Table of Contents

System is Frozen, or System Bomb
Disk icon with blinking question mark on startup
"Sad Macintosh" icon appears on startup with chimes
Freezing on startup
Not enough memory when launching application
Application quits unexpectedly, or gets "type 1" error
How is RAM being used?
Adjusting Application Memory
Should you ever turn virtual memory off?
Starting up with a System CD
Reinstalling System Software, including Clean and Custom install
Documents that won't open
"Application busy, missing, or can't be found" - Rebuilding the Desktop
Can't Empty the Trash
Problems Deleting Fonts
When Programs Won't Work
Corrupted Files
Reinitializing hard drive - How and When
Unreadable Floppy Disks
Floppy Disk and CD-ROM jams
Using external SCSI devices - Scanner, Hard Drives, CD-ROM
Zapping the "PRAM"
Printing problems
PowerBooks that won't start up

System is frozen, or System Bomb 

 		 If your system is frozen and does not respond to anything you do, or if you have a "bomb" message on the screen, saving your work may not be possible. There are several ways to try to get out of this situation, in ways that are kind to the Mac system.
  1. Cancel

    2. Press Command-Period, to try to "break" the program's current execution. This is the same keystroke you use to cancel printing, or cancel many other common Macintosh system operations. 
  2. Force Quit

    3. Press Command-Option-Esc
    If this is successful you'll get the message below. 

      The "force quit" will allow somewhat of a graceful exit from the program and a chance to make some adjustments before continuing. Once you exit the program you might try adjusting the applications memory upwards, (see "allocating more application RAM") if you have enough memory to allocate more. Otherwise you can launch the application again and remember to save regularly. Often, whatever made your system freeze in the first place, and having to do a force quit, will leave your system in a somewhat unstable state. To avoid freezing up again, it's a good idea to quit all other applications properly and restart the Mac. If you decide to "proceed at your own risk", and relaunch your application without restarting, just remember to save often!
       
       
  3. Restart the Mac (only if the above two steps don't work)

    4. If you can, choose Restart from the Special menu or from the dialog box that's on the screen. A dialog box may contain messages from the computer. If something is wrong the message may give you the option to restart the computer.
    If those methods don't work, do a restart from the keyboard by holding down the Command and Control keys while you press the Power key (marked with a triangle).
    *Note: If your Macintosh model isn't capable of being started up with the keyboard you'll have to simply turn the power off to the computer.
  4. Power off the Mac

    5. If the Mac is still frozen, turn off the computer with power switch, wait at least 10 seconds, and then turn it on again.
  5. The last resort

    6. If the power switch doesn't turn off the computer, unplug the Macintosh. If you have any external peripherals attached to the Macintosh, turn them off for 10 seconds or longer, then turn them on again and restart the Mac. 

Disk icon with blinking question mark on startup
Your computer is having a problem recognizing the startup hard disk, the system software is damaged, or the hard disk is not working properly. 
  1. Start up your computer using the Disk Tools floppy disk or (if you have a built-in CD-ROM drive) with the CD-ROM disc that contains system software (see Starting up from a System CD). After the Mac starts up, look on the desktop to see if your hard drive icon appears. If so, proceed. (If not, see Zapping the PRAM, or Using external SCSI devices - Scanner, Hard Drives, CD-ROM.) 


  2. Open the icon that represents the startup disk (either Disk Tools or Apple Macintosh CD) and locate the Disk First Aid application. 


  3. Double-click the Disk First Aid icon to launch the application. 


    4. Make sure you are using the Disk First Aid that is appropriate for the Macintosh you are using. Some Macintosh models use IDE type of internal hard disks and the Disk First Aid for SCSI disks will not work.

    If the disk cannot be repaired your next step will be to reformat and reinstall the system software on your hard disk (see Reinitializing hard drive - how and when).

    If Disk First Aid checks and repairs the hard drive, but it still starts up with a blinking question mark, you may have to reinstall your system software (see Reinstalling System Software).

Note: If you try to start up with a floppy disk, and the Mac ejects it and shows you a disk icon with an "X" in it, this indicates that the floppy disk you tried to start up from is not a startup disk. In other words it doesn't have a System Folder installed. It's also possible the disk is damaged. Try starting up from a different Disk Tools disk. 

"Sad Macintosh" icon appears on startup with chimes

 
This indicates that your Macintosh cannot start up because of a problem with the system software or the computer hardware. This icon can indicate significant problems.

Do try to power off and on the Mac several times. If the problem persists, follow the same steps described above regarding starting up from the Disk Tools disk or the CD-ROM. If the Macintosh continues to give you the "sad Mac" after starting up from diskette or CD you'll need to contact a service representative. 

Freezing on startup

 This can also be an indication of incompatible extensions or control panels.
  1. Restart the Macintosh with the Shift key held down until you see the message "Extensions Off". 
  2. If the Mac starts up okay, go to the Control Panels and open the Extensions Manager. 

Use the Extensions manager to turn on/off extensions and control panels. After you have restarted with extensions off, open this control panel and turn them on, one or two at a time, and then restart the computer. You will have to do this repeatedly until you discover which extension makes your system freeze and causes the conflict. If the problem extension or control panel is one you have added as an option to the system software, you may have to remove it or keep it turned off.

Not enough memory when launching application

 		 When error messages that indicate "not enough memory" appear, one of two things can cause the problem. Either you have too many applications loaded into RAM at one time, or the RAM allocated to your application needs to be increase to handle the large document you may be trying to open.

Quit the programs that you have open and then open only the program you want to use, or restart the Macintosh. To quit any open applications, go to the "Active Application" icon in the top right in the menu bar. Click and hold to see the pop-down menu of current applications. Choose any application to make it current, then go to File and choose "Quit". You may want to quit all applications and even restart the Macintosh, so that any fragmented memory is restored to useable size.

If the memory error still persists when you launch your application, or try to open a document, you may need to allocate more of the System RAM to that application. (See How is RAM being used, and Adjusting Application Memory, below.) 

Application quits unexpectedly, or gets "type 1" error

 		 Many Type 1 errors (not all) indicate a shortage of memory allocated to the application. When an application "unexpectedly quits", this can also indicate a shortage of memory allocated to the application. There can also be conflicts with software (possibly extensions, refer to the Extensions Manager, above). Try allocating more memory to the application having the problem. (See Adjusting Application Memory, below.)

How is RAM being used?
  1. Start up the Macintosh and make sure the Finder is the current application. The icon in the far right corner indicates which application, including the Finder, is currently active. 


  2. From the Apple menu, select "About This Macintosh..." 

Adjusting Application Memory

 
    The more RAM you have installed in your Macintosh the more you can allocate to specific applications. Generally the more memory an application has the better it will behave. You can allocate additional RAM to an application by doing the following: 
  1. Quit the application if it is running and locate the icon representing the application whose memory you want to adjust. 
  2. Click once on the icon of the application and choose "Get Info..." from the File menu, or select Command-I from the keyboard. 


  3. Select the text in the box labeled "Preferred size" and change to a larger amount. 


    4. *Note that any memory allocated to a specific application will take away from the total memory available for other applications if they are open at the same time.

Should You Ever Turn Virtual Memory Off?

 You may wonder, given all of the advantages of virtual memory (especially for Power Mac users), why anybody would not use it. First, certain programs do not run with virtual memory on (especially games and high-end graphics and multimedia programs). Second, especially when using programs that require so much memory that you can't even open them unless virtual memory is on, virtual memory will slow down your Mac. You may have similar problems with RAM Doubler. For these situations, there is no substitute for more physical RAM.

Starting up with a System CD

 To initialize, test, or repair a hard disk, or to install system software on a hard disk, you need to start up your computer from another disk. If your computer has a CD-ROM drive, you can start up your computer using the CD-ROM disc containing system software that came with the computer. To start up from a CD-ROM, follow these steps:
  1. Turn your computer on. 
  2. Immediately press the Open/Close button on your CD-ROM drive, and quickly insert the CD-ROM disc containing the system software into the drive. 
  3. Immediately press the C key on your keyboard. 
  4. Continue to hold down the C key until you see the "Welcome to Macintosh" message. 
If this was successful the icon of the CD-ROM should be above the icon representing your hard disk on the desktop. If the hard disk is having problems its icon may not appear on the desktop at all.

If the blinking question mark appears or you end up starting up from the hard disk the CD wasn't inserted quickly enough.

  1. Leave the CD disc containing the system software in the CD-ROM drive. 
  2. Shut down the computer. 
  3. Restart the the computer. 
  4. Immediately press the C key from the keyboard. 
  5. Continue to hold down the C key until you see the "Welcome to Macintosh" message. 
*Note: If starting up with the "C" key depressed doesn't seem to make your Macintosh start up from the CD, try this hold these keys down on start-up: Shift-Option-Command-Delete

Reinstalling System Software 

 You should only install system software if you are having problems on your start up disk.
  1. Start your computer up with the appropriate system install disk or CD-ROM (see above). 


  2. Double-click the system software installer icon. 
  3. Click the Continue button. The install dialog box appears. 


  4. Make sure the hard disk named in the box is the one on which you want to install system software. 
  5. Click the Install button. 
  6. Follow any instructions that appear on the screen. 
  7. When you see the message reporting that the installation was successful, click Restart. 

Doing a Clean Installation of System Software

 You'll do a "clean" installation of the system software if you can't determine what is damaged in the System Folder. You should do a clean installation if you're still having problems after you've reinstalled system software by doing a normal installation.
  1. Start up your computer from the System Install diskette or the CD-ROM disc that contains system software. 
  2. Double-click the system software installer icon. 
  3. Click the Continue button. The install dialog box appears. 
  4. Make sure that the hard disk named in the Destination Disk box is the one on which you want to install system software. 
  5. Hold down Shift -Command-K to start the clean installation. 
*Note: DO NOT click the Install button if you want to do a clean installation.

The following dialog box appears.

  1. Click the Install New System Folder button and click OK. 
  2. Click the Clean Install button. 
  3. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen. 
  4. When you see the message that the installation was successful, click the Restart button. 
Note: Doing a clean installation puts a second system folder on your hard disk. You must have enough room to install the new system folder. The old system folder is automatically renamed "Previous System Folder" and left on the hard disk.

Doing a Custom Installation

 		 In most cases, the Easy Install procedure is appropriate, because it installs everything your Macintosh needs. However, if you'd like to select a combination of system software files for your specific needs, you can customize your software installation.
  1. Start up from the system software install diskette or CD-ROM disc that contains system software. 
  2. Click OK. 
  3. Choose Custom Install from the pop-up menu. 

The custom install dialog box appears, listing all available system software components.

  1. Scroll through the list of components, clicking the checkbox next to each component you want to install. To get additional information about each component listed, click the box with the letter i in it to the right of the component. 
  2. Click Install. 
  3. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen. 
  4. When you see a message reporting that the installation was successful, click Quit. 
  5. Restart your Macintosh. 

Documents that Won't Open

 Another all too common problem is when you double-click a document icon to open it from the Finder and you get a message saying that the document would not open because the "creating application could not be found." Most of the time, the document is just fine. Run through the following checklist, and you will almost certainly succeed in opening it:
  1. If this is a document that you created yourself, presumably the creating application is on your disk somewhere. If it isn't, that's your problem right there. 
  2. If the creating application is on the disk but the document still doesn't open, try opening it from within the application itself, via its Open dialog box. As a possible long term solution here, you might try rebuilding the desktop (see "Rebuilding the Desktop", below). Now the document will probably open from the Finder. 
  3. In the remaining cases, you are probably working with a document created by someone else (maybe you downloaded it from an online service) and you don't have the needed creating application. Not to worry. If the file is a plain text file, you may be able to open it in TeachText or SimpleText. In fact, the alert message you get when the document refuses to open may even ask if you want to try this. Go ahead. Unfortunately, if the file is more than 32K, it still won't open. 
  4. Otherwise, most word processors can open a variety of text file formats. Claris applications, in particular, include special files (called XTND files) that are located in the Claris folder in the System Folder, that allow Claris applications to open almost any type of document. The simplest way to test this is to drag the document's icon to the application's icon. Otherwise, you'll have to import the file from within the application, typically from the application's Open dialog box. 
  5. Macintosh Easy Open, PC Exchange and MacLink Plus software (all included with System 7.5) can also help to open foreign files. 
  6. Make sure you are not trying to open a compressed or encoded file. Use a utility such as StuffIt Expander to check for this. 
  7. If you are still having trouble opening a graphics, sound, or movie file, it is probably because the file is in some special format that none of your applications can understand. This is often the case for files that you download from online services or that you try to view on the World Wide Web. To solve this, you could get shareware applications that are designed to solve this problem. For example, programs like JPEGView or Sparkle are useful for graphics and movies. Commercial programs such as DeBabelizer and Photoshop are also good. SoundApp and SoundMachine are particularly good for opening sound files. 

Rebuilding the Desktop

 The message "The file can't be opened because the application that created it can't be found," or a similar error, can happen when the computer's invisible directory file called the "desktop" file is having problems.

You may also notice that some of your files have lost their usual desktop icons in favor of those boring generic document and application icons.

Rebuilding the desktop helps your Macintosh keep track of data on your startup disks, and usually will restore the assigned customized look to your icons. It's a good idea to rebuild the desktop of your startup disks once a month or so.

*Note: Always rebuild the desktop after a system crash where you're forced to restart the Macintosh. It's also a good idea to rebuild the desktop after installing a new software application.

To rebuild the desktop do the following steps:

  1. Hold down the Command and Option keys while you restart the computer. Do not release the keys until you see a message asking whether you want to rebuild the desktop. 
  2. Click OK. 

Can't Empty the Trash

 The Trash can is bulging, but when you go to empty it, it refuses to cooperate. Calling your local sanitation department won't help you. However, one of the following solutions is almost certain to fix this glitch.
  1. If the problem is that the file is simply locked, the Macintosh informs you of this when you try to delete it. It should also suggest the simplest solution: hold down the Option key when you select to empty the Trash. 
  2. If a message says that the file/folder can't be deleted because there is not enough memory to complete the operation, just restart your Mac and try deleting again. It will succeed. 
  3. If a message says that the file/folder can't be deleted because it is "in use," quit all your open applications and try deleting again. If this fails, create a dummy file in another location on your disk and give it the same name as the problem file. Now try to replace the problem file. If it succeeds, now try to delete the replaced file. Otherwise, restart and try again. 
  4. If even this fails, start up with another startup disk and try to delete the file. 
  5. Whether or not you finally succeed in deleting the file/folder, you may still have underlying corruption of your disk's directory, which is the underlying cause of the problem. Left alone, the problem may return or get worse. To fix things, run Disk First Aid from an emergency startup disk and make repairs as needed. If you have Norton Disk Doctor or MacTools Pro's Disk Fix, use them as well. 
  6. If none of the preceding steps have worked, you'll have to reformat the disk. 

Problems Deleting Fonts

 If you are trying to delete a font file, the Mac may refuse to let you drag it out of the System Folder. If this happens, drag the entire Fonts folder out of the System Folder and restart. Now delete whatever fonts you want. Then return the Fonts folder to the System Folder, replacing the new one that was just created, and restart again.

When Programs Don't Work

 Basically, this is a catch-all category that covers those occasions when some command or some feature of a program doesn't work the way that it should. To be honest, there are dozens of possible explanations for why this might happen. Still, most of the time the following few steps will get you to a cure:
  1. Quit the problem program. If your problem program is a control panel, also restart the Mac with the control panel disabled. 
  2. Go to the Preferences Folder of the System Folder and locate the program's Preferences file. It's almost always a file that has the name of the program as part of its name (such as StuffIt Deluxe Prefs for StuffIt Deluxe). Delete the preferences file. 
  3. Restart as normal. When you next use the program, it will re-create a new Preferences file. Ideally, your problem will now be gone. However, you may have to reset any changes you made to the program's default preference settings. 
  4. If deleting the Preferences file did nothing, delete the entire application software. Reinstall it from its original disks. 
  5. If you still have no success, check for extension conflicts. 
  6. Otherwise, there is probably some bug in the program you are using. Contact the vendor for assistance. In the meantime, although not an ideal permanent cure, turning off one or more features of Apple's system software can sometimes act as a work-around. The most common culprits here are: Virtual Memory, Modern Memory Manager, AppleTalk and File Sharing. 

Corrupted Files

 Occasionally, when you try to open a document file, you may get a message that it is corrupted or damaged or that a "disk error" has occurred. Don't despair. You may still be able to save the contents of the file. (For corrupted applications, just trash and reinstall them.)
  1. Duplicate the file in the Finder (select the file and press Command-D) and try to open the copy. 
  2. If the file in question is a Microsoft Word or Excel file, the FileFix module from MacTools Pro may be able to fix it. Many databases and some other applications come with special utilities to repair damaged files. 
  3. CanOpener can extract text, PICT images, icons, and sounds from files of almost any format, including from many damaged files. The recovered data may not look the way it did in its native application, but at least you can recover some of its main components. Otherwise, Norton Utilities' Disk Doctor or MacTools Pro's DiskFix may be able to recover the file. 
  4. If the file is on a floppy disk, you might first try to copy the entire disk, using the copy utilities that come with MacTools or Norton Utilities. Then try to open the file on the newly copied disk. If this succeeds, discard the problem disk; it is probably damaged. 
  5. If the damaged file is on a hard disk, check it for media damage (bad blocks) with Norton Utilities, MacTools Pro, or your disk formatting utility. If damage is found, you will either have to lock out the block (to prevent data from being written there) or reformat the entire disk (check with your utility's documentation for more help). 

Reinitializing hard drive
How and When

 		 Typically the only time you'll need to perform this operation is if the hard disk is damaged. If the hard disk you want to initialize is the start up disk you'll need to start up the Macintosh from a Disk Tools disk or CD-ROM. From a floppy Disk Tools disk, use the Apple HD SC Setup program. If you are booting from a System CD, the program may be called Drive Setup, if you have an "IDE" type drive. 

Note: If your hard disk isn't an Apple brand, only use the hard disk utilities that came with your hard disk. Follow the instructions in the vendors manual very carefully.

 

 Make sure that your hard drive's name appears in the bottom box. If so, choose the "initialize" button. A warning box appears to remind you that you are erasing all information from the drive. If you are sure you want to continue, go ahead and proceed. 

Unreadable Floppy Disks

 If you insert a floppy disk and the Mac says it is unreadable and offers you the chance to initialize it, don't panic-and don't initialize it. As long as you don't erase the data on the disk, the odds are generally good that you can recover the data, even if the disk itself turns out to be unsalvageable.
  1. Eject the disk. If it isn't already write-protected, do so now (slide the plastic tab on the disk until you can see through the hole). Once it's protected, try inserting it in another Mac (if you have one available)-often the alignment of the heads in two floppy drives is just different enough to make a disk that's unreadable in one drive readable in another. If the disk was last used in a Mac other than yours, try that drive in particular if it's nearby. If another drive can read the data, copy the files to the hard drive and then to a new floppy. 
  2. Some newer models of Mac have trouble reading mass-produced 800K disks. If this happens, and you don't have another Mac around that can read the disk, starting up with extensions off or zapping the PRAM may solve the immediate problem. 
  3. To read PC-formatted disks, make sure PC Exchange is installed (it comes with System 7.5). 
  4. If the unreadable disk is an HD (1.44MB) disk that you are inserting into an old 800K drive (such as on a Mac Plus), the drive can't read the disk. You will need to use a newer SuperDrive floppy disk drive (used on all current Mac models). 
  5. Otherwise, it's likely that the disk really is damaged. If you want to try to recover data from the disk, your best bet is to first make a copy of the disk using Norton Utilities' Floppier or MacTools Pro's FastCopy. The copied disk will probably mount now with most or all files on it accessible. Copy the files to your hard drive. If the copied floppy disk is also unreadable, or you still can't locate or open a particular file, try using file recovery features of Norton Utilities or MacTools Pro. In any case, when you are done with your recovery, discard the unreadable disk. Don't bother trying to reformat it and use it again. It's not worth the risk. 
  6. Occasionally, a floppy disk is unreadable because the floppy disk drive itself is dirty or malfunctioning. Disk cleaning kits manufactured by 3M (available separately or as part of MicroMat's DriveTech software) may fix this. From my experience, this will only rarely help, but it's cheaper to try this first than to take your drive in for an unneeded repair. 

Floppy Disk and
CD-ROM Disc Jams

 You selected the Eject and/or Put Away commands but your disk refuses to budge. Try each of these in turn until one works.
  1. Quit all open applications. Try again to eject the disk, typically by dragging the disk icon to the Trash icon. 
  2. Turn off file sharing (especially if it is a CD-ROM you are trying to eject). Try again to eject the disk. (Turning off file sharing should not be necessary if you are using System 7.5.1 or later, but try it anyway). 
  3. For floppy disks, press Command-Shift-1. 
  4. Restart and hold down the mouse button. Wait for the disk to eject. 
  5. For CD-ROMs, restart and immediately press the drive's eject button. Note that this button will not eject a disk at any other time. Normally, the button only opens the tray when there is no disc in it. 
  6. For CD-ROMs, if you started up with extensions off and got an ID=-50 error when trying to eject the disk, restart with extensions on. The disk should now eject normally. 
  7. If all else has failed, manually eject the floppy disk or CD by inserting an unbent paper clip into the hole adjacent to the drive and pushing in gently. If it only comes partially out when trying this, you can gently pull it out the rest of the way. But don't try to force it too much or you may do more damage. If it seems hopelessly stuck, take the drive in for repair. 
Some floppy disk jams can be caused by a floppy disk with a bent metal shutter or a partially unglued label. Check for these problems before inserting the disk.

Using external SCSI devices - Scanner, Hard Drives, CD-ROM

 SCSI (pronounce "scuzzy") is the standard bus, or electrical communications channel, for connecting storage devices and other peripherals to the Mac. It usually works reasonably well if you follow the rules. The SCSI bus works most reliably if you only have one or two external devices plugged in, however six is the maximum external SCSI devices.

SCSI Connectors

There's no single standard for SCSI connectors and cables. Most Macs have 25-pin DB-25 SCSI connectors but PowerBooks use a variant called HDI-30 because it's smaller and uses 30-pins instead of 25. Most peripheral devices have a DB-50 (50-pin) connector, so the most common kind of Mac-to-peripheral cable is called a DB25-to-DB50 cable.

Cable Quality

The quality of the cables can make the difference between constant hassles and a bus that hums along smoothly. If you are making a complex SCSI chain, plan on spending between $30 - $40 per cable. This is not the place to economize - especially if you are working with Macs noted for SCSI sensitivities, such as the Quadra AV models and the PowerMacs.

SCSI Cable Lengths

If you SCSI chain is too long, signals may be too weak to be received clearly and your are likely to experience a variety of problems. In theory the chain can extend to about 23 feet, measured from your computer to the last device in the SCSI chain. Apple recommends a maximum of 20 feet, while many vendors say 15 to 17 feet. A general rule: The shorter, the better.

Termination

The electrical signals that race up and down your SCSI cables generate electrical echoes, or noise. If they're not suppressed, these reflections can be strong enough to confuse devices on the bus, which think they are signals but can't interpret them. That can cause an array of problems, including slowdowns, data errors, drives refusing to appear on the desktop, and crashes.

That's why you need terminators, or resistors, at either end of the SCSI chain. Terminators can be internal (attached inside a device) or external (plugged into one of the device's SCSI ports). They require a small amount of electrical power - termination power - which is supposed to be, but is not always, provided by the SCSI device.

This rule usually works for most Macs - the first and last devices on the SCSI chain should be terminated. The first device is the Mac, which is terminated, and then the last SCSI device attached should also be terminated.

SCSI ID Numbers

A SCSI chain can contain seven devices plus the Mac. Each device on the chain gets its own SCSI ID number (or address), from 1 to 6. The Mac itself is always assigned ID number 7; an internal hard disk normally gets number 0. If your Mac has an internal CD-ROM drive, it uses number 3. So, when connecting external SCSI devices, make sure they don't use the numbers 0, 3, or 7. Otherwise, the numbers do not give the devices any priority.

If you accidently use a 0, 7, or 3 for an external device when these numbers are already in use, the system may display a blinking question mark and not start up.

Most external SCSI devices provide switches that make it easy to change the ID number. Before you add a new peripheral to your system, check the ID number and, with all devices powered off, make the changes necessary to eliminate any conflicts.

*Note: Never add or remove a SCSI peripheral with power on the Macintosh or the peripheral. Doing so can cause severe damage to the Macintosh and the peripheral.

Zapping the PRAM (pronounced pee-RAM)

When do you need to zap the PRAM?

If the Mac has been experiencing mysterious problems, like external SCSI devices "disappearing", the internal hard drive not starting up the computer and giving that disk icon with the blinking question mark, CD's inserted into the CD-ROM drive won't mount on the desktop, control panels having wierd settings, or even printers disappearing, you may need to zap the PRAM.

Always, before reinstalling system software, try zapping the PRAM to clear up problems.

Zapping the PRAM clears the SCSI chain, therefore possibly curing problems with SCSI devices. It also sets all control panels back to the original factory settings. So be aware that you may need to reset some control panels like the Network control panel for instance, if you need to be set to Ethernet; or sharing setup, if you've been sharing files or folders.

To zap the PRAM

  1. Restart the computer from the Special menu if possible. If this is not possible, turn off the computer and turn it back on, followed by using the "power key" (marked with a triangle) to start up the computer. 
  2. Immediately as the computer restarts, place your fingers on Option-Command-P-R. You must do this before the first "chime" as the computer starts up. 
  3. Hold your fingers on these keys and let the computer chime three times before releasing. Then let the computer start up in the normal fashion. 
Some of the newer Macs (580's, 5200's, 5300's and others) allow you to zap the PRAM from a small red button on the motherboard. You have to remove the back panel of the computer, slide out the motherboard, and press this small red button. Then reassemble the computer and restart normally.

Printing Problems

 		 You've sent the print command, and apparently nothing happened.
  1. Check the PrintMonitor program.

    2. Look in the upper right corner of your screen in the menu bar to see if there is a flashing printer icon. If so, click and drag down to the program in the active applications menu called the PrintMonitor. It may tell you what the problem is, by way of an error message. 

      During background printing, the PrintMonitor works behind the scenes to keep track of which document is printing, how many pages are left to print, which other documents are waiting to be printed and so on. It is launched automatically when a print job is started, and you can check the status of a print job by choosing PrintMonitor from the Application menu. When the printer needs attention (perhaps it's out of paper, or can't be found on the network), PrintMonitor flashes its icon in the upper right corner of the screen. 

      You may need to click the "Cancel Printing" button to clear the print job until you can fix the problem interrupting the printing process. (You may have to click the Cancel Printing button more than once to cancel all print jobs.)

  2. Check the Chooser program.

    3. The Chooser lets you select the printer you want to use. If a printer is chosen that you do not have available, an error can result. Or a different printer might be selected than you expected. Perhaps your printed document actually printed somewhere on a different printer on the network! 

    • Select the Chooser from the Apple menu. 
    • Select your zone on the network in the lower left corner, if you are on the network and zones are available. If you are not on a network the zone list will not be present. 
    • Choose (highlight) the appropriate printer driver in the upper left box. 
    • If your printer is available on the network, it will appear in the upper right box. Highlight its name to select it.

      • Note: If you are on a network and the name of your printer doesn't appear, close the chooser, check cable connections and restart the printer. Reopen the Chooser and try again.
      If you are on a network and the zone box doesn't appear, there is a problem with your network connection. Go to the network control panel and see that the Ethernet icon is selected (see Networking Basics, Accessing Network Services). 

PowerBooks That Won't Start Up on Battery Power

 		 Suppose you can start up your PowerBook when it is plugged in but not when you are using battery power. What to do?

One obvious cause is that your batteries are dead. If so, replace them.

A less obvious cause is that the data in the Power Manager (a small area of memory in which the Mac stores power-related settings) has gotten corrupted and needs to be reset. For most recent models of PowerBooks, you reset the Power Manager by shutting down the PowerBook and then pressing the Command-Control-Option-Power keys. In some cases, you may also have to remove the battery for a few minutes. For any variations on this theme, specific to your model, check the manual that came with your PowerBook or look it up in Apple Guide.

Many previous models of PowerBooks, in the 100 series for instance, have a small pinhole marked by a triangle on the back panel. Pressing the small button inside the hole with a pen-point may restart the computer when the power on button won't work.