QuickTime playback speed

I’m having problems making QuickTime movies larger than 560 x 268 pixels that play back smoothly. I’m using Infini-D, QuickTime 4 and so on on a 300MHz G3. I need to get up to 768 x 576, broadcast quality. What am I doing wrong?

Antonio Devlin

It’s unlikely that you’re doing anything wrong, except perhaps in expecting your computer to be able to run high-resolution video at full speed. Playing such movies is a very demanding test of any computer. You need a high-speed hard disk, capable of delivering sustained read performance of 3Mb/sec or more. This compressed video then needs to be decompressed on the fly and sent to the movie player window on screen ­ a severe test of your processor’s performance. For this to work with digital video ­ from a DVD, for instance ­ the only practical solution remains a hardware decompression board which sends the video output direct to the graphics or display card. If you need this kind of quality, you’ll have to get a much faster Mac (like a 450MHz G4), and will probably even then need to perform compression and decompression in hardware (add-in cards).

Remote control

I want to be able to see, from a remote Mac and PC, the activity on the screen of our ISDN Manager Mac system. How can I do this?

Colin Gilham

The standard tool for viewing a remote Mac or PC’s screen is the excellent Timbuktu Pro, from Netopia (www.netopia.com/software/tb2/). However, this uses some processing power and memory on both the watched and watching machines, and consumes a fair bit of the communications bandwidth between those computers, whether on a network or via a phone line. You may find that it slows down the ISDN system too much to be acceptable, in which case your best option may be to mount a small video camera so that it shows the required part of the screen. If the image needs to be sent remotely over, say, an Internet connection, a Web camera might be the best solution, and could be set up on a private Web page without too much trouble.

Macro virus

My colleague used to be able to print in the background to his LaserWriter LS from his PowerBook G3, but since copying a PowerPoint 97 file from a PC, this doesn’t work, and now he can only print in the foreground. He also had problems with poor performance, and Type 3 errors in Microsoft Office, but these went away after re-installing Office 98. Is this a virus?

Colin Clements

These could be the effects of a virus, but it’s more likely to be the result of a corrupted Mac OS or a simple extension clash. Before going any further, check the machine using a current copy of Norton Anti-Virus for Macintosh (with the latest virus definitions files), or Virex if you prefer. Until you’ve done this, avoid opening any Office documents other than those which you know to be sound, as a macro virus could have spread to other files. Then, if that’s clear, perform a full backup and start checking with Disk First Aid and third-party utilities, such as Norton Utilities, TechTool Pro or the new Disk Warrior 2.0 (Reviews, p35).

If everything seems fine but the problem remains, suspect an ordinary extension clash and try turning off all non-essential extensions apart from those for the Mac OS, your printing software, and the many extensions necessary for Office to work. If the problem persists, you may need to perform a clean re-installation of the Mac OS, and then a fresh installation of Microsoft Office.

Vertical monitor lines

I’m now on my second Apple 17in Studio Display. This and the previous one have suffered from faint vertical lines in the lower-right quadrant of the display. Thumping them has made the lines go away, but they gradually reappear after time. Is this a familiar problem with that model?

Jamie Freeman

Apple monitors based on Sony Trinitron tubes normally have faint horizontal lines visible as a result of internal wires. However, they shouldn’t show any vertical lines of the type you describe. Before you dismiss this as a fault in the monitor, try using the monitor in a different location, and ideally with a different Mac as well. Electromagnetic fields, such as those from power cables, motors and magnets, can cause this sort of interference with the picture. While there were serious problems with build quality for previous Apple 17in displays, the current Studio models appear much better, although you can always be unlucky.

online commerce server

I’ve developed a Web site which is hosted by a secure Unix server. How can I add an ecommerce system?

Mark Pillans

You should discuss this with your Web hosting service, as ecommerce systems designed to be hosted on Macs, many of which are built using FileMaker Pro and similar databases, won’t normally run on a Unix server. Chances are your hosting service already has suitable software available, and you’ll need to discuss with them how to handle orders returned to you by the system ­ for instance, in the form of email.

You may also find it interesting to browse other commercial sites, many of which are hosted on Macs or which send orders to Macs. Don’t be afraid to email their Web masters to ask them what software they’re using, and how well it works for them.

Epson scanner

Since I installed Mac OS 8.6, I’ve been unable to use my Epson GT-9000 scanner. Epson admits this is a driver problem, but says there’s no workaround. What can I do while I wait for the company to fix its software?

Tony Spalding

This problem is all too common, and is very hard to address. If you need to use the scanner, you have no option but to revert to Mac OS 8.5.1. If this prevents you from using other products which require version 8.6, the only workaround is to configure your Mac so it can start up using either 8.6 or 8.5.1. The simplest way to do this is to add another volume, either by partitioning your existing disk or by adding another hard disk. You can then install 8.6 on one, and 8.5.1 on the other, and switch between them using the Startup Disk control panel. You can (if you must) install both on the same volume, using System Switcher or similar to activate just one of the two System Folders. However, this isn’t generally a ‘safe’ solution, and you’ll find it much better to keep different versions of the Mac OS on separate volumes. If Epson doesn’t produce a compatible driver soon, consider changing your scanner.

emailed files

I’m getting more and more email attachments accompanied by useless ATTxxxxx.txt files containing bits of the senders’ signature. How can I stop this?

Brian Jones

Signature and message attachments of this type are commonly part of the default configuration of email software used on PCs. Attached files like this aren’t sent separately but are part of the text of the email message, and are only split off when your email software receives the whole message. Consequently, there’s no way to reject the attachment. Some email software allows you to ignore ‘spam’ messages, or asks whether you wish to save attachments each time. But no product seems able to distinguish between these ‘nuisance’ attachments and worthwhile ones. You could, however, point out to those originating this wasteful chaff that they can change their email application settings to stop annoying everyone in this way. It’s likely that the sender simply doesn’t realise that this is going on.

MotoDV editing

I have a blue-and-white Power Mac G3, and bought MotoDV so I can import video from my Sony DV camera. However, after installation, I can’t use the bundled PCI FireWire card or the G3’s built-in FireWire ports. Is there a problem with MotoDV?

Alice Munson

As shipped, Digital Origin’s MotoDV is an attractive package. But it’s a real pain to get working on blue-and-white Power Mac G3 models. Ignore the bundled PCI card, and try to get it working with either of the two built-in FireWire (IEEE 1394) ports. However, the extensions provided as part of MotoDV don’t reliably support built-in ports: you need to download slightly older versions, which have now been modified to work better, from Digital Origin’s Web site (www.digitalorigin.com). If you want to use the bundled PCI FireWire card, you’ll probably find that even tougher, as it doesn’t like the bottom PCI slot in blue-and-white G3 models. It may work better in a different slot, as long as you have the patience to shuffle your cards around.

Analogue video editing

I want to be able to import video from my (analogue) camcorder into my blue-and-white Power Mac G3, edit it using Strata VideoShop, and then record onto a VHS video deck. What should I buy for the G3 to enable this?

Dave Harrison

You’ll need a PCI video conversion card to digitise analogue video and then output it again after editing. Before investing in this, you should consider carefully what level of quality you require, as this will determine cost, and whether it would be better to exchange your old camcorder for a new digital video model (ideally one which supports DV in and out) that can be played directly into a FireWire port.

Depending on the amount of free hard disk space you have, you may also need to add a high-speed hard disk to use for your recordings. Because of the efficiency of the compression used by digital video, you should be able to use an existing ATA internal hard disk, or add a new one, but this may not be fast enough for analogue input. Before paying substantial sums of money for new hardware, get your dealer to show you the products in action, working with the sort of video you want to use; this will save you from disappointment later.

Bigger iMac hard disk

I need a bigger hard disk in my 333MHz iMac which will allow me to have at least three partitions, as I need to run Mac OS 8.6, Virtual PC and PPC Linux. How can I upgrade its hard disk to 20Gb?

Jim Westaway

You may not need as many partitions as you think. While the Mac OS and Linux will need separate partitions, Virtual PC creates its own virtual partitions in what appear (to the Mac OS) to be large Mac files, so it will happily run from a Mac OS partition. However, you’ll almost certainly need much more hard disk space than the 6Gb or so provided on your standard hard disk.

If you want external disks, USB is a low-cost option, although it’s not suitable for use as a startup volume, and isn’t particularly quick to access. iMacs, with their integral monitors, can contain lethally high voltages for hours or even days after they were last powered up. As such, you should avoid trying to open them up to that degree. Swapping hard disks is also normally more complex than adding memory, so you should leave this task to a reputable Apple dealer, who will also guarantee the work.

Driver Loader Lib

Where can I find a copy of DriverLoaderLib, and what is it?

Matthew

DriverLoaderLib is a shared library which is part of the software development tools for the Mac, such as Metrowerks Code Warrior and Apple’s MPW (Macintosh Programmer’s Workshop). Although a shared library, it shouldn’t normally be shipped with an application, as it is a ‘stub’ library and not something which users should ever see. Nor should they need to install it. If you have software which is complaining that it requires DriverLoaderLib, it may be that there’s a problem in that software, and that the request is spurious. You should contact those who support the software product and report the problem. If you really do need this library, it’s easiest to obtain as part of MPW, which is now freely available by FTP from dev.apple.com/devworld/Tool_Chest/Core_Mac_OS_Tools/.

Which server

Which is better for serving a mixed local network ­ AppleShare IP or Mac OS X Server?

Ade Shariff

AppleShare IP and Mac OS X Server are quite different products for achieving fairly similar tasks: delivering shared file, printing, email and Web services to local and Internet networks. Both offer AppleShare over TCP/IP, and support generic TCP/IP protocols, thus supporting connections from PCs, Unix and most other types of computer.

While AppleShare IP does this from within the Mac OS environment, OS X Server is essentially a polished and packaged port of Unix ­ OpenStep with a Mach kernel, to be precise. When you administer AppleShare IP, you need no knowledge of command-line tools, Unix scripts, and so on, but pay a price with the performance overhead resulting from that friendliness. OS X Server supports recompiled Unix tools, such as sendmail and Apache, with plenty of raw power, but has nothing like the friendliness you’re used to with the Mac OS. OS X Server might be better where performance is critical, but you can accept the extra learning and support required. It’s also part of Apple’s declared path for the future ­ although it’s very different from the promised Mac OS X, of course.