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UMAX and Mac OS 8: a follow-up and clarification

Regarding the report last time on Mac OS 8 incompatibility with UMAX computers: Reader replies were not all that consistent. Some confirmed getting similar statements from UMAX tech support. Others claimed that they were told simply not to let the OS 8 Installer update their hard disk driver on a IDE drive; otherwise, Mac OS 8 was fine. In that regard, a few readers reminded me to clarify that the problem does not involve the 900 series clones; UMAX told them only the 500/600 series was under investigation. Still others claimed that UMAX told them "there are no … Read more

Apple 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix

Apple has released " Apple 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix." It is for Power Macintosh and Performa 52xx/53xx/62xx/63xx series of computers. According to the Read Me file it fixes two main problems:

Slow Floppy Diskette mounting under Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 or 8.0

Large File (>700K) Copying to Diskette Failures under Mac OS 7.6, 7.6.1 or 8.0 You may receive a message that says" "The file 'xxx' could not be written because a disk error occurred."

The 5xxx/6xxx Floppy Fix extension can be installed … Read more

Week-end updates

A WordPerfect 3.5.3->3.5.4 updater is out. Among other things, it fixes the previously reported printing problem with 68K Macs.

Update: This update disappeared from Corel's servers briefly but has now returned. Corel explained: "We made a stupid blunder when trying to cut corners to make the patch smaller." John Culp adds: "The revised WordPerfect 3.5.4 Updater successfully patches a WordPerfect file that already had yesterday's 3.5.4 Update applied to it."

Aaron Light has been updated to version 1.1. It is "much improved, … Read more

Odds & Ends

More on folder opening delays We have previously commented on delays in opening Finder folders in Mac OS 8. I noticed a new wrinkle in this matter on my computer. The delay only occurred when I started up with Extensions off: a folder with a large number of items and set to List View took less than 3 seconds to open with Extensions on but over 18 seconds with Extensions off. None of the previously mentioned work-arounds helped.

MiniCad Align Objects fix Regarding our previous report of the Align Objects command in MiniCad 7.0 not working in Mac OS … Read more

Apple 850 display convergence problem

Apple has not made any public announcement of this yet, but I have received word that there is a problem with some AppleVision 850AV and 850 displays (with serial numbers SWR729072947 to SWR7310FM947) producing very distinct colored horizontal lines when changing resolutions. This convergence problem is due to a component on the CRT/video board. If you have this problem, you should take your monitor to an Authorized Service Provider for a repair or replacement.

QuicKeys 3.5.2 does not need CEToolbox; you may want QuicKeys Toolbox

This item, as originally posted, was a bit confused (as numerous readers pointed out!). Here is a clarified version:

Robert Croy correctly notes that the CEToolbox extension is no longer required for QuicKeys v3.5.2. A statement form CE software adds: "You may, however, need to run the CEToolbox for other utilities such as Alarming Events, DiskTop, In Out, QuickMail client (versions prior to 3.5) and the QuickMail server. If you do not run one of the above mentioned utilities or applications, you may trash the extension and the CEToolbox preference file."

As to the previous report … Read more

Macs that won't startup in Mac OS 8 unless virtual memory is on

Previously, we reported a problem with virtual memory not working on certain computers after updating to Mac OS 8. Well, here's sort of the opposite problem: computers that won't startup unless virtual memory is on! [I still haven't figured out why this affects some computers but not others.]

Eric Stebelton writes: "When I turned off virtual memory and restarted my Power Mac 9500/200 with 72Mb of RAM, I got an alert that said the Finder could not start up because 'not enough memory was available.'" Reinstalling a new System Folder or starting up with … Read more

Epson scanner, Photoshop and "TWAIN Acquire" in Mac OS 8: a problem

Gilman Shattuck writes: "After installing OS 8 I can no longer 'TWAIN Acquire' from Photoshop. I can get into TWAIN but the system locks up with a partial screen and a pulsating cursor. It then requires a hard reset to restart." Adobe tech support told him that Epson is coming out with new driver that would fix this.

Greg Miller echoed the same problem: "Upon upgrading to OS 8 on a 7100/66, TWAIN Acquire does not function in Photoshop 4.01. I am using an Epson Expression 636 scanner and the function worked properly before the … Read more

UMAX clones: not compatible with Mac OS 8?

We have previously reported ( a and b) on startup problems on Power Computing and Apple Macs that appear to be related to certain IDE drives and/r Alchemy logic boards. Apparently, we can now add UMAX clones to the list of machines with similar startup problems.

Two readers who have UMAX clones have reported similar statements coming from UMAX tech support: "I informed the tech support person I was running OS 8 he said that UMAX was advising customers not to use it as it may be bring about a failure to start and eventually physical damage to the … Read more