myoldmac.net
- Macintosh F.A.Q.´s
Macintosh System Software
FAQ by Elliotte Rusty Harold
elharo@40macfaq.com
General informations about this
F.A.Q.
Subject: Macintosh system software frequently
asked questions (FAQ)
From: elharo@40macfaq.com (Elliotte
Rusty Harold)
Date: 5 Aug 1997 09:35:56 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system, comp.answers, news.answers
Summary: This document answers a number of the
most frequently asked questions about Macintoshes
on Usenet. To avoid wasting bandwidth and as
a matter of politeness please familiarize yourself
with this document BEFORE posting.
Archive-name: macintosh/system-faq
Version: 2.4.1
Last-modified: June 23, 1996 - with some notes by Oliver in
February 2005 (marked)
Maintainer: elharo@40macfaq.com (Elliotte
Rusty Harold)
URL: http://www.macfaq.com/systemfaq.html
Frequently Asked Questions about Macintosh
System Software
==========================================================
comp.sys.mac.faq, part 2: comp.sys.mac.system
Copyright 1993-1996 by Elliotte Harold
Please see section 5.8 of the general FAQ if
you wish to
redistribute, revise or republish this document
in any way.
Archive-name: macintosh/system-faq
Version: 2.4.1
Last-modified: June 23, 1996
Address comments to elharo@40macfaq.com
What's new in version 2.4.1:
----------------------------
Some minor changes to the setext
formatting
to facilitate automatic conversion to HTML.
2.5) Where can I get non-U.S. system software
and scripts?
This question has been updated to reflect the
release of
several new language kits and applications.
Note by Oliver in Feb. 2005:
2.3) Where can I get System 7.5?
This question has been updated to reflect the
release of the free
download version of System 7 and 7.5. - I added
the link to apple.com
FTP link to download System 7 and 7.5 update.
 Table
of Contents
=========================
I. Memory
1. Why is my system using so much memory?
2. What is MODE32? the 32-bit enabler? Do I need
them?
3. How much memory should I allot to my cache?
II. System Software
1. Why does Apple charge for system software?
2. What does System 7.5 give me for my $35/$50/$99
that System 7.1 doesn't?
3. Where can I get System 7.5?
4. How can I use System 6 on a System 7 only
Mac?
5. Non-US scripts and systems
6. What is System 7 Tuneup? System Update 3.0?
etc.? Do I need them?
7. Why do my DA's disappear when I turn on MultiFinder?
8. Do I need System 7.0.1?
9. Can I get System 7.0.1, 7.1 or 7.5 on 800K
disks?
10. Is there a version of UNIX for the Mac?
III. Hard Disk and File System Problems
1. Help! My folder disappeared!
2. Why can't I throw this folder away?
3. Why can't I share my removable drive?
4. Why can't I eject this SyQuest cartridge?
CD-ROM? etc.
5. Why can't I rename my hard disk?
6. How do I change my hard disk icon?
IV. Fonts
1. How do I convert between Windows fonts and
Mac fonts?
TrueType and PostScript?
2. What font will my screen/printer use when
different types
are installed?
3. Where should I put my fonts?
V. Miscellaneous:
1. What does System Error XXX mean?
2. What is a Type Y error?
3. What is A/ROSE?
4. Easy Access: One Answer, Many Questions
5. How can I keep multiple system folders on
one hard disk?
6. How do I access the programmer's key?
RETRIEVING THE ENTIRE
FAQ
=========================
This is the SECOND part of this FAQ. The first
part is also
posted at www.macfaq.com at
under the subject heading "Introductory
Macintosh frequently asked questions (FAQ)"
and includes a complete
table of contents for the entire document as
well as information on
where to post, ftp, file decompression, trouble-shooting,
preventive
maintenance and conditions for reproduction,
posting and use of this
document outside of Usenet. The third, fourth,
fifth and sixth parts
are posted every two weeks in comp.sys.mac.misc,
comp.sys.mac.apps,
comp.sys.mac.wanted and comp.sys.mac.hardware
respectively. Please
familiarize yourself with all six sections of
this document before
posting. All pieces are available for anonymous
ftp from
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/>
Except for the introductory FAQ which appears
in multiple
newsgroups and is stored as general-faq, the
name of each
file has the format of the last part of the group
name followed
by "-faq", e.g the FAQ for comp.sys.mac.system
is stored as
system-faq. You can also have these files mailed
to you
by sending an email message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with
the line:
send pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/name
in the body text where "name" is
the name of the file you want as
specified above (e.g. general-faq). You can also
send this server
a message with the subject "help" for
more detailed instructions.
For access via the World Wide Web use
<URL:http://www.macfaq.com/faqs.html>
 MEMORY
(1.0)
SYSTEM TAKING
UP MUCH MEMORY? (1.1)
--------------------------------------------------
 Under
system versions earlier than 7.0 or under System
7.x
without 32-bit addressing turned on the Mac cannot
access more than
eight megabytes of real memory. If you have more
physical RAM
installed, the Mac knows it's present but can't
do anything with it.
When About this Macintosh (About the Finder in
System 6) is selected
from the Apple menu, the system reports all the
memory it can't use
as part of the system memory allocation.
To use the memory you need to install System
7 and turn on
32-bit addressing in the Memory control panel.
If you have a Mac
with dirty ROMs (a II, IIx, SE/30, or IIcx) you
also need MODE32.
MODE32 is free from the mythical friendly neighborhood
dealer or
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/mode32.sit.bin>
The original Mac II also needs the FDHD ROM
upgrade to use 4 megabyte
or larger SIMMs in Bank A. Without it SIMMs larger
than one megabyte
can only be put in the second bank of memory
on a Mac II. If you're
staying with System 6, Maxima from Connectix
($45 street) allows you
to use up to fourteen megabytes of real memory
and can allocate
anything beyond that to a RAM disk.
If you have an LC or an LC II with four megabytes
of RAM
soldered to the motherboard, you still need to
add two four-megabyte
SIMM's to reach the ten megabyte maximum imposed
by the LC ROM.
This means you'll always have two unused megabytes
which About this
Macintosh and About the Finder report as part
of the system memory
allocation. Unfortunately there is no current
means of accessing
this extra memory.
If you've turned on 32-bit addressing or if
you have eight
megabytes or less of RAM, check your disk cache
(RAM cache in
System 6) in the Memory Control Panel (General
Control Panel in
System 6) to make sure it isn't set exceptionally
high. All
memory allotted to the cache comes out of the
System's
memory allocation.
Finally if you recently upgraded to System
7.1 by updating your
system software rather than by doing a clean
reinstall, (See question
4.6 in the general FAQ) you should move all fonts
out of your system
file as these can take up an extraordinary amount
of memory.
32-BIT
ENABLER? DO I NEED THEM? (1.2)
--------------------------------------------------
 MODE32
and the 32-bit enabler are system extensions
that allow
Mac II's, IIx's, IIcx's, and SE/30's to access
more than eight
megabytes of real memory under System 7. The
32-bit enabler is buggy
and doesn't work at all with System 7.0 or 7.5.
If you have more
than eight megabytes of real memory in an SE/30,
II, IIcx, or IIx,
(or eight megabytes and RAM Doubler) you need
MODE32. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/mode32.sit.bin>
MEMORY ALLOT TO CACHE?
(1.3)
--------------------------------------------------
One
of the Memory Control Panel (or General Control
Panel in
System 6) settings is the mysterious cache, Disk
Cache in System 7,
RAM cache in System 6. This is memory the system
sets aside to hold
frequently accessed data from the disk. The cache
acts like a 7-11
for your hard disk. It's quicker to get a quart
of milk at the 7-11,
but it costs more so you don't do all your shopping
there. And the
7-11 doesn't have everything you want so sometimes
you need to go
to the A&P (your hard disk) instead.
Unfortunately the caches in pre-7.5 system
software really aren't
all that fast. In these systems the RAM cache
would more appropriately
be called the RAM thief. Its effect on performance
seems to be much
like the canals of Mars. You have to want to
see it before you can.
The caching algorithm has allegedly been improved
in System 7.5 but
I haven't seen any hard evidence of that yet.
However there are a few applications and extensions
such as
Dayna DOSMounter that actually make use of the
cache and will run
much faster when it's turned on than when it's
off. Thus I recommend
setting your cache to 64K, turning it on, and
forgetting about it. I
hope that in 1995 most Macintoshes have enough
RAM that they don't
need to worry about losing 64K.
If, however, your Mac is a IIsi running a color
monitor from
the internal video, then you may possibly speed
up your Mac with an
appropriate cache setting. The IIsi and the IIci
use system RAM to
store the video image on your screen. (Other
Macs with internal
video have video RAM separate from the main system
RAM so this trick
doesn't apply to them.) The internal video competes
with the System
for use of this RAM; and that competition slows
down your Mac, just
like two children fighting in the back seat of
your car adds an hour
to the time it takes to get to the beach. To
stop the fighting a
smart parent will put one child in the front
seat and one in the back.
A smart Mac owner will put the internal video
in the front seat and
the system in the back seat. To push the system
out of the front seat
set a IIsi's cache to between 384K and 768K which
will take up all
the space in the front seat not occupied by the
internal video and
force the system to sit in the back. The exact
value depends on the
type of monitor you have installed. Experiment
to see what works
for you. Unfortunately this trick doesn't work
when virtual memory
is turned on, but if you're using virtual memory
you're probably more
concerned about saving memory than gaining speed
anyway. There's
also a bug in the System 6 cache code that may
cause a peformance
hit on disk access if the cache is larger than
128K so this trick is
more likely to help Macs running System 7, but
again experiment to
see what works for you.
SYSTEM SOFTWARE (2.0)
WHY DOES APPLE CHARGE...?
(2.1)
--------------------------------------------------
 Apple
charges for system software because Apple's policy
makers
suspect they'll make more money by charging for
it than by not
charging for it. Apple is a publicly held corporation
in a
capitalist economy where the law requires corporations
to make
reasonable attempts to maximize profits. To give
away something
Apple could make more money by charging for would
be a breach of
the fiduciary responsibility of Apple's Board
of Directors and
actionable by Apple stockholders in a court of
law.
Note from Oliver: Today you can download System
7.0 and the 7.5 update at apple.com
SYSTEM 7.5 GIVE ME...?
(2.2)
--------------------------------------------------
 Quite
a lot actually. You get Apple Guide, MacTCP,
the ability
to read DOS formatted floppy disks, a hierarchical
Apple menu, a
menu bar clock, QuickDraw GX, some new fonts,
drag and drop between
applications, background  floppy
formatting, a disk cache that
actually works, AppleScript and a scriptable
Finder, QuickTime 2.0,
and about fifty other features of varying utility.
There's no
feature that makes the upgrade a necessity, so
if you're happy with
your current system software and don't want to
spend $90 for these
new features don't. Most new software should
continue to work well
with System 7.0 and 7.1 for at least the next
year
Note from Oliver: Today you can download System
7.0 and the 7.5 update at apple.com
WHERE CAN I GET SYSTEM
7.5? (2.3)
--------------------------------------------------
Apple rationalized its decision to begin charging
for system
software by claiming that most people had been
unable to get system
software updates from online sources or authorized
dealers (and of
course they rationalized their refusal to authorize
low-price mail
order dealers by claiming that Macs require dealer
support) and by
claiming that charging for system software will
make retailers more
willing to stock Apple system software and thus
make it easier to
obtain. This denies the reality that System 7.0
was in fact readily
available from the primary sources of payware
Mac software as well
as being freely available online. And I doubt
a full-page ad for
System 7.0 in the software catalogs costs Apple
any more than an ad
for System 7.5. This rationalization also ignores
how previously
in large organizations only one person needed
to be able to get
the system software from a dealer, online, or
bundled with a
new CPU before others could freely and legally
copy it. So,
despite Apple's protests to the contrary, it
is now harder to
get a current copy of the system software thus
creating a FAQ
where there was none before.
The easiest way to get System 7.5 is to visit
your local
software retailer and buy it for about $99 (though
I've seen
it as low as $90 and as high as $129 so shop
around). You can
also order it from all the usual mail-order houses
like Mac Zone.
It comes in two versions, one on high density
floppy disks and one
on CD-ROM that also includes a couple of Peirce
Printing Tools
extensions for QuickDraw GX. Both of these versions
include
an upgrade manual.
Note from  Oliver:
Today you can download System 7.0 and the 7.5
update at apple.com
HOW CAN I USE SYSTEM 6
....? (2.4)
--------------------------------------------------
 The
PowerBook 100, Classic II, LCII, Performa 200,
and Performa
400 all work with System 6.0.8L, a special foreign
version of System
6.0.8 that was hacked together because these
machines beat many of
the internationalized versions of System 7 to
market. I do not know
where you can find System 6.0.8L. If anyone does
know please tell
me, and I'll add it here.
WHERE CAN I GET NON-U.S.
SYSTEM.. (2.5)
--------------------------------------------------
 For
a company that's relatively hip to the international
marketplace
Apple certainly has a difficult time comprehending
that its
customers might need to work with more than one
language. A
recent call to the Apple Customer Assistance
Center support line
revealed that system software is available only
in the country
of origin. The support rep was unable even to
provide contact
information for distributors in countries outside
the United
States. What the support rep didn't know (but
I do) is that most
international versions of System 7.0.1 are available
for anonymous
ftp from
<URL
- ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/> (shorten
URL)
Your best chance to get Korean system software
or any
international version of System 7.1 is to have
a friend in
the appropriate country mail you the software.
If you want to work with multiple languages
but don't
need an entire foreign system, you first need
to upgrade to at
least System 7.1, the first truly international
operating system.
System 7.1 includes numerous hooks to support
multiple languages.
After installing System 7.1 the first thing you'll
want are keyboards,
fonts, and script systems that let you write
in your language of
choice. Many international keyboard layouts are
included in
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/ManyInternationalKeyboards.sit.bin>
A number of Roman keyboards are also included
with System 7.5.
Apple's Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Cyrillic,
Hebrew and Arabic
(including Farsi) Language Kits are available
from the usual
sources including MacConnection (1-800-800-2222)
for a little
less than $200 each. See
<URL:http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/korean.html>
<URL:http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/japanese.html>
<URL:http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/hebrew.html>
<URL:http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/chinese.html>
<URL:http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/arabic.html>
<URL:http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/cyrillic.html>
 No
other language kits are available as of June,
1996. So once
again if you want to work in Icelandic, Turkish
or something else,
you need to have a friend in the appropriate
country send you
the software. Note from Oliver: now more are
available - look at:
Application software that supports your language
of choice is also
nice to have. Currently the only fully WorldScript
savvy word
processors are Nisus Writer 4.15 and WorldWrite
3.0. (SimpleText
is WorldScript savvy, but only supports text
up to 32K in size.)
Nisus Writer supports Western European languages
and Japanese.
With an extra cost ADB dongle it can also work
in Arabic, Chinese,
Korean, Farsi and most Eastern European languages.
WorldWrite
3.0 supports all the Apple Language Kits including
Japanese,
Chinese, Cyrillic, Hebrew and Arabic. No dongle
is needed.
$189 bundles are available with your choice of
Apple's Cyrillic,
Hebrew or Arabic language kit.
<URL:http://www.worldsoft.com>
<URL:http://www.nisus-soft.com>
Several other products including ClarisWorks
4.0 and WordPerfect 3.5
support WorldScript I languages (That is, right-to-left
systems
like English and Chinese) but not left-to-right,
WorldScript II
languages like Hebrew and Arabic.
WHAT IS SYSTEM 7 TUNEUP?
SYS UPDATE 3.0?
--------------------------------------------------
If you use System 7.0, 7.0.1, or the System
7.0 printer drivers,
you need System
7 Tuneup 1.1.1. The tuneup includes a number
of
fixes and enhancements to System 7, including
substantially faster
printer drivers, a StyleWriter driver that supports
background
printing, a fix that saves several hundred kilobytes
of memory on
non-networked Macs, and, most importantly, a
vaccine for the
disappearing folders bug.
If you're using System 7.1, 7.1 Pro or 7.1.2,
then you should
install System Update 3.0 instead, available
from
<URL>
This replaces all the various System Software
Updates and Hardware System
Updates. None of these are necessary for System
7.5.
If you're using System 7.5 you should install
System 7.5 Update 2.0
instead. You can get it from
<URL>
This will bring you to System 7.5.3. Next you
should install the
System 7.5.3 Revision 2 update, available from
<URL>
WHY DO MY DA'S DISAPPEAR
.. (2.7)
--------------------------------------------------
You need to put the file "DA Handler"
in your System Folder. It
should be on one of your System 6.0.x disks.
Under Finder the Desk
Accessories load into the memory provided by
your application.
Under MultiFinder they load into their own memory
space provided
by DA Handler.
DO I NEED SYSTEM 7.0.1?
(2.8)
--------------------------------------------------
Officially if you don't have a Quadra or PowerBook,
you don't
need System 7.0.1. Unofficially some changes
were made that speed
up SANE (numerics) operations on 32-bit clean
Macintoshes with a
floating-point coprocessor. These include all
IIci's and IIfx's plus
LC's and IIsi's that have had a coprocessor specially
installed.
(Neither of the latter machines ships with a
coprocessor.) See
<URL>
SYSTEM 7.0.1, or 7.5 ON
800K DISKS? (2.9)
--------------------------------------------------
 As
of this writing Apple has not made any system
software after
7.0 available on 800K floppy disks, and it is
unlikely that they
will ever do so. You can still install System
7.5 from a CD-ROM.
If you can somehow get copies of the floppy
disks onto your hard
drive, either via a friend's machine with an
external hard disk or
through a network, you can install from that
hard disk. On your
friend's machine drag the icon for each floppy
disk onto the hard
drive you'll use to do the install. The Finder
will make copies
of the contents of each disk and put them in
folders labelled
"Disk 1," "Disk 2," and so on. Place all the disk folders
in
another folder, and label that folder "Net
Install". Then open the
Disk 1 folder, take out the installer application
and script and
place it at the top level of your Net Install
folder. If
necessary you now need to shut down your friend's
Mac and move
their external hard drive to your Mac. Once the
hard drive has
been connected to the Mac on which you want to
install the new
system software, launch the installer.
You can also use the free utility ShrinkWrap
to mount the images of
the 1400K System 7.0.1 disks on your hard drive
and install from the
image rather than a floppy. Be warned, however,
that installing
system software from mounted images is a notoriously
unreliable
procedure. Be sure you make a complete backup
of your hard disk and
have a set of system disks on genuine floppies
before attempting to
install from mounted images. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/ShrinkWrap.sit.bin>
VERSION OF UNIX FOR THE
MAC? (2.10)
--------------------------------------------------
 Does
anyone really understand Apple's Unix strategy?
If so will you
please explain it to me? As I understand it,
A/UX, Apple's well-
respected Unix product of long standing, has
been killed in favor
of IBM's roundly despised AIX. A/UX has been
officially discontinued
and is not supported on most current hardmare
except for some WorkGroup
Servers. Nonetheless you can still buy it and
run it on almost any Mac.
AIX, the new "official" Apple Unix
cannot be bought for and will not
run on any Apple hardware. Does this leave you
confused? If so you're not
alone. For more information about A/UX see Jim
Jagielski's FAQ list at
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.unix.aux/>
MachTen from Tenon is a commercial Unix-like
overlay for the MacOS.
Send email to info@tenon.com or see
<URL:http://www.tenon.com/>
for more details. Because MachTen uses the
MacOS filesystem, it has
problems dealing with things like hard links.
It's close enough for
many people, though. In particular it's useful
for DNS, NNTP,
multihomed Web sites and other Internet server
functions that cannot
be handled reliably under the MacOS.
There are development versions of both NetBSD
and Linux for the Mac.
Neither is suited for anything more than the
developers at this time.
If you're interested in working on the port,
see
<URL:http://www.mklinux.apple.com/>
for more information.
HARD DISK AND FILE SYSTEM PROBLEMS (3.0)
HELP! MY FOLDER DISAPPEARED!
(3.1)
--------------------------------------------------
 Try
a Find on the missing filenames. In the meantime
grab Disk First Aid 7.2 from ftp.support.apple.com
which
should be able to fix this problem. See
<URL>
CAN'T I THROW AWAY THIS
FOLDER? (3.2)
--------------------------------------------------
 Possibly
the folder contains items that are locked or
in use and
can't be thrown away. Turn off file-sharing (if
it's on) and quit
all applications. Then try to throw the folder
away. If that
doesn't work and you're using System 6, hold
down the option-key and
drag the folder into the trash; or, if you're
using System 7, hold
down the option key while selecting "Empty
Trash" from the special
menu. Holding the option key down lets you throw
away locked items.
If that doesn't work restart the computer, hold
down the option key,
and try again. If you still can't throw away
the folder, try
throwing away the items in the folder (if any)
one by one until you
find the ones giving you trouble. Remove them
from the folder, and
then throw the folder away. If you still can't
throw the folder
away, you've discovered a "Folder from Hell."
Create an empty folder
on *ANOTHER* disk with the same name as the Hell
Folder. Then copy the
new folder onto the same disk in the same folder
as the Hell Folder.
Click "Yes" when asked if you want
to replace the Hell Folder. Now
you should be able to throw the just copied folder
away. If that
doesn't work, get a copy of John Jeppson's HellFolderFix
utility from
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/HellFolderFix.sit.bin>
CAN'T I SHARE MY DRIVE?
(3.3)
--------------------------------------------------
 Apple
originally planned to treat removables like floppies
rather than hard disks for file-sharing. At the
requests of beta
testers file-sharing on removables was hacked
into System 7.0 at
the last minute. However, since file-sharing
was originally to be
implemented only on fixed drives, no means were
created for the
host Mac to tell other Macs when a new volume
went on or off-line.
Therefore sharing a removable volume requires
that the disc or
cartridge be inserted and mounted when filesharing
is turned
on. Turn filesharing off and on with the drive
powered up and
the cartridge inserted and you should then be
able to share
the removable.
WHY CAN'T I EJECT THIS
? (3.4)
--------------------------------------------------
 When
file-sharing is turned on it makes all disks
larger
than two megabytes available for remote access
by the owner even
if they aren't specifically shared. This prevents
the dismounting
of removable media. Turn off file-sharing first.
Then drag the
volume icon to the trash. Apple's recently released
free utility
UnmountIt will do this automagically, i.e. turn
off file-sharing,
eject the disk, and then turn file-sharing back
on. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/UnmountIt.sit.bin>
WHY CAN'T I RENAME MY
HARD DRIVE? (3.5)
--------------------------------------------------
Turn
off file-sharing as described above. If the disk
you can't
rename is not shared, you need to unlock the
drive name. This can
be done by Kazu Yanagahira's freeware utility
Unlock Folder or by
Disk First Aid 7.2. See
<URL - Disk
First Aid 7.2 >
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/UnlockFolder.sit.bin>
HOW DO I CHANGE MY HARD
DISK ICON? (3.6)
--------------------------------------------------
 In
System 7 you change the icon by cutting or copying
an icon
from somewhere, Getting Info on the hard drive,
and pasting the
icon into the Get Info box.
If the normal pasting of an icon onto your
hard drive fails,
you'll need to perform some simple software repairs.
You will
need a utility capable of changing information
bits on files
and volumes such as ResEdit, the $10 shareware
FileTyper 4.0,
or the payware DiskTop. See
<URL
for ResEdit at ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/FileTyper.sit.bin>
First turn the "Has Custom Icon" bit
on the hard drive OFF. This
may be all you need to do so try pasting a new
icon again. If this
still doesn't work, you need to delete the old
icon first. This
icon is stored in a file called Icon\r on the
root level of your
hard disk. (This file may have a different name
in some
international systems. For instance in the Danish
system it's
called Symbol\r.) Since the Icon\r file is invisible
you'll need
to turn the Invisible bit of the file off to
make the file visible.
Then trash it. Next create an empty folder, Get
Info..., on the
folder and paste the icon you want for your hard
drive in the
folder's Get Info box. Make the Icon\r file inside
that folder
visible and move it to the root level of your
hard drive. (You can
do this by dragging the file onto the icon of
your hard disk.) Now
make the file invisible again. Use your utility
to turn the "Has
Custom Icon" bit ON. Finally restart the
computer and rebuild
the desktop.
In System 6 you must use the hard drive formatting
software
to give the hard drive a new icon. You'll be
limited to the
icons included with the formatter. You may be
able to edit the
icons included with the formatter using a resource
editing tool
like ResEdit.
 FONTS
(4.0)
WINDOWS AND MAC FONTS?
(4.1)
--------------------------------------------------
Chris Reed's $10 shareware TTConverter 1.5
will convert back
and forth between Windows and Macintosh TrueType
fonts. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/TTConverter.sit.bin>
The payware programs FontMonger ($95 street)
and MetaMorphosis
($89 street) convert between all types of TrueType
and PostScript
fonts. On the PC side the REFONT program available
from
<URL:ftp://jasper.ora.com/pub/mac-font-tools/refont14.zip>
will convert Macintosh Truetype fonts to PC
TrueType fonts and
vice-versa. It also converts Macintosh PostScript
fonts to PC
PostScript fonts and vice-versa. It will not,
however, convert
between PostScript fonts and TrueType fonts.
FONT MY SCREEN/PRINTER
USE? (4.2)
--------------------------------------------------
 For
screen display a Mac first looks for a bitmap
font with the
appropriate name in the appropriate size. If
it finds it, it uses
it. If you're running System 7 or have installed
the TrueType init
in System 6, your Mac then looks for the the
appropriate TrueType
font. If it can't find the TrueType font and
ATM is installed,
it then looks for the appropriate PostScript
outline font. As a
penultimate resort your Mac will scale a bitmap
font to the needed
size. Finally, if all else fails and the Mac
simply cannot find
any member of the requested family, then the
display will use the
default font, Geneva on U.S. systems, possibly
something else on
international systems.
On a QuickDraw printer (ImageWriter, DeskWriter,
StyleWriter,
etc.) the Mac normally looks for fonts in the
same order it does
for the screen. However on some printers in some
modes it may
look for a larger size of the requested font
so it can scale
the font down to match the higher resolution
of the printer.
A PostScript printer looks for fonts in a different
order. First
it looks for a PostScript outline font on the
printer's hard drive
(if any). Then it looks for the font in the printer's
ROM. Then it
looks for the PostScript font on the computer's
hard disk. If the
printer can't find an appropriate PostScript
outline font, then it
will use a TrueType font. If it can't find the
TrueType font,
it looks for a bitmap of the font. Finally if
it can't find
any version of the font anywhere, it substitutes
Courier with
predictably horrible results.
WHERE SHOULD I PUT MY
FONTS? (4.3)
--------------------------------------------------
If
you're using System 7.1 or later the answer is
simple:
Put all fonts (Truetype, PostScript outline,
QuickDraw GX and bitmap)
in the Fonts folder inside the System Folder.
You can put them other
places (the Extensions folder, the System Folder
itself, the system file)
but there's no good reason to do so. In particular
storing fonts in the
system file unnecessarily is a common cause of
system file corruption
and all sorts of hard to diagnose problems. When
you upgrade to
System 7.1 or later, be sure to remove all fonts
from the system file.
If you're using a system older than 7.1, TrueType
fonts and
bitmaps belong in your System file. In System
7.0 and 7.0.1
PostScript outline fonts go in the Extensions
folder. In System 6
PostScript outline fonts belong in the System
Folder.
Many older versions of font and printer utilities
like ATM
and SendPS cannot find fonts placed in System
7.1's Fonts folder.
Most of these utilities will work if you put
your printer fonts
in the Extensions folder or System folder instead.
However in
all cases I'm aware of upgrades to these utilities
that work
with the Fonts folder are either cheap (under
$10) or free.
MISCELLANEOUS (5.0)
WHAT DOES SYSTEM ERROR
XXX MEAN? (5.1)
--------------------------------------------------
 Typically
it means nothing at all of any use to the end
user.
Your time is much more productively spent trying
to figure out what
actions in which application caused the crash
so that you can avoid
them in the future rather than deciphering system
error numbers.
After all, knowing that Error 16 means a math
coprocessor is not
installed doesn't help you much in fixing the
problem. Knowing that
this happens in QuarkXPress 3.0 every time you
try to link two text
boxes on a master page when copies of those text
boxes already
contain text does. (And in this case the error
message isn't even
accurate.) If you really want to know what that
number means, get
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Chiron.sit.bin>
WHAT IS A TYPE Y ERROR?
(5.2)
--------------------------------------------------
 A
Type error is your Macintosh's way of telling
you that it's
sick and plans to take a nice vacation in Belview
for a few days.
Among developers Type errors are officially known
as DS errors where
DS stands for "Deep Spaghetti" (though
a somewhat more colorful
expression is often used in place of "Spaghetti").
Your
applications are toast. Any unsaved data is lost.
Once you've
been hit with a Type error there's absolutely
nothing you can do
about it. You'll probably need to restart your
Macintosh either
by hitting the programmer's key or by turning
the Mac off and on
if the programmer's key isn't installed.
 The
most common type errors are Type 1 and Type 3.
Type 1 is
a bus error. It's most commonly symptomatic of
software that isn't
32-bit clean. A Type 3 error is an illegal instruction.
It's most
often symptomatic of poorly written software.
You may occasionally
be able to avoid Type 1 errors by turning 32-bit
addressing on or off
or by turning the cache on or off if you have
a 68040 Mac. Otherwise
there is almost nothing you can do about these
errors except try to
find out what actions, applications, and/or extensions
cause them
so you can report them to the programmer and
avoid them in the
future. There is no point posting about Type
errors to the net.
WHAT IS A/ROSE? (5.3)
--------------------------------------------------
 A/ROSE
by any other name would still generate as much
pointless
net traffic. Apple's Realtime Operating System
Environment is not
needed by 99.9% of the people who stumble across
it. It's only
needed if you have an MCP NuBus card of which
there were about
six at last count. The only even moderately common
one is Apple's
short Ethernet NuBus card. If you don't have
such a card, feel
free to trash A/ROSE.
EASY ACCESS (5.4)
--------------------------------------------------
 Easy
Access is a *WONDERFUL* system extension from
Apple, useful
for far more than its intended purpose. Unfortunately
it's also the
source of a lot of confusion and strange behavior
on many Macs. It's
even been suggested that anti-virals should detect
and report the
presence of Easy Access since it produces more
false virus reports
than any other software in Macintosh history.
If you're using
System 7, your Mac will emit an ascending whistle
for about two
seconds when Easy Access is turned on and a descending
whistle
when Easy Access is turned off. You may also
hear a beep after
some keypresses.
Easy Access has two pieces, Sticky Keys, which
is turned on by
hitting the Shift key five times in a row without
moving the mouse,
and Mouse Keys which is turned on by hitting
Command-Shift-Clear.
Sticky Keys lets you type things like Command-Shift-Clear
without
doing the Rose Mary Wood shuffle. Just hit the
modifer keys you
want to use and then hit the regular key. For
example if Sticky Keys
is turned on, you could also turn on Mouse Keys
by typing Command,
then Shift, then Clear rather than by hitting
them all at once.
When Sticky Keys is turned on an icon appears
in the menu bar
to the right of the application icon/menu. Mouse
Keys lets the
numeric keypad substitute for the mouse. This
is especially useful
for making precision, single-pixel adjustments
in draw and paint
programs and for safely shutting down or restarting
your computer
when the mouse is frozen.
MULTIPLE SYSTEMS ON ONE
HARD DISK? (5.5)
--------------------------------------------------
  By
far the best way is to divide your disk into
multiple
partitions, one partition for each system folder.
Then use your
formatting software to select the partition to
boot from. This
will, however, trash everything on your hard
disk so back up first.
Soft partitions like those created by Norton
Utilities and other
utility packages are not nearly as reliable or
safe for your data
as hard partitions created by a disk formatter
like Drive7.
If you don't want to repartition your hard
drive, you can keep
compressed archives of system folders you might
want to use on your
hard disk. To switch system folders you'll need
to boot off a
floppy or a second hard disk, compress the old
system folder, and
uncompress the new one. Just be sure that when
you boot your Mac
there's not more than one uncompressed System
Folder on any one
drive.
Finally if you absolutely must keep multiple,
bootable system
folders on the same hard disk, Keisuke Hara's
freeware System
Switcher 1.1 or Kevin Aitken's System Picker
1.0.1 will adjust
the boot blocks of the hard disk so you can pick
which one your
Mac will boot off from. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SystemSwitcher.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SystemPicker.sit.bin>
If you put a copy in the Startup Items folder
of your System 7
system folder, and specify it as a startup item
in System 6,
then whenever you start up you'll be offered
a choice of systems.
ACCESS THE PROGRAMMER'S
KEY? (5.6)
--------------------------------------------------
On Macs that don't have a physical programmer's
switch you
can restart the computer with Command-Control-Power
and drop
into the debugger with Command-Power. Also note
that in System 7
Command-Option-Escape will force most applications
(including
the Finder) to quit so you no longer need to
activate the debugger
just to kill a frozen application.
Elliotte Rusty Harold
elharo@40macfaq.com
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