J.Pearce@cs.ucl.ac.uk (02/23/91)
My previous messages to comp.unix.aux have described the problem I am having with my standard MacIIci running A/UX 2.0 exactly as on the CD with no extra CDEFs/INITs/Ethernet cards etc. The only addition is a Daystar Fast Cache IIci. Basically there seems to be an erratic problem that occurs when the cache card is installed and I use the 32-bit Finder. About 5-15% of all logins result in the appearance of en empty dialog box with its border being continuously redrawn. You can wait a couple of minutes and it will return you to the Login environment, or you can apple-control-e. Daystar told me to run their demo programs overnight to see if there was a hardware problem - after 30 hours the demos were still running OK. The board is one of the new ones that has the modification FC07 at location U21 for bus master NuBus cards. Daystar don't think the problem is with their card and pointed the finger towards A/UX. If I remove the cache card, or leave it installed and only use console or 24-bit Finders the problem seems to totally disappear. I seem to remember there were messages a little while ago about problems with the Memory Manager in newer machines like the MacIIci. The A/UX Mac OS system folder contains a file called +MemMgrFix - but when you are using a Mac OS Finder in A/UX does it still access the ToolBox Memory Manager ? Is there still a problem with memory management under A/UX ? Do I need to install the fix when using A/UX ? Out of sheer desparation I tried using MMInit from sumex-aim and interestingly enough the dialog box appears everytime you try and login. I have conducted a more detailed investigation using a second terminal connected to a serial port. If you use startmac with the appropriate options you can monitor the ToolBox traps. When you do this the last trap is trap 0xa853 pc=0x40802a2a This time a normal dialog box appears saying "Sorry, there has been system error ID=03". You can now click restart. Has anyone any idea what is causing this problem. I have had a message from another user reporting the same problem - his cache card was installed when he first used the machine and just put the problem down to A/UX. Our initial assessment of A/UX was favourable, though we soon discovered a series of little problems and ommissions that we hope will be fixed in any new releases. However, this problem has shaked our confidence to the foundations and caused considerable concern. Any help greatly appreciated. John Pearce jpearce@uk.ac.ucl.cs Computer Science Department University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT ENGLAND Telephone : +44 71 387 7050 ext 3715 Fax : +44 71 387 1397