Why is the Finder and icons disappearing then reappearing all the time?
The Finder has unexpectedly quit, therefore the MacOS reloads itself again. When this happens it is in an unstable state, so a reboot is required.
As for what causes it, usually an operation within the Finder, ie. trying to open a file you're not suppose to open, or an enhancement to the Finder (a Control Panel or Extension) is damaged, or not working as it should - reinstall it. Then again it could be that the Finder itself is just plain acting up, in which case a reboot will correct the problem. Or, the Finder's preference file is damaged/corrupted - bin it, and reboot again. However, if that doesn't fix it, then reinstall the Finder.
The wrist watch pointer spins round and round, what's going on?
When the watch spins round for a while, it means that the computer is thinking about an operation you've just invoked. However, if it spins round and around for ages, it means it has got itself into an eternal loop, which can only be solved by restarting the computer, if you're in Shapeshifter, or click on Power Off (left Amiga + M, first) in the Fusion control window.
Moreover, this type of delay could just as easily be caused by a certain operation taking a longer than expected time to complete, just be patient, after all you are using a fairly slow CPU, by today's standards anyway.
Why does my Mac crash when I disconnect from the internet with FreePPP?
If the setting Hang up on Disconnect is enabled, it will always cause a crash upon disconnection. To disable it, look in the Modem settings in the FreePPP Control Panel.
I can't seem to shutdown without it crashing?
First of all, check that the hard disk is OK, with your disk repair program. Then I suggest you use a little utility that came with System 7.5x, called *Shutdown, which was installed into the Apple Menu. This is remarkably safe to use, and will not cause a crash - strange but true.
What should I do when a crash occurs?
Go through this check list, just to make sure everything is alright;
1) Even if the program quits after a real crash (displays a System Error Message), you should reboot the Mac side, so that any instability in the OS is removed - otherwise it'll freeze later on, and cause even more problems (this may or may not happen, depending on the circumstances).
2) If it reboots successfully, run a disk repair utility on the System hard disk, there may have been some damage done to the directory.
3) If it doesn't bootup, then use your emergency boot disk (a filedisk, System CD, or the Disk Tools floppy disk), to get back into MacOS. Now find the file Finder Preferences and bin it - this should cure 90% of non-booting problems, otherwise look in the Bootup Problems section, for further troubleshooting suggestions, eg. use your disk repair utility.
4) After any crash, and you've rebooted the Mac, you may find some temporary files in the Wastebasket (the bin icon), which some programs tend to leave behind after a sudden crash. Select Empty the Wastebasket to get rid of them, they're virtually useless anyway.
Some of my Mac programs display a message "xxxx Unexpectedly Quit", what does this mean?
This type of crash often occurs when the application has run out of memory. All you need to do is to allocate more RAM to those programs that regularly cause this problem, a megabyte of allocated RAM should do it.
You will not need to restart the Mac emulation again, this type of crash doesn't cause the MacOS to be unstable in anyway, in fact you can re-launch the same program again, almost immediately.
Why are some programs suddenly quitting?
You've given too much memory for your application(s), and the System does not have any spare memory to expand into. If this is the case, then the best thing to do is to leave 1-3mb of free RAM for the System to 'grow'.
Or it could just be a case of the program not being able to access one of it's own files or a System Library, and it quit by itself - although it is more likely to crash.
Look in the section called Jargon, for an explanation on customising a program's Allocated Memory.
Why doesn't Norton Utilities 3.5's Crash Guard work?
Because it is a PowerPC only application, and a good one as well. All it does, is to catch a crash, before it takes down the whole system, it'll keep a log of all crashes and when one happens, it will give you three choices: Fix It, Quit the Application or Reboot the Mac.
What causes my Mac to crash/freeze?
For starters, don't assume that the Mac emulation has frozen, it may be just taking it's time to complete an operation or loading up files - be patient. Remember your dealing with slow 68k apps not PowerMacs. A good sign that the Mac emulation is going Ok, is when you can still move the pointer about the screen. Here are some tips to help you with a crashy situation:
1) Bug ridden programs often cause regular crashes, eg. Shareware/Freeware applications.
2) MacOS is a single tasking OS, so don't try to do many things at once, it will crash or freeze. The best thing to do is let it complete a task before executing another one.
3) A damaged System file, caused by a major crash, or a virus. This may require a System re-install.
4) To get out of an infinite loop type situation, press Apple+. (period) keys (cancel operation) or Apple+Option+Escape keys (Force Quit out of emulation).
5) A corrupt preference file can often cause many a crash, just delete the application's preference file in the System Folder, and re-setup your prefs for that program.
6) The program could be accessing a damaged Library Extension, or trying to access a Library Extension that isn't in the System Folder - in either case, reinstall the Library file(s).
7) An Extension conflict is another common suspect when a Mac crashes. All you have to do is see what programs or other System enhancement utilities/Extensions you have, and take them out of the Extensions Folder, then restart the Mac, see if this cures it. It could also be damaged!
8) Document files may also become corrupted, and often causes instability in the MacOS/application. I'm afraid, if the file is far too gone to salvage, you'll have to recreate the file from scratch, assuming you haven't done a backup recently.
9) Viruses, can also reek havoc on your Mac, so be vigilant with downloaded programs, scan them first before you execute it.
10) If your Mac hard disk is not looked after regularly, it could develop so many faults in the directory structure (or bad blocks) that files and applications will automatically cause crashes, due to the unstable state of the partition(s). Do regular hard disk checks to prevent this.
My Mac has started to crash a lot, how come, it was alright not long ago?
1) You may have installed a later version of the 040/060 libraries on the Amiga, this can certainly break some Mac programs, or at least cause some features to crash out on you. Try using an older version, eg. v41 to v43.0 are pretty stable. You may have to switch off SuperScaler (NS) and the Memory Buffer (NB), on an 060 computer using Fusion, but this would degrade performance by 25-50%. NS & NB are CPU settings; to use any of these commands, you can only do it through the Shell, as a, temporary measure, or via the Startup Sequence script - preferably executed early in the script.
To use a certain setting, type cpu040 xx or cpu060 xx (Phase5 accelerators), OR cpu xx for 68000/020/030 CPUs. To call up a list of all available options/settings, type cpu ? (000/020/030s), OR, cpu040 ? or cpu060 ? (Phase5).
2) A program has installed additional/newer versions of system Extensions? Your Mac doesn't like them. Restart the Mac with all system Extensions disabled, then press the Shift key right away, until the message "Extensions disabled" appears, under "Welcome to Macintosh". Now remove any NEW Extensions and/or Control Panels, and reboot. This may render some program inoperable.
3) The program is very buggy. It could be a Beta version, best wait until the next official release for that particular application.
4) Run your disk repair utility over the system and application hard disks. It may have developed an error in the main Directory, which can cause instability.
5) The program has become corrupted, check for viruses, then reinstall the program.
6) Has the application got enough allocated memory? Highlight the program, while in the Finder, and press Amiga+i, this will show you, at the bottom of the information panel, the memory allocation fields. The one you need to amend, is the Preferred Memory value, it needs to be bigger than the Suggested Memory figure (the numbers represent Kilobytes). See picture 1.1.
7) This new software requires an FPU, which you either don't have or it doesn't seem to like the one you've got. Install the freeware program SoftwareFPU. This Control Panel emulates an FPU extremely well. Download it from any shareware internet site.
8) Your Mac doesn't have enough memory to function properly, with or without additional programs loaded as well. You need a minimum of 8mb for the MAC, this will accommodate a bare bones system (2-3mb) and one medium-weight (3-4mb) program. OR you have not allocated enough RAM to a regularly used program. To use additional memory, select the program's icon and press Amiga+i keys, to access the Get Info (picture 1.1) panel. Now go down to the Preferred Size field and type in a number (1=1k), it has to be equal or more than the minimum value. The About This Mac picture shows you just how much memory you have left.
9) A bitmap or Truetype font has become corrupted in the System's Fonts folder, replace the suitcase with the master copy. See Some fonts don't appear to work, or I cannot move them out of it's suitcase or folder?, in General Fonts & Icon Problems for more info.
10) The program is incompatible with your emulated Mac or the System version you're using.
11) Check for viruses, these can easily cause sudden crashes and bootup failures. Eradicate the virus first, then see if any programs crash repeatedly, if they do, bin the whole application folder, because the virus has damaged it, and reinstall again.
The system "bombed" or froze whilst booting up the Mac?
Make a note of when (during the boot procedure) it happened, this will differentiate between a duff System/Finder/Extension or an Extension conflict. To find out which one it is, is simple, all folders then Extensions, always load-up alphabetically:
1) The System and Finder Preference files
2) Then the Extensions
3) Then the Control Panels with it's preference file
4) Then the Finder
5) And finally, the Startup Item folder.
1) If it happened before any icons started to appear during boot-up, the System file or Finder preference file is damaged (bin the prefs first, leave the system for now).
2) If it froze or crashed whilst the Extensions are loading, then the last icon will give you a good idea as to which one is the troublemaker, because it is either the last Extension that loaded before the crash or the one after it. Remember that not all Extensions and Control Panels display it's icon at boot-up. Simply find and disable any suspect Extension, and continue to do this until the crashing stops.
3) If it shows a System Error message, freezes or just restarts, after the Extensions etc. have loaded, then the Finder program is damaged. Just reinstall it.
4) Beware of viruses, this is a symptom of infection, as they nearly always infect the System file or even the Finder, so scan the hard disk with a bootable CD (it cannot be infected) or a locked anti-virus diskette.
5) Another cause is a corrupt font suitcase, which can prevent the System from booting, by freezing on the Happy Mac screen. The only way out of this situation is to boot from a different disk, then look inside all the suitcases in the System's Font folder, and see if each suitcase opens and that each font size (when you double click on it) shows the correct font and style - if it shows a default font, ie. Geneva, it's damaged. Bin all corrupted fonts and restart the Mac again.
6) It may have been caused by a SCSI ID clash between the boot disk and another device, recheck the IDs on all external devices and change to a different number. Also check SCSI termination is switched ON, for the last device in the chain.
7) The disk's directory structure is damaged, use the disk repair utility to fix it.
The Mac is behaving erratically and files don't open - what's doing this?
1) THE most likely cause for a very unstable Mac, is the Master Directory and the Volume Bitmap on the hard disk has incorrect data concerning the number of files and space available on the disk.
Do not continue to use the hard disk, as this may cause damage to files and applications. Use a disk repair program to correct it.
2) The Desktop File has become corrupted - either use your repair utility, or restart the Mac and hold down the Alt+Shift keys just after the Extensions have loaded, this will display the message "Do you want to rebuild the desktop of [disk name]", click OK. The disk's directory structure could be corrupted, give it a scan, & repair any damage.
3) Also check your hard disk for viruses, and do not attempt to load any more programs, as this may cause further infection. The virus could be in the Desktop or System files. CDEF is the only virus that infects the Desktop file.
4) The Finder application is damaged - usually causes regular freezes and crashing. Reinstall it.
