ee299bw@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (Help On The Way) (02/23/90)
We have had the weirdest thing happen to one of the
Macintoshes in out office. However, I don't know enough about
the Mac System to figure this one out on my own, so I've come
here to beg for assistance...
The Mac in question is a IIcx with a MegaGraphics monitor,
5MB of RAM, internal Cobra 45 HD, running System 6.0.4. The
problem started when we tried to print a file that had been
downloaded from a Vax - we later discovered that the file had
control characters that were not filtered out. (Mainly Hex A,
which I believe may be a line feed... I don't have an ASCII
table handy). We were running MultiFinder at the time, and
PrintMonitor complained that it was running out of memory.
This happened a few times and the Mac froze, so we had to do
a "push-button restart."
Ever since this incident, whenever you boot the Mac with
startup being MultiFinder and Microsoft Excel or Microsoft
Word, it will boot up till the application window comes up
and we get the message "Please insert the disk <name of hard
disk>." This is the only condition under which we get this
error message. We don't get the message if
a. If we use a startup app like WriteNow or VersaTerm Pro
b. We start using the Finder and switch-boot to MultiFinder.
MS Word and Excel launch automatically with no problems.
I have:
a. Re-installed the System from the System tools disks
b. Booted of the System tools disk, deleted the HD's System
Folder and build a new one from scratch
c. Removed all the INITS, CDEVs, and DAs
d. Re-initialized the HD controller software
e. Zapped the PRAM
f. Rebuilt the desktop on boot up
g. Deleted and re-installed Microsoft Word and Excel
Microsoft Tech Support gave me some of the above suggestions,
and the QuickMail folks, were not able to give me any other
ideas. I tried deleting everything I thought could be
offensive and putting a bare-bones system in the System
Folder, and the problem still persisted.
I had just about given up hope when I noticed something
really weird, totally by accident. I was putting everything
back on his System and noticed that if QuickMail is set to
log-in automatically on boot-up, we get the error. If
QuickMail is set to wait for you to click in its dialog box
on bootup, it will boot okay, and MultiFinder launches
Word/Excel with no problems.
My theory is that maybe something weird is happening with the
way the INITS and CDEVs are loading, and the QuickMail
setting changes this somehow. This, however, would not
explain why blowing away the System Folder (and all the INITS
and CDEVs with it) failed to correct the problem.
Please e-mail me any advice, suggestions, or anything else you may
have to offer!
AdvTHANKSance,
Dave
--
Who: Dave Chesavage
Where: dchesavage@ucsd.edu
Disclaimer: "If you get confused listen to the music play"