September 2000 || Volume 01, Issue 02

Greetings all! Allow me to re-introduce myself. My name is Corby Stephens. I have been writing the Shop Talk column for Mac OS Journal (and it's previous incarnations) for a few months now. Brent has graciously passed the Medicine Man head-dress on to me and I am proud to wear it. But enough of me, let's get down to business! Email your questions to me at help@macosjournal.com.

To make things easier for all of us, when you send your questions, please remember to include the following information:

• Version of Mac OS
• Amount of installed RAM and if Virtual Memory is to on (if so how much)
• Total and available Hard Drive space
• Model of Macintosh you have (ie. PowerMac 6100)

Since many of you may not know how to get some of this info, here's a brief set of instructions:

Checking your Operating System (OS) and RAM settings

1. Quit out of any open programs.
2. Go to the Apple Menu and select "About this computer". Older Macs might have "About this Macintosh".
3. In this window you will see the version of OS you have. You will also see how much Built-in Memory and how much Virtual Memory (if it is turned on) is set.

Checking your Hard Drive Space

1. Double-click on your hard drive icon.
2. At the top of the window you should see how much available and how much total space is on your hard drive.
3. If you don't see this information click on your hard drive icon once so it is highlighted.
4. Go to the File menu and select Get Info. This window should display the size of your hard drive and how much space is used or available.

Sticky Mac

Why does my Mac G3 constantly "freeze" when there is a blip in my DSL connection? Usually, the DSL just breaks the connection itself (I have no idea why), but often when it does, the whole shebang needs to be restarted after my desktop freezes. (A total drag!) (I'm running OS 9.0.4) Any suggestions?

Here are a couple of things you could try.

1. Open your TCP/IP control panel. Go to File/Get Info. Let me know what version of Open Transport you are running. The write down all of the settings in the TCP/IP window. (Connect Via, Configure, IP address, Router, Subnet Mask, all that stuff.)
2. Open your hard drive/system folder. There is a file called MacTCP DNR. Take that to the trash.
3. While in the System Folder open the Preferences folder. Find the TCP/IP prefs and take them to the trash.
4. Restart.
5. Open the TCP/IP control panel and re-enter all of the setting you wrote down earlier.
6. Shut down your Mac. Power off your DSL modem. Let it sit for 30 seconds. Power up your DSL modem then your Mac.
7. See what happens.

Some suggestions. You probably shut your Mac off at night. In addition to this, power your DSL modem off over night as well. Those things can run pretty hot. The longer they stay hot the faster the components can wear out. Make sure your DSL modem has enough room around it to circulate. Some people put them on the floor in deep carpet. This is not a good thing.

The Upgrade Disease

I'm thinking about upgrading my 6500 275 megahertz power pc and am wondering what it is going to take. My thought is that I would like to upgrade to at least 400 megahertz with a G3 or G4 processor. I have heard from others that there are other issues that I need to take into consideration like how much RAM I have, my video card, that kind of thing. So, with your extensive knowledge on all things Mac, what would the entire package look like for upgrading my 6500?

Thanks for the flattery! There is a rule when it comes to computer components. Basically the rule states that the individual parts of a computer cost more when bought individually than they do when you buy a whole system. This can especially be true when you are talking about upgrading an older box. I used to have a PowerMac 6100 that, by itself, was worth maybe $600 a few years ago. I then bought a NewerTech G3 upgrade which cost $350-400 retail. Now, the card is worth more than the unit I installed it in! I sold it for $500 about a year ago along with the keyboard, mouse, modem, joystick, etc.

You can get a G3 upgrade card for your 6500 for $300-400 depending on the speed you want. However, you do not have to upgrade the RAM and video card. I would advise upgrading the RAM to 64MB though so that your programs have more room to play in with the fast processor. The only reason to go all out and buy a video card and a bunch of RAM would be if you were planning on doing some heavy duty graphics, video, or some other power hungry process. Otherwise, the money you spend on upgrading your system could have been spent on buying a whole new Mac that would work better than your upgraded system to do the same thing. My advice? Buy the G3/G4 card and some RAM only if you want to see a significant speed boost in your system. If you are going to be doing high end stuff, don't waste the money on upgrading an old box that will run slower than something new which would cost $200 more than your upgraded system.

Stream Away!

I have a question for you or your staff and would appreciate your help and writing back to me regarding streaming video.

The internet is awash in the present and future promise of Streaming Video Can I upgrade one of my present MACs to see it - or must I buy a New high grade MAC - or worse - be forced to buy a PC.

Much of the software needed is Microsoft Windows Media Player 7 (new). I have heard that there is a Microsoft Windows Media Player for MAC. Does this require running Windows on MAC? I have a Performa 6400/200 and OS 7.5.5. I cannot use the new Real Player as it requires at least OS 8.1 or more, and I only have 32 MB of RAM on that computer. Can this computer be upgraded to see full screen, full motion streaming video? Will I need a video card (not installed) - but there are same for the PCI slots.

The only people I know looking at streaming video are doing so on PC computers. I have tried to go to www.apple.com to get the latest QuickTime (don't know if it will work on my computer) but Apple is always busy and I can't log on. I think some of this must be of interest to your staff and readers.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

Three factors must be taken into consideration when considering if your system can view streaming media.

1. Your connection to the Internet. You could have the fastest computer on the planet (which is of course currently made by Apple). If that computer had a 56k modem connection (which in the real world translates to a 40k connection or less in my case!) your ability to view streaming media would be very low. You might be able to get a decent audio feed, but video would just me miserable. If you are going to view streaming video you really need to have a cable modem or a DSL connection to the net.
2. Software. There are three major players in the streaming media arena. QuickTime, Real, and Windows Media Player (in order of dominance). All three of these are available for the Mac. Media Player for the Mac has been in Beta for a while and I believe that buy the time you read this, a full version will be available for download. Some sites are exclusive to one of the three packages. Other sites usually support at least two of the three (www.cnn.com for example) programs. If you have all three of these you should be set. I personally haven't had a chance to check out Media Player for the Mac but plan to check it out.
3. Your system. The three software packages mentioned above each have minimum system requirements. Currently, the way your system is configured, I don't think you will be able to use any of them. I would recommend upgrading to OS 8.1 at least (if not 8.5), and increasing your RAM to 64MB. You shouldn't need a video card but it can't hurt especially if you need to see large-format streaming video.

Don't worry my friend. Macs are just as capable of viewing streaming media over the net as any other comparable system. If one of your PC buddies had a PC equal to your Mac it would be a PII/200 running Windows 95. Could one of those view streaming media? Not with the software that's out there now.

Download Breakdown

I didn't know who to come to with this problem of mine. When I try to download something from a place, the place I'm downloading from shuts off. A friend of mine told me that there was a program that would take the download and let me download it even if the host of the place closes down, my download would still download till its finished. Could you help me in finding this program?

A lot of this depends on where you are downloading from. Is this a web page? Is it an FTP site? Currently Internet Explorer 5 can continue downloading from where it left off if it loses its connection. Fetch 3.0.3, which is an FTP program, can also do this. It's hard to be specific unless I know exactly the situation but that should get you started.

Waitress, can I get a menu please?

Perhaps you can help me. No one else seems to be able to. I have recently had my 7600/132 Apple Mac upgraded with a new Seagate hard drive and from OS8x to OS9. I also had extra RAM added from 96 to 144 mbytes.

The system works fine in the Finder. But when I run most of my applications I find that it takes three or four seconds to open menus including dropdown menus inside dialog boxes. The applications I use a lot that are affected are Eudora Pro 4.2, QuarkXpress 3.32 and 4.1 and QuarkCopyDesk. All are affected.

I am connected to a network and keep my sharing on as I often need to move files around the network. Things I have looked at are memory settings (cache 1024, virtual memory set at 145 mbytes) and I have added extra RAM to my applications. If I increase my system cache the OS requirements go up dramatically.

I thought at first it might be a font issue (I am running Extensis Suticase 8) but I have a little word processing application called Tex-Edit Plus that is unaffected. SimpleText, however is affected. Any suggestions where else I might look.

A couple of suggestions. I would use Extensions Manager (EM) to make a base set of extensions. Then I would try to duplicate this. If it doesn't happen with your base set then you know it is some Control Panel or Extension. Use EM to add in Control Panels and Extensions back in a couple at a time. Each time go into your program and test it. You should eventually come across the stinker.

Also, if you have Action Menus or an old copy of Now Utilities installed take those out and test it. Something else to check is the kind of File Sharing you are doing. Are you sharing your whole system or are you sharing specific drives or folders on a drive? If all that you do is open the File Sharing control panel and Start it you shouldn't notice what you are experiencing. If you have selected a folder and set specific sharing properties to that folder that could cause some weirdness.

Corby Stephens - corby@macosjournal.com
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