Archive-name: macintosh/system-faq Version: 2.4.1 Last-modified: June 23, 1996 Maintainer: elharo@shock.njit.edu URL: http://www.macfaq.com/systemfaq.html
comp.sys.mac.faq, part 2:
comp.sys.mac.system
Copyright 1993-1996 by Elliotte Harold
Please see section 5.8 of the general FAQ if you wish to
redistribute, revise or republish this document in any way.
Archive-name: macintosh/system-faq
Version: 2.4.1
Last-modified: June 23, 1996
Address comments to elharo@shock.njit.edu
I've made some minor changes to the setext formatting to facilitate automatic conversion to HTML.
The macfaq archive site has moved from rever.nmsu.edu to ftp.macfaq.com.
2.5) Where can I get non-U.S. system software and scripts?
This question has been updated to reflect the release of several new language kits and applications.
Table of Contents
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Memory
1. Why is my system using so much memory?
2. What is MODE32? the 32-bit enabler? Do I need them?
3. How much memory should I allot to my cache?
II. System Software
1. Why does Apple charge for system software?
2. What does System 7.5 give me for my $35/$50/$99 that System 7.1 doesn't?
3. Where can I get System 7.5?
4. How can I use System 6 on a System 7 only Mac?
5. Non-US scripts and systems
6. What is System 7 Tuneup? System Update 3.0? etc.? Do I need them?
7. Why do my DA's disappear when I turn on MultiFinder?
8. Do I need System 7.0.1?
9. Can I get System 7.0.1, 7.1 or 7.5 on 800K disks?
10. Is there a version of UNIX for the Mac?
III. Hard Disk and File System Problems
1. Help! My folder disappeared!
2. Why can't I throw this folder away?
3. Why can't I share my removable drive?
4. Why can't I eject this SyQuest cartridge? CD-ROM? etc.
5. Why can't I rename my hard disk?
6. How do I change my hard disk icon?
IV. Fonts
1. How do I convert between Windows fonts and Mac fonts?
TrueType and PostScript?
2. What font will my screen/printer use when different types
are installed?
3. Where should I put my fonts?
V. Miscellaneous:
1. What does System Error XXX mean?
2. What is a Type Y error?
3. What is A/ROSE?
4. Easy Access: One Answer, Many Questions
5. How can I keep multiple system folders on one hard disk?
6. How do I access the programmer's key?
This is the SECOND part of this FAQ. The first part is also posted to this newsgroup under the subject heading "Introductory Macintosh frequently asked questions (FAQ)" and includes a complete table of contents for the entire document as well as information on where to post, ftp, file decompression, trouble-shooting, preventive maintenance and conditions for reproduction, posting and use of this document outside of Usenet. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth parts are posted every two weeks in comp.sys.mac.misc, comp.sys.mac.apps, comp.sys.mac.wanted and comp.sys.mac.hardware respectively. Please familiarize yourself with all six sections of this document before posting. All pieces are available for anonymous ftp from
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/
Except for the introductory FAQ which appears in multiple newsgroups and is stored as general-faq, the name of each file has the format of the last part of the group name followed by "-faq", e.g the FAQ for comp.sys.mac.system is stored as system-faq. You can also have these files mailed to you by sending an email message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the line:
send pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/namein the body text where "name" is the name of the file you want as specified above (e.g. general-faq). You can also send this server a message with the subject "help" for more detailed instructions. For access via the World Wide Web use
http://www.macfaq.com/faqs.html
Under system versions earlier than 7.0 or under System 7.x without 32-bit addressing turned on the Mac cannot access more than eight megabytes of real memory. If you have more physical RAM installed, the Mac knows it's present but can't do anything with it. When About this Macintosh (About the Finder in System 6) is selected from the Apple menu, the system reports all the memory it can't use as part of the system memory allocation.
To use the memory you need to install System 7 and turn on 32-bit addressing in the Memory control panel. If you have a Mac with dirty ROMs (a II, IIx, SE/30, or IIcx) you also need MODE32. MODE32 is free from the mythical friendly neighborhood dealer or
ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/mode32.sit.bin
The original Mac II also needs the FDHD ROM upgrade to use 4 megabyte or larger SIMMs in Bank A. Without it SIMMs larger than one megabyte can only be put in the second bank of memory on a Mac II. If you're staying with System 6, Maxima from Connectix ($45 street) allows you to use up to fourteen megabytes of real memory and can allocate anything beyond that to a RAM disk.
If you have an LC or an LC II with four megabytes of RAM soldered to the motherboard, you still need to add two four-megabyte SIMM's to reach the ten megabyte maximum imposed by the LC ROM. This means you'll always have two unused megabytes which About this Macintosh and About the Finder report as part of the system memory allocation. Unfortunately there is no current means of accessing this extra memory.
If you've turned on 32-bit addressing or if you have eight megabytes or less of RAM, check your disk cache (RAM cache in System 6) in the Memory Control Panel (General Control Panel in System 6) to make sure it isn't set exceptionally high. All memory allotted to the cache comes out of the System's memory allocation.
Finally if you recently upgraded to System 7.1 by updating your system software rather than by doing a clean reinstall, (See question 4.6 in the general FAQ) you should move all fonts out of your system file as these can take up an extraordinary amount of memory.
MODE32 and the 32-bit enabler are system extensions that allow Mac II's, IIx's, IIcx's, and SE/30's to access more than eight megabytes of real memory under System 7. The 32-bit enabler is buggy and doesn't work at all with System 7.0 or 7.5. If you have more than eight megabytes of real memory in an SE/30, II, IIcx, or IIx, (or eight megabytes and RAM Doubler) you need MODE32. See
ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/mode32.sit.bin
One of the Memory Control Panel (or General Control Panel in System 6) settings is the mysterious cache, Disk Cache in System 7, RAM cache in System 6. This is memory the system sets aside to hold frequently accessed data from the disk. The cache acts like a 7-11 for your hard disk. It's quicker to get a quart of milk at the 7-11, but it costs more so you don't do all your shopping there. And the 7-11 doesn't have everything you want so sometimes you need to go to the A&P (your hard disk) instead.
Unfortunately the caches in pre-7.5 system software really aren't all that fast. In these systems the RAM cache would more appropriately be called the RAM thief. Its effect on performance seems to be much like the canals of Mars. You have to want to see it before you can. The caching algorithm has allegedly been improved in System 7.5 but I haven't seen any hard evidence of that yet.
However there are a few applications and extensions such as Dayna DOSMounter that actually make use of the cache and will run much faster when it's turned on than when it's off. Thus I recommend setting your cache to 64K, turning it on, and forgetting about it. I hope that in 1995 most Macintoshes have enough RAM that they don't need to worry about losing 64K.
If, however, your Mac is a IIsi running a color monitor from the internal video, then you may possibly speed up your Mac with an appropriate cache setting. The IIsi and the IIci use system RAM to store the video image on your screen. (Other Macs with internal video have video RAM separate from the main system RAM so this trick doesn't apply to them.) The internal video competes with the System for use of this RAM; and that competition slows down your Mac, just like two children fighting in the back seat of your car adds an hour to the time it takes to get to the beach. To stop the fighting a smart parent will put one child in the front seat and one in the back. A smart Mac owner will put the internal video in the front seat and the system in the back seat. To push the system out of the front seat set a IIsi's cache to between 384K and 768K which will take up all the space in the front seat not occupied by the internal video and force the system to sit in the back. The exact value depends on the type of monitor you have installed. Experiment to see what works for you. Unfortunately this trick doesn't work when virtual memory is turned on, but if you're using virtual memory you're probably more concerned about saving memory than gaining speed anyway. There's also a bug in the System 6 cache code that may cause a peformance hit on disk access if the cache is larger than 128K so this trick is more likely to help Macs running System 7, but again experiment to see what works for you.
Apple charges for system software because Apple's policy makers suspect they'll make more money by charging for it than by not charging for it. Apple is a publicly held corporation in a capitalist economy where the law requires corporations to make reasonable attempts to maximize profits. To give away something Apple could make more money by charging for would be a breach of the fiduciary responsibility of Apple's Board of Directors and actionable by Apple stockholders in a court of law.
Quite a lot actually. You get Apple Guide, MacTCP, the ability to read DOS formatted floppy disks, a hierarchical Apple menu, a menu bar clock, QuickDraw GX, some new fonts, drag and drop between applications, background floppy formatting, a disk cache that actually works, AppleScript and a scriptable Finder, QuickTime 2.0, and about fifty other features of varying utility. There's no feature that makes the upgrade a necessity, so if you're happy with your current system software and don't want to spend $90 for these new features don't. Most new software should continue to work well with System 7.0 and 7.1 for at least the next year
Apple rationalized its decision to begin charging for system software by claiming that most people had been unable to get system software updates from online sources or authorized dealers (and of course they rationalized their refusal to authorize low-price mail order dealers by claiming that Macs require dealer support) and by claiming that charging for system software will make retailers more willing to stock Apple system software and thus make it easier to obtain. This denies the reality that System 7.0 was in fact readily available from the primary sources of payware Mac software as well as being freely available online. And I doubt a full-page ad for System 7.0 in the software catalogs costs Apple any more than an ad for System 7.5. This rationalization also ignores how previously in large organizations only one person needed to be able to get the system software from a dealer, online, or bundled with a new CPU before others could freely and legally copy it. So, despite Apple's protests to the contrary, it is now harder to get a current copy of the system software thus creating a FAQ where there was none before.
The easiest way to get System 7.5 is to visit your local software retailer and buy it for about $99 (though I've seen it as low as $90 and as high as $129 so shop around). You can also order it from all the usual mail-order houses like Mac Zone. It comes in two versions, one on high density floppy disks and one on CD-ROM that also includes a couple of Peirce Printing Tools extensions for QuickDraw GX. Both of these versions include an upgrade manual.
The PowerBook 100, Classic II, LCII, Performa 200, and Performa 400 all work with System 6.0.8L, a special foreign version of System 6.0.8 that was hacked together because these machines beat many of the internationalized versions of System 7 to market. I do not know where you can find System 6.0.8L. If anyone does know please tell me, and I'll add it here.
For a company that's relatively hip to the international marketplace Apple certainly has a difficult time comprehending that its customers might need to work with more than one language. A recent call to the Apple Customer Assistance Center support line revealed that system software is available only in the country of origin. The support rep was unable even to provide contact information for distributors in countries outside the United States. What the support rep didn't know (but I do) is that most international versions of System 7.0.1 are available for anonymous ftp from
ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/Worldwide/Macintosh/system_sw/
Your best chance to get Korean system software or any international version of System 7.1 is to have a friend in the appropriate country mail you the software.
If you want to work with multiple languages but don't need an entire foreign system, you first need to upgrade to at least System 7.1, the first truly international operating system. System 7.1 includes numerous hooks to support multiple languages. After installing System 7.1 the first thing you'll want are keyboards, fonts, and script systems that let you write in your language of choice. Many international keyboard layouts are included in
ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/ManyInternationalKeyboards.sit.bin
A number of Roman keyboards are also included with System 7.5.
Apple's Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Cyrillic, Hebrew and Arabic (including Farsi) Language Kits are available from the usual sources including MacConnection (1-800-800-2222) for a little less than $200 each. See
http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/korean.html http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/japanese.html http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/hebrew.html http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/chinese.html http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/arabic.html http://product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets/as/cyrillic.html
No other language kits are available as of June, 1996. So once again if you want to work in Icelandic, Turkish or something else, you need to have a friend in the appropriate country send you the software.
Application software that supports your language of choice is also nice to have. Currently the only fully WorldScript savvy word processors are Nisus Writer 4.15 and WorldWrite 3.0. (SimpleText is WorldScript savvy, but only supports text up to 32K in size.) Nisus Writer supports Western European languages and Japanese. With an extra cost ADB dongle it can also work in Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Farsi and most Eastern European languages. WorldWrite 3.0 supports all the Apple Language Kits including Japanese, Chinese, Cyrillic, Hebrew and Arabic. No dongle is needed. $189 bundles are available with your choice of Apple's Cyrillic, Hebrew or Arabic language kit.
http://www.worldsoft.com/ http://www.nisus-soft.com/
Several other products including ClarisWorks 4.0 and WordPerfect 3.5 support WorldScript I languages (That is, right-to-left systems like English and Chinese) but not left-to-right, WorldScript II languages like Hebrew and Arabic.
If you use System 7.0, 7.0.1, or the System 7.0 printer drivers, you need System 7 Tuneup 1.1.1. The tuneup includes a number of fixes and enhancements to System 7, including substantially faster printer drivers, a StyleWriter driver that supports background printing, a fix that saves several hundred kilobytes of memory on non-networked Macs, and, most importantly, a vaccine for the disappearing folders bug.
ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/System%20Software/Other%20System%20Software/System%207%20Tune-Up%201.1.1.hqx
If you're using System 7.1, 7.1 Pro or 7.1.2, then you should install System Update 3.0 instead, available from
ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/System%20Software/Other%20System%20Software/System%20Update%203.0%201.4MB).hqx
This replaces all the various System Software Updates and Hardware System Updates. None of these are necessary for System 7.5.
If you're using System 7.5 you should install System 7.5 Update 2.0 instead. You can get it from
ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/System/System_7.5_Update_2.0/
This will bring you to System 7.5.3. Next you should install the System 7.5.3 Revision 2 update, available from
ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/System/System_7.5.3_Revision_2/
You need to put the file "DA Handler" in your System Folder. It should be on one of your System 6.0.x disks. Under Finder the Desk Accessories load into the memory provided by your application. Under MultiFinder they load into their own memory space provided by DA Handler.
Officially if you don't have a Quadra or PowerBook, you don't need System 7.0.1. Unofficially some changes were made that speed up SANE (numerics) operations on 32-bit clean Macintoshes with a floating-point coprocessor. These include all IIci's and IIfx's plus LC's and IIsi's that have had a coprocessor specially installed. (Neither of the latter machines ships with a coprocessor.) See
ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/mac/system_sw/System_7.0.1/
As of this writing Apple has not made any system software after 7.0 available on 800K floppy disks, and it is unlikely that they will ever do so. You can still install System 7.5 from a CD-ROM.
If you can somehow get copies of the floppy disks onto your hard drive, either via a friend's machine with an external hard disk or through a network, you can install from that hard disk. On your friend's machine drag the icon for each floppy disk onto the hard drive you'll use to do the install. The Finder will make copies of the contents of each disk and put them in folders labelled "Disk 1," "Disk 2," and so on. Place all the disk folders in another folder, and label that folder "Net Install". Then open the Disk 1 folder, take out the installer application and script and place it at the top level of your Net Install folder. If necessary you now need to shut down your friend's Mac and move their external hard drive to your Mac. Once the hard drive has been connected to the Mac on which you want to install the new system software, launch the installer.
You can also use the free utility ShrinkWrap to mount the images of the 1400K System 7.0.1 disks on your hard drive and install from the image rather than a floppy. Be warned, however, that installing system software from mounted images is a notoriously unreliable procedure. Be sure you make a complete backup of your hard disk and have a set of system disks on genuine floppies before attempting to install from mounted images. See
ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/ShrinkWrap.sit.bin
Does anyone really understand Apple's Unix strategy? If so will you please explain it to me? As I understand it, A/UX, Apple's well- respected Unix product of long standing, has been killed in favor of IBM's roundly despised AIX. A/UX has been officially discontinued and is not supported on most current hardmare except for some WorkGroup Servers. Nonetheless you can still buy it and run it on almost any Mac. AIX, the new "official" Apple Unix cannot be bought for and will not run on any Apple hardware. Does this leave you confused? If so you're not alone. For more information about A/UX see Jim Jagielski's FAQ list at
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.unix.aux/
MachTen from Tenon is a commercial Unix-like overlay for the MacOS. Send email to info@tenon.com or see
for more details. Because MachTen uses the MacOS filesystem, it has problems dealing with things like hard links. It's close enough for many people, though. In particular it's useful for DNS, NNTP, multihomed Web sites and other Internet server functions that cannot be handled reliably under the MacOS.
There are development versions of both NetBSD and Linux for the Mac. Neither is suited for anything more than the developers at this time. If you're interested in working on the port, see
for more information.
Try a Find on the missing filenames. In the meantime grab Disk First Aid 7.2 from ftp.support.apple.com which should be able to fix this problem. See
ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_First_Aid_(7.2).hqx
Possibly the folder contains items that are locked or in use and can't be thrown away. Turn off file-sharing (if it's on) and quit all applications. Then try to throw the folder away. If that doesn't work and you're using System 6, hold down the option-key and drag the folder into the trash; or, if you're using System 7, hold down the option key while selecting "Empty Trash" from the special menu. Holding the option key down lets you throw away locked items. If that doesn't work restart the computer, hold down the option key, and try again. If you still can't throw away the folder, try throwing away the items in the folder (if any) one by one until you find the ones giving you trouble. Remove them from the folder, and then throw the folder away. If you still can't throw the folder away, you've discovered a "Folder from Hell." Create an empty folder on *ANOTHER* disk with the same name as the Hell Folder. Then copy the new folder onto the same disk in the same folder as the Hell Folder. Click "Yes" when asked if you want to replace the Hell Folder. Now you should be able to throw the just copied folder away. If that doesn't work, get a copy of John Jeppson's HellFolderFix utility from
ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/HellFolderFix.sit.bin
Apple originally planned to treat removables like floppies rather than hard disks for file-sharing. At the requests of beta testers file-sharing on removables was hacked into System 7.0 at the last minute. However, since file-sharing was originally to be implemented only on fixed drives, no means were created for the host Mac to tell other Macs when a new volume went on or off-line. Therefore sharing a removable volume requires that the disc or cartridge be inserted and mounted when filesharing is turned on. Turn filesharing off and on with the drive powered up and the cartridge inserted and you should then be able to share the removable.
When file-sharing is turned on it makes all disks larger than two megabytes available for remote access by the owner even if they aren't specifically shared. This prevents the dismounting of removable media. Turn off file-sharing first. Then drag the volume icon to the trash. Apple's recently released free utility UnmountIt will do this automagically, i.e. turn off file-sharing, eject the disk, and then turn file-sharing back on. See
ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/UnmountIt.sit.bin
Turn off file-sharing as described above. If the disk you can't rename is not shared, you need to unlock the drive name. This can be done by Kazu Yanagahira's freeware utility Unlock Folder or by Disk First Aid 7.2. See
ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_First_Aid_(7.2).hqx ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/UnlockFolder.sit.bin
In System 7 you change the icon by cutting or copying an icon from somewhere, Getting Info on the hard drive, and pasting the icon into the Get Info box.
If the normal pasting of an icon onto your hard drive fails, you'll need to perform some simple software repairs. You will need a utility capable of changing information bits on files and volumes such as ResEdit, the $10 shareware FileTyper 4.0, or the payware DiskTop. See
ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/Apple.Support.Area/Developer_Services/Tool_Chest/Developer_Utilities/ResEdit_2.1.3/ ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/FileTyper.sit.bin
First turn the "Has Custom Icon" bit on the hard drive OFF. This may be all you need to do so try pasting a new icon again. If this still doesn't work, you need to delete the old icon first. This icon is stored in a file called Icon\r on the root level of your hard disk. (This file may have a different name in some international systems. For instance in the Danish system it's called Symbol\r.) Since the Icon\r file is invisible you'll need to turn the Invisible bit of the file off to make the file visible. Then trash it. Next create an empty folder, Get Info..., on the folder and paste the icon you want for your hard drive in the folder's Get Info box. Make the Icon\r file inside that folder visible and move it to the root level of your hard drive. (You can do this by dragging the file onto the icon of your hard disk.) Now make the file invisible again. Use your utility to turn the "Has Custom Icon" bit ON. Finally restart the computer and rebuild the desktop.
In System 6 you must use the hard drive formatting software to give the hard drive a new icon. You'll be limited to the icons included with the formatter. You may be able to edit the icons included with the formatter using a resource editing tool like ResEdit.
Chris Reed's $10 shareware TTConverter 1.5 will convert back and forth between Windows and Macintosh TrueType fonts. See
ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/TTConverter.sit.bin
The payware programs FontMonger ($95 street) and MetaMorphosis ($89 street) convert between all types of TrueType and PostScript fonts. On the PC side the REFONT program available from
ftp://jasper.ora.com/pub/mac-font-tools/refont14.zip
will convert Macintosh Truetype fonts to PC TrueType fonts and vice-versa. It also converts Macintosh PostScript fonts to PC PostScript fonts and vice-versa. It will not, however, convert between PostScript fonts and TrueType fonts.
For screen display a Mac first looks for a bitmap font with the appropriate name in the appropriate size. If it finds it, it uses it. If you're running System 7 or have installed the TrueType init in System 6, your Mac then looks for the the appropriate TrueType font. If it can't find the TrueType font and ATM is installed, it then looks for the appropriate PostScript outline font. As a penultimate resort your Mac will scale a bitmap font to the needed size. Finally, if all else fails and the Mac simply cannot find any member of the requested family, then the display will use the default font, Geneva on U.S. systems, possibly something else on international systems.
On a QuickDraw printer (ImageWriter, DeskWriter, StyleWriter, etc.) the Mac normally looks for fonts in the same order it does for the screen. However on some printers in some modes it may look for a larger size of the requested font so it can scale the font down to match the higher resolution of the printer.
A PostScript printer looks for fonts in a different order. First it looks for a PostScript outline font on the printer's hard drive (if any). Then it looks for the font in the printer's ROM. Then it looks for the PostScript font on the computer's hard disk. If the printer can't find an appropriate PostScript outline font, then it will use a TrueType font. If it can't find the TrueType font, it looks for a bitmap of the font. Finally if it can't find any version of the font anywhere, it substitutes Courier with predictably horrible results.
If you're using System 7.1 or later the answer is simple: Put all fonts (Truetype, PostScript outline, QuickDraw GX and bitmap) in the Fonts folder inside the System Folder. You can put them other places (the Extensions folder, the System Folder itself, the system file) but there's no good reason to do so. In particular storing fonts in the system file unnecessarily is a common cause of system file corruption and all sorts of hard to diagnose problems. When you upgrade to System 7.1 or later, be sure to remove all fonts from the system file.
If you're using a system older than 7.1, TrueType fonts and bitmaps belong in your System file. In System 7.0 and 7.0.1 PostScript outline fonts go in the Extensions folder. In System 6 PostScript outline fonts belong in the System Folder.
Many older versions of font and printer utilities like ATM and SendPS cannot find fonts placed in System 7.1's Fonts folder. Most of these utilities will work if you put your printer fonts in the Extensions folder or System folder instead. However in all cases I'm aware of upgrades to these utilities that work with the Fonts folder are either cheap (under $10) or free.
Typically it means nothing at all of any use to the end user. Your time is much more productively spent trying to figure out what actions in which application caused the crash so that you can avoid them in the future rather than deciphering system error numbers. After all, knowing that Error 16 means a math coprocessor is not installed doesn't help you much in fixing the problem. Knowing that this happens in QuarkXPress 3.0 every time you try to link two text boxes on a master page when copies of those text boxes already contain text does. (And in this case the error message isn't even accurate.) If you really want to know what that number means, get
ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Chiron.sit.bin
A Type error is your Macintosh's way of telling you that it's sick and plans to take a nice vacation in Belview for a few days. Among developers Type errors are officially known as DS errors where DS stands for "Deep Spaghetti" (though a somewhat more colorful expression is often used in place of "Spaghetti"). Your applications are toast. Any unsaved data is lost. Once you've been hit with a Type error there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. You'll probably need to restart your Macintosh either by hitting the programmer's key or by turning the Mac off and on if the programmer's key isn't installed.
The most common type errors are Type 1 and Type 3. Type 1 is a bus error. It's most commonly symptomatic of software that isn't 32-bit clean. A Type 3 error is an illegal instruction. It's most often symptomatic of poorly written software. You may occasionally be able to avoid Type 1 errors by turning 32-bit addressing on or off or by turning the cache on or off if you have a 68040 Mac. Otherwise there is almost nothing you can do about these errors except try to find out what actions, applications, and/or extensions cause them so you can report them to the programmer and avoid them in the future. There is no point posting about Type errors to the net.
A/ROSE by any other name would still generate as much pointless net traffic. Apple's Realtime Operating System Environment is not needed by 99.9% of the people who stumble across it. It's only needed if you have an MCP NuBus card of which there were about six at last count. The only even moderately common one is Apple's short Ethernet NuBus card. If you don't have such a card, feel free to trash A/ROSE.
Easy Access is a *WONDERFUL* system extension from Apple, useful for far more than its intended purpose. Unfortunately it's also the source of a lot of confusion and strange behavior on many Macs. It's even been suggested that anti-virals should detect and report the presence of Easy Access since it produces more false virus reports than any other software in Macintosh history. If you're using System 7, your Mac will emit an ascending whistle for about two seconds when Easy Access is turned on and a descending whistle when Easy Access is turned off. You may also hear a beep after some keypresses.
Easy Access has two pieces, Sticky Keys, which is turned on by hitting the Shift key five times in a row without moving the mouse, and Mouse Keys which is turned on by hitting Command-Shift-Clear. Sticky Keys lets you type things like Command-Shift-Clear without doing the Rose Mary Wood shuffle. Just hit the modifer keys you want to use and then hit the regular key. For example if Sticky Keys is turned on, you could also turn on Mouse Keys by typing Command, then Shift, then Clear rather than by hitting them all at once. When Sticky Keys is turned on an icon appears in the menu bar to the right of the application icon/menu. Mouse Keys lets the numeric keypad substitute for the mouse. This is especially useful for making precision, single-pixel adjustments in draw and paint programs and for safely shutting down or restarting your computer when the mouse is frozen.
By far the best way is to divide your disk into multiple partitions, one partition for each system folder. Then use your formatting software to select the partition to boot from. This will, however, trash everything on your hard disk so back up first. Soft partitions like those created by Norton Utilities and other utility packages are not nearly as reliable or safe for your data as hard partitions created by a disk formatter like Drive7.
If you don't want to repartition your hard drive, you can keep compressed archives of system folders you might want to use on your hard disk. To switch system folders you'll need to boot off a floppy or a second hard disk, compress the old system folder, and uncompress the new one. Just be sure that when you boot your Mac there's not more than one uncompressed System Folder on any one drive.
Finally if you absolutely must keep multiple, bootable system folders on the same hard disk, Keisuke Hara's freeware System Switcher 1.1 or Kevin Aitken's System Picker 1.0.1 will adjust the boot blocks of the hard disk so you can pick which one your Mac will boot off from. See
ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SystemSwitcher.sit.bin ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SystemPicker.sit.bin
If you put a copy in the Startup Items folder of your System 7 system folder, and specify it as a startup item in System 6, then whenever you start up you'll be offered a choice of systems.
On Macs that don't have a physical programmer's switch you can restart the computer with Command-Control-Power and drop into the debugger with Command-Power. Also note that in System 7 Command-Option-Escape will force most applications (including the Finder) to quit so you no longer need to activate the debugger just to kill a frozen application.
-- Elliotte Rusty Harold elharo@shock.njit.edu ..