mason@furilo.dec.com (Explaining is not understanding) (04/30/87)
My Mac is having a problem. Can someone suggest solution/course of action? It started as a 128K, was upgraded to 512K by MassTech (now defunct), then to 2MB by the same people. I added a MacBottom 20 serial hard disk, and all was well for a long time. I have just had the Mac+ disk/ROM kit installed by a dealer. [Note: to make this work, he had to pull an EPROM chip from the memory daughter board. It faked the 64K ROMs into recognizing the extended memory. The instructions came from the fellow who developed the software bundled with the memory upgrades.] Shop testing showed the machine to be functional. When I got home, I was OK for a short while, but then fell apart. Starting system software: Finder 5.3, System 3.2(520K,15DA), HD20 1.1a1(?). Starting hardware: The Mac as described above, MacBottom 20MB serial disk on printer port, Imagewriter I on MacBottom, ext Apple 400K, DF03 modem. Procedure: I ran the above configuration to start. The anomalies began, and got worse until it bombed. Restarting led to the same problems. I tried all kinds of combinations - move the hard disk to the modem port; take the hard disk off altogether; leave the modem disconnected; etc. Nothing I did prevented the deterioration over a period of from 1 to about 5 minutes. The bomb occurred after anywhere from 2 to 6 application executions. Applications included Excel 1.03, Double Helix V35, MacDraw 1.9, MacWrite 4.5, MacDraft 1.2, MacTerminal (?), MS Word 3.0, etc. Failure occurred while in any of the applications at random. I changed to virgin system, finder, and HD20 files on hard disk and flexy. Nothing seemed to help. All was well for about 5 minutes and several applications, then... Desk accessories were not immune either. Symptoms: 1) Vertical lines of sporadic dots on the screen, starting at the right, getting more dense, and spreading to the left. The pattern varied, but always "adding to a vertical line" before spreading left in the same mode. Sometimes they were just out of the nominal screen edge to the right - maybe a pixel or two. [NOTE: Day 2 testing had the other listed effects, but NOT the spurious dots on the screen.] 2) Strange running - only the Multi-scrap DA. The scrapbook on the HD worked fine. Switching to the flexy scrapbook file took, literally, 10-30 seconds per action to accomplish. It seemed to be paralyzed, or running in a time warp. [Possibly a DA problem?] 3) Bombs. They occurred in applications or DAs, were random in nature, and included 02, 03, 10, and 28. The 02s seemed more prevalent than the others. Bombs always occur at action points, that is, it never fails just sitting there idling (up to 30 min.) Any help you could offer would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks...Gary (617)467-7529 Easynet- FURILO::MASON
tdn@spice.cs.cmu.edu (Thomas Newton) (04/30/87)
> Symptoms: 1) Vertical lines of sporatic dots on the screen, starting at the > right, getting more dense, and spreading to the left. . . > > 3) Bombs. They occurred in applications or DAs, were random in > nature, and included 02, 03, 10, and 28. The 02s seemed more > prevalent than the others. I would suspect the MassTech 2MB memory upgrade. I bought a 2MB upgrade for a 128K Mac from these people all the way back in December of 1985, and it caused my Mac to have problems similar (but not identical) to the ones you described. After giving the turkeys THREE chances to fix the upgrade, I returned it (with their promise that I would get a refund and reimbursement for shipping, etc.) in April of 1986. I am -still- waiting for my $1200 and hope that the federal bankruptcy judge will force them to make good on it (I am convinced that they will not return my money otherwise and that they never intended to return it). -- Thomas Newton
traffic@ut-ngp.UUCP (Wiley Sanders) (05/01/87)
In article <9587@decwrl.DEC.COM> mason@furilo.dec.com (Explaining is not understanding) writes: > 2) Strange running - only the Multi-scrap DA. The scrapbook on > the HD worked fine. Switching to the flexy scrapbook file took, > literally, 10-30 seconds per action to accomplish. It seemed to > be paralyzed, or running in a time warp. [Possibly a DA problem?] Probably a DA problem. My MultiScrap DA goes into similar paralysis mode when running under the finder. Works OK otherwise though. (Using Pre- Cambrian 128K Mac with MicroSOlutions upgrade to 512K, Tecmar MacDrive.) -w -- Wiley Sanders, Civil Engineering Dept, UT-Austin secret NSA CIA anti Soviet Iran terrorist nuclear drug decoder ring - take THAT, NSA line-eater!
ephraim@wang.UUCP (05/26/87)
In article <1192@spice.cs.cmu.edu>, tdn@spice.cs.cmu.edu (Thomas Newton) writes: > > Symptoms: 1) Vertical lines of sporatic dots on the screen, starting at the > > right, getting more dense, and spreading to the left. . . > > I would suspect the MassTech 2MB memory upgrade. I bought a 2MB upgrade for a > 128K Mac from these people all the way back in December of 1985, and it caused > my Mac to have problems similar (but not identical) to the ones you described. > After giving the turkeys THREE chances to fix the upgrade, I returned it (with > their promise that I would get a refund and reimbursement for shipping, etc.) > in April of 1986. I am -still- waiting for my $1200 and hope that the federal > bankruptcy judge will force them to make good on it (I am convinced that they > will not return my money otherwise and that they never intended to return it). > > -- Thomas Newton From your tone, it's obvious that you're p*ss*d *ff. From your statements, it's possible that you have some of the facts, but that being p*ss*d *ff has fogged your brain. Perhaps you imagine that the moguls operating MassTech took the money and ran after screwing all the innocents they could. If so, you're wrong. MassTech was a small "mom and pop" (literally!) operation. While he was in business, Steve (president, founder, chief engineer, and janitor) did his best to deal fairly with customers, dealers, and vendors. Many didn't return the favor. About the same time that you returned your upgrade for a refund, MassTech expired *very* abruptly. They were out of cash and losing money. On discovering this, they stopped doing business immediately, rather than get any further into trouble. Since then, Steve's wife (MassTech's bookkeeper) and their lawyer have done their best to pay all of MassTech's debts and to collect the substantial sums owed to MassTech by unscrupulous dealers. They could simply have left the whole mess to the court, in which case few creditors would see anything. Instead, they're going to considerable effort to satisfy as many people as possible. Your experience with MassTech hardware is atypical. In every case I know of where the hardware worked *initially*, and absent any further changes in environment, it's still working. I use my MassTech internal hard disk every day, and I couldn't get along without it. The writer whose article prompted your outburst had no trouble until he upgraded his Mac. Ephraim Vishniac decvax!wang!ephraim Claimer: I wrote software for MassTech, and I lost money when they went under. But I'm not flaming about it, because I think they did the best they could with limited resource in a tough market.
tdn@spice.cs.cmu.edu (Thomas Newton) (05/28/87)
> From your tone, it's obvious that you're p*ss*d *ff. From your statements, > it's possible that you have some of the facts, but that being p*ss*d *ff > has fogged your brain. Perhaps you imagine that the moguls operating > MassTech took the money and ran after screwing all the innocents they > could. If so, you're wrong. My statement that I am convinced that they will not return my money voluntarily is based on their record of living up to their claims and promises. Start with the upgrade itself. They assured me that if my Mac's power supply couldn't put out enough power for the board they would put in a supplementary one. But even with the Apple supply turned up to its limit, the voltage was well below 5V. I pointed this out to them, and suggested that it might be causing the problems I was experiencing, but they never did put in an extra power supply to compensate for the excessive drain that their upgrade placed on the existing one. When I asked for reimbursement for the mounting costs of shipping the Macintosh to them for repair, they agreed. I was told that the check was in the mail, or that it would go out "on Monday"; it never came. They told me that I would get a refund when I returned the upgrade. I returned it, but the check never came. They gave me the runaround when I called, until one day when I went to call and their phone numbers were not working. So I sent certified mail, return receipt requested. It was returned marked "Refused". Not another standard reason like "Addressee unknown" or "Insufficient address". "Refused". I got in touch with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office. I think they were the ones who told me how to get in contact with MassTech's attorney. The runaround I got from MassTech proper was -nothing- compared to the runaround I got talking to this attorney. He kept claiming how MassTech was going to file for bankruptcy real soon now and how sorry they were and so on and so on. All he ever did was talk. Once he promised me a check for the full amount by some certain date, but it never came. When the check did not come and I called the attorney's office, I was told that this lawyer had been told by another lawyer that he could not legally send me a check due to the upcoming bankruptcy. The thought that runs through my head is that if he was at all competent he surely must have known this at the time that he promised me the check. The runaround went on for so long that the Attorney General's Office told me that "He [the MT attorney] stated once again that he is about to file for bankruptcy and that you should file a proof of claim at that time. Considering the period of time that has passed since Mr. Miller first stated that he was about to file for bankruptcy, it would be a good idea to file in Small Claims Court." [01/16/87] Unfortunately, to do that I would have needed to have gone to Massachusetts or to have hired a representative there, and the bar association which I was able to call said that none of their members took small claims court cases... > MassTech was a small "mom and pop" (literally!) operation. While he was > in business, Steve (president, founder, chief engineer, and janitor) did > his best to deal fairly with customers. Really? I wouldn't know it from the way that I have been treated. They have both my money and the returned upgrade. I have a pile of broken promises and long distance phone bills. > Your experience with MassTech hardware is atypical. In every case I know > where the hardware worked *initially*, and absent any further changes > in environment, it's still working. I think it's pretty bad when a company selling upgrades for vanilla 128K Macs can't get their upgrade to work in an unmodified [until they touched it] 128K Mac given several chances to get it right. Especially since they ignored the requests I made to make sure that the logic board was running at a full 5.0V, even if that meant keeping their promise about adding a supplementary supply. > Be fair, not rabid. > > The writer whose article prompted your outburst... > > ...I lost money when they went under. But I'm not flaming about it... Friends of mine who have observed my behavior throughout this whole affair and the way in which MassTech and its lawyer have treated me haven't considered me to be rabid. On the contrary, I gave MassTech three chances to repair the bad upgrade and remained very civil even while I was getting the runaround. After a long period of dealing with their lawyer, my temper did snap, but it has not been without just cause. -- Thomas Newton