APM tuner for Mac OS X
From Pratya Levan
Hi do you have a copy of APM tuner for Mac OS X ?
It seems like link to APM tuner web page doesn't work anymore.
Thanks
Pratya Levan
Hi Pratya,
You can download APM Tuner X here:
http://homepage.mac.com/coolmacguy/apmtunerx.dmg
Charles
RE: USR PCI modem for Mac
From Ruben DeLaRosa
Mr. Moore:
Mr. Starkey is incorrect in his insistence that the aforementioned
US Robotics modem is compatible with Mac OS. It is not. This modem is
for Windows and Linux Intel-based machines only.
I have never heard of or seen a Mac PCI modem in all my time as a
computer technician. Have you?
Thanks
Ruben DeLaRosa
Hi Mr. DeLaRosa,
I would be a complete bounder if I tried to pass
myself off as a computer technician. I am a moderately well-informed
journalist.
However, no, I've never encountered a PCI Mac modem,
but my frame of reference is limited.
Charles
In response to "Sleep of Death" article
From Blake Irvin
I work as an Apple Product Professional and as-needed technician at
an Apple Specialist location (MacOutfitters of Cranberry, PA). Quite a
few of our clients have had WallStreet PowerBooks that, after having
10.2 installed, would immediately shut off their backlights upon boot
in OS X, then keep it off after being woken from sleep.
The solution, apparently, is to do several PMU resets (waiting about
10 seconds between each one). The keyboard command is fn-shift ctrl
power.
Blake Irvin
Thanks for the tip, Blake. I was never able to get
OS X to install on my (now dead) 233 MHz WallStreet, but I
know that many WS owners are using OS X.
Charles
Shut down clock
From Malcolm Lubliner
Last November I decided to have my stable-as-a-rock beige G3
upgraded to a G4, added a bigger hard drive and more RAM. I spent more
than two months, every other day on average, back at the shop trying to
get the machine to work without crashing. Directory problems were
rampant, and finally I gave up returning to the shop and hired a
talented tech. Over the last few months he's tweaked and upgraded and
cleaned and reinstalled, but somewhere there is a gremlin code that
changes it's ID but remains.
The machine now runs better than ever, but nearly every time I boot
up I get the Disc First Aid message that the computer was not shut down
properly. After several of these events, a critical mass is reached and
I need to run Norton. The report is similar - directory problems and
several having to do with the shut down clock. I've hunted Google and
can't find a fix or even the same experience. Any help. I've now spent
more than I would have buying a brand new G4.
Thanks,
ML
Hi Malcolm,
You're far ahead of my expertise on this one already,
but perhaps someone in readerland can help.
Charles
Editor's note: First suggestion: Ditch that copy of Norton Utilities
for Macintosh (NUM)and get a copy of DiskWarrior and/or TechTool
Pro. As many Norton users have learned over the years, while Norton
can sometimes be a life saver, at other times it can actually create
problems. Ever since my one bad encounter with NUM (see Norton Utilities Warning), I've only used
Disk Doctor as a last resort when DiskWarrior and TechTool fail to find
the problem.
It would also help with diagnosis of your problem to know a lot more
about your system: What OS are you using? What brand of hard drive did
you install? Which G4 upgrade? Does it require drivers, and (if so) do
you have the latest drives installed? Do you have Norton FileSaver
installed? If so, dump it immediately, as it causes far more problems
than it will ever solve.
The problem could be a poorly seated RAM module, an overheating
drive, a G4 processor that isn't designed for your 66 MHz bus,
defective RAM, a surface defect on your hard drive, or several other
things. This is one reason it's best to upgrade your computer one
component at a time. It makes it much easier to determine which piece
is causing the problem. dk
Mac OS 9.2.x on pre-G3 PowerMacs
From Ron Kataoka
Charles,
OS 9.2.x can be installed on pre-G3 Power Macs with OS 9 Helper:
http://www.os9forever.com/os9helper.html
I used it to Upgrade my PM
9600/OS 9.1 to 9.2.1 then to 9.2.2. I didn't notice any
'improvements' over OS 9.1. I did have to disable Norton Filesaver
5.0.3, as it caused freezes on shutdown/restart.
Ron
Installing OS 9.2.2 on unsupported machines
From Jay Prince
Greetings Charles,
I saw a request for reader help on installing OS 9.2.2 on
unsupported machines in the section "Mac OS 9 Compatibility,
Upgrades, and Resources" in your Miscellaneous Ramblings column of
2003.05.12. Oddly enough, I spent hours on the Web researching this
(and all things OS 9) yesterday, as my hope is to move to
OS 9 soon. The following link to "OS 9 Helper" appears to be
what's needed:
http://www.os9forever.com/os9helper.html
I spent hours following links and reading the MacFixIt forum thread
on this, and it seems it has been a stable and finished product for
about six months now. Hope this helps Guillermo get to 9.2 on his
7500.
Regards,
Jay
Upgrading from OS 9.1 to 9.2
From Jim Brandt
Hi Charles,
Wanted to let you know that I always enjoy reading your articles and
ramblings on Low End Mac. Since I came
across Low End Mac a couple of years ago, I have sold both my Windows
computers and have purchased four different Macs via
eBay - one for every member of the family! My last couple of
purchases have been a used PowerBook and iBook, and I found your
commentary on each very helpful.
You had a question on yesterday's "Miscellaneous Ramblings"
regarding upgrading a PowerMac 7500 from OS 9.1 to 9.2. OS9Helper is
some software you can use to upgrade "unsupported" Macs like the 7500.
I've used it to upgrade both my kids 5500's (with G3 upgrade cards),
and it worked very well. I really haven't noticed a big difference
between 9.1 and 9.2, but it makes me feel more up to date
:-)
The software is available at http://www.os9forever.com. The website
is hosted by Other World
Computing - maybe you could give them a little plug for their
support of low end computing.
Thanks,
Jim Brandt
Hi Ron, Jay, and Jim,
Yes, OWC is a great resource for the low-end Mac user.
I've bought several hard drive and RAM upgrades from them over the
years, plus my Umax tower, and I've always been happy with their
service.
I also notice little difference in performance between
OS 9.1 and 9.2. There are some compatibility reasons for making the 9.2
upgrade, but if they don't apply, then my counsel is to stick with 9.1
on unsupported machines.
Charles
Fragile 8600
From Jason Green
Charles,
I note that you and your son have done several rescues of old Macs.
I have bounced this question off a discussion board or two with no
luck.
I recently purchased a used Power Mac 8600. It crashes often.
I have a version of TechTool which says all is well, but the system
just isn't stable. I can run XTension (home automation software) on it
for hours without a problem. It seems that use of the ethernet port
(Internet use or large file sharing transfers) seems to trigger
crashes. Do you have any suggestions on how to diagnose what's really
wrong?
Jason Green
Hi Jason,
It's often difficult to diagnose faults like this even
hands on. I had a heck of a time with my Umax S900 when I first got it. It turned
out to be a faulty hard drive (new).
I expect that you've tried the usual stuff - a clean
system reinstall; turning off unneeded extensions, etc.
Another possibility is a bad RAM module. However, it
could also be a motherboard issue. Let's hope not. It tends to be a
process of elimination, trial and error.
Charles
Editor's note: I haven't seen this specific problem, but at my last
IS job we ran into all sorts of network problems when we used the built
in ethernet on Quadras and Power Macs on 10/100 hubs and switches. The
solution was to only connect these Macs to 10Base-T hubs or install a
third-party ethernet card that supports 10Base-T and 100Base-T. Hope
this helps in this situation. dk
Re: Question for Misc. Ramblings: fragile
8600
From Jason Green
Thanks for the thoughts. I added 128 megs of RAM to bring the total
to 208. Since then, IE crashes from time to time, but I think that's
just IE. It now doesn't take the system with it.
Hi Jason,
The real cure is to use a decent browser.
;-)
Charles
Macintosh MTU for IP over Ethernet
From anonymous by request
See AppleCare Knowledge Base ID: 107474, Mac OS X 10.2:
How to Set the MTU Value During Startup.
This is a very detailed explanation. I have tried it, and it
works.
OS X on the beige G3
From Jay Prince
Greetings Charles,
In regards to Tim Larson's inability to get OS X to install on
his Beige G3, just a couple of hours ago I finished listening to Gene
Steinberg's (of The Mac Night
Owl) radio show of 5/9/03 (The Mac Night Owl LIVE). One of the
segments was an interview with Ryan Rempel, the author of XPostFacto,
which makes possible the installation of OS X on a number of
unsupported machines.
Part of the interview dealt with the fact that, for reasons not yet
known to Ryan at the time of the interview, XPostFacto has been
reported to make installing OS X possible on a number of otherwise
recalcitrant Beige G3s. This certainly sounds worth a try, especially
considering the cost - free. Go have a look around at:
http://eshop.macsales.com/OSXCenter/XPostFacto/
The Beige G3 is not mentioned on that page, but there is this:
"Version 2.2 of XPostFacto adds limited support for the original
PowerBook G3, the 3400, and the 2400."
Wishing you luck,
Jay
Addendum on XPostFacto, OS X, and the Beige
G3
From Jay Prince
Charles,
Oops! Just found several references to the Beige G3 by searching on
"Beige" on this page:
http://eshop.macsales.com/OSXCenter/XPostFacto/
framework.cfm?page=XPostFacto.html
Jay
OS X on Beige G3s...
From Peter da Silva
If Tim Larson doesn't know about OWC's program XPostFacto that
allows you to install OS X on "unsupported" hardware, he should
power over to macsales.com (I have no connection to these guys, other
than they've sold me a bunch of hardware and it's all worked, and
they're totally on top of the technology) and get it:
http://eshop.macsales.com/OSXCenter/XPostFacto/
Thanks guys.
Charles
Re: PowerBook ATA hard disk replacement
From Martin van Luijt
Hi Charles,
I think the USB-initialized drive is missing its (OS 9)
disk-driver. This means you cannot boot from it. You don't need the
driver for a USB drive; all disk-handling is defined in the USB Mass
Storage Protocol.
Under OS X, disc utility offers the option for adding/omitting a OS
9-style disk-driver when you connect an unformatted drive. I'm not sure
how OS 8/9 handles this.
regards,
Martin
Thanks for the info, Martin.
Charles
Boot floppy for an S900
Greetings Charles,
In regards to Kort Jackson's need to boot an S900 from a floppy, I'd
like to suggest the following. Go to
http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/
Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/
System/Mac_OS_8.1_Update/Disk_Tools_PPC./2012/charles-moore-picks-up-a-new-low-end-truck/.bin
to download the Disk Tools Floppy image, make a floppy from it on a
new or newly initialized floppy disk (you're going to need all the room
you can get, and the desktop files can get too large on floppies that
have been reused repeatedly), then go to
http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive/
Archive/cfg/cd-sunrise-22c.hqx
to download CD-Sunrise, a freeware CD-ROM driver that works with any
SCSI CD-ROM drive (it does not support audio or ISO CDs, though that's
of no concern here, just as it wasn't when it saved my bacon with an OS
install CD that wouldn't boot).
Copy CD-Sunrise to the Extensions Folder in the System Folder on the
Disk Tools Floppy you've just made. The Disk Tools Floppy PPC image
(from my OS 8.1 CD) has Disk First Aid 8.1, Drive Setup Lite 1.4DT, and
the System Folder on it with 40 K available; my Disk Tools Floppy disk
has those, plus CD-Sunrise, with 19 K available. CD-Sunrise takes 19 K
on the floppy, the 1 K difference presumably due to three additional
invisible files and/or two additional preference files on the physical
disk that aren't on the image (I've got them both open and have been
going back and forth constantly, comparing things and whatnot, trying
to be certain I'm getting this right; it's been a long time since I
made that floppy).
By the way, the OS 8.5 CD also has a Disk Tools Floppy image on
it.
Hope this helps,
Jay
Thanks, Jay.
Charles
S900 memory configuration problem...
From Peter da Silva
OWC has 200 MB SCSI drives, which should be large enough to fit a
minimum OS 9 install on, for $5. If Kort Jackson disconnects his
system disk and installs one of these (with a different SCSI address,
of course) instead and then boots with the CD-ROM in, it should boot
from the CD-ROM and let him install OS 9 onto this drive. Then
simply reattach the original drive, boot on this one, and do whatever
he needs to do.
http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?
ID=2923&Item=IBMWDS3200
Alternatively, he might find it worthwhile upgrading to a new drive
for not a lot more...
http://www.softwareandstuff.com/h_65gbhdrive.html
Thanks for the tips, Peter.
Charles
MacMail
From Adrian Abraham
Dear Charles,
Something quite upsetting happened to me recently and I though I
would share it with you:
My account at macmail.com was suspended, and when I wrote in to
their support, this is what they had to say:
Dear Customer,
Thank you for your e-mail.
As a part of our anti Spam
policy we have suspended your account due to suspicious E-mail
activity.
Regards
Technical Support
@MacMail
All my queries since that have been ignored. I had used that account
for communicating with my Mac friends and subscribing to the various lists from Low End Mac. After
losing my @mac.com and now @macmail.com, me thinks I shall have to
migrate and restrict all my e-mailing to the peecee. :( I hope
not anymore of your website following experience this.
Best Regards
Adrian Abraham
PS: Love your rants :)
Hi Adrian,
I queried a contact who has connections at MacMail,
and apparently the issue with your account was that you were sending
out bulk mailshots (perhaps a small email list?). This was probably
perfectly legitimate (I operate an email list [subscriber only]
myself). However, maintaining a mailing list or sending bulk mailshots
is not a permitted use of a MacMail account, as noted in the service's
Terms & Conditions.
MacMail's sysadmin told my contact that sending
"suspicious" emails does not automatically result in the suspension of
an account - there may be legitimate reasons for sending a message to
multiple recipients without wanting any to know the others. But the
overall pattern of usage of the account strongly indicated it fell
outside MacMail's permitted uses, so they exercised their right to
terminate the account.
Hope this helps explanatory wise at least.
Charles
Widescreen Wallpapers
From Dustin D
I was just reading the latest "'Book Review" and noticed a link to
Apple widescreen display wallpapers. There is a site that offers
similarly sized wallpapers for free (though the images there are a bit
more abstract) - http://www.akgames.net/
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