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MacTools Pro fixes "blinking question mark" startup bug: a follow-up

The report last time that MacTools Pro may be able to repair at least some disks that fall to the blinking question mark startup bug in Mac OS 8 - even when other utilities (such as Norton Utilities) fail - stimulated a good deal of reader response.

Jason Cowart writes that he was not surprised to learn about MacTools Pro's success: "In the past six months we've had three machines go down with different problems that Norton was unable to repair and that MacTools Pro was."

Damion Michaels echoed similar sentiment: "I wholeheartedly confirm that … Read more

Week-end updates

CopyThru 3.0, Fonts Manager 3.7.2, and GURU 2.5.1 have all been released. Their postings in MacFixIt's Download Library have been appropriately updated.

NameCleaner 1.7 is out. "NameCleaner is a utility for the Macintosh OS to manipulate file names and types. It is specially designed to help move files to and from foreign file systems such as MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows95, Windows NT, NetWare and Unix."

Hi's Universal Saver is a new auto-save utility.

Compression Contextual Menu Manager plug-in has been updated to version 1.0.1. This fixes a … Read more

PowerBook 3400 modem fix

O'Grady's PowerPage is reporting that a software fix for the disconnect problem with PowerBook 3400 modems ( see previous MacFixIt item) should be out soon.

Update: I have obtained a copy of these new drivers and will report back on how they work next time.

PowerBook 3400 and external modem issue Rob Costain had problems using his Global Village Teleport 33.6 Internet Edition using OT/PPP on a PowerBook 3400. The internal modem worked fine. He found that the GV modem would work if he disabled Mac OS 8's Internet Access Extension

CD-ROM ToolKit does not support … Read more

Odds & Ends

A reminder: Netscape Prefs Patch (as mentioned earlier this week): MacFixIt has posted Adam Wunn's fix for Navigator's Preferences STR glitch (that causes problems with registering protocols). It's called Netscape Prefs STR Patch. It includes instructions on why you may need it and how to use it. Check Adam's web page for more details.

Update: Adam writes: "A problem that causes the STR Patch to crash some computers has been identified and fixed. The crash occured when someone tried to patch a pref file that already had a STR#=2003." The link above now … Read more

Another one bites the dust...

Due to its failure to reach an agreement with Apple, Motorola has announced that it will discontinue its StarMax line of Mac OS compatibles by the end of this year (as reported in MacWEEK and other news sources). It will never ship the PowerPC 750 based system that was shown at Macworld Expo in Boston last August. In doing so, Motorola joins Power Computing's exit from the clone market. The difference is that Apple obviously has not purchased Motorola's assets. In fact, Motorola will still be selling the hardware needed to make Mac clones to other companies, such … Read more

More news on blinking question mark problems

MacTools Pro repairs blinking question mark problem? Rodney Simon claims that he was able to repair his PowerBase 240 that had the now infamous corrupted partition and blinking question mark at startup by using MacTools Pro, even though Norton Utilities and Disk First Aid were unsuccessful. He set up Mac OS 7.6 on an external drive to run MacTools.

Blinking question mark and Energy Saver On a related note, Benjamin Fiore had blinking question mark problems in Mac OS 8 that only occurred after a restart following waking his Mac 7300 up from sleep mode. He found that disabling … Read more

A RAM module glitch on the PowerBook 2400?

Greg Torok writes: "I just installed my NewerRam 32MB module in my PB2400 and (after a few nail- biting moments) figured out a problem and solution with my memory installation. On the NewerRam 32 MB modules there are 4 capacitor-looking thingies which stick up on the top of the module above the actual RAM chips. On installing my module these capacitors ended up resting against the metal cover under the left palmrest, grounding them out. The result was that when powering up the PowerBook it simply clicked and did nothing. I applied a couple of strips of plastic electrical … Read more

QuickTime Preferences file causes problems

Jason Miller had problems opening JPEG files in JPEGView 3.3.1 and Graphic Converter 2.9.1. "Every time I would try to open a JPEG file, my system would freeze." Trashing QuickTime Preferences (and possibly reinstalling the QuickTime software as well) solved the problem..

Gordon Webster found that "every time I loaded a diskette or CD ROM, the Finder would quit and restart." Once again, deleting the QuickTime Preferences file (as well as reinstalling the QuickTime Settings control panel) solved the problem.

RAM Doubler and VistaScan conflict; RAM Doubler/browser conflict note

Three readers (Andrew Gara, Ken, Ryzach and Walter Forlini) all concur that RAM Doubler 2.0.2 causes problems with UMAX's VistaScan 2.3 software for its scanners. Typically, a freeze occurs during a scan attempt in "auto" mode; "manual" mode appears to work okay.

Meanwhile, Eric Westby claims that the previously reported conflict between RAM Doubler and web browsers may be restricted to NuBus Power Macs.

ObjectSupportLib 1.2 and Type -41 errors

We have discussed on previous occasions possible problems with having an OSL file installed in your Extensions folder when running Mac OS 8 (technically, OSL is not needed as the software is built into the System). One specific problem attributable to this OSL glitch is Type -41 errors in the Finder immediately upon startup and/or shutdown. Based on recent items in the Apple Discussion Boards, this is currently under investigation by Apple.

I can personally attest to this problem, as it happened to me on two separate occasions. And as had been suggested by others, I not only had … Read more