Why is the desktop rebuilding itself on a certain disk after every restart?
1) You have a folder called Desktop located somewhere on that disk. It doesn't necessarily have to be on the root of the disk, it could be located several folders deep. Anyway, rename it to something else, eg. "Desktop Things", just so long as it is not called Desktop.
2) The Desktop DF & Desktop DB files are completely corrupted, and need to be binned. Just use a file editor to made those files visible (they're in the root directory), and place them in the trashcan/wastebasket, then restart the Mac, and it'll rebuild some brand new desktop database files.
3) If you have the Control Panel called MacOS Easy Open or Macintosh Easy Open installed, then it may be this that is giving the system conflicting file information. I suggest you restart with Extensions disabled (press Shift during reboot) and then manually rebuild the desktop file (press and hold Alt+Amiga keys, right at the end of the boot sequence). Then restart with your usual set of Extensions enabled, and rebuild the desktop once again, this should rectify the problem.
The Mac won't bootup after I've done a full restore from a backup program, why?
You have to 'bless' the System Folder again (as it is commonly referred to). To do this, all you have to do is to take the System file out of the System Folder, then put it back into it's System Folder again. This should give that folder the familiar System icon on that particular folder. Don't forget, you'll have to rebuild the Desktop File (Amiga+Alt during start-up) after a complete restore, otherwise the icons will not show up properly.
Where can I download a bootable Shapeshifter or Fusion filedisk?
There is a bootable 2mb filedisk from Peter's Printer Drivers web page - click on the link called Program Archives to download it. It also contains Stuffit Expander (v5.1 for Fusion and v4.0 for Shapeshifter users), for expanding MacBinary (BIN) files, Stuffit archives, HQX or Compact Pro archives. I also suggest you update this supplied version of Stuffit Expander to v5.5 (latest, so far), at you're earliest convenience. It has many bug fixes (one caused a crash after decoding/expanding archives), and can expand Stuffit Deluxe v5 archives - these are getting more and more common in downloaded files.
Note that the System Folder on this bootfile was taken from a System 7.53 bootable floppy disk called Disk Tools.
The flashing "? disk" screen appears when I startup the Mac, why won't it boot?
This means that the Mac cannot find a bootable or valid System Folder on any local drives. You need a bootable floppy or CD-ROM disk, to get the Mac up and running. If the your main hard disk is not booting-up as it should, check out these possibilities:
1) Check that your hard disk icon is selected in the Startup Disk Control Panel.
2) Zap the PRAM (Parameter RAM); press and hold any Amiga key+Alt+P+R keys, right at the beginning of the boot-up sequence - before the happy Mac icon appears.
3) The System file is damaged, either re-install the entire System Folder again or just the System file, from either a backup or an archive of the System Folder.
4) You're trying to bootup with an incompatible System Folder. Reinstall the System again.
5) The hard disk's driver (Rigid Disk Block) needs updating/repairing. Use your disk repair utility to repair it, or load the formatting program that initialised the disk, and use Update to replace the current driver.
6) If none of the above works, then your hard disk needs repairing with Norton Utilities 3.5 or similar program. If that fails, you may need to re-initialise (high-level format) the hard disk. Use the Finder's Erase Disk feature, found in the Special menu.
The Mac won't boot-up as normal, instead it displays the flashing "X disk", what gives?
This means that the bootable disk you've inserted, or the hard disk's System Folder is not compatible with this type of Macintosh (in emulation it's either a Quadra or IIci). Again, you need a bootable floppy or CD-ROM disk, so that you can access the hard disk. If this happens when you've either just installed a new System Folder, or the current System now refuses to boot, then it maybe one of these listed errors...
1) The System file on that disk is damaged - reinstall a System file.
2) It can also be caused by a virus, corrupting the System file, therefore disabling your Mac. The solution is simple, get an anti-virus program immediately, to eradicate it.
3) The System Folder on the disk, will not work with your Mac. The wrong System was installed, or it is completely incompatible with your Mac, ie. a PowerMac System Folder. Use a universal System installer, ie. a System CD from any retailer, and not a System disk that came with a real Mac, as these are specific to that Mac only - especially floppy disk sets.
4) There is no System Folder on that disk, and it will be ejected or not used.
5) The boot block may be damaged (rigid disk block), try using a disk repair program first. If that fails, then you will need to reformat the disk. You can reformat any removable or external hard disk, which has not been specified by ShapeShifter or Fusion as the main boot disk, with a Macintosh formatting program, or by the Finder's Erase Disk feature.
If it is a specified hard disk, you'll have to format it as an Amiga FFS partition again, and then re-initialise it on the Mac side. Only do this as a last resort, because if you have any data which has not been backed up recently, you will not be able to get it back.
See What if I accidentally initialised the hard disk.. how can I retrieve my files? under Hard Disk Problems, for more information.
Why won't the new System I've just installed boot-up?
You have installed an incompatible version of the Operating System. ShapeShifter (up to v3.9) won't work with MacOS8, I KNOW, because I tried it myself.
The correct version to install, is a Custom System Folder, eg. "System for this Macintosh", not a universal one, as this might not have all of the necessary resources for it to work with your particular processor, eg. a 68060.
ShapeShifter 3.10, will now let you to startup with System 8.0/8.1, however, when you first install the System and reboot, you need to disable the Extensions (hold the Shift key down until it says "Extensions Disabled" in the Welcome to Macintosh screen), then take out the AppleShare Extension (and any other useless stuff) from the Extensions Folder, and reboot.
The computer totally froze when booting-up, why?
This is either a SCSI problem, or you have a corrupt System file. This can be caused by a virus, a crash that needed a hard reboot, or it crashed while the disk was active.
1) Check SCSI termination is correctly setup.
The SCSI chain must be terminated at both ends of the chain. That means one at the end of the internal chain and one at the end of the external chain.
2) Check all SCSI devices have a different ID number. If any two or more have the same ID, it will not be recognised by the controller, or it will cause a system wide freeze.
3) If it is not a SCSI problem, then try these:
• Repair the disk.
• Rebuild the desktop: press and hold the Amiga+Alt keys in the middle of the startup sequence.
• Trash the Finder prefs.
• Bin the ShapeShifter PRAM file.
4) If the Mac froze just before the Desktop icons appear, then the Desktop File (contains icon info) is severely damaged. Restart the Mac, then initiate a Desktop Rebuild (press Amiga+Alt).
If this does not work, then there will be no way to mount this disk, even from another startup disk. So what you'll have to do is to make a bootable floppy disk with a repair program on it (Norton Utilities has such a floppy or disk image). When this boots-up, it will bypass the Finder and load straight into the repair program - hopefully it should be able to make the disk usable again. Once the repair is complete, I strongly recommend that you rebuild the Desktop File, the next time you restart.
5) If it froze whilst loading the Extensions upon bootup, then one of the Extensions (inc. Control Panels) is damaged. Just bootup again with the Shift key pressed down to disable all Extensions, and then manually, take out any new or suspicious Extensions and restart the Mac.
You can find out more in Crashing Problems, under the heading The system 'bombed' or froze whilst booting up the Mac.
6) If it froze before the Extensions start to load (no icons are displayed during bootup), then the System file and/or the Finder is damaged. This means either a System re-install, retrieve one from a previous backup, or from an archive, to overwrite the old one in the System Folder.
7) There is an Extension Conflict, or one of your Extensions is incompatible with your current System and/or the emulator you're using. Disable all Extensions, and then put a few back in at a time to see which one it is.
The Mac boots-up to the Happy Mac screen, but doesn't go any further, why?
I suspect that the last time you used the Mac emulation, it crashed. This normally corrupts the Finder preference file. In all cases, you need a bootable floppy, CD-ROM, another Mac hard disk/partition or a removable hard disk, eg. Zip disk.
1) Delete the Finder preference file, and reboot.
2) Zap the PRAM. Press any Amiga key+Alt+P+R before the Happy Mac screen appears, this will delete the previous semi-permanent System data (for certain Control Panels). Or delete the PRAM file in the ShapeShifter folder.
3) A directory error, use a disk repair program to fix it.
4) Improper SCSI termination, switch everything off and recheck your setup.
5) The System file is damaged, reinstall again (do this last, if nothing else works). I recommend, that you make an archive of a good system folder, so that you don't have to reinstall the whole lot from scratch again.
6) You have an incompatible Macintosh ROM image for the version of System software you're using..
See Mac 68k ROMs and Supported Systems, for more information on supported Systems.
What is an Extension conflict, and how can I resolve it?
An Extension conflict is basically two or more Extensions that are attempting to use the same System resource. This usually results in no startup, a crash during bootup or even odd behaviour while using the computer. The only way to rectify the problem is to either boot-up with all Extensions disabled or (if your Mac is usable) by trial and error. This means remove some Extensions at a time to see if the problem goes away.
Now you need to know what all those Extensions do in the System Folder. The trouble with the MacOS installer, is that 50% of all the Extensions installed are not even necessary.
What you need is information about them, so that you know what you need and what you can safely bin. You can get it from two excellent shareware documents; Extension Overload and InformINIT. Both cover Systems 7.x to 8.x, from Apple's standard set to all known third party Extensions and Control Panels - both have additional info concerning other topics as well. They can be downloaded from most Mac magazine CDs or from any good, Macintosh internet site.
If you have Conflict Catcher (commercial), this will make life much easier, as it does most of the work for you. It monitors what happens and is able to give you information on what is causing the problem. There is a copy of this utility on www.shareware.com, I think it is for evaluation purposes only.
Can I have two System Folders on a single partition?
This would be highly inadvisable, it would totally confuse your computer, especially if you copy a System by hand onto the main startup disk. It'll have difficulty booting-up next time, and will probably show you the flashing '? disk' screen. However you can install a system folder on a different partition, or onto as many disks as you like.
Will my Mac emulation ever display the Sad Mac bomb screen?
No, it can't possibly show this screen, as this is a hardware check feature for real Macs. Since Mac emulation is via software, and the host computer (Amiga) is a different animal altogether, a hardware diagnostic obviously cannot work, therefore you will never get this dreaded screen. The most you'll experience is a startup freeze.