Michael.Burton@p3.f200.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Burton) (05/27/90)
Carl K. Lim wrote about a conflict between Address Book and Versaterm Pro: > When booting up the Address Book application while using Versaterm or > after even quiting Versaterm, my mac would bomb. This happens only in > multifinder. I tried turning my modem off and on to reset it before > running Address Book, but that doesn't help either. Apparently when > Versaterm is used, some computer variable must change; and even after > quiting Versaterm (in multifinder), the change still remains. This sounds suspiciously like a complex interaction I tracked down a couple months ago. If your problem is the same as mine, VersaTerm Pro isn't the culprit--you would see the same results from any program that used the modem port. Are you using SuperClock? It seems to alter some system value when the modem port is accessed, but doesn't clean up after itself when the serial driver is closed. (I haven't tested any version of SuperClock after 3.8.) By itself, this SuperClock bug doesn't seem to cause any problems. Unfortunately, it turns another common minor bug into a killer: any application that calls InitWindows before InitFonts will crash during InitWindows (if SuperClock and MultiFinder are active, and the modem port has been accessed since the system was booted). This interaction doesn't hit everyone, but it will cause a crash 100% of the time on my Mac Plus system. The offending applications include every application compiled with Microsoft QuickBASIC, and every program written by the folks following the MacUser programming tutorial. I'm betting Address Book does this, too. There are two possible solutions: you can get rid of SuperClock, or you can fix the offending applications. I wasn't willing to get rid of SuperClock. To fix an application, use a file editor like Fedit Plus or SUM Tools. Search for the hex values "A9 12 A8 FE", and change them to "A8 FE A9 12". As always, make changes only to a backup copy of your application. I hope this helps. Please let me know whether it works. -- Michael Burton via cmhGate - Net 226 fido<=>uucp gateway Col, OH UUCP: ...!osu-cis!n8emr!cmhgate!200.3!Michael.Burton INET: Michael.Burton@p3.f200.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG