Email problem

I can send email fine with Microsoft Outlook Express, and can surf the Web with Netscape, too. But when I ask Outlook Express to get my mail, it gets a connection, but during authentication it reports a mail error: ‘Unable to receive mail at this time.’ My ISP can’t help ­ can you?

Mark Christy

If other TCP/IP functions are working fine, this can only result from an incorrect setting in your Internet or Outlook Express configurations, or a problem with your ISP’s servers. Either way, you need to work through your configuration carefully with the ISP’s support service. If you’re using a Hosts file (which maps between numeric IP addresses and their text equivalents), this could easily be the root cause. If you can’t get it right, try another ISP ­ there’s no shortage of free and cheap ones touting for business.

Plugging devices in

We all know that plugging in SCSI and ADB devices when your Mac is on should never be attempted because of the risk of destroying your Mac. What about when the Mac is asleep?

Richard Barraclough

ADB connections should never be made or broken when the Mac is powered up, whether it is awake or asleep. This is because it’s possible, when inserting or removing an ADB plug, for the ADB controller to receive a hefty electric ‘zap’ ­ and as that controller is on your motherboard, the fix, should you be unlucky enough to achieve this, is a costly new motherboard. SCSI connections should also not be made or broken with the bus powered up (either Mac or peripherals running). In this case, the risks of physical damage are higher, and you’re likely to lock your SCSI bus solid, requiring the whole system to shut down again.

If you really do need to safely hot-swap SCSI devices, Granite Digital (www.scsipro.com) has recently launched a special hardware system which allows this. Although attempting to hot-swap ADB or SCSI devices could be slightly safer when the Mac is asleep, the risks remain very real, so you should really awaken your Mac and shut everything down before making ADB or SCSI changes. If you try to do so when your Mac is asleep, there’s the added risk that it will make it impossible to awaken the computer, forcing you to reset.

Extra disk space

I’m looking to add the largest amount of internal hard disk space available at a reasonable price. What would you suggest for my blue-and-white G3 with an Adaptec 2903 SCSI card?

David Willie

Your two main options are for an ATA/IDE hard disk, of the type probably fitted as the main hard disk in your computer, or a SCSI disk, running from a SCSI adaptor. Although SCSI has traditionally been the expansion bus of choice, and can still offer very good performance, SCSI disks tend to be more expensive than ATA products. If performance is critical, a large Ultra2 disk coupled with an appropriate interface card, such as the Adaptec 2940U2W, can achieve maximum burst data transfer rates of 80Mb/sec, which even FireWire devices can’t yet manage. However, you’ll have to be very careful about which other devices are put on that SCSI bus, as performance can drop dramatically if you connect slow SCSI peripherals. On the other hand, a high-capacity ATA disk would be a lot cheaper, if marginally inferior in performance.

DVD Video problems

I can’t access the enhanced features on The Matrix DVD on my iMac DV with Mac OS 8.6. What am I doing wrong?

Craig McGill

Many DVD Videos include enhanced content which can’t be accessed from a domestic DVD player but is available to computer users. Unfortunately, most of this is in PC format, and in the case of The Matrix, it doesn’t seem to work with PC emulators such as VirtualPC. (It’s been suggested that this particular disc doesn’t properly comply with DVD standards and can cause problems even on PCs.) However, as on other discs, some of the content is in HTML format. Ensure the DVD is mounted with ISO-9660 compatibility (hold down command-option-i when inserting), then look through the disc for HTML files ­ the first page is usually called INDEX.HTML ­ and load them into your usual browser.

Rebuild the desktop

I use TechTool to rebuild my Desktop, and DiskWarrior to rebuild the directory. Are these the same thing, and which one would you use to rebuild the Desktop?

Shaun Thornes

The ‘directory’ of each disk contains details of the structure of the disk, which files and folders are on it, and where they are located. The Desktop database is a collection of hidden files which contain the information to enable the Finder to display applications and documents with the correct icons ­ a compendium of file types, icons, and so on. These are quite distinct.

While you may need to rebuild your Desktop files periodically, you should only rebuild your directory if there’s a problem with it. So TechTool is a good way to clean up your Desktop database, while DiskWarrior (see Reviews, Vol 16 No 3, p35) is a super tool for recovering damaged or failing disks.

Open Firmware

I’ve discovered a command-line interpreter in my iMac. If you hold down the alt, command, ‘f’ and ‘o’ keys when starting up, you’ll see it too. What is this, and why does Apple keep so quiet about it and ‘Open Firmware’?

Gordon Charlton

You’ve stumbled across the Open Firmware monitor, which isn’t a true command-line interpreter, but a diagnostic tool for the service engineer and developers writing device drivers, and so on. If you inadvertently enter this monitor, simply type BYE to quit it and continue as normal.

Open Firmware, introduced with blue-and-white G3 and iMac models, is the new plug-and-play system for Macs, and is the basis for your Mac booting up its software ROM and recognising internal hardware components, including expansion cards. There really is no internal command-line interpreter in the Mac OS ­ it has never had anything to equate to the PC’s MS-DOS.

Shut down problem

Whenever I want to shut down or restart my iMac (Rev B), it refuses, and the only way I can turn it off is to pull the plug. I’ve tried re-installing Mac OS 8.5. Is this a known problem?

Claus Wehlisch

Turning off the wall socket or pulling the mains plug, is potentially very damaging and should only be attempted as a last resort. You should always shut down your Mac using the Finder menu command, or you risk damaging the hard disk and worse. If you find your Mac won’t shut down or restart properly, suspect the remains of a crashed application (you can see if this is the case by trying a restart before running any applications), a frozen background application, an extension conflict, or something in the Shutdown Items folder (in the System Folder) causing problems. You’ll need to check each of those possibilities. Try starting up with all extensions turned off (hold down the shift key), and see whether the difficulty persists. If it does, and there’s no evidence of any other cause, try re-installing the Mac OS and then turn extensions off. If there’s still a problem, it may be hardware ­ your dealer should be able to help then.

Expired security certificates

Since I returned to work after the New Year, I’ve had problems accessing certain Web sites using Microsoft Internet Explorer. Is it the sites that have got a Y2K problem, or me?

Dave Edwards

Although some sites may still be suffering from Y2K problems, the chances are that you’re using Explorer version 4.5 or earlier, and that’s responsible. Browsers, including Netscape Navigator and Communicator, contain embedded security certificates, which in turn have expiry dates. Internet Explorer version 4.51, which was released just after Christmas, has updated certificates with expiry dates further into the future. Previous versions contained some certificates which expired at the end of 1999, so if you try to access sites which require those, you may not be admitted to them.

Sadly, the error message is a bit ambiguous and has led many people to believe the site, rather than their browser, is to blame. You can download the update from MacTopia, at www.microsoft.com/mac/. Thankfully, Netscape fixed its certificates earlier, and users with at least Navigator 4.07 or Communicator 4.51 should have no problems.

iBook on PC network

Can I connect my iBook to my college Ethernet network, which has a Windows NT 4 server and Windows 98 clients?

Andrew Wood

In principle, you should have no trouble hooking up to this type of network. However, you’ll need to consult with the IT staff who run the network, and discuss several issues with them. First, your iBook has built-in support for unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cabling. If the college cabling is different ­ for example, coaxial ­ then connection will be more complex.

NT offers two main options by way of Mac support: if it’s configured to offer TCP/IP support, then you can use Internet-style tools, possibly enhanced with Thursby’s DAVE (www.thursby.com). Alternatively, NT for Macintosh support on the servers works very well with normal AppleShare tools, giving you shared volumes on the server to which you can connect. However, your network needs to be specially configured to offer that form of Mac support, which is something only the IT staff can perform.

DoubleUp files

We have some important files which were compressed using a ‘DoubleUp’ board in an old IIfx. We can’t start up the IIfx, as it shows no signs of life. What software can we use to recover these files?

Sue Franklin

DoubleUp boards were small NuBus cards which accelerated compression and decompression using custom hardware developed by Stac, packaged with Mac software known as DiskDoubler. Unfortunately, while software-compressed DiskDoubler files can be decompressed using the freeware DD Expand, if the Double Up card has been used, decompression can only take place using the card. As Stac/Fifth Generation didn’t support Mac Double Up cards for long, and Stac then became embroiled in a big legal battle with Microsoft, it’s years since there has been any hardware support of this kind.

The only way to recover these files is by decompressing them on a NuBus machine like your IIfx, with a Double Up card and its driver installed. The chances are that your old IIfx is still recoverable ­ after this time, its internal PRAM back-up batteries are sure to be dead. Try replacing them with two new half-AA size 3.6-volt lithium thionyl chloride batteries. The batteries are hidden underneath the platform on which your hard and floppy disk drives are mounted. You can unscrew the four retaining screws and flip that platform over the power supply (on the left of the case).

If it’s still dead, remove the Double Up card and try to find a dealer or user group member who still has a IIfx running, but don’t forget to take them a disk containing the DoubleUp driver and DiskDoubler software.

MP3 settings

I have downloaded and installed SoundJam, but when I try to download MP3 files from the Web, or listen to Internet radio, it doesn’t open the files. What have I done wrong?

Marty Smith

If you want an application like SoundJam to automatically handle files downloaded by your Web browser, you need to alter its preference settings so that it recognises the file types, and passes the appropriate files to SoundJam for it to handle. You need to add or change settings for five different file type to handle all MP3 files. Open the preference settings of your Web browser, and ensure that the following types are set:

Description: MPEG Audio Stream
MIME Type: audio/x-scpls
File Suffixes: pls, mp3, m3u
File Types: mp3!

Description: Audio MPEG
MIME Type: audio/mpeg
File Suffixes: mpg, mpeg
File Types: PLAY

Description: Audio MPEG
MIME Type: audio/x-mpeg
File Suffixes: mpg, mpeg
File Types: PLAY

Description: MPEG Audio Stream
MIME Type: audio/x-mpegurl
File Suffixes: m3u
File Types: MP3U

Description: MPEG-1 Layer 3 Audio
MIME Type:
File Suffixes: pls
File Types: mp3!

Each should opt to open the file using SoundJam. Further useful hints are at the FAQ, available through www.soundjam.com and you may find it easier still if you update to version 1.6.

Visual Basic

Where can I get Visual Basic for the Mac?

Mike James

Microsoft doesn’t offer Visual Basic for the Mac. However, there are several good Basic systems available for the Mac OS. One of the best is REAL Software’s REALbasic (see www.realsoftware.com), which has sufficient compatibility with Visual Basic to import source code from it. REALbasic is available in three formats: a freely downloadable time-limited demo, and two commercial packages, the more expensive of which also supports cross-platform development for Windows. Those who use both REALbasic and Visual Basic find that REALbasic is in some respects superior to Microsoft’s offering, as it lacks many of the interface irritances of the latter.