Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

MacFixIt

Shut down freezes in Mac OS 7.6.1: a follow-up

Freezes that occur when shutting down can occur for avariety of reasons. We are trying to focus here on symptoms (and yes, I know that not everyone has these symptoms) that began only after updating to Mac OS 7.6.1 ( as mentioned previously). In that regard, readers have offered avariety of potential solutions. Here are a couple of the most promising ones:

a. RAM disk involved Initial reports suggested that many of these freezes were related to having a RAM disk installed. Turning off the RAM disk allowed shut down to proceed normally. Alex Maluta had this exact problem … Read more

While you are waiting for the foam strip for your 3400...

Dan Cochran claims to have found an (admittedly temporary) solution to the RAM seating problem in PowerBook 3400s - one that you can try while you wait for Apple to ship you an foam strip ( as described previously). The solution is to press the Control-Option-Command-Space keys down all at once (holding them down a bit firmly). To find out why this may work, click here.

Mac OS 7.6.1 Weirdness

a. MacFixit readers may recall the " Bluets and Granola Bars" startup message and system crash that first appeared in Mac OS 7.6. At the time, we were led to believe that this message was an unintended joke of sorts and would be removed from Mac OS 7.6.1 (whether or not the cause of the system crash that led to the message would also be cured was a separate issue!).

Well, it appears that the message has indeed been eliminated - although it has been replaced by another apparent attempt at humor. Peter Richard describes a … Read more

This week's episode of "As the Apple Peels"

Gil Amelio, Apple CEO, talks to customers about Apple's quarterly loss and why you should still be optimistic about Apple's future.

Meanwhile, an online petition has been started at a web site devoted to a grass-roots effort to stop Larry Ellison's attempt to take over Apple.

Apple Recon has some background coverage on Apple's own attempts to fend off Ellison. It also wants you to know (as stated on on a special web page) that it does not endorse the idea of taking all your money and buying Apple stock. (Whew! I am glad they warned … Read more

Screen capture enhancements in Mac OS 7.6.x: a reminder

Since the release of Mac OS 7.6.1, I have noticed several web sites make mention of the enhanced screen capture capabilities of the OS (such as Command-Shift-4 to select an area for capture) - although these enhancements were actually first introduced in Mac OS 7.6. Regular MacFixIt readers may recall that we first detailed all of this back around the time of the release of 7.6. Check the "What's new in Mac OS 7.6?" section of Troubleshooting Mac OS 7.6 page for the details.

Win some (TomeViewer); Lose some (AppleVision Recovery)

a. Several readers (including Salman Abdulali, Simon Wicker and Steve Graff) pointed out that the TomeViewer utility (mentioned last time) is available online - if you want to download a 2Mb developers' Installer SDK Tools package to get it. The package contains an assortment of utilities; TomeViewer (version 1.1.1b3) is one of them. To get it, click here or here.

b. The link to get the AppleVision Recovery software (as mentioned previously) no longer works. You now get a message that says no anonymous ftp access allowed. The link worked before I posted it. So my guess is … Read more

Mac OS 7.6.1 miscellany from MacInTouch

Yesterday's MacInTouch reported that "Mac OS 7.6.1 apparently supports third-party ATAPI CD-ROM drives, although it drops support for third-party SCSI CD-ROM drives."

Ric also posted a statement from Apple's David Schmitt (originally posted on comp.sys.mac.system) that helps explain the origin of the L2 cache problem - and why Apple did not detect it prior to release of Mac OS 7.6.1.

Week-End Updates

A unusually large collection of updates this week:

a. Fonts Manager 3.6.4 is now in the Download Library.

b. File Buddy 4.0.2 is now in the Download Library.

c. Sloop is a new MacOS shareware extension that "implements a unique window navigation strategy: cursor focusing. With cursor focusing, whatever window or application the mouse is over comes to the foreground without the need to click the mouse button."

d. Net Finder has been updated yet again. It's now up to 1.1.3

e. Cyberdog 2.0 is now available. It fixes a … Read more