Simple network

I have a Power Mac 6400 with a serial port and internal modem, and an iBook with an Ethernet port and modem. Can I connect them via the modem ports without a phone line?

Paul Thompson

No, there is no simple way to connect these machines via the modem ports without going out over normal public phone lines. Even if you could, the slow speed of modem connections would not make this worthwhile. Your best option is to buy a 10Base-T Ethernet adaptor card for the 6400, and then connect both machines via unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cabling. The simplest and cheapest network would be a special ‘crossover’ cable to go direct between the two network ports. Better would be to hook both Macs to an Ethernet hub with standard cables, while the flashiest solution would be to connect the 6400 and an AirPort base station to an Ethernet hub, and then add an AirPort card to the iBook ­ this would give you wireless local networking. If you don’t want to add an Ethernet card to the 6400, you could connect it to a LocalTalk-to-Ethernet bridge, such as AsantéTalk, and then to the iBook’s UTP Ethernet, but this slows down file transfers dramatically in comparison with an all-Ethernet solution.

Altering document icons

I need to send documents in Microsoft Word 6 (95) format, and have discovered that I must save them to a new folder to ensure they are correctly formatted. But the icon they use is very similar to regular Word 98 documents. How can I make their icon more distinct?

Frank Barlow

Document icon information is set by the Finder, using its hidden Desktop database files. These files are in turn constructed from information contained within the resource fork of the application owning those files. Word, therefore, has resources which map between the Word 6 document type and the icon. You can edit these using ResEdit or Resourceror, the former being available from Apple and many other sites for free, and included on this issue’s Mac Survival Kit cover CD. You should only work on a duplicate copy of the application file, and keep good backups: editing resources can have very serious effects, but can also be very rewarding. The icon family used for Word 6/95 files (Finder ID ‘W6BN’) has the ID of 302, so you need to open the icl4 (large icons) and ics4 (small) resource pickers and edit the icon resources with that ID. Once you’ve altered the Word 6 icon using ResEdit, and have saved it, remove all other copies of the Word application from your disks, and rebuild the Desktop (hold down the option and command keys during startup, or force this using TechTool or another similar utility). This last step is required to ensure that your Mac will properly use the new icons from your amended copy of Word.

Software PostScript RIP

We’ve been using an Epson Stylus Color 1520 printer, but recently had to stop using the software RIP because of repeated PostScript errors. How can we restore it to PostScript printing?

Wayne Ansell

You’ll need to update the combination of RIP and printer software to achieve compatibility, or switch to using a different software RIP which works properly on your system. Check the Epson support sites for updates to the RIP (if it was supplied by Epson), Apple’s support pages for newer releases of the LaserWriter driver, and third-party suppliers such as Birmy for alternative RIPs. Another trick which sometimes helps is to print to a PostScript file, then convert that into a PDF using Adobe Acrobat Distiller, and print from Acrobat. While that may be useful for the occasional problem file, it is too clumsy for regular use.

iMac freeze

My iMac DV frequently freezes, in all different applications. Is this normal?

Paul Canny

There are many possible reasons for this happening. A quick test which is helpful is to use Extensions Manager to select just the basic Mac OS extension and control panel set, and then restart. If you still suffer frequent and apparently random freezes, then it may well be a result of a corrupt System Folder, disk errors, or a hardware fault. If minimising extensions makes freezing a thing of the past, you should suspect conflicting third-party extensions, and one by one turn them back on until you’ve located the culprit. Otherwise, run Disk First Aid and repair any problems that it finds. If the freezes persist, or if there is disk problem which Disk First Aid can’t repair, try backing up and re-installing the Mac OS. If you have the time you should consider re-initialising your hard disk, and then re-installing the Mac OS, your applications and documents. While this may seem time-consuming and radical, it’s best to sort things out sooner rather than later. If none of these helps, get your dealer to check your hardware out.

G4 vs G3

Is a G4/400 worth the extra cost over a G4/350?

Gary Kilpatrick

All other things being equal, a 400MHz Power Mac G4 will be roughly 14% faster than a 350MHz G4. That is, you can expect a task which takes 10 secs on the 350MHz machine to take about 8.75 secs on the 400MHz. That assumes that the task is dependent entirely on processor speed, though. If much of it is tied to hard disk performance, network throughput, or even modem connection speed, there may be little if any difference between the machines.

So if you spend a lot of time waiting for images to render, or for a software RIP to work through a PostScript file, you may realise a worthwhile performance improvement with the faster machine. You should also consider the other differences between models, as the faster machines include features such as DVD drives. Finally, the Power Mac G4 350MHz has now been discontinued, so expect a discount from anyone still trying to sell this model. The considerations above, however, will apply to choices between other configurations too.

Color Classic

I still use a Color Classic, but gather that Apple has stopped supporting this machine now. What happens if anything goes wrong ­ am I expected just to throw it away?

Alex Fishman

Recently, Apple has announced various tranches of old hardware products which they are no longer supporting. These include the Color Classic and virtually all Apple II and IIgs models, as well as a long list of peripherals. Some dealers have limited stocks of old spares, and others may know of suppliers who do still support old products. So your first step should still be to contact your local Apple dealer.

If they’re unable to help, you will then need to try specialist firms, such as Pre-Owned Electronics (at www.preowned.com) who keep a vast inventory of parts for older Apple hardware. One final option is to trawl the small ads and car boot sales for old machines, and then use them for spares.

PowerBook vs desktop G3

I use Illustrator and Photoshop, I’m learning 3D software, and I like to play games. I want to take my work wherever I go, but is a G3 PowerBook really as powerful as a G3 desktop Mac?

Graham Naylor

Mac portable are certainly more comparable than PCs with their desktop cousins. For general work most people won’t notice a significant difference between a G3 PowerBook and a G3 Power Mac, but intensive work will reveal the differences. PowerBooks tend not to have as large a Level 2 ‘backside’ cache, and the graphics hardware is certainly no match for the ATI RAGE 128 graphics cards in blue-and-white G3s and G4s. The current PowerBooks are remarkably powerful, but the same money will always buy a slighty faster desktop Mac.

Best MP3 settings

What are the best settings for ‘ripping’ audio CDs into MP3 format?

Maggie Brough

Whether converting CD audio tracks for playing with SoundJam or Audion, or an external MP3 player, you should use MP3 format (strictly, this is MPEG-1 Layer 3, there being no such thing as MPEG-3) in order to squeeze the tracks into much smaller disk space. Choosing the best sampling rate (for example 44.1kHz) and bit rate (for example 64/128Kbits/sec) is more complex, and is definitely something which you should adjust to your taste.

MP3 is a combination of compression and encoding which does for audio files something similar to JPEG for images. It’s ‘lossy’, letting you trade off small file sizes against reduction in quality. Raw CD audio tracks normally deliver digital sound sampled at 44.1kHz, and a bit rate of 1400Kbits/sec. Simply compressing the audio data reduces the bit rate to no better than about 700Kbits/sec, in other words half the size of the original files. So MP3 encoders actually throw away some of the audio data, following very sophisticated analysis using a bank of filters (not unlike a graphic equaliser in principle) and a model of human hearing. Much of this is based on the way in which some sounds and noises will mask others ­ in a sense, it’s like 3D design software removing hidden lines and objects which are not visible in a given view.

Because MP3 encoding is built around the principle of retaining what you can hear, the only way of assessing it properly is to use different settings on the sort of music you will be ‘ripping’, and deciding how small you can get the MP3 files before their audio quality suffers. Speech (as on ‘talking books’) can sound quite normal even at 22kHz sampling rate and 48/96Kbits/sec bit rate ­ these are only 6% or 7% of the original file size. Classical music fares best at the same sampling rate as the original CD (44.1kHz) and bit rates up to around 64/128Kbits/sec, giving file sizes 10% of the original. Techno, dance and other popular music can suffer noticeable distortion at these rates, so you may need to oversample at 48kHz and use high bit rates of 80/160Kbits/sec or higher. Files will then be about 20% of the original size, but they should be almost indistinguishable from the CD.

Common audible problems that occur in MP3 files which have been ‘overcooked’ (too low sampling and bit rates) include pops and clicks, and metallic ringing in place of clean percussion, which is a form of ‘pre-echo’ (steady or periodic noise occurring as a result of defective encoding of staccato sounds). If you start hearing these, increase the sampling and/or bit rate settings until they disappear. Your ears are the best judge ­ studying spectra and sonograms can’t tell you how the files actually sound.

Parallel printer

Can I use my Epson 700 parallel port printer with a new iMac?

Jon Whitbread

In order to use any printer with a Mac, you need two components: a physical connection between the Mac and printer, and a software driver which allows Mac applications to send print jobs to the printer. An iMac, with its USB ports, can readily be connected to parallel devices via a USB-to-parallel interface converter, such as that available from Belkin. However, you’re not likely to come across many parallel printers for which there are Mac drivers which will work over this type of adaptor. Orange Micro has long offered hardware and software kits to support parallel printers from non-USB machines, but help for your iMac is very limited. If at all possible, you should buy a USB printer to accompany your iMac ­ the results will be better and much more reliable.

CD-R hardware fault

After several years’ trouble-free burning of CD-R disks, my Yamaha 4x drive has suddenly developed problems. Toast complains that CDs which have apparently been burned OK don’t verify. Is my drive broken?

Robin Allibone

It’s most likely a software problem, or your CD burner needs a clean. Other likely explanations include defective media, and a mechanical tracking problem in the drive. Restart your Mac with most extensions and control panels turned off, to ensure that no conflicts will confuse matters. Take a reliable, high-quality blank CD, and try burning and verifying that. Before committing to burning the disk, check the speed to ensure the data buffers will not underrun and thus cause problems during the burn. If you’re still having problems with verification, carefully use a CD lens cleaner kit, such as the ‘wet and dry’ system offered by Vivanco. This is a special CD, on which there are two small brushes: one is dampened with cleaning fluid, the other used dry. If you still have no joy, you may need to have your CD burner checked by a good engineer.

JPEG on Mac and PC

I can’t send photos (in JPEG format) to my sister in the US, who is using a PC with Windows 95. I am using the default encoding in Claris Emailer, but my sister can’t open the documents when they arrive. What can I do?

Mike Spoor

The default encoding in Emailer for Internet mail attachments is BinHex, which is handled poorly by most PC email software. If you want to be sure a PC user can access your attachments without a struggle, first of all use PC-compatible file formats. In the case of JPEG, use Graphic Converter (shareware, see www.versiontracker.com) to save the file in the most PC-friendly form. Give it a name which will work easily on a PC; no more than eight letters or numbers, with the ‘.JPG’ extension at the end ­ this helps the PC recognise the file type. There’s no need to try compressing JPEG files any further, so you only need to select an encoding method in Emailer, namely Base64. The same goes for other email clients.

Floppy disk format

In ‘Lost Cause’ (Know How, Vol 16 No 2, p76), you recommend formatting floppy disks to MS-DOS standards in your Mac, not a PC. Does this add a layer of compatibility between the systems, or what?

Michael Hawkshaw

The main reason for formatting MS-DOS disks in a Mac is to ensure the Mac can read and write to them properly. Tolerances in PC floppy disk drives are not as tight as those in your Mac: if you format the disks in your PC instead, you may find your Mac will not be able to read and write to them reliably. However, most will be happy with an MS-DOS disk formatted in a Mac.