wh@houxz.UUCP (W.HEINMILLER) (12/14/84)
[Will this bug go away if I spray the system with Malathion?] I've been encountering some interesting behavior when using Version 1.1 of MacTerminal, and thought I'd report it to the net to see if anyone else has encountered it. Occasionally, while listing a Unix text file, or reading mail or news, MacTerminal freezes. None of the keys on the keyboard generate anything, in either local or on-line mode. The keycaps desk accessory isn't capable of generating any characters, either. I am able to pull down all the menus and select any menu entry. If I select "reset", then MacTerminal goes to lunch totally, and I lose even the ability to work menus. The mouse/cursor still moves, but the rest of the screen is frozen. I'm using a release 1.1 of MacTerminal. It happens both when using an AppleModem 1200 and when using Bell 212A Dataphone (wow, a "REAL" 212A modem!). It also has occured on different Macs. (That's why I figure the MacTerminal software is the only possiblity left as the source of the problem.) I have tried to generate the problem using -0.15X MacTerminal, and it doesn't happen. The MacTerminal documents of the trashed sessions are recoverable only about half the time. We do tend to have problems with noisy phone lines once in a while. I have been able to duplicate the effect by listing a Unix files with lots of control characters in it, and generating a break (enter key) from the keyboard. This blows up the 1.1 version of MacTerminal, but not the -0.15X version. I suspect the problem with text files comes from a "hit" on the phone line that looks like a control character to the Mac. But I don't understand why 1.1 would be sensitive to this and -0.15X wouldn't be. We have a number of Macs here, and I'm concerned about this problem "turning off" some of our less experienced computer users. If anyone else has encountered this, I'd like to hear about it. If anyone knows of a solution, I'd like to hear it, too. Thanks! Wayne Heinmiller Bell Communications Research houxz!wh Freehold, NJ (201) 577-4159