also sure you haven't renamed the control panel.
Old Questions
Q: My Mac is running System 7.1 with the 32-bit enabler. Why isn't AutoBoot able to restart my Mac on system errors ?
A: Due to a bug in the 32-bit enabler, AutoBoot can't restart the mac. Get rid of the 32-bit enabler and get Mode32 instead. Mode32 which is freely available doesn't suffer from this bug.
Q: My Mac is running System 7 with Virtual Memory. Why isn't AutoBoot able to restart my Mac on system errors ?
A: AutoBoot is VM compatible except on some very old machines. This version of AutoBoot can reboot all modern Macs when VM is active. It can NOT reboot some older Macs (the machines I tested: SE/30, IIx, IIcx) because of some kind of incompatibility between the older ROMS and Virtual Memory. On these computers, you can only use AutoBoot with VM disabled. If you want to use VM and AutoBoot and your Mac isn't listed above, just try it out. Use one of the bomb applications supplied with AutoBoot to see if AutoBoot is able to reboot your Mac when VM is active.
Q: AutoBoot 1.5 refuses to run on my Mac using system 6. Why ?
A: Version 1.3 is the last version which is compatible with system 6. I stopped supporting the system 6 version because I have no longer access to a Mac running system 6. Version 1.3 is however quite stable.
