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Drive Setup and IDE drives: A follow-up

Regarding the item last time on Drive Setup, several readers inquired how they determine if they have an IDE drive or an Alchemy logic board. Some clone vendors also sent in some news and views.

What's an IDE drive? How do I know if I have one? Keeping it simple here, IDE drives are an alternative to SCSI drives. IDE drives have long been used on PC machines. The Mac traditionally has used SCSI drives. However, recent Mac models have shifted more and more to IDE drives - especially on PowerBooks, Performas and entry level Power Macs (such as … Read more

VM 8.0 Fix from Bare Bones

Rich Siegel (of Bare Bones Software) writes: We have identified a Mac OS 8.0 compatibility issue, which arises when using Apple's virtual memory (VM) on 68040 Macintosh systems.

When using our products, the problem manifests itself as generalized instability when running BBEdit (any version) on a 68040 machine under Mac OS 8.0 with virtual memory turned on. BBEdit may sometimes crash when starting up, but if it doesn't, other misbehaviors will present themselves, such as errors or garbled text when copying, pasting, or scrolling text.

However, the effects of this compatibility issue are not specifically related … Read more

"Important information" from Apple to owners of Mac clones; and news about Power Computing's new models

A page on Apple's web site essentially says that Apple is no longer offering its Up-To-Date program to Macintosh clones.

Meanwhile, an article in the American Statesman says that Power Computing intends to ship its new PPC 750 based machines next week - despite the fact that this "would violate terms of Power Computing's agreements with Apple and could propel the dispute over Mac licensing into the courtroom."

(These links first spotted on MacSurfer's Headline News.)

Troubleshooting issues on MacInTouch

MacInTouch today describes several items of troubleshooting interest:

a. A Mac OS 8 related bug that occurs when using Publish & Subscribe. b. A work-around for Ofoto's incompatibility with Mac OS 8. It involves copying Ofoto preferences templates from a 7.6 System Folder. c. An Import Converter released by Microsoft for converting Windows Word 97 files to a format that can be opened by MS Word 5 or 6 for the Mac.

FreePPP 2.6 news: new beta available

FreePPP 2.6 Beta 6 is now available. From The Read Me file (which also covers new features and fixes): "First off the beta title for this release is somewhat of a misnomer. The version of the FreePPP MDEV (i.e extension) in this release is actually 2.6.1 final and does not have an expiration date. The FreePPP Setup application doesn't yet support preferences import/export so I still consider it a beta. There is also an issue with FreePPP 2.6.1 and the commercial FreePPP API from Rockstar Studios (the code got out of … Read more

Editors named for the "new" Macworld

As first spotted on InfoSeek: "Mac Publications, L.L.C., the joint venture company of Ziff-Davis and IDG, today announced Andrew Gore, former editor of MacUser Magazine, has been named editor in chief of Macworld Magazine. Galen Gruman, currently co-executive editor of Macworld Magazine, has been promoted to editor of Macworld Magazine."

From Apple TIL files...

24112: Virtual memory slow down fixed I recently noticed that an Apple TIL file describing the virtual memory slowdown in Mac OS 7.6.1 (on 5400 / 6400 / 6360 machines) - as previously noted here at MacFixIt - now says that the problem is fixed in Mac OS 8.

45056: PowerBook 1400 accidental resets "On some PowerBook 1400 computers the reset pin is too long. When pressure is applied to the I/O door, the reset pin is pressed. Apple is aware of the issue and has shortened the reset pin. Contact Apple Computer, Inc. or your local Apple … Read more

ARA 3.0 deletes PPP; no problem

Seth Resnick reports that ARA 3.0 is already available through mail-order outlets. He also reports: "After installing ARA 3.0, I noticed that PPP is removed from the Control Panels folder."

Update: Julian Koh writes: "It stands to reason that ARA 3.0 would replace OT/PPP, since it is designed to talk AppleTalk over a PPP connection. There is no reason to keep OT/PPP around if someone is going to be installing ARA 3.0. In fact, it even says in the ARA 3.0 Read Me file."

Dennis Wilkinson adds: "ARA … Read more

Aladdin statement on StuffIt Deluxe update

From Aladdin's web site (thanks, Christopher): "Aladdin Systems today announced that StuffIt Deluxe 4.0 registered users (who purchased 4.0 after July 26, 1997) will be able to upgrade to version 4.5 for free (plus shipping fee). Significant enhancements of StuffIt Deluxe 4.5 will include Mac OS 8 (Tempo) compatibility, support for more expansion formats like MIME/Base64, encrypted ZIP, and LHA expansion, additional email program support and encrypted file support. Aladdin expects to release StuffIt Deluxe 4.5 within the next 90 days."

Mac OS 8 selection glitch annoys readers

Several readers have now written to me with this problem. Here is Robert Hammen's description of the issue:

Suppose you are trying to merge the contents of two folders (maybe these are two different Extensions folders, one "previous" and one new). You put the two windows "side-by-side" and begin to select items from the "old" folder to be moved over to the "new" (using the "new folder as a reference for what not to copy). The "old" folder is the active window. In Finder 7.x, you could … Read more