The following articles are from the VMeg Connection, Volume 13, Number 10, October,
2000 and as indicated in each of bylines. VMeg is the newsletter of the Visalia Macintosh
Enthusiasts Group, in Visalia, CA.
VMEG is on the Internet so please visit their Home Page, which is maintained by past
HIDACC member, Bill Maurer. The VMEG site is up-to-date with links to take you to
a multitude of sites that provide the what, when, where, why and how for Macintosh
computer related information. The URL for VMeg is: http://www.ocsnet.net/vmeg
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Processor Upgrades: Good, Bad,
or Ugly?
By Bob LeVitus levitus@maccentral.com
To upgrade or not to upgrade CPU upgrades are all the rage these days. A lot of people
ask me, "is it worth it to upgrade my old Mac?" Not to mention about a
dozen other questions about CPU upgrades. So I've put together a little Upgrade Q
& A for your enjoyment and edification:
Q: What is a CPU upgrade, anyway? A: A CPU upgrade,
often called a processor upgrade, allows you to swap your older PowerPC processor
for a newer, faster one.
Q: What exactly does it speed up? A: Almost everything.
Programs will launch and run faster. Calculations will calculate faster. Scrolling
and almost everything else you do will be faster.
Q: How much do they cost? A: The faster the upgrade,
the more you pay. I found prices ranging from as low as $199 for a 350 MHz G3 with
512 K cache to as much as $749 for a 450 MHZ G4 with1 MB cache.
Q: How hard is it to install one? A: Not hard.
Most of the ones I've seen have decent enough instructions. On a blue and white Mac
I can do the whole thing in about five minutes. My older beige G3 sometimes takes
a bit longer but not much. Some upgrades also require you to install software. This
is usually no trouble (see below). If you're really squeamish, your local Mac dealer
should be able to do it for you.
Q: Which Macs are upgradeable? A: Most Macs built
in the last few years, with the exception of iBooks and iMacs, are upgradeable. Many
Mac clones (of course, Mac clones are no longer available) are also upgradeable.
Q: How can I find out if my
particular Mac is upgradeable? A: Visit the Web sites of the major players:
Newer Technology, XLR8, Sonnet, and PowerLogix. They all make G3 and G4 upgrades
for most recent PowerPC 604 and G3 models.
Search for your Mac model and see what each one offers.
Q: So what are the down sides? A: Sometimes things
go wrong and your Mac is dead after the installation. After opening and rebooting
your Mac a few times, you may start to wish you had left things well enough alone.
It doesn't happen that often, but you are performing brain surgery on your Mac.
I remember I tried one XLR8 upgrade which required you to install an extension. The
extension caused my Mac to hang. It took me a while to track down a software update
that worked for me.
The point is, even though it doesn't happen that often, if things go wrong it could
take hours (or days) to get things working smoothly again.
Another thing to consider: If you install a CPU upgrade and your Mac gets "wonky"
a few months later, you have more people who could potentially point fingers at each
other. In other words, a CPU upgrade can make troubleshooting a bit more complicated.
Finally, the older your Mac, the less effective a CPU upgrade is. Your CD-Rom drive,
hard disk, system bus (the internal pathways for data inside your Mac), and other
components are still old and slow. This can make a big difference in how fast your
upgrade makes your Mac feel.
At some point it makes more sense to sell your old Mac for whatever you can get for
it and buy a new Power Mac G4. (Hey, they start at just $1,599 these days, did you
know that?) But if you're looking for a quick fix that won't strain the budget much,
a CPU upgrade may be just the ticket.
Bob LeVitus is a leading authority on the Mac OS and the author of 34 books including
Mac OS 9 For Dummies, AppleWorks 6 For Dummies, and Mac Answers: Second Edition."
E-mail questions or comments to <levitus@maccentral.com>. (Reprinted from Mouse
Droppings)
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Clean System Install Info from
Apple's Technical Information Library
By Don Mayer
A great resource for technical information on the Mac is Apple's Technical Information
Library (TIL). You'll find it at <http://til.info.apple.com/>. Nine times out
of ten, the problem that you are having with your Mac is the subject of an article
at the TIL. Often when I troubleshoot a customer's problem that is new to me, I will
surf over to the library with the customer on the phone and, using Apple's search
engine, find an article by Apple engineers that addresses that issue. It's always
the first place I look for troubleshooting help.
I ran across a new revision of an article at the TIL that I thought you might find
interesting. It discusses when and how to do a "clean" install of your
Mac OS. Doing a clean install is frequently the advice that is given for any number
of reported problems. Having done a few clean installs myself, I understand that
it is not a trivial matter, especially if you are using a number of different software
packages.
When I do a clean install, I usually go back to my distribution CDs for my important
software and reinstall them from CD, rather than dragging over extensions and preference
files. Many, many times the failure of a particular software program can be traced
to a corrupted preference file, and it certainly doesn't do any good to go to the
trouble of doing a clean install only to drag over and replace that corrupted preference
file!
Here's what Apple has to say about doing a clean install:
What is a clean installation? A
standard system software installation modifies and updates the existing System Folder.
A clean installation disables the existing System Folder, leaving all files in place,
and directs the Installer to create a new System Folder. The old System Folder will
be renamed "Previous System Folder," and from there you can drag any fonts,
preferences, or other necessary files to the new System Folder. It is recommended
that you drag as few items as possible, since some items in the previous System Folder
may be the cause of your difficulties.
A clean system installation brings the system software back to the standard configuration.
This is necessary when system software has been damaged or modified, preventing a
normal installation. It is also useful as a final step in troubleshooting.
When to perform a clean installation? A clean
installation may be appropriate in the following circumstances:
1) When crashes occur either during system startup or after startup is complete
2) When the Mac OS installer fails to complete
3)To fix a flashing question mark on startup
4) When the System Folder has become cluttered with unneeded or unfamiliar software
In most of these instances a clean installation should not be the first step
in troubleshooting. The more premature a clean installation, the less productive
it will be in identifying the source of the trouble. Use the following procedures
to help you deter-mine whether a clean installation is appropriate. Taking the time
up front to locate the source of the issue will save you time in the long run.
Crashes during startup:
1)Hold down the Shift key while starting up the computer to disable extensions.
If the computer fails to start up, there may be an issue with the core system software.
-
2) Start up from a known-good system disk, such as the system software CD that
came with the computer, a bootable floppy disk, or a bootable external hard drive.
If starting up from another system disk succeeds, the system on the hard disk is
damaged.
3) Perform a clean installation. Exception: If the computer starts up to a Type
-41 error with extensions off, the issue is probably with the Finder alone. Instead
of performing a clean installation, drag the Finder file from the System Folder to
the Trash, then perform a regular installation over the existing System Folder.
Crashes while using a particular program or during program
installation:
1) Start up from a known-good system disk, such as the system software CD that
came with the computer, a bootable floppy disk, or a bootable external hard drive.
If certain extensions are needed to run the program you are testing, start up from
a disk or CD that contains the necessary extensions.
2) Run the program to see if it crashes with known-good system software. If you
cannot reproduce the troublesome behavior, your system software may be damaged. There
may be a fault with the core system software that affects system stability.
3) Perform a clean installation.
Crashes during operating system installation. A Mac
OS Installer failure may occur when a clean installation is needed:
1) Disconnect or turn off all peripherals except the keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
2) Perform a clean installation.
Flashing question mark at startup:
1) Start up from a known-good system disk, such as the system software CD that
came with the computer, a bootable floppy disk, or a bootable external hard drive.
2) Look in the System Folder for files named System and Finder. Some computers
(for example, an iMac) also include a file named Mac OS ROM.
3) Use Sherlock (Find File) to locate the files if they are not found in the
System Folder.
4) Move the files back to the root level of the System Folder by dragging them
onto the closed System Folder.
5) Restart.
6) If the computer still fails to start up successfully, confirm that the System
Folder is "blessed" by looking at the closed System Folder icon on the
hard drive. If it does not have a small Happy Mac face or Macintosh computer icon
superimposed upon it, open the System Folder, then close it and check again. If the
System Folder icon still does not appear as described, use Find File to search for
"System Folder." There should be only one System Folder on a Macintosh
volume. If there is more than one on the same volume (not on different volumes),
give the other System Folder(s) a different name, then restart.
7) If the computer still fails to restart successfully, one or more of the system
files may be damaged.
8) Open the System Folder and double-click on the System file to open it. If
it opens successfully, perform a clean installation; otherwise, drag the System file
from the System Folder to the Trash, then perform a regular installation over the
existing System Folder.
System Folder cluttered:
After many program installations and removals, the System Folder can become cluttered
with extensions and other files that are of uncertain origin or that may no longer
be needed. This creates wasted storage space and RAM. Clean installations performed
for this reason are done for convenience, not necessity.
Reprinted from Savannah MUG's MacMonitor. Don Mayer <don@smalldog.com>
writes for Small Dog Electronics at <http:// www.smalldog.com>. (Reprinted
from Mouse Droppings)
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Everyday Questions, Everyday Answers
Excerpts from the CMUG Help List: JPEGs demystified
QUESTION: I want to send photos to PC platform recipients.
What do I do? (Photos are in Photoshop JPEG format).
ANSWER: You can send your photo in the same JPEG format that it's in now. There are
three precautions I recommend that you take to ensure that your PC pals get them
correctly:
1) Make sure the filename ends in ".jpg." Macs can handle all kinds
of file names and file types automatically and with aplomb, for the most part; Windoze
users aren't so lucky. Making sure the filename ends in ".jpg" will let
Windoze know that the file is a JPEG. So the photo's name should be "filename.jpg"
(substitute whatever name you wish for the "filename" part, but keep the
name fairly short. It's best to make it eight letters or less, in case you send it
to an older PC).
2) Send it without compression. Macs generally use Aladdin's free "Stuffit"
engine and, while the freebie version has been made available to PC users and Mac
users alike, there are many PC users who don't have it. So choose "No Compression"
for this option. It will take a little longer to send, but your recipient will be
spared the process of trying to figure out how to decompress it.
3) Set file encoding to "Base64." Your photo will be broken down into
packets for transmission over the Internet. All packets sent over the Internet need
to be encoded and, naturally, the receiving computer has to be able to decode them
on the other end. Although I have seen recommendations for various encodings, I have
found that "Base64" works most reliably for PC's.
You didn't indicate which e-mail client you use. If you're using Claris E-mailer,
you can set the compression and encoding preferences on a message-by-message basis
by clicking on the paper-clip icon in the new message window.
If you're using Outlook Express, you'll have to:
1) set your program preferences (options) to the encoding and compression settings
above.
2) make up the message.
3) attach the file.
4) send it.
5) go back to your program preferences (options) and change them back.
Be sure to set the preferences first and then make up the message (with the attached
photo). If you make up the message first and then set your preferences, Outlook Express
will still use the preferences that were in effect when the message was composed,
not the ones in effect when it was sent. Ah, the wonders of Microsoft!!
An additional e-mail answer about JPEGs ANSWER: Your machine, system software and
RAM certainly seem adequate. But the JPEG files are not opened in E-mailer; that
application is not capable of displaying images.
Here's how E-mailer deals with image attachments (or ANY
attached files, for that matter):
1) When you double-click on an attached image, in E-mailer, the system looks
for the application that actually created it.
2) Failing that, it looks for an application that will open files of that file
type.
This behavior is fundamentally the same as if you had double-clicked the image's
icon from the desktop. It may be that the image is of a file type/creator that is
not present on your system, so the system is trying to open it in another application
that can't quite open it (option 2, above).
An example of this would be if you had some obscure program that you don't use often
and which has a small memory allocation. If the system chose this application as
being the closest to the file's creator and tried to open it, its modest memory allocation
might very well cause it to freeze when trying to open a 5 MB image file. And since
protected memory won't arrive until the release of OS X (hallelujah!), that could
easily result in a system freeze.
This same principle holds true in a case where the application chosen by the system
won't quite open the file because it can't really handle a file of that type or because
it (the chosen application) is too old and out-of-date. The JPEG standard is periodically
updated (in fact, a major revision is due out, later this year), and older programs
may have difficulty opening images created under subsequent JPEG standards.
If I were you, I would find the Quicktime Picture Viewer, on your hard drive, and
place an alias of it on your desktop (I would put in a corner of your screen). Then,
when you get an image attachment, you can drag it out of the letter onto the desktop
to move it there. Then drag the image onto the Picture Viewer icon to open it. If
anything can open a JPEG image, Picture Viewer can. It's probably a good idea to
make sure your copy of Quicktime is up-to-date by using the Quicktime Updater.
Another thing to try would be opening your browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer)
and dragging the image into an open browser window. I have yet to find a JPEG that
wouldn't open in a browser window, but make sure the file name ends with ".jpg,"
the file name extension recognized by HTML for JPEGs.
Byron byron.bray@cmug.com (Reprinted from Mouse Droppings)
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Thats all for now.
By the wasy, we had a very good meeting this month with discussion regarding the
hazards of using those mail-in rebates and how to make sure that you will get that
money that is owed you.
Andie Paysinger demonstrated her new camera and we welcomed another prospective member.
All-in-all a pretty good meeting. Thanks to all who took the time out of their busy
weekend to attend.
Please check out these HIDACC web pages for a very good article by Bob Draves on
upgrading a Beige 266 MHz G3.
Hope to see you at our next meeting in November on Saturday the 11th.
Until then, happy computing...
dc
