Introductory Macintosh frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Elliotte Rusty Harold
Archive-name: macintosh/general-faq
Version: 2.4.1
Last-modified: June 23, 1996
Maintainer: elh...@shock.njit.edu
URL: http://www.macfaq.com/generalfaq.html
MACINTOSH FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
====================================
comp.sys.mac.faq, part 1:
Introduction to the Macintosh Newsgroups
Copyright 1993-1996 by Elliotte Harold
Please see section 5.8 below if you wish to
distribute or revise this document in any way.
Version: 2.4.1
Last-modified: June 23, 1996
Address comments to elh...@shock.njit.edu
What's new in version 2.4.1:
----------------------------
Primarily this is a maintenance release to reflect changes in
various ftp and World Wide Web sites, particularly the official
FAQ site which has moved from rever.nmsu.edu to ftp.macfaq.com
and the revised filenaming scheme at ftp.support.apple.com.
2.6) What is .bin? .hqx? .cpt? .image? .etc.?
StuffIt is now at version 4.0.x.
3.5) Reinstall the system software
This step has been updated to take reflect the various
updates to System 7.5.
3.6) Isolate the Problem
I've improved the procedure for finding corrupt fonts.
4.7) Disk Utilities
4.10) Reformatting and partitioning your hard disk
Drive Setup is now mentioned for those Macs that need it.
Table of Contents
=================
General FAQ
-----------
I. I have a question...
1. How do I use this document?
2. What other information is available?
3. Which newsgroup should I post to?
4. How should I answer frequently asked questions?
II. FTP, Gopher and the World Wide Web
1. Where can I FTP Macintosh software?
2. Can I get shareware by email?
3. Where can I find application X?
4. Where can I find an application to do X?
5. Can someone mail me application X?
6. What is .bin? .hqx? .cpt? .image? .etc.?
7. How can I get BinHex? StuffIt? etc.?
8. How can I get BinHex, StuffIt, etc. from a PC?
III. Troubleshooting. What to do when things go wrong
1. Identify the problem.
2. Read the READ ME file.
3. Check for viruses.
4. Reinstall the application and all its support files.
5. Reinstall the system software.
6. Isolate the problem.
7. Contact technical support.
IV. Preventive Maintenance
1. Trash Unneeded Files
2. Reevaluate Your Extensions
3. Rebuild the desktop.
4. Zap the PRAM and Reset the Clock
5. Resize the system heap. (System 6 only)
6. Reinstall the system software.
7. Disk Utilities
8. Backing Up
9. Disk Defragmentation
10. Reformatting and partitioning your hard disk
V. Meta-FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions about the FAQ)
1. There's a mistake in your FAQ.
2. Why don't you include this complicated/payware solution?
3. Would you please include my software in your FAQ?
4. Why don't you post the FAQ more often?
5. Can you help me with this problem I'm having with my Mac?
6. Will you send me the FAQ?
7. Why don't you format the FAQ in Word? Digest? HTML? etc.?
8. Can I repost, revise, publish or otherwise use this document?
comp.sys.mac.system
-------------------
I. Memory
1. Why is my system using so much memory?
2. What is Mode 32? the 32-bit enabler? Do I need them?
3. Cache and Carry (How much memory should I allot to my cache?)
II. System Software
1. Why does Apple charge for system software?
2. What does System 7.5 give me for my $35/$50/$99 that System 7.1 doesn't?
3. Where can I get System 7.5?
4. How can I use System 6 on a System 7 only Mac?
5. Non-US scripts and systems
6. What is System 7 Tuneup? System Update 3.0? etc.? Do I need them?
7. Why do my DA's disappear when I turn on MultiFinder?
8. Do I need System 7.0.1?
9. How can I get System 7.0.1, 7.1 or 7.5 on 800K disks?
10. Is there a Unix for the Mac?
III. Hard Disks, Filesharing, and the File System
1. Help! My folder disappeared!
2. Why can't I throw this folder away?
3. Why can't I share my removable drive?
4. Why can't I eject this SyQuest cartridge? CD-ROM? etc.?
5. Why can't I rename my hard disk?
6. How do I change my hard disk icon?
IV. Fonts
1. How do I convert between Windows fonts and Mac fonts?
TrueType and PostScript?
2. What font will my screen/printer use when different types
are installed?
3. Where should I put my fonts?
V. Miscellaneous:
1. What does System Error XXX mean?
2. What is a Type Y error?
3. What is A/ROSE?
4. Easy Access or One Answer, Many Questions
5. How can I keep multiple system folders on one hard disk?
6. How do I access the programmer's key?
comp.sys.mac.misc
-----------------
I. Viruses
1. Help! I have a virus!
2. Reporting new viruses
II. Printing and PostScript
1. How do I make a PostScript file?
2. How do I print a PostScript file?
3. Why won't my PostScript file print on my mainframe's printer?
4. Why are my PostScript files so big?
5. How can I print PostScript on a non-PostScript printer?
6. How do I make my ImageWriter II print in color?
7. Why doesn't PrintMonitor work with the ImageWriter?
8. Why did my document change when I printed it?
9. How can I preview a PostScript file?
10. Can I use a LaserJet or other PC printer with my Mac?
11. How can I print grey scales on my StyleWriter I?
12. How can I edit a PostScript file?
III. DOS and the Mac
1. How can I move files between a Mac and a PC?
2. How can I translate files to a DOS format?
3. Should I buy SoftPC or a real PC?
IV. Security
1. How can I password protect a Mac?
2. How can I password protect a file?
3. How can I password protect a folder?
4. How can I prevent software piracy?
5. How can I keep a hard drive in a fixed configuration?
V. Sound
1. How can I copy a track from an audio CD onto my Mac?
2. How can I extract a sound from a QuickTime movie?
3. How can I convert/play a mod/wav/etc. file?
VI. No particular place to go (Miscellaneous Miscellanea)
1. Are there any good books about the Mac?
2. How do I take a picture of the screen?
3. How do I use a picture for my desktop?
4. Can I Replace the "Welcome to Macintosh" box with a picture?
5. What is AutoDoubler? SpaceSaver? More Disk Space? Are they safe?
6. How do they compare to TimesTwo, Stacker and eDisk?
7. Where did my icons go?
8. Where can I find a user group?
9. Where can I find the 1984 Quicktime movie?
10. Do RAM Doubler and Optimem work?
11. I'm greedy. Can I triple my RAM?
12. How do I run software that needs an FPU on a Mac that doesn't
have one?
comp.sys.mac.apps
-----------------
I. What's the Best...
1. Text editor
2. Word processor
3. Genealogy software
4. TeX/LaTeX
5. Integrated application
6. Spreadsheet
7. JPEG Viewer
8. Electronic publishing software
9. Drawing application
10. Typing tutor?
11. OCR software?
II. Microsoft Word
1. How can I assign styles to characters?
2. How can I automatically generate cross-references?
3. How can I change a Word document to TeX? and vice-versa?
4. How can I depersonalize Word?
5. Where can I get more information?
III. TeachText
1. How can I change the font in TeachText?
2. How do I place a picture in a TeachText file?
3. How do I make a TeachText document read-only?
comp.sys.mac.wanted
-------------------
I. Buying and Selling Used Equipment
1. Should I buy/sell on Usenet?
2. Where should I buy/sell used equipment?
3. I've decided to completely ignore your excellent advice and
post my ad anyway. What should I do?
4. I've decided to completely ignore your excellent advice and
buy something offered for sale on the net anyway. How can
I avoid being ripped off?
II. Fair Market Value
1. How much is my computer worth?
2. What is used software worth?
3. Going prices?
III. Where Should I Buy a New Mac?
1. Authorized Dealers
2. VAR's
3. Superstores
4. Performas
5. Educational Dealers
6. Direct From Apple
7. Auctions
8. Does anyone know a dealer in New York City?
9. New Equipment Prices
IV. When Should I buy a New Mac?
1. Macrotime
2. Microtime
3. When will I get my Mac?
V. How Should I Buy a New Mac?
1. Know what you want
2. The dealer needs to sell you a mac more than you need to buy one
3. Have a competitor's ad handy
4. Cash on delivery
5. The sales tax game
6. Leasing
7. Be nice to the salesperson.
VI. The Gray Market and Mail Order
1. What is the gray market?
2. Are gray market Macs covered by Apple warranties?
3. Does anyone know a good mail-order company?
comp.sys.mac.hardware
---------------------
I. Maintenance
1. How do I clean a keyboard?
2. How do I clean a screen?
3. How do I clean a mouse?
4. How do I clean a floppy drive?
5. How do I clean the inside of my mac?
II. Problems And Repairs
1. How do I open a compact Mac?
2. Now that I've opened my Mac how might I electrocute myself?
3. Where can I get my Mac fixed?
4. Can you recommend any good books about Mac repair?
5. The screen on my compact Mac is jittering.
III. Upgrades
1. What Macs will be upgradeable to the PowerPC?
2. Can I increase the speed of my Mac by accelerating the clock?
3. Can I add an FPU to my Mac?
4. Can I replace the 68LC040 with a 68040?
IV. Thanks for the Memory
1. What kind of memory should I use in my Mac?
2. Can I use PC SIMM's in my Mac?
3. What vendors have good prices on memory?
4. Do SIMMdoublers work?
V. Video
1. What's VRAM?
2. All monitors are not created equal.
3. There's a horizontal line across my monitor.
VI. Floppy Disks
1. What kind of floppy disks do I need for my Mac?
2. Why can't my Quadra (SE/30, Iici, etc.) read the disks from my Plus?
3. Does punching a hole in a double-density disk make a
high-density disk?
VII. SCSI Troubles
1. How do I put my old internal hard disk in an external case?
2. What's the cheapest/fastest/most reliable/most common
removable drive?
3. What's the best CD-ROM drive?
VIII. Printers
1. What's a good printer?
IX. Miscellaneous hardware FAQ's
1. What power adaptor do I need to use my mac in another country?
2. How can I fix the sound on my IIsi?
A. Models
RETRIEVING THE ENTIRE FAQ
=========================
This is the FIRST part of the this FAQ. The second part is
posted to comp.sys.mac.system and features many questions about
system software. The third part answers miscellaneous questions
about Macs and is posted every two weeks in comp.sys.mac.misc.
The fourth part covers frequently asked questions about Macintosh
application software and appears in comp.sys.mac.apps. The fifth
piece covers buying and selling Macintosh computers, software and
peripherals and is posted in comp.sys.mac.wanted. The sixth part
answers many questions about Macintosh hardware and peripherals
and appears in comp.sys.mac.hardware. Tables of contents for all
pieces are included above. Please familiarize yourself with all
six sections of this document before posting. All pieces are
available for anonymous ftp from
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/>
Except for this introductory FAQ which appears in multiple
newsgroups and is stored as general-faq, the name of each
file has the format of the last part of the group name followed
by "-faq", e.g the FAQ for comp.sys.mac.system is stored as
system-faq. You can also have these files mailed to you
by sending an email message to mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu with the
line:
send pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/name
in the body text where "name" is the name of the file you want as
specified above (e.g. general-faq). You can also send this server
a message with the subject "help" for more detailed instructions.
For access via the World-Wide-Web use
<URL:http://www.macfaq.com/faqs.html>
I HAVE A QUESTION... (1.0)
===========================
Congratulations! You've come to the right place. Usenet is
a wonderful resource for information ranging from basic questions
(How do I lock a floppy disk?) to queries that would make Steve
Jobs himself run screaming from the room in terror. (I used
ResEdit to remove resources Init #11, WDEF 34, and nVIR 17 from my
system file and used the Hex Editor to add code string #A67B45 as
a patch to the SFGetFile routine so the Standard File Dialog Box
would be a nice shade of mauve. Everything worked fine until I
installed SuperCDevBlaster, and now when I use the Aldus driver to
print from PageMaker 5.0d4 to a Linotronic 6000 my system hangs.
P.S. I'm running System 6.0.2 on a PowerBook 170.)
Since the Macintosh newsgroups are medium to high volume, we
ask that you first peruse this FAQ list including at least the
table of contents for the other pieces of it, check any other
relevant online resources listed below in question 1.2, especially
the FAQ lists for the other Macintosh newsgroups, and RTFM (Read
the Friendly Manual) before posting your question. We realize that
you are personally incensed that the System is taking up fourteen
of your newly-installed twenty megs of RAM, but this question has
already made its way around the world three hundred times before,
and it's developing tired feet. Finally, before posting to any
newsgroup (Macintosh or otherwise), please familiarize yourself
with the basic etiquette of Usenet as described in the newsgroup
news.announce.newusers. Usenet can be a real nerd-eat-nerd world,
and it's a bad idea to enter it unprepared.
HOW DO I USE THIS DOCUMENT? (1.1)
----------------------------------
comp.sys.mac.faq is currently divided into multiple pieces, a general
introduction which you're reading now, and specific lists for the
newsgroups comp.sys.mac.system, comp.sys.mac.misc, comp.sys.mac.apps,
comp.sys.mac.wanted and the comp.sys.mac.hardware hierarchy. This
introductory document is posted to all of the concerned newsgroups.
The tables of contents for each of the specific FAQ lists are at the
beginning of this file so you should be able to get at least some
idea whether your question is answered anywhere else in the FAQ even
if you don't have the other parts at hand. It's not always obvious,
especially to newcomers, where a particular question or comment
should be posted. Please familiarize yourself with the FAQ lists in
all the major Macintosh newsgroups before posting in any of them.
Which questions appear in which FAQs can serve as a basic guide to
what posts belong where.
To jump to a particular question search for
section-number.question-number enclosed in parentheses. For
example to find "Where can I FTP Macintosh software?" search
for the string "(2.1)". To jump to a section instead of a
question use a zero for the question number.
This document is in "setext" format. Akif Eyler's freeware
application EasyView can parse this document into a hierarchical
outline view that makes for easier browsing. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/EasyView.sit.bin>
Files available by anonymous ftp are listed here in URL
(Uniform Resource Locator) format. To retrieve a file you can
paste the URL into Mosaic's Open URL dialog or Anarchie's Get
dialog or you can retrieve it manually. A typical ftp URL
looks like
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/UUTool.sit.bin>
If you don't have Mosaic, Netscape, MacWeb or some other World Wide
Web browser this reference is easy to decode for use by regular,
manual ftp. (In fact it's easier to use than the form I used to use
which didn't include directories.) Ignore the "ftp://". The next
part, "ftp.macfaq.com" is the site. The last part, "UUTool.sit.bin"
is the file itself. Everything in between is the directory. Thus to
retrieve this file by ftp you would ftp to ftp.macfaq.com, login as
"anonymous" using your email address as your password, switch to
"binary" mode (since the .bin on the end of the file indicates this
is a binary file), change directory to pub/macfaq and get the file
UUTool2.3.2.sit.bin. Directory URL's are similar except they end
with a / symbol. A typical directory URL looks like
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/>
Here ftp.macfaq.com is the site and everything after that is
a directory.
WHAT OTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE? (1.2)
-------------------------------------------
comp.sys.mac.faq provides short answers to a number of frequently
asked questions appropriate for the comp.sys.mac regions of Usenet.
Five other FAQ lists are worthy of particular note. All are
available for anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu [18.181.0.24] in the
directory pub/usenet/group-name (where "group-name" is the name of
the group in which they're posted) as well as in their respective
newsgroups. You can also access these and other FAQ lists from
<URL:http://www.cs.ruu.nl/cgi-bin/faqwais>
Jon W{tte maintains a public domain FAQ list for
comp.sys.mac.programmer which is posted about every three weeks. See
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/programming-faq
The FAQ list for comp.sys.mac.comm answers many frequently asked
questions about networking, UNIX and the Mac, telecommunications,
and foreign file formats. See
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/comm-faq/>
Norm Walsh has compiled an excellent FAQ for comp.fonts that answers
a lot of questions about the various kinds of fonts and cross-platform
conversion and printing. See
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.fonts/>
Finally Jim Jagielski maintains a FAQ for comp.unix.aux covering
Apple's UNIX environment, A/UX. It's posted every 2 to 3 weeks in
comp.unix.aux. See
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.unix.aux/>
Much other information is accessible via the World Wide Web by
pointing your favorite browser at The Well Connected Mac, located at
<URL:http://www.macfaq.com/Macintosh.html>
Among other things this site contains hypertext versions of many
of the above FAQ lists, lists of Macintosh FTP and Web sites, a
directory of vendors doing business in the Macintosh market, many
reviews of hardware and software, and much more. If you only
have a dialup UNIX account and can't use a graphical browser, see
if lynx is installed on your system. If it is, use it. Otherwise
if you can telnet, try telneting to www.njit.edu which offers a
publically accessible text-based browser for the Web.
WHICH NEWSGROUP SHOULD I POST TO? (1.3)
----------------------------------------
There are no stupid questions, but there are misplaced ones.
You wouldn't ask your English teacher how to do the definite
integral of ln x between zero and one, would you? So don't ask
the programmer newsgroup why your system is so slow when Microsoft
Word is in the background. Ignorance of basic netiquette is not an
excuse. If you want people to help you, you need to learn their
ways of communicating.
Posting questions to the proper newsgroup will fill your
mailbox with pearls of wisdom (and maybe a few rotten oysters too
:-) ). Posting to the wrong newsgroup often engenders a thundering
silence. For instance the most common and glaring mispost, one
that seems as incongruous to dwellers in the Macintosh regions of
Usenet as would a purple elephant to Aleuts in the Arctic, asking
a question about networking anywhere except comp.sys.mac.comm,
normally produces no useful responses. Posting the same question
to comp.sys.mac.comm ensures that your post is read and considered
by dozens of experienced network administrators and not a few
network software designers.
Please post to exactly *ONE* newsgroup. Do not cross-post.
If a question isn't important enough for you to take the extra
minute to figure out where it properly belongs, it's not important
enough for several thousand people to spend their time reading.
For the same reason comp.sys.mac.misc should not be used as a
catch-all newsgroup.
The breakdown of questions between different newsgroups in this
document can also serve as a reasonable guide to what belongs where.
Questions about productivity applications (software you bought your
Macintosh to run, not software you bought to make your Macintosh run
better) should go to comp.sys.mac.apps unless the application is
covered in a more specific newsgroup. Communications programs,
games, HyperCard, compilers and databases all have more topical
comp.sys.mac.* newsgroups.
Questions about communications software and some hardware questions
belongs in comp.sys.mac.comm. However detailed questions about
Appletalk belong in comp.protocols.appletalk. Questions about modem
hardware belongs in comp.dcom.modems. Questions about web browsers
belong in comp.infosystems.www.browsers.mac and questions about web
servers should be directed to comp.infosystems.www.servers.mac.
Questions about the Internet in general and not about specific Mac
based software like MacTCP do not belong in comp.sys.mac.comm
at all.
Questions about MacOS system software belong in comp.sys.mac.system
with a few exceptions. Most notably all questions about printing and
printing software belong in comp.sys.mac.printing. Questions about
third party utilities and extensions normally belong in
comp.sys.mac.misc. Questions about A/UX go to comp.unix.aux.
Posts about hardware are split as follows: Anything at all about
printers belongs in comp.sys.mac.printing. Posts about hard drives,
tape drives, removable media like Zip and Syquest drives, and CD-ROM
drives and the driver and utility software required to make these
items work belongs in comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage. Posts about
displays, monitors, video cards and the driver and utility software
necessary to make these items work belongs in
comp.sys.mac.hardware.video. All other hardware related posts
including those about CPU's, memory, scanners and other peripherals
should be directed to comp.sys.mac.hardware.misc. Please try to
restrict posts to comp.sys.mac.hardware to ones that actually involve
the metal and plastic that modern computer hardware is made of. Just
because a game comes on CD-ROM does mean you should review it in
comp.sys.mac.hardware.storage. (On the other hand a review of the
drive itself would be appropriate.) Software questions in
comp.sys.mac.hardware should be restricted to the bare minimum of
non-standard software required to make a device work, e.g. hard disk
drivers, special extensions, and the like.
Programming questions and questions about development environments
belong in the comp.sys.mac.programmer hierarchy. ResEdit questions
may be posted either to comp.sys.mac.misc, comp.sys.mac.system, or
comp.sys.mac.programmer; but generally the netters who inhabit the
darker recesses of comp.sys.mac.programmer are considerably more
practiced at the art of resource hacking.
A general exception to the above rules is that any *very* technical
question about an application that actually begins to delve into the
how's of a program as well as the what's (Recent example: How does
WriteNow which is written entirely in assembly compare to other word
processors written in high level languages?) might be better
addressed to the programmer newsgroups.
For Sale and Want to Buy posts should go to comp.sys.mac.wanted and
the misc.forsale.computers.mac hierarchy *ONLY*. We understand that
you're desperate to sell your upgraded 128K Mac to get the $$ for a
PowerBook 540c; but trust me, anyone who wants to buy it will be
reading comp.sys.mac.wanted and
misc.forsale.computers.mac-specific.portables.
Although comp.sys.mac.wanted is a fairly catch-all group,
misc.forsale.computers.mac is a little more hierarchical.
misc.forsale.computers.mac-specific.cards.video contains for
sale and want-to-buy ads for Macintosh video cards only.
misc.forsale.computers.mac.mac-specific.cards.misc features ads
for other Mac-only cards, audio cards, data acquisition cards.
misc.forsale.computers.mac-specific.portables is for
sale and want-to-buy ads for Macintosh PowerBooks, Portables,
Duos and other complete portable systems.
misc.forsale.computers.mac-specific.software is for all Macintosh
software. misc.forsale.computers.mac-specific.systems is for buying
and selling complete Macintosh systems (no parts). Finally
misc.forsale.computers.mac-specific.misc is for buying and selling
Macintosh specific items not covered in the above newsgroups. All
of these newsgroups are for initial posts only. All inquiries,
discussion and negotiation should be kept in private email.
They're also all intended for individuals selling one or
two systems. Dealers of new or used computers and software should
post to biz.marketplace.computers.mac.
Many items of computer hardware work on multiple platforms,
particularly memory, monitors, external modems, hard drives and other
SCSI devices. If you're selling any of these items please post to the
appropriate cross-platform, peripheral group, i.e.:
* misc.forsale.computers.memory
* misc.forsale.computers.modems
* misc.forsale.computers.monitors
* misc.forsale.computers.printers
* misc.forsale.computers.storage
Posting to these groups will give your message a much broader
distribution than posting it to the Mac specific newsgroups.
Political and religious questions (The Mac is better than Windows! Is
not! Is too! Is not! Is too! Hey! How 'bout the Amiga! What about it?
Is Not! Is too!) belong in comp.sys.mac.advocacy. Anything not
specifically mentioned above probably belongs in comp.sys.mac.misc.
Finally don't be so provincial as to only consider the
comp.sys.mac newsgroups for your questions. Many questions about
modems in comp.sys.mac.comm are much more thoroughly discussed
in comp.dcom.modems. Questions about Mac MIDI are often better
handled in comp.music even though it's not a Macintosh specific
newsgroup. Posts about the Newton belong in the comp.sys.newton
hierarchy, not in *ANY* of the Macintosh newsgroups. Look around.
Usenet's big and not everything relevant to the Macintosh happens
in comp.sys.mac.
HOW SHOULD I ANSWER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS? (1.4)
------------------------------------------------------
Mostly through private email. Frequent answers are just as
boring and uninteresting as frequent questions. Unless you really
have something new to add to the traditional answers (such as the
recent discovery that fonts in System 7.1 could eat memory in a way
that mimicked the symptoms of not having 32-bit addressing turned on)
private email is a much better medium for answering FAQs. You might
want to add a mention of this FAQ list in your email response and a
polite suggestion that your correspondent read it before posting
future questions.
FTP, GOPHER, AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB (2.0)
==========================================
WHERE CAN I GET MAC SOFTWARE? (2.1)
------------------------------------
The two major North American Internet archives of shareware,
freeware, and demo software are Info-Mac at sumex-aim.stanford.edu
[171.65.4.3], and mac.archive at mac.archive.umich.edu
[141.211.120.11] Unless otherwise noted shareware and freeware
mentioned in this document should be available at the above sites.
Unfortunately these sites are extremely busy and allow very few
connections. Thus you should try to connect to a mirror site
instead.
In the United States Info-Mac's files are available from
grind.isca.uiowa.edu [128.255.21.233] in the directory mac/infomac or
mirrors.aol.com [198.81.1.25] in pub/mac. mac.archive files are
available from mirror.archive.umich.edu and mirrors.aol.com.
Scandinavians should try connecting to ftp.funet.fi (128.214.6.100)
or ftp.lth.se [130.235.20.3] first. In the U.K. look to
src.doc.ic.ac.uk [146.169.2.1]. Continental Europeans can try
nic.switch.ch [130.59.1.40], ezinfo.ethz.ch [129.132.2.72], and
anl.anl.fr [192.54.179.1]. In Australia check out archie.au
[139.130.4.6]. Japanese users will find sumex mirrored at
ftp.center.osaka-u.ac.jp [133.1.4.13] in info-mac. In Israel try
ftp.technion.ac.il [132.68.1.10] in the directory
pub/unsupported/mac. In Taiwan nctuccca.edu.tw [192.83.166.10 or
140.111.1.10] mirrors both sumex and mac.archive.
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/info/Mac_FTP_List.txt>
U.S.: <URL:ftp://grind.isca.uiowa.edu/mac/infomac/>
<URL:ftp://mirrors.aol.com/>
<URL:ftp://mirror.archive.umich.edu/>
Finland: <URL:ftp://ftp.funet.fi/>
Sweden: <URL:ftp://ftp.lth.se/>
<URL:ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/mac/>
U.K.: <URL:ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/info-mac/>
Switzerland: ftp://nic.switch.ch/>
<URL:ftp://ezinfo.ethz.ch/>
France: <URL:ftp://anl.anl.fr/>
Taiwan: <URL:ftp://nctuccca.edu.tw/>
Israel: <URL:ftp://ftp.technion.ac.il/pub/unsupported/mac/>
Australia: <URL:ftp://archie.au/>
Japan: <URL:ftp://ftp.center.osaka-u.ac.jp/info-mac/>
A more complete and current list of mirrors is available at
<URL:http://www.macfaq.com/software.html>
Two other very useful sites are ftp.info.apple.com [204.96.16.4]
and ftp.support.apple.com [130.43.6.3]. The latter is mirrored at
ftptoo.support.apple.com.
<URL:ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/>
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/>
<URL:ftp://ftptoo.support.apple.com/>
These are Apple's official repositories for system software,
developer tools, source code, technical notes, and other things
that come more or less straight from Apple's mouth. Some material
at this site may not be distributed outside the U.S. or by other
sites that don't have an official license to distribute Apple
system software. Please read the various README documents
available at these sites for the detailed info if you're
connecting from outside the U.S. or if you wish to redistribute
material you find here.
All software mentioned in these FAQ lists which may be freely
posted is available for anonymous ftp from ftp.macfaq.com in the
directory /pub/, i.e.
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/>
Ftp.macfaq.com is NOT a general archive site like info-mac or
mac.archive and does not endeavor to store every piece of shareware
in the Macintosh universe. However it should have most software
mentioned here, and should be easily accessible.
Finally if you have one flavor or another of Gopher available,
Apple maintains an astoundingly useful gopher server at
<URL:gopher://info.hed.apple.com/>
This site contains gobs of PR, technical specs for Apple products,
and pointers to sumex and mac.archive. It's often much easier to
browse mac.archive and sumex through gopher rather than directly
by ftp. Much of this is also available on the World Wide Web at
<URL:http://www.apple.com/>
CAN I GET SHAREWARE BY EMAIL? (2.2)
------------------------------------
The info-mac archives at sumex-aim are available by email from
LIST...@RICEVM1.bitnet (alternately list...@ricevm1.rice.edu).
The listserver responds to the commands $MACARCH HELP, $MACARCH
INDEX, and $MACARCH GET filename. Mac archive files are available
from m...@mac.archive.umich.edu. Send it a message containing the
word "help" (no quotes) on the first line of your message for
instructions on getting started. You can retrieve files from
other sites by using the server at ftp...@decwrl.dec.com. For
details send it a message with just the text "help" (no quotes).
WHERE CAN I FIND APPLICATION X? (2.3)
--------------------------------------
If you can't find shareware you're looking for at one of
the above sites, archie will help you find it. If you have a
MacTCP connection to the net, you should use Peter Lewis's
graphical archie client Anarchie, available from
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Anarchie.sit.bin>
Otherwise try telnetting to your nearest archie server or
sending it an email message addressed to archie with the subject
"help." Archie servers are located at archie.rutgers.edu (128.6.18.15,
America), archie.mcgill.ca (132.206.2.3, Canada), archie.au
(139.130.4.6, Australia), archie.funet.fi (128.214.6.100,
Scandinavia), and archie.doc.ic.ac.uk (146.169.3.7, the U.K. and
the continent). These sites index the tens of thousands of files
available for anonymous ftp. Login as "archie" (no password is
needed) and type "prog filename" to find what you're looking for or
type "help" for more detailed instructions. For instance you would
type "prog Disinfectant" to search for a convenient ftp site for
Disinfectant. If the initial search fails to turn up the file you
want, try variations on and substrings of the name. For instance if
you didn't find Disinfectant with "prog Disinfectant", you might try
"prog disi" instead.
If you have access to the World Wide Web the Virtual Software
Library at
http://www.shareware.com/
is often quicker to respond than archie although it doesn't index
as many sites.
Most common payware is stocked by MacWarehouse and featured
in their catalog which you can request from MacWarehouse at
(800) 622-6222. Apple brand software not stocked by MacWarehouse
and not available on ftp.support.apple.com is often available from
APDA, the Apple Programmers' and Developers' Association. Call
(800) 282-2732 in the U.S., (800) 637-0029 in Canada, (716) 871-6555
elsewhere, for a catalog. Finally most third party programming
tools with too small a market to be advertised in the MacWarehouse
catalog are advertised in every issue of MacTech along with
information on how to order.
Please check the above catalogs and archie personally BEFORE
asking the net where you can find a particular piece of software.
These sources provide answers much more quickly than the net.
WHERE CAN I FIND AN APPLICATION TO DO X? (2.4)
-----------------------------------------------
Most archives of shareware and freeware have index files
which briefly describe the various programs available at the site.
At anonymous ftp sites these files typically begin with 00 and end
with either .txt or .abs. Lists that cover the entire archive and
topical subdirectories are both available. For example if you're
looking for a program to play MOD files, ftp to sumex-aim and
look in the directory Sound/util for any files beginning with two
zeroes. You'll find 00Utility-abstracts.abs. Get it and then
browse through it at your leisure. Then when you've located a
likely candidate in the index file you can ftp it and try it out.
The best source of information about payware programs is the
MacWarehouse catalog. You'll occasionally find it on sale at
newsstands for about three dollars; but if you call MacWarehouse
at 1-800-622-6222, they'll be happy to send you one for free.
Unlike many other catalogs almost all common software is
advertised in the MacWarehouse catalog. A quick browse through
the appropriate section normally reveals several products that
fit your needs.
CAN SOMEONE MAIL ME APPLICATION X? (2.5)
-----------------------------------------
No. Nor will anyone mail you a part of a file from
comp.binaries.mac that was corrupt or missed at your site.
Please refer to the first questions in this section to
find out about anonymous FTP, archie, and email servers.
WHAT IS .BIN? .HQX? .CPT? .ETC? (2.6)
--------------------------------------
Most files available by FTP are modified twice to allow them to
more easily pass through foreign computer systems. First they're
compressed to make them faster to download, and then they're
translated to either a binhex (.hqx) or MacBinary (.bin) format
that other computers can digest. (The Macintosh uses a special
two-fork filing system that chokes most other computers.) BinHex
files are 7-bit ASCII text files, while MacBinary files are pure
8-bit binary data that must always be transferred using a binary
protocol.
How a file has been translated and compressed is indicated
by its suffix. Normally a file will have a name something like
filename.xxx.yyy. .xxx indicates how it was compressed and .yyy
indicates how it was translated. To use a file you've FTP'd and
downloaded to your Mac you'll need to reverse the process. Most
files you get from the net require a two-step decoding process.
First change the binhex (.hqx) or MacBinary (.bin) file to a
double-clickable Macintosh file; then decompress it. Which
programs decode which file types is covered in the table below.
Also note that most Macintosh telecommunications programs will
automatically convert MacBinary files to regular Macintosh files
as they are downloaded.
*******************************************************************************
Suffix: .sit .cpt .hqx .bin .pit .Z .image .dd .zip .uu .tar .gz
Extractors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
StuffIt 3.0| X X X X X X X X X X X
Compact Pro| X X
Packit | X
UUTool | X
MacCompress| X
SunTar | X X X X
BinHex 5.0 | X X
BinHex 4.0 | X
DiskDoubler| X X
ZipIt | X X X
DiskCopy | X
macutil | X X X X
MacGzip | X X
*******************************************************************************
A few notes on the decompressors:
StuffIt is a family of products that use several different
compression schemes. The freeware StuffIt Expander will unstuff
all of them. Versions of StuffIt earlier than 3.0 (StuffIt 1.5.1,
StuffIt Classic, UnStuffIt, and StuffIt Deluxe 2.0 and 1.0)
will not unstuff the increasing number of files stuffed by
StuffIt 3.0 and later. You need to get a more recent version of
StuffIt or StuffIt Expander. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/StuffItExpander.sea.bin>
StuffIt 4.0 (available in Lite, Deluxe, DropStuff and SpaceSaver
flavors) consistently makes smaller archives than any other Macintosh
compression utility. To allow maximum space for files on the various
ftp sites and to keep net-bandwidth down, please compress all files
you send to anonymous ftp sites with StuffIt 4.0 or later. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/StuffItLite.sea.bin>
UUTool, MacCompress, MacGzip and SunTar handle the popular
UNIX formats of uuencode (.uu), compress (.Z), gzip (.gz) and
tar (.tar) respectively. The UNIX versions are often more robust
than the Mac products, so use them instead when that's an option.
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/UUTool.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/MacGzip.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/MacCompress.sit.bin>
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SunTar.sit.bin>
StuffIt Deluxe or the combination of the freeware StuffIt Expander
and the shareware DropStuff with Expander Enhancer can also decode
these four formats in a relatively reliable fashion. However be warned
that the registration dialog in these products is more than a little
annoying. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/DropStuffInstaller.bin>
Macutil is dik winter's package of UNIX utilities to
decompress and debinhex files on a workstation before downloading
them to a Mac. Since UNIX stores files differently than the
Mac, macutil creates MacBinary (.bin) files which should be
automatically converted on download. It can't decompress
everything. In particular it can't decompress StuffIt 3.0 and later
archives. However, if you need only one or two files out of an
archive--for instance if you want to read the README to find out if
a program does what you need it to do before you download all of
it--macutil is indispensable. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/MacUtil.shar>
A few notes on the compression formats:
.bin: These are MacBinary files. Always use a binary file
transfer protocol when transferring them, never ASCII or text.
Most files on the net are stored as .hqx instead. Only rascal
stores most of its files in .bin format. Most communications
programs such as ZTerm and Microphone are capable of translating
MacBinary files on the fly as they download if they know in
advance they'll be downloading MacBinary files.
.image: This format is normally used only for system software,
so that on-line users can download files that can easily be
converted into exact copies of the installer floppies. Instead
of using DiskCopy to restore the images to floppies, you can use
the freeware utility ShrinkWrap to treat the images on your hard
disk as actual floppies inserted in a floppy drive. ShrinkWrap
sometimes has problems when doing installs, so you should have
some blank floppies and a copy of DiskCopy handy just in case. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/ShrinkWrap.sit.bin>
.sea (.x, .X): .sea files don't merit a position in the above
table because they're self-extracting. They may have been created
with Compact Pro, StuffIt, or even DiskDoubler; but all should be
capable of decompressing themselves when double-clicked. For some
unknown reason Alysis has chosen not to use this industry standard
designation for self-extracting archives created with their
payware products SuperDisk! and More Disk Space. Instead
they append either .x or .X to self-extracting archives.
HOW CAN I GET BINHEX? STUFFIT? ETC.? (2.7)
---------------------------------------------
By far the easiest way to get these programs is to ask a
human being to copy them onto a floppy for you. If you're at a
university there's absolutely no excuse for not finding someone to
give you a copy; and if you're anywhere less remote than McMurdo
Sound, chances are very good that someone at a computer center,
dealership, or user group can provide you with a copy of StuffIt.
Once you have StuffIt (any version) you don't need BinHex.
If you're such a computer geek that the thought of actually
asking a living, breathing human being instead of a computer
terminal for something turns you into a quivering mass of
protoplasmic jelly, you can probably download a working
copy of StuffIt from a local bulletin board system.
If you have religious objections to software gotten by any
means other than anonymous ftp, then I suppose I'll mention that
you can in fact ftp a working copy of StuffIt though this is
by far the hardest way to get it. Ftp to ftp.macfaq.com and
login. Type the word "binary." Hit return. Type "cd pub/macfaq"
and hit return. Then type "get StuffItExpander.sea.bin" and hit
return. If you've ftp'd straight onto your Mac you should now have a
self-extracting archive which will produce a working copy of StuffIt
Expander when double-clicked. If you've ftp'd to your mainframe or
UNIX account first, you still need to use a modem program to download
it to your Mac. Just make sure that the Mac is receiving in MacBinary
mode and the mainframe is sending in binary mode. If you need more
details on the last step, consult the FAQ list for comp.sys.mac.comm
and the manuals for both your mainframe and Macintosh
telecommunications software.
HOW CAN I GET BINHEX, STUFFIT, ETC. FROM A PC? (2.8)
-----------------------------------------------------
Paul Thomson's shareware DOS utility Macette can transfer
MacBinary files like the ones stored at ftp.macfaq.com from a DOS
file system onto a Macintosh high density diskette, translating
from MacBinary into a standard two-fork executable Macintosh file
in the process. It can even format the diskette for you. Thus
once you've gotten StuffIt Expander from
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/StuffItExpander.sea.bin>
you can use macette to move it from the PC to your Mac.
I've made macette available at my ftp site. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/macette.zip>
TROUBLESHOOTING: WHAT TO DO (BEFORE POSTING) WHEN THINGS GO WRONG (3.0)
========================================================================
While the various FAQ lists cover a lot of specific problems, there
are far more problems that aren't covered here. These are a few basic
techniques you should follow before asking for help. You should
probably also perform the ten-step preventive maintenance routine
described in section four, especially rebuilding the desktop (4.3)
and zapping the PRAM (4.4). Following these steps may or may
not solve your problem, but it will at least make it easier for
others to recommend solutions to you.
IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM. (3.1)
----------------------------
"Microsoft Word is crashing" doesn't say much. What were you
doing when it crashed? Can you repeat the actions that lead to
the crash? The more information you provide about the actions
preceding the crash the more likely it is someone can help you.
The more precisely you've identified the problem and the actions
preceding it, the easier it will be to tell if the following steps
fix the problem. For example, "Sometimes QuarkXPress 3.0 crashes
with a coprocessor not installed error." is not nearly as helpful
as "QuarkXPress 3.0 crashes when I link two text boxes on a master
page when copies of those text boxes already contain text." The
former diagnosis leaves you wondering whether the bug remains after
a given step. The latter lets you go right to the problem and see
if it's still there or not.
READ THE READ ME FILE. (3.2)
-----------------------------
Many companies include a list of known incompatibilities
and bugs in their READ ME files. Often these aren't documented
in the manual. Read any READ ME files to see if any of the
problems sound familiar.
CHECK FOR VIRUSES. (3.3)
-------------------------
Run Disinfectant or another anti-viral across your disk.
Virus infections are rarer than most people think, but they do
occur and they do cause all sorts of weird problems when they do.
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Disinfectant.sit.bin>
REINSTALL THE APPLICATION AND ALL ITS SUPPORT FILES. (3.4)
-----------------------------------------------------------
For half a dozen reasons (external magnetic fields, improperly written
software, the alignment of the planets) a file on a disk may not
contain the data it's supposed to contain. This can cause all types
of unexplained, unusual behavior. Restoring from original master
disks will usually fix this. Check to see if the application has a
preferences file in the Preferences folder in the system folder and
if so trash it. This is often overlooked when reinstalling. Since
the preferences file is often the most easily corrupted file in an
application, reinstalling it alone may be sufficient to fix the
problem.
REINSTALL THE SYSTEM SOFTWARE. (3.5)
-------------------------------------
Bits are even more likely to get twiddled in the system file
than in the application, and the effects can be just as disastrous.
See question 4.6 for a detailed procedure for performing a clean
reinstall.
If the problem continues to occur after you've taken these
steps, chances are you've found either a conflict between your
application and some other software or a genuine bug in the
program. So it's time to
ISOLATE THE PROBLEM. (3.6)
---------------------------
You need to find the minimal system on which the problem
will assert itself. Here are the basic steps of isolating the
cause of a system or application crash:
1. Run only one application at a time. Occasionally applications
conflict with each other. If the problem does not manifest
itself without other applications running simultaneously,
begin launching other applications until you find the one that
causes the crash.
2. If you're running System 6, turn off MultiFinder. If you're
running System 7, allot as much memory to the application as you
can afford. Sometimes programs just need more memory, especially
when performing complicated operations.
3. If you're running System 7, turn off virtual memory and 32-bit
addressing in the Memory Control Panel. There's still an awful
lot of 32-bit and VM hostile software out there including some
from companies that really have no excuse. (Can you say Microsoft
Word 5.1, boys and girls? I knew you could.) Some of this
software only expresses its incompatibilities when certain
uncommon actions are taken. PowerMacs always run in 32-bit mode.
Try turning the modern memory manager off instead.
4. If you have a 68040 Mac, turn the cache off. Many older
programs don't work well with the built-in cache of the 68040.
5. If you have a PowerPC turn off the modern memory manager.
Some software doesn't get along with it.
6. Restart your Mac and hold down the shift key (or boot from a virgin
system floppy if you're using System 6). If the problem disappears
you likely have an extension conflict. You need to progressively remove
extensions until the problem vanishes. System 7.5's Extensions
Manager lets you decide at startup which extensions to load so you
don't have to spend a lot of time moving files into and out of the
System Folder. In earlier systems you can use Ricardo Batista's
freeware Extensions Manager 2.0.1 on which System 7.5's Extensions
manager is built. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Utilities/Extensions_Manager_2.0.1.hqx>
Use a little common sense when choosing the first extensions to
remove. If the problem occurs when you try to open a file, remove
any extensions that mess with the Standard File Open procedure such as
Super Boomerang first. If the problem remains after the obvious
candidates have been eliminated, either remove the remaining
extensions one at a time; or, if you have a lot of them, perform a
binary search by removing half of the extensions at a time. Once
the problem disappears add half of the most recently removed set
back. Continue until you've narrowed the conflict down to one
extension. When you think you've found the offending extension
restart with only that extension enabled just to make sure that it
and it alone is indeed causing the problem. Although performing
this procedure manually can be fairly quick if you have a pretty
good idea of which extensions to check, it can take quite some
time when you really don't have any strong suspects for a
conflict. In that case consider using Conflict Catcher to help
isolate the offending init. A fully functional timed demo can be
had from
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/ConflictCatcherDemo.sit.bin>
7. Remove all but the required fonts (Chicago, Monaco) from your
Fonts folder. If the problem disappears then one of your fonts
is corrupted. Open the Fonts folder in your System folder and
open each font suitcase until your Mac crashes. The last suitcase
opened is probably corrupt. Restart the machine, remove the
allegedly corrupt suitcase from the Fonts folder and check the
remaining fonts. (There may be more than one corrupt font.) This
procedure may not always isolate the corrupted font, so if no
corrupted fonts are found or if the symptoms do not disappear, you
can use the binary elimination procedure described above to find
the corrupt font.
8. Remove all external SCSI devices. If the problem disappears,
add them back one at a time until the problem reappears. Once
you've isolated the SCSI device causing the problem check its
termination and try moving it to a different position in the
SCSI chain. It's also possible a SCSI cable's gone bad, so
try replacing just the cable.
9. Turn the Mac off and unplug all cables: power, ADB, modem,
printer, network, SCSI and anything else you've plugged in to the
back of your Mac. Then plug everything back in and try again.
Loose cables can imitate malfunctions in almost any hardware or
software. I recently spent a day in panic because I thought my
analog board had died before I could back up the latest draft of
the hardware FAQ. I even went so far as to email my favorite
repair shop (Tekserve, 212-929-3645) before I thought calmly for
a few minutes, unplugged all my cables, and plugged them back in.
My Mac booted up immediately. The power cable had been loosened
when I moved my desk the previous weekend and a few days later
random motion finally disconnected it enough to cut my power. To
all appearances this was an expensive analog board or power supply
failure rather than a cheap cable problem that I could fix in about
a minute at home.
CONTACT TECHNICAL SUPPORT. (3.7)
---------------------------------
By now you should have a very good idea of when, where, and why
the conflict occurs. If a tech support number is available for the
software, call it. If you're lucky the company will have a work
around or fix available. If not, perhaps they'll at least add the
bug to their database of problems to be fixed in the next release.
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE (4.0)
=============================
You wouldn't drive your car 100,000 miles without giving it a
tune-up. A computer is no different. Regular tune-ups avoid a lot
of problems. Although there are Mac mechanics who will be happy to
charge you $75 or more for the equivalent of an oil change, there's
no reason you can't change it yourself. The following ten-step
program should be performed about every three months or when you're
experiencing problems.
TRASH UNNEEDED FILES (4.1)
---------------------------
Many of the operations that follow will run faster and more
smoothly the more free disk space there is to work with, so spend
a little time cleaning up your hard disk. If you're at all like
me, you'll find several megabytes worth of preferences files for
applications you no longer have, archives of software you've
dearchived, shareware you tried out and didn't like, announcements
for events that have come and gone and many other files you no
longer need. If you're running System 7 you may also have several
more megabytes in your trash can alone. Throw them away and empty
the trash.
RETHINK YOUR EXTENSIONS (4.2)
------------------------------
Some Macintoshes attract extensions like a new suit attracts rain.
Seriously consider whether you actually need every extension and
control panel in your collection. If you don't use the
functionality of an extension at least every fifth time you boot
up, you're probably better off not storing it in your System
Folder where it only takes up memory, destabilizes your system,
and slows down every startup. For instance if you only read PC
disks once a month, there's no need to keep Macintosh PC Exchange
loaded all the time. Cutting back on your extensions can really
help avoid crashes.
REBUILD THE DESKTOP (4.3)
--------------------------
The Desktop file/database holds all the information necessary
to associate each file with the application that created it.
It lets the system know what application should be launched when
you open a given file and what icons it should display where.
Depending on its size each application has one or more
representatives in the desktop file. As applications and files
move on and off your hard disk, the Desktop file can be become
bloated and corrupt. Think of it as a Congress for your Mac.
Every so often it's necessary to throw the bums out and start
with a clean slate. Fortunately it's easier to rebuild the
desktop than to defeat an incumbent.
One warning: rebuilding the desktop will erase all comments
you've stored in the Get Info boxes. Under System 7 Maurice
Volaski's freeware extension CommentKeeper will retain those comments
across a rebuild. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/CommentKeeper.sit.bin>
CommentKeeper also works with System 6 but only if Apple's
Desktop Manager extension is also installed.
To rebuild the desktop restart your Mac and, as your
extensions finish loading, depress the Command and Option keys.
You'll be presented with a dialog box asking if you want to rebuild
the desktop and warning you that "This could take a few minutes."
Click OK. It will take more than a few minutes. The more files you
have the longer it will take. If you're running System 6 you may
want to turn off MultiFinder before trying to rebuild the desktop.
If you're experiencing definite problems and not just doing
preventive maintenance, you may want to use Micromat's freeware
utility TechTool. TechTool completely deletes the Desktop file
before rebuilding it, thus eliminating possibly corrupt data
structures. Furthermore it doesn't require you to remember any
confusing keystroke combinations. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/TechTool.sit.bin>
ZAP THE PRAM AND RESET THE CLOCK (4.4)
---------------------------------------
All Macs from the original 128K Thin Mac to the PowerMac 9500
contain a small amount of battery powered RAM that holds certain
settings that belong to the CPU rather than the startup disk, for
example the disk to start up from. Unfortunately this "parameter
RAM" can become corrupted and cause unexplained crashes. To reset
it under System 7 hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys
while restarting your Mac. Under System 6 hold down the Command,
Option, and Shift keys while selecting the Control Panel from the
Apple menu, and click "Yes" when asked if you want to zap the
parameter RAM. Alternatively you can use MicroMat's free utility
TechTool which doesn't require you stretch your fingers across the
keyboard like a circus contortionist. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/TechTool.sit.bin>
Zapping the PRAM erases the settings of most Apple Control
Panels including the General Controls, Keyboard, Startup Disk,
Mouse, and Map. It also erases the Powerbook 100's non-volatile
RAM disk. Thus after zapping the PRAM you will need to reset these
Control Panels to fit your preferences. One setting that zapping
the PRAM does not erase is the date and time; but since the internal
clock in the Macintosh is notoriously inaccurate you'll probably want
to reset it now anyway.
RESIZE THE SYSTEM HEAP (System 6 Only) (4.5)
---------------------------------------------
Even after rethinking their extensions as per step two, most
people still have at least half a row of icons march across
the bottom of their screen every time they restart. All these
extensions (and most applications too) need space in a section of
memory called the System Heap. If the System Heap isn't big enough
to comfortably accommodate all the programs that want a piece of
it, they start playing King of the Mountain on the system heap,
knocking each other off to get bigger pieces for themselves and
trying to climb back on after they get knocked off. All this
fighting amongst the programs severely degrades system performance
and almost inevitably crashes the Mac.
Under System 7 your Macintosh automatically resizes the
system heap as necessary, but under System 6 you yourself need
to set the system heap size large enough to have room for all your
extensions and applications. By default this size is set to 128K,
way too small for Macs with even a few extensions. The system heap
size is stored in the normally non-editable boot blocks of every
system disk. Bill Steinberg's freeware utility BootMan not only
resizes your system heap but also checks how much memory your heap
is using and tells you how much more needs to be allocated. If
you're running System 6, get BootMan, use it, and be amazed at
how infrequently your Macintosh crashes. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/Bootman.sit.bin>
REINSTALL THE SYSTEM SOFTWARE (4.6)
------------------------------------
System files can become corrupt and fragmented, especially
if you've stored lots of fonts and desk accessories inside them.
Merely updating the System software will often not fix system file
corruption. I recommend doing a clean reinstall. Here's how:
1. Move the Finder from the System Folder onto your desktop.
2. Rename the System Folder "Old System Folder."
3. If you're installing System 6, 7.0, 7.0.1 or 7.1 shut down
and then boot from the Installer floppy of your system disks.
If you're installing System 7.5, quit all running applications
and launch the installer on the first installer disk.
4. Double-click the installer script on your System disk. Then
choose Customize... Select the appropriate software for your
model Mac and printer. You could do an Easy Install instead,
but that will only add a lot of extensions and code you don't
need that waste your memory and disk space.
If you're installing System 7.5 type "Command-Shift-K" which is
the magic code to get the installer to do a clean install.. A
dialog will pop up. Select the radio button that says "Install
New System Folder" and click OK.
From this point on just follow the installer's instructions.
Mostly you'll just need to swap disks. After installation is
finished the installer will ask you to restart your Mac. You
don't really have any choice so go ahead and restart.
5. If you installed System 7.0 or 7.0.1, you should now install
System 7 Tuneup 1.1.1, available from
If you installed System 7.1, 7.1 Pro or 7.1.2, then you should
also install System Update 3.0, available from
If you installed System 7.5, 7.5.1 or 7.5.2 then you should also install
System 7.5 Update 2.0, available from
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/System/System_7.5_Update_2.0/>
This will bring you to System 7.5.3. Finally you should install the
System 7.5.3 Revision 2 update, available from
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/System/System_7.5.3_Revision_2/>
6. Copy any non-standard fonts and desk accessories out
of the old System file into a temporary suitcase.
7. Trash the Finder file on desktop. Now go into the Old System
Folder and trash the System, MultiFinder, DA Handler, and all
other standard Apple extensions and control panels. These were
all replaced in the new installation. If you were running
System 7.x, move everything left in the Extensions, Control Panels,
Apple Menu Items and Preferences folders into the top level of
the new System Folder.
8. Now move everything from the Old System Folder you created in step 2
into the new System folder. If you're asked if you want to replace
anything, you missed something in step 7. You'll need to replace
things individually until you find the duplicate piece. Also
reinstall any fonts or DA's you removed in step 6.
9. Reboot. You should now have a clean, defragmented System file
that takes up less memory and disk space and a much more stable
system overall.
DISK UTILITIES (4.7)
---------------------
Much like system files hard disks have data structures that
occasionally become corrupted affecting performance and even
causing data loss. Apple includes Disk First Aid, a simple utility
for detecting and repairing hard disk problems, with its System
disks. It's also available for anonymous ftp from
ftp.support.apple.com in
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Utilities/Disk_First_Aid_(7.2).hqx>
If you have an earlier version than 7.2 (and many people do)
you should get version 7.2 from ftp.apple.com, make a copy of
your Disk Tools disk, and replace the old Disk First Aid on the
copy with the new version. At the same time you should also
replace the old version of HD SC Setup on your Disk Tools disk
with HD SC Setup 7.3.5 (or newer) from the same directory. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Utilities/Apple_HD_SC_Setup_7.3.5.hqx>
Certain late-model Macs require a new formatter called Drive Setup instead.
Drive Setup requires System 7.5 or later and is only should only be used
with PowerMacs, PowerBook 190's and Macintosh 580 and 630 series
68040 Macs. As of June, 1996, the latest version is 1.0.5 which
is available from
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Utilities/Drive_Setup_1.0.5.hqx>
Several companies sell payware disk utilities that detect and repair
considerably more problems than Disk First Aid though, interestingly,
none of them detect and repair everything that Disk First Aid does.
The most effective for general work are Symantec's MacTools 4.0 and
Norton Utilities for the Macintosh 3.2. A department or work group
should have both of these as well as Disk First Aid since none of
them fix everything the others do. For individuals MacTools ($48
street) is about half the price of Norton ($94 street) so, features
and ease of use being roughly equal, I recommend MacTools.
All of these products occasionally encounter problems they
can't fix. When that happens it's time to backup (4.8) and
reformat (4.10).
BACKING UP (4.8)
-----------------
This is one part of preventive maintenance that should be
done a *LOT* more often than every three months. The simplest back
up is merely to copy all the files on your hard disk onto floppies
or other removable media. If you keep your data files separate
from your application and support files then it's easy to only back
up those folders which change frequently. Nonetheless every three
months you should do a complete backup of your hard disk.
A number of programs are available to make backing up easier. Apple
included a very basic full backup application with System 6. Apple
ships the Apple Backup utility with all Performas that can backup
the entire disk or just the System folder onto floppies. The
previously mentioned Norton Utilities for the Mac and MacTools Deluxe
include more powerful floppy backup utilities that incorporate
compression and incremental backups. Finally the usual ftp sites
should have Diversified I/O's $35 shareware SoftBackup II, a full
featured backup program that will do full, image and incremental
backups to floppies, tape drives, WORMs, Syquest drives, hard disks,
servers and other media. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/SoftBackupII.sit.bin>
About the only thing thing SoftBackup II can't do is replace old
versions of files in a backup set with newer versions. If you want
to do that, check out the more flexible payware utilities Redux ($49
street, doesn't support tape drives) and Diskfit Pro ($74 street).
DISK DEFRAGMENTATION (4.9)
---------------------------
As disks fill up it gets harder and harder to find enough
contiguous free space to write large files. Therefore the
operating system will often split larger files into pieces to
be stored in different places on your hard disk. As files
become more and more fragmented performance can degrade.
There are several ways to defragment a hard disk.
The most tedious but cheapest method is to backup all your
files, erase the hard disk (and you might as well reformat while
you're at it. See question 4.10.), and restore all the files.
A number of payware utilities including Norton Utilities
and Mac Tools can defragment a disk in place, i.e. without
erasing it. Although the ads for all these products brag about
their safety, once you've bought the software and opened the
shrink-wrap they all warn you to back up your disk before
defragmenting it in case something does go wrong. If you use
any of these products, be sure to run a disk repair package
on the disk you wish to defragment before defragmenting.
Defragmenting will almost certainly make any existing problems
with a disk worse so it's important to make sure a disk is in
good health before using a defragmenting utility on it. Fast
Unfrag is a $10 shareware disk defragmenter by Kas Thomas. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.macfaq.com/pub/FastUnfrag1.0.sit.bin>
It appears to do the job it was designed for; (defragmenting the
files on a hard disk) and my brief tests didn't reveal any glaring
bugs or trash any files. Nonetheless, I'm a bit nervous about this
product because the programmer and his skill level are unknown to
me, and writing a disk defragmenter is not something I'd trust to a
novice. The interface is flaky; the program only works on the disk
where the application resides (very unusual behavior for a disk
defragmenter); it's unfriendly to background applications (not so
unusual for any disk intensive app); and neither documentation,
online help, nor an email address are provided with the program.
Since this is still a relative unknown I *STRONGLY* recommend that
you backup your files before using it. I'd appreciate hearing any
experiences you have with it.
REFORMAT YOUR HARD DISK (4.10)
-------------------------------
Just as a floppy disk needs to be initialized before use, so a hard
disk must be formatted before it can hold data. You don't need to
reformat every three months; but when your system is crashing no
matter what you try, reformatting is the ultimate means of wiping the
slate clean. Reformatting your hard disk may even gain you a few
extra megabytes of space. Not all hard disks are created equal.
Some can hold more data than others. To facilitate mass production
and advertising without a lot of asterisks (* 81.3 megabytes is the
pre-formatted size. Actual formatted capacity may vary.) Apple
often formats drives to the lowest common denominator of drive
capacity. When you reformat there's no reason at all not to reclaim
whatever unused space Apple's left on your disk.
Unlike floppies hard disks need a special program to initialize them.
Most hard disks come with formatting software. Apple's disks and
System software ship with either HD SC Setup or Drive Setup, minimal
disk formatters which will format Apple brand hard drives *ONLY*. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Utilities/Apple_HD_SC_Setup_7.3.5.hqx>
<URL:ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Macintosh/Utilities/Drive_Setup_1.0.5.hqx>
Most hard drive manufacturers ship appropriate formatting software
with their hard drives. Normally this is all you need to reformat
your hard disk. This software installs a "driver" onto the hard
disk. Most formatting software includes an option to update the
driver without reformatting the entire hard disk, and this can fix
some hard to diagnose problems without going to the trouble of
reformatting and restoring an entire hard disk. (Do backup before
updating a hard disk driver though, as a failed driver update can
leave a disk unusable.)
A number of general-purpose formatters are also available
which go beyond the bundled software to include features like
encryption, password protection, multiple partitioning, faster disk
access, System 7 compatibility, and even compression. Two of the
best are the payware Drive7 and Hard Disk Toolkit Personal Edition
($49 street for either). While there are one or two freeware
formatters available, none are likely to be superior to the
ones bundled with your hard disk.
PowerBook owners should be sure to turn off Sleep and
processor cycling before reformatting their hard drives no
matter what software they use. Otherwise disk corruption,
crashes, and data losses are likely.
META-FAQS (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FAQ) (5.0)
===========================================================
Since posting the first version of my FAQ list a little over
three years ago I have noticed a precipitous drop in the frequency of
certain questions. Most notably: Why is my system using 14 of my
20 megs of RAM? Though that still shows up occasionally, it's no
longer at the twelve times a day level that induced me to start
writing. I count that as some measure of success. However, I have
experienced one unexpected phenomenom. Certain questions began
appearing frequently in my mailbox so I've composed this little list
of meta-faqs, that is frequently asked questions about the FAQ. Please
familiarize yourself with this list before mailing me comments
or questions.
THERE'S A MISTAKE IN YOUR FAQ. (5.1)
-------------------------------------
Thanks for pointing this out. Since I maintain several
documents of about 300K total size, it would be helpful if
you would reference the specific document where you found
my error and the question number.
WHY DON'T YOU INCLUDE THIS COMPLICATED/PAYWARE SOLUTION? (5.2)
---------------------------------------------------------------
When there are multiple solutions to a common problem, I try
to pick the one that is achievable with the simplest and cheapest
tools. Chances are I do know about that undocumented feature
of WhizzyWriter 1000 that lets you download PostScript files.
Call me crazy, but I suspect that most people would prefer to
download a free utility from ftp.support.apple.com rather than shell
out $995 for WhizzyWriter just to solve their PostScript problems.
Similarly if a problem can be solved with the tools that are
bundled with every Mac, I'll choose that solution over one that
requires downloading some shareware. Space in the FAQ is limited;
(mainly by brain-dead news software at some sites that restricts
files to 32K) and I can't give comprehensive lists when they're
not needed.
WOULD YOU PLEASE INCLUDE MY SOFTWARE IN YOUR FAQ? (5.3)
--------------------------------------------------------
As explained above space in these documents is limited, and I
simply can't mention every imaginable software that conceivably
falls somewhere within the purview of the Macintosh newsgroups.
If, however, you feel your software answers a frequently asked
question, for example a _working_ PostScript previewer
(GhostScript doesn't count.); or it provides a solution to a
common problem superior to what's already available, then I'll be
happy to consider it for inclusion in the FAQ.
WHY DON'T YOU POST THE FAQ MORE OFTEN? (5.4)
---------------------------------------------
The FAQ is posted automatically about every two weeks, give or
take a day. Normally it doesn't change more frequently than that;
and I want to avoid wasting bandwidth since Usenet is not, contrary
to popular belief, free. The FAQ includes an Expires: header to
insure that one version doesn't disappear from your news spool
until the next one arrives and a Supersedes: header so multiple
copies won't waste everyone's disk space. This is all accomplished
automatically via Jonathan Kamens' faq server. If the FAQ is ever
not available at your site, then your news software is BROKEN and
should be fixed. Complain to your news administrators about their
broken software that ignores Expires: headers, not to me.
CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THIS PROBLEM I'M HAVING WITH MY MAC? (5.5)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Certainly! I negotiate consulting fees on a case-by-case basis,
but they tend to average about $120 an hour with a four hour
minimum. If you're outside the metropolitan New York area
(roughly Philadelphia to New Haven) the minimum is seven hours and
you'll also be expected to provide airfare expenses. Quantity
discounts and support contracts can be negotiated on a
case-by-case basis. Oh, you meant free help? Sorry, that's what
Usenet is for. Post your question to the appropriate newsgroup,
and you'll probably get a lot more advice than I could give you.
WILL YOU SEND ME THE FAQ? (5.6)
--------------------------------
No. I have neither the time nor the inclination to act
as a mail-server for people who can't be bothered to use the
mail-server at rtfm.mit.edu as outlined in the introduction.
I reject all such requests.
WHY DON'T YOU FORMAT THE FAQ IN WORD? DIGEST? HTML ETC.? (5.7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
While I get about one request per month to adhere to some
imagined "standard" format, I have yet to receive two requests
for the same format. The FAQ has recently been redone in HTML.
See:
<URL:http://www.macfaq.com/faqs.html>
Sometime in the future I hope to release a much improved HTML version
with lots of pictures, sounds, and movies. I am exploring the
possibility of publishing that version for profit on the net. The
basic FAQ list posted to Usenet will of course remain free for the
foreseeable future. I'm also interested in Common Ground, Adobe
Acrobat, and MIME based news. However none of these are particularly
high on my priority list.
CAN I REPOST, REVISE, PUBLISH OR OTHERWISE USE THIS DOCUMENT? (5.8)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This work is Copyright 1993-1996 by Elliotte M. Harold.
Permission is hereby granted to transmit and store this document as
part of an unedited collection of any newsgroup to which it is posted
by myself. I also grant permission to distribute *UNMODIFIED* copies
of this document online via bulletin boards, local file servers, online
services, and other providers of electronic communications provided
that no fees in excess of normal online charges are required for such
distribution; i.e. if the FAQ is available on a system, it must be
available at the minimum charge for accessing the system. For
instance you may post it to most BBS's that charge either a flat
monthly fee or a per hour rate. However if there is an extra charge
for downloading files over what is charged per normal access, either
per hour, per kilobyte, or per month, then the FAQ may not be posted
to that system without my explicit, prior permission. Portions of
this document may be extracted and quoted free of charge and without
necessity of citation in normal online communication provided only
that said quotes are not represented as the correspondent's original
work. Permission for quotation of this document in edited, online
communication (such as the Info-Mac Digest and TidBITS) is given
subject to normal citation procedures (i.e. you have to say where
you got it).
Due to prior licensing arrangements this FAQ list may not at this point
in time be republished in a modified form, or redistributed on disk or
paper.
--
Elliotte Rusty Harold
elh...@shock.njit.edu
..
Elliotte Rusty Harold
Archive-name: macintosh/hardware-faq
Version: 2.4.0
Last-modified: September 14, 1995
URL: http://www.macfaq.com/hardwarefaq.html
Frequently Asked Questions about Macintosh Hardware
===================================================
comp.sys.mac.faq, part six:
comp.sys.mac.hardware
Copyright 1993,1994,1995 by Elliotte Harold
Please see section 5.8 of the general FAQ if you wish to
redistribute, revise or republish this document in any way.
Archive-name: macintosh/hardware-faq
Version: 2.4.0
Last-modified: September 14, 1995
What's new in version 2.4.0:
----------------------------
Primarily this is a maintenance release to reflect several new
Mac models and better formatting of the URL's.
I've also made various improvements to the sections on removable
media, CD-ROMs, VRAM and monitors.
Table of Contents
==================================================================
I. Maintenance
1. How do I clean a keyboard?
2. How do I clean a screen?
3. How do I clean a mouse?
4. How do I clean a floppy drive?
5. How do I clean the inside of my mac?
II. Problems And Repairs
1. How do I open a compact Mac?
2. Now that I've opened my Mac how might I electrocute myself?
3. Where can I get my Mac fixed?
4. Can you recommend any good books about Mac repair?
5. The screen on my compact Mac is jittering.
III. Upgrades
1. What Macs are upgradeable to the PowerPC?
2. Can I increase the speed of my Mac by accelerating the clock?
3. Can I add an FPU to my Mac?
4. Can I replace the 68LC040 with a 68040?
IV. Thanks for the Memory
1. What kind of memory should I use in my Mac?
2. Can I use PC SIMM's in my Mac?
3. What vendors have good prices on memory?
4. Do SIMMdoublers work?
V. Video
1. What's VRAM?
2. All monitors are not created equal.
3. There's a horizontal line across my monitor.
4. Can I use a VGA monitor with my Mac?
5. How can I switch monitor resolutions on the fly?
VI. Floppy Disks
1. What kind of floppy disks do I need for my Mac?
2. Why can't my Quadra (SE/30, llci, etc.) read the disks from my Plus?
3. Does punching a hole in a double-density disk make a high-density disk?
VII. SCSI Troubles
1. How do I put my old internal hard disk in an external case?
2. What's the cheapest/fastest/most reliable/most common removable drive?
3. What's the best CD-ROM drive?
VIII. Printers
1. What's a good printer?
IX. Miscellaneous hardware FAQ's
1. What power adaptor do I need to use my Mac in another country?
2. How can I fix the sound on my IIsi?
A. Models
RETRIEVING THE ENTIRE FAQ
=========================
This is the SIXTH part of this FAQ. The first part is also
posted to this newsgroup under the subject heading "Introductory
Macintosh frequently asked questions (FAQ)" and includes a complete
table of contents for the entire document as well as information
on where to post, ftp, file decompression, trouble-shooting, and
preventive maintenance. The second, third, fourth, and fifth
parts are posted every two weeks in comp.sys.mac.system,
comp.sys.mac.misc, comp.sys.mac.apps, and comp.sys.mac.wanted
respectively and include many questions that often erroneously appear
in comp.sys.mac.misc. All pieces are available for anonymous ftp from
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/>
Except for the introductory FAQ which appears in multiple
newsgroups and is stored as general-faq, the name of each
file has the format of the last part of the group name followed
by "-faq", e.g the FAQ for comp.sys.mac.system is stored as
system-faq. You can also have these files mailed to you
by sending an E-mail message to mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu
with the line:
send pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/name
in the body text where "name" is the name of the file you want as
specified above (e.g. general-faq). You can also send this server
a message with the subject "help" for more detailed instructions.
For access via the World Wide Web use
<URL:http://www.macfaq.com/faqs.html>
==================
MAINTENANCE (1.0)
==================
First a word about tools: many basic household items will serve you
well when taking care of a Mac but not all. Under no circumstances
should you use a Dustbuster or other common handvac to clean
electronic equipment. Instead you need a specially designed vacuum
cleaner with a conducting, grounded nozzle. These normally cost
about $40 in electronics supply stores. Most paper towels are
adequate for cleaning computer equipment. However Scott brand towels
do have lower rag content than any other commonly available towel and
are less likely to leave paper fibers behind on your equipment.
HOW DO I CLEAN A KEYBOARD? (1.1)
---------------------------------
For basic cleaning a little isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol on a Scott
towel works well. Common household cleaners like Formula 409 also do
a nice job. To perform a more thorough cleaning you'll need to take
the keyboard apart. Depending on the type of keyboard you'll need
one or more of a Phillips head screwdriver, a Torx T-15 screwdriver,
and a special tool almost impossible to find when you really really
need it which goes by the technical name of "key puller."
Disassemble the keyboard, pull off all the keys, and use a can of
compressed air or an electronics vac to clean out all the dust
bunnies that have mated and grown and had children and mated again
and built apartment complexes and shopping malls inside your
keyboard. (I don't know why, but keyboards attract far more detritus
than any other computer component.) Finally if you spilled Mountain
Dew, coffee or some other liquid substance into the keyboard, clean
it with lukewarm water and a soft towel. Use isopropyl alcohol on
any remaining sticky spots.
HOW DO I CLEAN A SCREEN? (1.2)
-------------------------------
First turn off the monitor. Spray a small amount of Windex or any
other common glass cleaner onto a paper towel, NOT directly onto
the screen. Then wipe the paper towel over the screen. Finally
wipe the screen clean with a dry paper towel.
HOW DO I CLEAN A MOUSE? (1.3)
------------------------------
Poor mouse tracking is normally a sign of dirty contacts. To clean
them get a cassette tape head cleaning solution from any audio store.
Turn off the Mac. Then unplug the mouse. The bottom plate of the
mouse that holds the ball in place can be removed by pushing down and
twisting (like a child-proof medicine cap). The ball will probably
fall out when the plate is removed so be ready to catch it. There's
nothing quite so annoying as having to crawl around on the floor
looking under the furniture for a mouse ball. Dip a cotton swab in
the solution. Then rub it on the three ball contacts until they
appear clean to the eye. Finally clean the ball itself with soap
and water and dry it with a paper towel. At this point it wouldn't
hurt to replace your mouse pad to. A grungy mouse pad will make
even a clean mouse ball dirty in no time. I often use a heavy
bond paper taped to my desk rather than a mouse pad because it's so
easy and cheap to replace.
HOW DO I CLEAN A FLOPPY DRIVE? (1.4)
-------------------------------------
Normally you don't need to. Several companies sell floppy drive
cleaning kits that consist of nothing more than a disk and some
cleaning fluid for anywhere from five to twenty-five dollars.
These are almost as pointless as the CD cleaning kits sold to
overenthusiastic CD owners. I'd only use one of these if I was
already experiencing problems that were identifiably linked to the
floppy drive rather than individual disks. Cleaning a floppy drive
should not be part of normal maintenance. When you do need to clean
a floppy drive, Apple recommends the 3M floppy drive cleaning kit.
If you have a vacuum cleaner designed for electronic equipment, you
can always run it across the floppy slit, but even that is rarely
necessary. Or you can disassemble the Mac and use a can of
compressed air to blow the dust out of the floppy drive. Don't do
this without disassembling the Mac first though since otherwise
you'll just blow dust deeper inside your computer. And even when the
Mac is taken apart, be careful to blow the air AWAY from the motor.
If you blow air into the drive motor, you'll forcing dust into it and
make the drive more likely to fail.
HOW DO I CLEAN THE INSIDE OF MY MAC? (1.5)
-------------------------------------------
I don't advise taking a Mac apart just to clean it; but if you've
already dismantled it as part of another upgrade or repair, blowing
accumulated dust away with a can of compressed air won't hurt. You
can also use a specially designed computer vacuum cleaner, but don't
use a normal hand vac like a Dustbuster as there's a small chance of
damage to your Mac from the static electricity it builds up.
On the other hand if during one of those late night football games
through the halls of your office someone drop-kicked a half-full can
of Mountain Dew straight through the uprights of your cubicle onto
your Mac (or if you've spilled a soda or some other messy substance
into the Mac in some less creative fashion), you will need to clean
it out. Unplug the Mac and let it sit for at least an hour. It is
essential to give all the parts of your Mac time to discharge since
you'll be cleaning it with water. Take the Mac apart as described in
the next section. Then clean it with lukewarm tap water. Use a soft
toothbrush to clean anything that doesn't come off with water alone.
Let the disassembled Mac air dry for a couple of days, (Don't even
think about using a hair dryer.) and then put it back together.
===========================
PROBLEMS AND REPAIRS (2.0)
===========================
HOW DO I OPEN A COMPACT MAC? (2.1)
-----------------------------------
You need a Torx T-15 screwdriver, at least eight inches long,
available from any decent electronics supply shop, and a special tool
referred to as a "Mac Cracker." (In a pinch you can use a spring
loaded paper clip or even a three-sided ruler.) Before starting
clear off a large, flat work area and get an ash tray, glass, or
other container to hold the various small screws you need to remove.
First disconnect all cables, most especially the power cable. For
maximum safety you should only work on your Mac after it's been
turned off for an hour so that various high-voltage capacitors have
had time to fully discharge. remove the programmer's switch if one
is installed. Then lay the Mac face down on a soft towel in your
work space. If you're working on a Plus or earlier Mac remove the
battery cover and battery. Then unscrew all the screws with the T-15
screwdriver. There are four of them on SE's and Classics, two hidden
inside the handle and two above the ports on the bottom of the Mac.
The Plus and earlier Macs have five screws including one under the
battery cover. After the screws are removed, wedge the cracking tool
into the seam and pry the two pieces of the case apart. Then
carefully lift the back cover off and place it down in your work
space. Finally inside you'll find a metallic RF shield covering the
ports which can easily be removed.
NOW THAT I'VE OPENED MY MAC HOW MIGHT I ELECTROCUTE MYSELF? (2.2)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Like most computers a Macintosh contains lots of exciting high voltage
equipment that can deliver shocks ranging from mildly surprising to
motherboard-frying to lethal. Since compact Macs cram the high
voltage picture tube and power supply into the same cramped space
shared with the motherboard, they're particularly dangerous. If
you're intent on committing computer-assisted suicide, here are a few
simple procedures that will greatly enhance your chance of success:
* Be sure the computer and all cables are plugged in when you
work on it. It's difficult (though not impossible) to get a good,
solid shock without at least 120 volts of AC surging through the
works.
* Wear lots of metal jewelry. Long, dangling gold bracelets make
the most effective unexpected electrical contact between the picture
tube and your heart.
* Naturally you yourself want to be nice and clean before working
on your Mac so take a long shower. Don't bother to dry off though.
The heat from your Mac should dry you just fine.
* Pay special attention to the picture tube and flyback
transformer. Fondle them. Know them. Love them. If you're still
conscious take apart the power supply. (That's the silver box with
the big red warning letters on it.)
* Invite all your pets and small children to watch you work.
However there's no reason to invite an adult who might have the
presence of mind to call 911 should you be injured.
WHERE CAN I GET MY MAC FIXED? (2.3)
------------------------------------
If it's been less than a year since you bought the Mac, then by all
means bring it to a local Apple authorized dealer to get it fixed
under warranty for free. Not all dealers are created equal, and you
don't have to get your Mac repaired by the same dealer you bought it
from. Ask around locally to find out which one has the best
reputation for fast, dependable, hassle-free service.
After the warranty has expired an Apple dealer is generally not the
best (and certainly not the cheapest) place to have your Mac fixed.
A typical Apple authorized repair consists of swapping out the entire
malfunctioning subsystem. It's not at all uncommon for Apple dealers
to repair small problems by motherboard swaps that cost almost as
much or even more than a new Mac. For out of warranty repairs your
best bet is an unauthorized repair shop that specializes in component
level repairs. Be sure to find one that specializes in Macintosh
repairs, not a PC shop that does Macs on the side. Again seek advice
from local bulletin boards and user groups. In the New York City
area I unconditionally recommend TekServe, (212) 929-3645.
If there are no reliable local repair shops, a number of mail-order
repair shops advertise in the back pages of MacUser and MacWorld.
Personally I find it horribly inconvenient to package and ship a Mac
just to get a flyback transformer replaced, but most of these shops
do offer reliable repairs at very competitive prices and many people
on the net swear by one or another.
CAN YOU RECOMMEND ANY GOOD BOOKS ABOUT MAC REPAIR? (2.4)
---------------------------------------------------------
Larry Pina has written several excellent guides to repairing Macs.
Mac Classic & SE Repair and Upgrade Secrets (Peachpit Press, $28,
ISBN #1-56609-022-9) covers the SE, SE/30, Classic, and Classic II.
This volume offers moderately detailed instructions for someone with
prior electronics experience to diagnose common problems, do
component level repairs and perform upgrades on compact Macs.
Macintosh Repair and Upgrade Secrets (Hayden Books $24.95, ISBN
#0-672-48452-8) is an earlier version of this book which covers
compact Macs from the 128K to the SE and the Lisa. Pina's sequel,
Macintosh II Repair and Upgrade secrets, $39.95, ISBN #0-13-929530-5,
offers similar coverage of the Mac II family of Machines. All these
books include valuable diagnostic software on a bundled disk. Before
delving into this volume you should be comfortable wielding a
soldering iron on expensive equipment. Finally he's also written the
somewhat less technical and more detailed Dead Mac Scrolls (PeachPit
Press, ISBN #0-940235-25-0, $32) which offers symptom-based
procedures for diagnosing and repairing many common problems. This
book includes good advice about how to find and deal with a repair
shop. All four books deserve a place in the library of anyone who
intends to wield a soldering iron on their Mac.
THE SCREEN ON MY COMPACT MAC IS JITTERING. (2.5)
-------------------------------------------------
Nine times out of ten this is a symptom of a failing flyback
transformer. It may be accompanied by high-pitched whines and even
the smell of burnt ozone. This is a warning that the demise of the
Mac is imminent! Turn it off and don't use it again till the video
is fixed. If the flyback transformer is in this bad a shape, chances
are that other components either already have failed or soon will.
However many expensive parts of the video subsystem are probably
working just fine so this is one common problem that can often be
fixed much more cheaply by a component-level repair shop than by an
authorized dealer who'll likely swap out the entire video board.
===============
UPGRADES (3.0)
===============
WHAT MACS ARE UPGRADEABLE TO THE POWERPC? (3.1)
------------------------------------------------
Apple will provide logic board replacements for all Centris, Quadra
and WorkGroup Server models except the Quadra 700, 900 and 950.
There should also be logic board replacements for the IIvx, IIvi, LC
475, 520, 550, and 575, Performa 475, 476, 550, and 600. Upgraded AV
Macs will lose their special video capabilities, at least initially.
Apple will also make available PowerPC processor upgrade boards that
fit into the PDS slots of the Quadra 605, 610, 650, 700, 800, 900,
and 950 as well as the Centris 610 and 650 and the Performa 475 and
476. Macs upgraded via a PDS card run at twice the speed of the
system clock. Thus a 25 MHz 68040 Mac with a PDS accelerator will
become a 50 MHz PowerMac. You'll be able to disable the accelerator
if you have old software that's not PowerPC compatible or that just
plain runs faster on the older hardware. 68030 desktop Macs with
expansion slots will be upgradeable via third party accelerator
cards. Daughtercard upgrades for the Powerbook 500 and Duo 280
series will be available sometime late this summer or early fall.
CAN I INCREASE THE SPEED OF MY MAC BY ACCELERATING THE CLOCK? (3.2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Apple engineers designed the Mac IIsi to run at 25 megahertz. Apple
marketeers made them reduce the speed by 20% so as not to hurt sales
of the IIci. Thus with various caveats it is generally safe to
accelerate a IIsi to 25 MHz by changing the clock chip. All other
Mac models were designed to run at the speeds they normally run at so
"clock-chipping" them is a much iffier proposition. Compact Macs,
PowerBooks and the Mac II, IIx and IIcx as well as the LC and LC II
use the same oscillator to time various external circuitry as they
use to time the CPU so they almost never work if the clock chip is
replaced. Most other Macs seem to work for at least a while when
sped up by as much as twenty percent. Somewhere beyond a twenty
percent increase in clock speed most Macs experience serial port
problems though the exact level of safe increase varies from Mac to
Mac even within the same model and configuration. Other problems may
surface over time as the extra heat generated by the faster speed
increases the wear and tear on the insides of the Mac.
Performing this upgrade is not for the faint of heart. It is quite
complex and requires soldering, replacement of several parts, and
other non-trivial procedures. If done improperly it can result in
major, expensive damage to your Mac. I am not going to give detailed
instructions for doing this here. If you do want to do this
yourself, check out
<URL:http://bambam.cchem.berkeley.edu/~schrier/mhz.html>
<URL:ftp://rever.nmsu.edu/pub/macfaq/info/Clock_Chip_History.txt>
<URL:ftp://rever.nmsu.edu/pub/macfaq/info/Clock_Chip_Centris_610.txt>
<URL:ftp://rever.nmsu.edu/pub/macfaq/info/Clock_Chip_IIsi.txt>
<URL:ftp://rever.nmsu.edu/pub/macfaq/info/Clock_Chip_Quadra_700.txt>
For people who are willing to open their Mac and swap out RAM or a
hard drive but don't feel comfortable soldering on their motherboard,
KS Labs, (614) 373-0353, offers $165 kits that more safely (no
soldering) accelerate the clock. These kits include a clip-on
oscillator plus a heat sink and fan to keep the faster circuitry
cool.
CAN I ADD AN FPU TO MY MAC? CAN I REPLACE THE 68LC040 WITH A 68040? (3.3)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
All 68020 and 68030 desktop Macs that did not ship with an FPU standard
(i.e. the IIsi and LC series) have special slots that can accommodate
an FPU card. All Macs that have the FPUless 680LC40 CPU run just
fine if that chip is replaced with a full 68040 that includes an FPU.
All PowerPC Macs include an integrated FPU. There is no way to add
only an FPU to a 68000 Mac like an SE though some third party
accelerators do include FPU's as well as faster CPU's.
============================
THANKS FOR THE MEMORY (4.0)
============================
WHAT KIND OF MEMORY SHOULD I USE IN MY MAC? (4.1)
--------------------------------------------------
The easiest way to get this question answered is to ask your friendly,
mail-order memory dealer. If you tell them what model of Mac you
have, what memory you already have in your Mac, and how much you want
to add, they should be able to tell you exactly what you need.
Memory comes in many configurations. All desktop Macs from the Plus
through the Quadra 700, 900, and 950 use 30-pin SIMMs that normally
need to be added four at a time (except in the SE, the Plus and the
Classics where they're added two at a time and in the IIfx which uses
special 64-pin SIMMs that still need to be added four at a time).
Later Quadras, the LC III, and the Centris's use 72-pin SIMMs that
can be added one SIMM at a time. NuBus based PowerMacs also use
72-pin SIMMs but need them installed in pairs. All portable Macs
(PowerBooks, Duos, and the Portable) have one RAM slot to hold a special
card with extra RAM. Finally the PCI bus based PowerMacs use 110-pin
DIMM's (dual inline memory modules) that can be installed singly but
should be installed in pairs for maximum performance.
The chart below gives details for each model of Mac. For each model
it lists how much RAM is soldered to the motherboard, how many slots
are available to hold more RAM, what size memory is available for
those slots, different possible RAM configurations, what type of
memory is used (30-pin SIMM, 72-pin SIMM, or card type,) the minimum
speed of the RAM you should use in that model, and how many SIMMs or
cards need to be replaced or added at the same time.
Available Physical RAM Minimum Upgrade
CPU Onboard Slots Sizes Configs (MB) Pins Speed in
__________ _______ _____ _________ _____________ ____ _____ _____
Plus 0 4 256K,1M 1,2.5,4 30 150ns 2
SE 0 4 256K,1M 1,2,2.5,4 30 150ns 2
SE/30 0 8 256K,1M 1,2,4,5,8,16 30 120ns 4
4M,16M 17,20,32,64
65,68,80,128
Classic 1 3 256K,1M 1,2,2.5,4 30 120ns 2
Classic II 2 2 1M,2M,4M 2,4,6,10 30 120ns 2
Color Classic 4 2 1M,2M,4M 4,6,8,10 30 120ns 2
Mac II 0 8 256K,1M 1,2,4,5,8,17 30 120ns 4
4M,8M,16M 20,33,36,65,68
Mac IIx 0 8 256K,1M 1,2,4,5,8,16,17 30 120ns 4
4M,8M,16M 20,32,33,36,64
65,68,80,96,128
Mac IIcx 0 8 256K,1M 1,2,4,5,8,16,17 30 120ns 4
4M,8M,16M 20,32,33,36,64
65,68,80,96,128
Mac IIci 0 8 256K,512K 1,2,3,4,5,6,8 30 80ns 4
1M,4M,8M 16,17,18,20,32
16M 33,34,36,64,65
66,68,80,96,128
Mac IIsi 1 4 256K,512K 1,2,3,5,17,33 30 80ns 4
1M,4M,8M 65
16M
Mac IIvi 4 4 256K,512K 4,5,6,8,20,36 30 80ns 4
1M,4M,8M 36,68
16M
Mac IIvx 4 4 256K,512K 4,5,6,8,20,36 30 80ns 4
(Performa 600) 1M,4M,8M 36,68
16M
Mac IIfx 0 8 1M,4M,16M 4,8,16,20,32 64 80ns 4
64,68,80,128
LC 2 2 1M,2M,4M 2,4,6,8,10 30 120ns 2
LC II 4 2 1M,2M,4M 4,6,8,10 30 120ns 2
LC III 4 1 1M,2M,4M 4,5,6,8,12,20 72 80ns 1
8M,16M,32M 36
LC 520 4 1 1M,2M,4M 4,5,6,8,12,20 72 80ns 1
8M,16M,32M 36
LC 550 4 1 1M,2M,4M 4,5,6,8,12,20 72 80ns 1
8M,16M,32M 36
LC 575 4 1 1M,2M,4M 4,5,6,8,12,20 72 80ns 1
8M,16M,32M 36
LC 5200 4 2 4M,8M,16M 8,12,16,24,40 72 80ns 1
32M 64
Centris 610 4 2 4M,8M,16M 4,8,12,16,20,24 72 80ns 1
32M 28,36,52,68
Centris 650 8 4 4M,8M,16M 8,12,16,20,24 72 80ns 1
32M 32,40,68,72,132
Centris 660av 4 2 4M,8M,16M 4,8,12,16,20,24 72 70ns 1
32M 28,36,52,68
Quadra 605 4 1 4M,8M,16M 4,8,12,20,36 72 80ns 1
32M
Quadra 610 4 2 4M,8M,16M 4,8,12,16,20,24 72 80ns 1
32M 28,36,52,68
Quadra 630 4 1 4M,8M,16M 4,8,12,20,36 72 80ns 1
32M
Quadra 650 8 4 4M,8M,16M 8,12,16,20,24 72 80ns 1
32M 32,40,68,72,132
Quadra 660av 4 2 4M,8M,16M 4,8,12,16,20,24 72 70ns 1
32M 28,36,52,68
Quadra 700 4 4 1M,4M,16M 4,8,20,68 30 80ns 4
Quadra 800 8 4 4M,8M,16M 8,12,16,20,24 72 60ns 1
32M 28,32,36,40,44
48,52,56,60,64
68,72,80,84,88
104,108,112,120,132
Quadra 840av 0 4 4M,8M,16M 8,12,16,20,24 72 60ns 1
32M 28,32,36,40,44,48,52,56
60,64,68,72,76,80,84,88
96,100,104,112,128
Quadra 900 0 16 1M,4M,16M 4,8,12,16,20 30 80ns 4
24,28,32,36,40,48,52,64
64,68,72,76,80,84,88,96
100,112,128,132,136,144
148,160,192,196,208,256
Quadra 950 0 16 1M,4M,16M 4,8,12,16,20 30 80ns 4
24,28,32,36,40,48,52,64
64,68,72,76,80,84,88,96
100,112,128,132,136,144
148,160,192,196,208,256
PowerMac 6100 8 2 4M,8M,16M 8,16,24,40,68 72 80ns 2
32M
PowerMac 7100 8 4 4M,8M,16M 8,16,24,32,40 72 80ns 2
32M 48,56,72,80,88
104,132
PowerMac 7200 0 4 8M,16M,32M 8,16,24,32,40, 110 80ns 1
64M 48,56,64,72,80,
88,96,104,112,
120,128,136,144,152,160,168,
176,192,200,208,224,256
PowerMac 7500 0 8 8M,16M,32M 8,16,24,32,40, 110 80ns 1
64M 48,56,64,72,80,
88,96,104,112,120,
128,136,144,152,160,168,176,184,192,
200,208,216,224,232,240,248,256,264,
272,280,288,296,304,312,320,328,336,
344,352,360,368,376,384,392,400,408,
416,424,432,448,456,464,480,512
PowerMac 8100 8 8 4M,8M,16M 8,16,24,32,40 72 80ns 2
32M 48,56,64,72,80,
88,96,104,112,120,
128,136,144,152,
160,168,176,184,
208,216,232,264
PowerMac 8500 0 8 8M,16M,32M 8,16,24,32,40, 110 80ns 1
64M 48,56,64,72,80,
88,96,104,112,120,
128,136,144,152,160,168,176,184,192,
200,208,216,224,232,240,248,256,264,
272,280,288,296,304,312,320,328,336,
344,352,360,368,376,384,392,400,408,
416,424,432,448,456,464,480,512
PowerMac 9500 0 12 8M,16M,32M 8,16,24,32,40, 110 80ns 1
64M 48,56,64,72,80,
88,96,104,112,
120,128,136,144,152,160,168,176,
184,192,200,208,216,224,232,240,
248,256,264,272,280,288,296,304,
312,320,328,336,344,352,360,368,
376,384,392,400,408,416,424,432,
440,448,456,464,472,480,488,496,
504,512,520,528,536,544,552,560,
568,576,584,592,600,608,616,624,
632,640,648,656,664,672,680,688,
704,712,720,736,768
Portable 1 1 1M,2M,3M,4M 1,2,3,4,5 100ns 1
PowerBook 100 2 1 2M,4M,6M 2,4,6,8 TSOP 100ns 1
PowerBook 140 2 1 2M,4M,6M 2,4,6,8 TSOP 100ns 1
PowerBook 145 2 1 2M,4M,6M 2,4,6,8 TSOP 100ns 1
PowerBook 145b 4 1 2M,4M 4,6,8 TSOP 100ns 1
PowerBook 150 4 1 2M,4M 4,6,8 TSOP 100ns 1
PowerBook 160 4 1 4M,6M,8M 4,8,10,12 TSOP 85ns 1
10M 14
PowerBook 165c 4 1 4M,6M,8M 4,8,10,12 TSOP 85ns 1
10M 14
PowerBook 170 2 1 2M,4M,6M 2,4,6,8 TSOP 100ns 1
PowerBook 180 4 1 4M,6M,8M 4,8,10,12 TSOP 85ns 1
10M 14
PowerBook 180c 4 1 4M,6M,8M 4,8,10,12 TSOP 85ns 1
10M 14
PowerBook 520 4 1 4M,6M,8M 4,8,10,12 TSOP 70ns 1
10M,32M 14,36
PowerBook 520c 4 1 4M,6M,8M 4,8,10,12 TSOP 70ns 1
10M,32M 14,36
PowerBook 540 4 1 4M,6M,8M 4,8,10,12 TSOP 70ns 1
10M,32M 14,36
PowerBook 540c 4 1 4M,6M,8M 4,8,10,12 TSOP 70ns 1
10M,32M 14,36
PowerBook 5300 8,16 1 4M,8M,16M, 8,16,24,32 ???? ???? 1
(all models) 32M,48M 40,64
Duo 210 4 1 4M,8M,10M 4,8,12,14,16 85ns 1
12M,14M 18,24,32
20M,28M
Duo 230 4 1 4M,8M,10M 4,8,12,14,16 85ns 1
12M,14M 18,24,32
20M,28M
Duo 250 4 1 4M,8M,10M 4,8,12,14,16 85ns 1
12M,14M 18,24,32
20M,28M
Duo 270c 4 1 4M,8M,10M 4,8,12,14,16 85ns 1
12M,14M 18,24,32
20M,28M
Duo 280 4 1 4M,8M,10M 4,8,12,14,16 70ns 1
12M,14M 18,24,32,40
20M,28M,36M
Duo 280c 4 1 4M,8M,10M 4,8,12,14,16 70ns 1
12M,14M, 18,24,32,40
20M,28M,36M
The Mac Classic requires an adapter card to expand the RAM from 1 MB.
This card includes 1 MB of extra memory and has two SIMM slots that
can either be left empty or filled with 256K or 1MB SIMMs. The slots
must be filled with the same size SIMM.
The Color Classic, LC, and LC II can only address 10 megabytes of
real RAM even if twelve megabytes of physical RAM are installed.
In the Mac II the first memory bank can only hold 256K or 1MB SIMMs
unless the FDHD upgrade is installed. Otherwise 4, 8, and 16 MB
SIMMs can to be installed only in Bank B. Furthermore both the Mac
II and IIx need an extra PAL chip on each four-megabyte or larger
SIMM as well as the normal eight DRAM chips. This is not the same as
the nine-chip SIMM used by PC's and workstations.
The Quadra 700 requires non-composite, low-profile 16 megabyte SIMMs
to fit under the internal hard drive. Composite SIMMs should also
not be used on 68040 AV Macs as they are practically guaranteed to
cause problems with the system due to the extra load and timing
required. Specifically you need to avoid 16MB SIMMs that use 32
4M-bit DRAMs rather than 8 16M-bit DRAMs.
PowerBooks use pseudo-static thin small-outline package cards
(TSOP's) of varying capacities. Duo's use special low-power,
self-refreshing dynamic RAM cards. Be sure to specify the model
you're ordering for when buying PowerBook RAM.
CAN I USE PC SIMM'S IN MY MAC? (4.2)
-----------------------------------------
Yes. Nine chip PC and SUN workstation SIMM's work perfectly well
in any desktop Mac that can use the equivalent eight chip Macintosh
SIMM's; e.g. a IIci works with 1x9, 4x9, or 16x9 PC 80 ns PC SIMMs
just as it does with 1x8, 4x8, or 16x8 80ns Mac SIMMs. The extra
chip on each SIMM provides a brain dead type of error correction
known as parity checking. It is unused on the Mac. Since PC SIMM's
are manufactured in higher volume than Mac SIMM's, they are often
cheaper despite the extra chip per SIMM. They're also easier to
resell.
WHAT VENDORS HAVE GOOD PRICES ON MEMORY? (4.3)
-----------------------------------------------
You should certainly shop around, but I've found that the Chip
Merchant, 800-426-6375 (orders), 619-268-4774 (info), consistently
has the lowest prices, excellent service and a knowledgeable sales
staff.
DO SIMMDOUBLERS WORK? (4.4)
----------------------------
Sometimes. Problems have been reported so make sure you get a
money-back guarantee before ordering. MicroMac's SIMMdoubler II will
double the SIMM capacity of all Mac II models and the Performa 600;
i.e. it lets you fit two SIMMs in each slot on your logic board. It
also lets you use standard 4x8 SIMMs in the Mac II and IIx rather
than the more expensive PAL type normally required. At $140 street a
set of four is a little expensive but perhaps worth it if you have a
let of extra one meg SIMMs. Sermak Technology's (800-209-7126)
SimmStacks will fit two 30 pin SIMMs in one 72 pin slot. Sermak also
sells SIMM doublers that fit two 72 pin SIMMs in one 72-pin slot.
Since the extra height of the SIMMdoubler provides more leverage to
exert force on the SIMM sockets, some users have broken SIMM slots
when installing these products so be careful. Furthermore if you use
more SIMMs than you have sockets, you'll be drawing more power into
them than your Mac was designed to supply which might lead to
problems down the road.
============
VIDEO (5.0)
============
WHAT'S VRAM? (5.1)
-------------------
Video RAM is where the computer stores the images displayed on your
screen. On some earlier Macs with built-in video (Mac 128, IIci)
this was kept in main memory. However it's considerably more
efficient and faster to store the screen image in its own separate
RAM. Generally the more VRAM you have the more colors or shades of
gray you can display and the larger the monitors you can use. The
chart below shows the number of colors that can be displayed at a
given resolution with the specified amount of VRAM. Monitor size has
no direct relation to the amount of VRAM required though larger
monitors normally support higher resolutions. Larger monitors just
have fewer dots per inch than smaller monitors with the same
resolution. Also note that simply because a particular video card or
Mac has sufficient VRAM to support a given number of colors doesn't
mean that it actually can though more modern cards and monitors
typically do support several resolutions.
Resolution 512x342 640x480 832x624 1024x768 1152x870 1280x1024
VRAM
256K 256 16 16
512K 32768 256 256 16 16
768K 32768 32768 256 256 16 16
1024K 16777216 16777216 32768 256 256 16
2048K 16777216 16777216 16777216 32768 32768 256
4096K 16777216 16777216 16777216 16777216 16777216 32768
ALL MONITORS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL. (5.2)
------------------------------------------
Choosing a Mac monitor used to be simple. Like the Model-T Ford you
could have any color you wanted as long as it was black (and white),
9", 512 by 342 pixels, 72 dpi. The PC drones made fun of the small
size and lack of color, but it was obvious to any unprejudiced person
who looked at a Macintosh that its display was far superior to the
CGA and EGA monitors being foisted on ignorant PC consumers. Mac
monitors are no longer so simple. Now one needs to be concerned with
such arcana as resolution, size, bit depth, dot pitch, and refresh
rate.
Size is the most obvious characteristic of a monitor. It's measured
diagonally from one corner of the screen to the opposite corner.
Actual monitor area is roughly proportional to the square of the
diagonal length so a twenty-inch monitor is more than four times as
large as a nine-inch monitor. Most manufacturers cheat on their
monitor sizes by measuring from one corner of the screen (or even the
case) to the other rather than from one edge of the visible display
to the other. Then they round up to the nearest inch with the result
that most "fourteen-inch monitors" are closer to twelve and a half
inches when measured truthfully. For many years Apple was one of the
most honest manufacturers, advertising it's twelve and a half inch
monitor as a thirteen inch monitor while other manufacturers touted
their "larger fourteen-inch" twelve and a half inch monitors.
However Apple has succumbed to the pressures of the market, and like
everyone else it now advertises twelve and a half inch monitors as
"fourteen inch displays."
Of course it's not the size that matters; it's how you use it.
Resolution defines how much information can be squeezed onto the
screen. Most monitors sold today are "multi-sync"; that is they are
capable of displaying more than one resolution. A fifteen inch
monitor at 1024 by 768 pixels displays two and a half times as much
information as the same monitor at 640 by 480 pixels. However
everything will appear smaller at the larger resolution since the
monitor has to fit more pixels into the same space. The clearest
resolution for a monitor is whatever comes closest to fitting 72
pixels (or dots) into each inch. This is the dpi rating of the
monitor. 72 dpi is the proper "WYSIWIG" (Pronounced Whizzy-wig, What
you see is what you get) resolution though some people prefer to
work at a higher resolution that fits more information on the screen.
Here are the WYSIWIG resolutions for common monitor sizes. If you do
the math you'll notice that the resolutions seem too small for the
given size. That's because I've listed sizes here in their commonly
advertised form rather than by the actual paintable area on the
screen.
Size WYSIWIG Resolution
9 512 by 342
12 512 by 384
13,14,15 640 by 480
16,17 832 by 624
20 1024 by 768
21 1152 by 870
25 1280 by 1024
Resolution and bit depth define how much you can see on your screen.
Dot pitch defines how well you can see it. It's the distance between
the holes in the grille through which the electrons are pushed before
impacting on the screen phosphors. Larger dot pitches look fuzzier.
Trinitron monitors paint the picture in lines rather than dots so
this doesn't really apply to them. However the "line stripe" of a
Trinitron display means almost the same thing in practice as dot
pitch does for other monitors, and most salespeople and copywriters
are happy to confuse the two for you. A .25 mm stripe pitch is
very close to a .28 mm dot pitch. Most monitors have dot pitches
of .39 mm, .28 mm, or .25 mm. The larger the dot pitch the fuzzier
your screen looks. .39 mm dot pitch monitors (the standard in the PC
world) look bad. .28 mm dot pitch monitors are acceptable for all
but the most demanding users. .25 mm is the best dot pitch available
with current technology, and really only necessary when you're driving
a small (15") monitor at a very high (1024 by 768) resolution.
Refresh rate also affects how clear the picture appears. 72 Hz is the
standard refresh rate for Mac monitors. That means the screen is
repainted 72 times a second, more than twice as fast as your TV
screen. A few monitors even repaint at an 80 Hz refresh rate though
I suspect that's overkill for all but the most sensitive eyes.
However many cheaper PC monitors have refresh rates of 60 Hz or even
less. This begins to reach the level that contributes to eyestrain.
Worse yet these monitors are interlaced, which means that only half
of the screen is redrawn on each pass. Interlaced monitors have a
visible flicker effect, and should be avoided at all costs. Leave
them on the shelves for the deluded PC users who think saving $50 on
a monitor is worth spending $500 at the optometrist.
Most Mac monitors are at least 69 dpi, 0.29 mm dot pitch with refresh
rates of 72 Hz. This is acceptable for most work. The only common
exception is the Apple Basic Color Monitor. This was Apple's VGA
monitor for low cost systems and was laughed out of the marketplace.
(At the time it was the standard in the PC world which gives you some
idea of the lower standards on the other side of the fence.)
THERE'S A HORIZONTAL LINE ACROSS MY MONITOR. (5.3)
---------------------------------------------------
All Sony Trinitron monitors have a stabilizing wire in position to
cast a shadow about three quarters of the way down the screen. Larger
monitors also have a wire about a third of the way down from the top
of the display. There is no way to fix this short of redesigning the
Trinitron tube. This line is more obvious on some monitors than
others so if it seems particularly bad you can try to convince the
dealer you bought it from to exchange the monitor. Other than that
there's nothing that can be done about it. Other than that there's
nothing that can be done about it.
CAN I USE A VGA MONITOR ON MY MAC? (5.4)
-----------------------------------------
A IIsi, LC or LC II can drive a multisync/multiscanning VGA monitor
with a simple cable adapter available at any Apple dealer for about
twelve dollars. You cannot use a fixed-frequency (i.e. cheap) VGA
monitor with these Macs since their internal video can't generate the
standard VGA frequency. Later Macs with built-in video work
perfectly with any VGA monitor with just a cable adapter. (Whether
the monitor works perfectly is another question.) The IIci is the
only Mac with built-in video-out that absolutely cannot drive a VGA
monitor.
HOW CAN I SWITCH MONITOR RESOLUTIONS ON THE FLY? (5.5)
-------------------------------------------------------
Assuming you have a monitor and video card capable of supporting
multiple resolutions, you need the Apple Display Enabler or NEC's
DPI-on-the-fly extension to switch monitor resolutions without
rebooting your Mac. The Display Enabler works with Apple monitors
and video cards as well as some third party displays. Nec's
DPI-on-the-fly works with NEC and many other third party monitors
(most notably Sony monitors.) The Display Enabler requires System 7.1
or later. See
To get DPI-on-the-fly call the NEC BBS at (508) 635-4706. Finally if
you have a Radius Color Pivot or a Radius PrecisionColor interface card
then you can use the Radius Resolutions CDEV instead. See
<URL:ftp://ftp.radius.com/pub/radius/software/mac/RadiusResolutions/
Some later model monitors such as the NEC 4Fge and later model video
cards (like the high performance video cards in the PowerMacs) only
require the proper cable and do not need the Display Enabler or
DPI-on-the-Fly.
===================
FLOPPY DISKS (6.0)
===================
WHAT KIND OF FLOPPY DISKS DO I NEED FOR MY MAC? (6.1)
------------------------------------------------------
There have been three kinds of floppy disks in the history of
the Macintosh. The original 128K Thin Mac (which used to be called
a classic Mac before the advent of the much superior Mac Classic)
and the subsequent 512K "Fat Mac" used 400K, single-sided
double-density diskettes. These disks are outdated, and it's highly
unlikely you'll actually see any. If you need to exchange data
with an older Macintosh, you'll need to use disks formatted as
single-sided. Since very few, if any, stores still sell one-sided
3.5 inch disks anymore, it's fortunate that all Macs deal quite
happily with double-sided disks formatted as single-sided. Just
click the button labeled "One-sided" after you select "Erase Disk"
from the Special menu.
*Neat Trick alert* Sometimes disks that fail formatting as
double-sided can be formatted as single-sided. Even neater trick:
In System 6 the shareware init BAD can map out bad sectors on a
floppy disk which lets about 70% of bad disks be formatted. (System
7 does this automatically.) See
<URL:ftp://rever.nmsu.edu/pub/macfaq/BAD.sit.bin>
Neatest trick of all: All name-brand diskettes (SONY, Maxell, etc.)
come with lifetime warranties. A lot of offices keep a bad disk box
for everyone to dump their bad disks in and send the disks in for
replacement when they collect ten or so; but it's been my experience
that if you return just a single bad disk these companies will send
a whole ten pack as a replacement.
With the introduction of the Mac Plus in 1986, Apple also
introduced a larger disk drive capable of reading and writing 800K,
"Double-Sided Double-Density" disks, DSDD for short. The only way
to tell these disks from the earlier, one-sided diskettes, is by
the label on the metal cover. Unformatted these are identical to
the 720K disks common in the IBM world. With the Mac IIx Apple
introduced what's alternately known as the Superdrive or "FDHD,"
short for "Floppy Drive, High Density." The FDHD (pronounced
Fud-Hud) can read and write all of the previous kinds of diskettes
plus double-sided high-density disks which are distinguished by two
holes in the disk case rather than the normal one. The FDHD uses
the extra hole to recognize a high-density disk.
WHY CAN'T MY QUADRA (SE/30, IICI, ETC.) READ THE DISKS FROM MY PLUS? (6.2)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Macintosh Plus and earlier machines along with original Mac II's
and some SE's do not have the high density FDHD drive necessary
to properly read and format high-density disks. If you insert a
blank high-density disk in a low density drive, the Mac, not knowing
the difference between a double-density and a high-density floppy,
will happily format your expensive 1.4 meg disk as a cheap 800K
diskette. When you move this disk to a more advanced machine
with a FDHD drive, the newer drive will recognize the disk as a
high-density floppy by its extra hole. Since the disk has been
formatted as 800K instead of as 1400K, the FDHD drive will try to
read it as a 1400K disk and fail. Then it will ask if you want to
initialize it. As a temporary work around place a small piece of
tape over both sides of the extra hole on the high-density disk to
trick the Mac into treating the disk as double-density. This is a
temporary fix only, and the tape should be removed and the disk
reformatted to the proper size as soon as possible.
DOES PUNCHING A HOLE IN A DOUBLE-DENSITY DISK MAKE A HIGH-DENSITY DISK? (6.3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, but I certainly wouldn't trust any data I intended to keep
for more than the next minute or two to such a diskette. The extra
hole is not the only difference between a double-density and a
high-density disk. The magnetic media on a high-density disk
is a different type that is much more susceptible to formatting.
Double-density diskettes should only be formatted as 800K. With the
plummeting prices of real high-density disks, this really shouldn't
be an issue anymore.
====================
SCSI TROUBLES (7.0)
====================
HOW DO I PUT MY OLD INTERNAL HARD DISK IN AN EXTERNAL CASE? (7.1)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Alliance Peripheral Systems, 800-443-4199/816-483-6100 sells cases for
old internal 3.5 inch drives for $179.95 plus shipping and handling
(about ten to fourteen dollars). The price includes instructions and
technical support for the installation.
WHAT'S THE CHEAPEST/FASTEST/MOST RELIABLE/MOST COMMON REMOVABLE DRIVE? (7.2)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The oldest and most established format for removable media is the
Syquest 44 megabyte 5.25" cartridge drive. (The size in inches
refers to the diameter of the circular platters in the cartridges.
Each cartridge is actually square and a little larger. For purposes
of comparison a CD is also 5.25" diameter.) 44 megabyte Syquest
drives are sold by many different vendors for under $200 and
cartridges cost around $45 each. However this format is showing its
age. It's too small for a complete backup of most hard drives; the
cartridges are big and bulky; and it's not difficult to create
Photoshop, Quark, or PostScript files that are larger than one of
these cartridges. Consequently most service bureaus also accept at
least the Syquest 88 format. 88 megabyte Syquest drives cost about
$200 and can read and write (but not format) the older 44 megabyte
cartridges. 88 megabyte cartridges run about $55 each so they're
considerably more cost-effective. Finally there's a 200 megabyte
5.25" Syquest drive that costs about $400 and can read and write (but
not format) all 5.25" Syquest cartridges. However it's much slower
reading and writing 44 and 88 megabyte cartridges than a dedicated
44/88 MB drive. 200 megabyte Syquest cartridges cost around $90
apiece. Although five and a quarter inch Syquest cartridges are the
most commonly used form of removable media for Macs, (especially
the 44 megabyte size) they do have a reputation for unreliability
and data corruption. They're suitable for moving large files from
your Mac to a service bureau, but not for making an important backup
and certainly not for use as a second hard drive. I do not recommend
5.25" Syquest drives unless you must exchange disks with someone who
only has a Syquest drive.
Syquest also manufactures a 3.5" 270 megabyte drive that is not
compatible with its more popular 44 and 88 megabyte drives (though it
will read and write the less common Syquest 105 format). At only $400
for the drive and $65 per cartridge, this drive has reasonably low
cost per megabyte. Furthermore it's got the largest cartridge size
among non-optical drives so it's the easiest with which to perform
backups. Hard drives of 240 megabytes or less can be backed up to
one of these monsters just by dragging the hard disk icon to the
Syquest icon. These cartridges are also much more resistant to data
loss than the 5.25 inch SyQuest media.
Somewhat more trustworthy are the Bernoulli MultiDisk 150 and
Multidisk 230 from Iomega. Iomega has been making removable drives
longer than anyone, and their drives and cartridges have a reputation
for speed and reliability. I would be willing to trust an important
backup to a Bernoulli disk or to use a Bernoulli disk as a second
hard drive. A Bernoulli 230 drive costs about $500 direct from Iomega
(1-800-756-3959). 230 megabyte disks cost about $100 so the cost per
megabyte is higher than the Syquest 270. An additional advantage is
that these drives also read and write Bernoulli 35, 65, 90 and 105
megabyte cartridges so you can pick a cartridge size and price to fit
your needs.
Iomega has also introduced a new drive called the ZIP which holds
cartridges of up to 100 megabyte capacity for only $20 a cartridge.
Street price for the drive itself is about about $200. To keep
costs low the Zip has no power switch, and only two possible SCSI ID's
(5 and 6). It weighs extremely little and is VERY portable. To keep
the size and price down the Zip has two DB-25 SCSI ports (like the
one pon the back of the Mac) rather than the more common Centronics
50 pin port. The Zip ships with a DB-25 to DB-25 SCSI cable, but
if you're like me you'll plug the Zip in between two 50 pin SCSI
devices with the extra DB-25 to Centronics 50 cables you accumulate
with every external SCSI device. Iomega claims that this drive will
be as reliable as their well-tested Bernoulli drives but that remains
to be proven in real-world use. Still at this price the ZIP drive may
well become the most popular removable media format since the
floppy disk.
SyQuest recently introduced a Zip competitor known as the "EZ135." This
drive holds about 30% more data per cartidge, costs the same (about
under $200) and is faster than the Zip. It also has a power switch,
a full complement of SCSI ID's, and 50 pin SCSI ports. EZ cartidges
are a couple of dollars more expensive than the lower capacity Zip
cartirdges. The drive is about twice as heavy as a Zip (and thus half
as portable). The software bundled with the EZ 135 is not nearly as
useful as the Zip software. So far the market seems to be favoring
the Zip drive.
Magneto-optical drives are another increasingly popular technology.
They're slow but very reliable. Depending on the drive a cartridge
can hold between 128 and 4300 megabytes. 230 megabyte drives are the
most popular. They cost about $500-$800 and are available from the
usual selection of hard drive vendors like APS. Next to the
reliability of the media the biggest attraction of these drives is
the extremely low cost per megabyte ($0.08) with 230 MB disks selling
for as little as $20 each in quantity. Higher capacity and higher
priced optical drives have been introduced with capacities reaching
into the multi-gigabyte region and prices from $1600 to $5000.
Standards are still a little unclear and prices a little high among
the higher capacity optical drives. I recommend waiting a few more
months before investing in this technology. Regardless of standards
all these drives are too slow to be used as a second hard disk. Their
high reliability and capacity makes them ideal for long-term backups
though.
Finally there is one older technology you may still run across,
"flopticals." A floptical drive is about the size of an external
floppy drive, costs around $450 and can store 21 megabytes of data on
3.5" disks that cost about $18 each. Since floptical drives can also
read and write high density (but not 800K) floppies they're a
reasonable choice if you need a second floppy drive. However the
twenty-one megabyte disks are too small for backing up large hard
drives or for transporting desktop publishing files and graphics.
Furthermore at only about twice the speed of on ordinary floppy the
media is slower than its competition. Since higher capacity drives
in other formats cost about the same, I advise against floptical
technology.
WHAT'S THE BEST CD-ROM DRIVE? (7.3)
------------------------------------
There are three features you should look for in a CD-ROM drive. First
and most importantly you want at least a double-speed drive. If cost
is your only concern single speed drives are available for less than
one hundred dollars, but they're painfully slow for most applications.
You'll also sacrifice many other bells and whistles. Triple-speed drives
ar available for less than $200 from many sources and may be useful if
you mainly retrieve text, graphics and other data files from CDs.
However most multimedia applications and games designed to be run
from a CD are optimized to work best at double-speed and will gain
little if any advantage from a triple-speed drive. Quadruple speed
drives are also available for $200 and up. Most manufacturers and
software vendors are jumping straight to the quadruple speed format
and will skip the triple speed drives completely. Thus for maximum
compatibility with future applications (and for some more speed now)
consider spending the extra money for a quad-speed drive. Sextuple
speed drives are also available, but like the triple speed drives this
format will probably be an interim format unsupported by most
publishers. Further down the road the next big jump will probably be
to either 20-speed drives or to quad speed drives that can also write
CDs or both. However these won't become real consumer-priced items
until at least summer 1996 so by all means buy a CD-ROM drive now if
you haven't already.
Secondly the drive should be "multi-session, PhotoCD compatible."
Some drives on the market advertised as "PhotoCD compatible" but can
only read the first set of photos on a PhotoCD.
Finally you want a drive with excellent audio capabilities including
playback of audio CD's and digital copying of audio CD's to your hard
disk. That last capability is the kicker. It's available out of the
box only with the various versions of the Apple CD-300 and CD-600,
but FWB's CD-ROM Toolkit adds support for digital audio extraction on
drives based around the following mechanisms: the Chinon 535, Compaq
CR-503BCQ, NEC CDR 400, 500, 501 and 900, Sony CDU-55S, 561, 561SUNCD,
75S, 76S and 920S, Plextor PX-43CH, 45CH, 43CS, 45CS, 63CS and 65CS,
the Toshiba 3301, 3401, 3501, 3601, 4100, 4101, the Yamaha CDR-100
and possibly others.
===============
PRINTERS (8.0)
===============
WHAT'S A GOOD PRINTER? (8.1)
-----------------------------
If price is your primary concern buy either a StyleWriter or a
DeskWriter. Both provide excellent black and white and grey
scale output at a reasonable price (under $200). The StyleWriter
occupies less desk space and costs a few dollars less while the
DeskWriter has higher resolution. Neither is a speed demon.
If you want a faster printer with better quality but don't want to
pay a lot, or if you want a minimum cost PostScript printer, the TI
MicroWriter and the DEC 1150 are both good buys. Each includes 2
megabytes of RAM, PostScript Level II, 300 dpi 4 page per minute
output and costs around $550 street. The MicroWriter also offers
auto-switching between PostScript Level II and HP PCL 4. Either one
should be plenty for personal use.
If you do heavy graphics or desktop publishing work, you need a 600
dpi printer. Apple's LaserWriter Select 360 at $1400 street is an
excellent printer with 600 dpi resolution, 7 megabytes of memory,
upgradeable to 16 megabytes, auto-switching between PostScript Level
II and PCL 4, and a built-in TrueType rasterizer. Plus it doesn't
have the paper curl problem associated with the other competitor in
this price range, the HP LaserJet 4M. Unfortunately the Select 360
doesn't have Ethernet or a SCSI port for external font storage so
it's not ideal for workgroup use (unless your workgroup's on
LocalTalk). If you want Ethernet and a SCSI port then consider
Apple's LaserWriter Pro 630 ($1800 street) instead.
===================================
MISCELLANEOUS HARDWARE FAQ'S (9.0)
===================================
WHAT POWER ADAPTOR DO I NEED TO USE MY MAC IN ANOTHER COUNTRY? (9.1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
All Mac CPU's since the SE EXCEPT for the Classic and Classic II have
universal power supplies which work anywhere in the world. These
CPU's only need a common adaptor plug to match the Mac's plug to the
wall plug in the country in question. You can buy one in almost any
hardware store for about three dollars. The same is true of the Duo
docks, all Apple CD drives except the original AppleCD SC, all
external Apple SCSI hard drives and all Apple monitors except for the
12" RGB monitor and the 14" Basic Color Monitor.
Products without universal power supplies were typically sold in two
models, 110V/120V at 60 Hz for Japan and North America, 220V/240V at
50 Hz everywhere else. Thus depending on the origin and destination
the Classic, Classic II, Plus, 512KE, 512 and 128K Macs need an
adaptor plug and either a 220V/240V to 110V/120V grounded isolation
step-down transformer or a 110V/120V to 220V/240V grounded isolation
step-up transformer, NOT a voltage converter (at least not unless you
plan to use your Mac as a disposable egg fryer). The same kind of
transformer is needed by the 12" RGB monitor, the Basic Color
Monitor, StyleWriter, StyleWriter II, ImageWriter I, and LaserWriters
LS, NT, SC, IINT, IINTX, IIf, IIg, 300, 310 and the original AppleCD
SC.
The ImageWriter II, ImageWriter LQ, LaserWriter, LaserWriter Plus,
LaserWriter Pro 600 and 630, Apple Color Printer, Performa Display
and all Apple scanners have power supplies that are matched not just
to the voltage but also to the frequency of the host country's wall
current. These should not be used in a country with a different
power standard.
HOW CAN I FIX THE SOUND ON MY IISI? (9.2)
------------------------------------------
When the metal fingers that connect the IIsi speakers and the
motherboard get rusty, sound can blank out completely. This may not
occur until the IIsi has been running for several hours. As a quick
fix turn the speaker volume all the way up and then down again. This
sends a small spike of electricity across the contacts and should
temporarily dislodge the rust. If this doesn't work a whack on the
side of the Mac may also clear the contacts enough to restore sound.
For a permanent and easy fix plug a pair of external speakers into
the sound out port. I've heard at least a dozen different
suggestions for permanent fixes to the internal speakers. The only
thing all suggestions have in common is taking the speaker
subassembly out and putting it back in again. When you're having
trouble with electronics, there's just no substitute for pulling
everything apart and putting it back together again, and that's all
you really need to do to fix the sound on your IIsi. The speaker
assembly is hidden under the hard drive so take that out first. Once
you've removed the hard drive, spread the four tabs that hold the
speaker assembly in place and slide it out. Then clean the contacts
with isopropyl alcohol. Even rubbing them hard with a paper towel or
lightly with sand paper should dislodge enough rust to fix them. You
can even coat the contacts with an anti-oxidant like DeoxIt or
PreservIt to prevent future problems. You should be able to find
some such compound at any electronics supply store.
==================
Appendix A: MODELS
==================
This appendix is a nearly comprehensive list of the different species
of Apple Macintosh computers. At the top of each listing is the
common name of the model. Any aliases it may have, either common
nicknames or names under which Apple sold it in other markets follow
in parentheses, e.g., Mac 128 (Thin Mac). This is followed by
fourteen essential characteristics of the model which I'll elaborate
on now.
The first important feature is the processor in your computer, e.g.,
Processor: M68030 8 MHz, M68882 FPU
The first number is always the central processing unit (CPU). This is
the main brain of the computer and contributes more to the speed of
your Mac than any other single factor. M stands for Motorola and
means the chip is a member of the Motorola 68000 family. The other
possibility is PPC which means the chip is a member of the PowerPC
family from either Motorola, IBM or both. Generally within the same
family a higher chip number means a faster chip. A 68040 is faster
than a 68030 which is faster than a 68000. However Macs using the
same chip can run at different clock speeds measured in megahertz
(MHz). The higher the megahertz the faster the Mac. The clock
speeds I list here are rounded to the nearest whole number. More
precisely 8 MHz should be 7.83 MHz, 16 MHz should be 15.7 MHz and so
on. If a Mac has a floating point coprocessor (FPU) or digital
signal processor (DSP) that's listed here too. An FPU speeds up most
scientific, mathematical, photo retouching and ray tracing software.
Most other types of programs don't take advantage of it. A DSP is an
even faster FPU used to make real-time audio and video feasible.
M68040's and all PowerPC processors include integrated floating point
units.
The second feature is the system software which will operate that
Mac. This is listed as a range of possible systems, e.g.
System: 6.0.3-7.5.1
If any enablers are needed for a model, they're listed here too. Just
because a particular system will run on an Mac doesn't mean you
should use it. If you're using System 6, I recommend using 6.0.7 or
6.0.8 with the LaserWriter Driver 8.1, Quicktime and the Comm
Toolbox. Any version of System 7 that will boot your Mac will serve
equally well for most people, but you should make sure you have the
latest tuneups and enablers. (See the system faq for more details.)
The next field is RAM capacity, e.g.
RAM: 1-128 MB, 120 ns, 8 30 pin SIMM slots
For all but the earliest Macs this is given as a range from the least
amount of RAM Apple sold with the machine to the maximum amount it
can support with third party chips. RAM size is measured in
megabytes (MB). One megabyte is 1024 kilobytes which is 1024 bytes.
A byte represents one letter of text, so one megabyte is is about
three hundred pages of text. RAM speed is measured in nanoseconds
(ns), one billionths of a second. Smaller numbers are faster.
Finally I list the number of slots included for RAM (some of which
may already be filled in the default configuration) and the type of
memory that can be installed in these slots. For more details about
RAM configurations please refer to "Thanks for the Memory", section
4.0 of this document.
After RAM comes ROM, the non-volatile memory where much of the system
software is stored. This is listed as a size in either kilobytes or
megabytes since that's the only information that's commonly available
(and more than you really need to know anyway.) Larger ROMs tend to
be more recent and require less patching under newer systems. 512K
and larger ROMs are 32-bit clean. 256K and larger ROMs include Color
QuickDraw.
Ports are the holes on the back of the Mac into which something may
be plugged. ADB stands for Apple Desktop Bus. It's used for
plugging in mice, trackballs, keyboards, graphics tablets, and
obnoxious copy-protection dongles. ADB devices can be daisy-chained,
up to three devices per ADB port. Serial ports are used for modems,
printers, and LocalTalk networks. A SCSI (pronounced "Scuzzy") port
is mainly used for external storage devices like hard drives, tape
drives, and CD-ROMs; but there also printers, monitors, Ethernet
connectors, and scanners that can attach to the SCSI bus. Mac SCSI
ports are 25 pins. For more details see the SCSI section below.
Most Macs have at least one sound port for hooking up external
speakers and more recent Macs also have a sound in port for a
microphone. These are listed as either Mono in/out or Stereo in/out
depending on whether the Mac supports mono or stereo sound. Finally
if there's a port for an external floppy drive, that's indicated by
the word "floppy.".
The Floppy field specifies what kind of internal floppy drive the
model has, either 400K, 800K or SuperDrive. For more details see
section 6.0, Floppies, below.
Next I list the drive bays. Most Macs have exactly one bay for a 3.5
inch half-height device, almost always an internal hard drive. Some
more recent Macs also have room for a half-height, five and a quarter
inch, removable media drive such as a CD-ROM ar a tape backup system.
Slots are spaces inside the Mac for expansion cards of many kinds
including accelerators, extra serial ports, graphics cards, and more.
The most-common kinds of slots are Nubus and processor direct (PDS).
Nubus slots come in small (7") and full-size varieties while PDS
slots tend to be specific to the model. LC PDS cards do mostly work
in all LC slots, but even among Macs that have Nubus slots not all
cards work in all Macs, so it's best ask a vendor if their card works
in your Mac before buying.
Video specifies the characteristics of any built-in monitor and the
amount of VRAM for models that do not have a built-in monitor. See
section 6.0 on video to find out the resolutions and color depths a
given amount of VRAM supports. "None" means that you'll need to use
a graphics card as well as an external monitor.
Audio lists sample rates and bit depth supported by the CPU. If
there's a built-in speaker and/or microphone, this is mentioned as
well. Many Macs that don't have built-in stereo speakers or
microphones have jacks for external speakers or microphones. These
are listed under ports.
Network specifies the built-in networking capability of the Mac,
either LocalTalk or Ethernet. If Ethernet then the connector type is
also given. Third party cards and SCSI connectors provide options
for adding Ethernet to Macs that lack it.
Size specifies the linear dimensions of the model as height by width
by depth, then the approximate weight although this can vary
depending on the size of any internal drives and cards that may be
installed. This is the weight and size of the computer itself. It
includes the monitor and keyboard only if they're built-in to the
Mac. Finally I list the dates between which the model was sold and
any special features it may have.
Mac 128 (Thin Mac)
Processor: M68000 8 MHz
System: 1.0-2.0
RAM: 128K
ROM: 64K
Ports: 2 serial, floppy, mono out
Floppy: 400K
Bays: None
Slots: None
Video: built-in black and white 9" monitor, 512 by 342 resolution
Audio: Mono speaker
Network: None
Sold: 1/84 till 4/86
Features: Keyboard
Mac 512 (Fat Mac)
Processor: M68000 8 MHz
System: 1.0-3.3
RAM: 512K
ROM: 64K
Ports: 2 serial, floppy, mono out
Floppy: 400K
Bays: None
Slots: None
Video: built-in black and white 9" monitor, 512 by 342 resolution
Audio: Mono speaker
Network: None Sold: 9/84 till 4/86
Features: Keyboard
Mac 512KE
Processor: M68000 8 MHz
System: 1.0-4.3
RAM: 512K
ROM: 128K
Ports: 2 serial, floppy, mono out
Floppy: 800K
Bays: None
Slots: None
Video: built-in black and white 9" monitor, 512 by 342 resolution
Audio: Mono speaker
Network: None
Sold: 4/86 till 3/87
Features: Keyboard
Mac Plus
Processor: M68000 8 MHz
System: 3.0-7.5.1
RAM: 1-4 MB, 150 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 128K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, floppy, mono out
Floppy: 800K
Bays: None
Slots: None
Video: built-in black and white 9" monitor, 512 by 342 resolution
Audio: Mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 1/86 till 10/90
Features: Keyboard
Macintosh SE
Processor: M68000 8 MHz
System: 3.0-7.5.1
RAM: 1-4 MB, 150 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 256K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, floppy, 2 ADB, mono out
Floppy: 1 or 2 800K or SuperDrive
Bays: One for either a 3.5" internal hard drive or a second floppy drive
Slots: 1 SE Expansion Bus slot
Video: built-in black and white 9" monitor, 512 by 342 resolution
Network: LocalTalk
Sound: Mono out
Sold: 3/87 till 10/90
Features: Beginning in August, 1989 SE's included a SuperDrive.
SE/30
Processor: M68030 16 MHz, M68882 16 MHz FPU
System: 6.0.3-7.5.1
RAM: 1-128 MB, 120 ns, 8 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 256K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, floppy, 2 ADB, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 120 pin 030 PDS
Video: built-in black and white 9" monitor, 512 by 342 resolution
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz stereo out
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 1/89 till 10/91
Features:
Mac II
Processor: M68020 16 MHz, M68881 16 MHz FPU
System: 4.0.1-7.5.1
RAM: 1-68 MB, 120 ns, 8 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 256K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, 2 ADB, stereo out
Floppy: 1 or 2 800K
Bays: 1 5.25" half-height
Slots: 6 Nubus
Video: None
Audio: Stereo speaker
Network: Localtalk
Sold: 3/87 till 1/90
Features: An upgrade is available that adds new ROMs and a SuperDrive.
Mac IIx
Processor: 16 MHz M68030 CPU, 16 MHz M68882 FPU
System: 6.0.2-7.5.1
RAM: 1-128 MB, 120 ns, 8 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 256K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, floppy, 2 ADB, stereo out
Floppy: 1 or 2 SuperDrives
Bays: 1 5.25" half-height
Slots: 6 Nubus
Video: None
Audio: Stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 9/88 till 10/90
Features:
Mac IIcx
Processor: M68030 16 MHz, M68882 16MHz FPU
System: 6.0.3-7.5.1
RAM: 1-128 MB, 120 ns, 8 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 256K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, floppy, 2 ADB, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 3 Nubus
Video: None
Network: Localtalk
Audio: Stereo speaker
Dimension: 5.5 x 11.9 x 14.4 in, 14.0 x 30.2 x 36.5 cm
Weight: 13.7 lb., 6.2 kg
Sold: 3/89 till 10/90
Features:
Mac IIci
Processor: M68030 25 MHz, M68882 25MHz FPU
System: 6.0.4-7.5.1
RAM: 1-128 MB, 80 ns, 8 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 512K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, floppy, 2 ADB, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 3 Nubus
Video: resolutions up to 640 by 870 pixels with 256 colors
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 9/89 till 2/93
Dimension: 5.5 x 11.9 x 14.4 in, 14.0 x 30.2 x 36.5 cm
Weight: 13.7 lb., 6.2 kg
Features: Slot for cache card that can speed up performance as much as
50%. After October, 1991 this card was bundled with IIci's.
Mac IIsi
Processor: M68030 20 MHz
System: 6.0.6-7.5.1
RAM: 2-65 MB, 80 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 512K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, floppy, ADB, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 1 Nubus and/or PDS
Video: supports resolutions of up to 640 by 870 pixels with 256 colors
Audio: Mono microphone, Stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 10/90 till 2/93
Features: Since this model was designed to be run at 25 MHz it can
safely be "clock-chipped" to that higher speed. (See
question 4.2) Substantial speed boosts are also possible by
increasing the cache size. See question 1.3 in the system FAQ.
Mac IIfx
Processor: M68030 40 MHz, M68882 FPU 40 MHz
System: 6.0.5-7.5.1
RAM: 4-128 MB, 80 ns, 8 64 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 512K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, floppy, 2 ADB, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 5.25" half-height
Slots: 6 Nubus
Video: None
Audio: Stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 3/90 till 10/91
Features: 32K static RAM cache plus lots of other special, expensive
orphaned hardware designed to improve speed which software
never took advantage of.
Mac IIvi
Processor: M68030 16 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 001 1.0.1
RAM: 4-68 MB, 80 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, 2 ADB, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 3 Nubus
Video: 512K-1MB VRAM
Audio: Mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 10/92 till 10/93
Features: Not sold in the U.S.
Mac IIvx
Processor: M68030 32 MHz, M68882 FPU 32 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 001 1.0.1
RAM: 4-68 MB, 80 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, 2 ADB, mono in, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 3 Nubus
Video: 512K-1MB VRAM
Audio: Mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 10/92 till 10/93
Features: 32k data cache, 32 bit data bus. Since the system runs
at half the speed of the CPU, this is only about as fast
as the 25 MHz IIci.
Performa 600
Processor: M68030 32 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 001 1.0.1
RAM: 4-68 MB, 80 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, 2 ADB, mono in, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 3 Nubus
Video: 512-1MB VRAM
Audio: Mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 10/92 till 10/93
Features: Since the system runs at half the speed of the CPU, this
is only about as fast as the 20 MHz IIsi. Identical to the IIvx
except for the lack of the 32k data cache and FPU. An FPU can be
added. A cache cannot be.
Mac Classic
Processor: M68000 8 MHz
System: 6.0.6-7.5.1
RAM: 1-4 MB, 120 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 512K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: None
Video: built-in black and white 9" monitor, 512 by 384 resolution
Audio: Mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 10/90 till 12/91
Features: Can be booted from the ROM.
Mac Classic II (Performa 200)
System: 6.0.8L-7.5.1
Processor: M68030 16 MHz
RAM: 4-10 MB, 120 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 512K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, floppy, ADB, mono out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: None
Video: built-in black and white 9" monitor, 512 by 384 resolution
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 kHz, mono speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 13.2 x 9.7 x 11.2 in, 17.1 lbs (33.6 x 24.6 x 28.5 cm, 7.8 kg)
Sold: 10/91 till Present
Features: 16-bit databus
Color Classic
Processor: M68030 16 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 401 1.0.5
RAM: 4-10 MB, 120 ns, 2 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, 2 ADB, mono out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 1 LC PDS
Video built-in 10" Trinitron monitor, 512 by 384 resolution,
256 colors (expandable to 32000 colors), 76 dpi
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 2/93 till Present
Features: Screen Power Saver, 16-bit databus
Color Classic II
Processor: M68030 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler ???
RAM: 4-10 MB, 80 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, 2 ADB, mono out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 1 LC PDS
Video: built-in 10" Trinitron monitor, 256 colors expandable to
32768, 76 dpi
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 10/93 till Present
Features: Sold only in the Far East.
Mac LC
Processor: M68020 16 MHz
System: 6.0.6-7.5.1
RAM: 2-10 MB, 120 ns, 2 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 512K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, floppy, mono out, mono in, video
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 1 LC PDS
Video: 256K-512K VRAM
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 3.0 x 12.2 x 15.0 in, 8.8 lbs (8.1 x 31.0 x 38.2 cm, 4.0 kg)
Sold: 10/90 till 12/92
Features: 16-bit databus. Can emulate an Apple IIe with the
appropriate PDS card.
LC II (Performa 400, 405, 430)
Processor: M68030 16 MHz
System: 6.0.8L-7.5.1
RAM: 4-10 MB, 120 ns, 2 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 512K
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, mono out, mono in, video
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 1 LC PDS
Video: 256-512K VRAM
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 3.0 x 12.2 x 15.0 in, 8.8 lbs (8.1 x 31.0 x 38.2 cm, 4.0 kg)
Sold: 3/92 till 10/93
Features: 16-bit databus. Can emulate an Apple IIe with the
appropriate PDS card.
LC III (Performa 450)
Processor: M68030 25 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 003 1.0
RAM: 4-32 MB, 80 ns, 1 72 pin SIMM slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, mono out, mono in, video
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 1 LC PDS
Video: 512K-768K VRAM
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 3.2 x 12.2 x 15.0 in, 8.8 lbs (8.1 x 31.0 x 38.2 cm, 4.0 kg)
Sold: 2/93 till Present
Features: Can emulate an Apple IIe with the appropriate PDS card.
Mac LC 520 (Performa 550)
Processor: M68030 25 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 403 1.0.1
RAM: 5-36 MB, 80 ns, 1 72 pin SIMM slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, stereo out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 LC PDS
Video: Built-in 14" Trinitron monitor, 640 by 480 pixels, 69 dpi
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono microphone, Stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 17.9 x 13.5 x 16.5 in., 40.5 lbs (45.5 x 34.4 x 42.0 cm, 18.4 kg)
Sold: 6/93 till present
Features: CD-ROM
Mac LC 550
Processor: M68030 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler ???
RAM: 5-36 MB, 80 ns, 1 72 pin SIMM slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, stereo out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 LC PDS
Video: Built-in 14" Trinitron monitor, 640 by 480 pixels, 69 dpi
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono microphone, Stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 17.9 x 13.5 x 16.5 in., 40.5 lbs (45.5 x 34.4 x 42.0 cm, 18.4 kg)
Sold: 1/94 till present
Features: CD-ROM
Mac LC 575 (Performa 575, 577, 578)
Processor: M68LC040 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler ???
RAM: 8-36 MB, 80 ns, 1 72 pin SIMM slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, stereo out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 LC PDS
Video: Built-in 14" Trinitron monitor, 640 by 480 pixels, 69 dpi
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 17.9 x 13.5 x 16.5 in., 40.5 lbs (45.5 x 34.4 x 42.0 cm, 18.4 kg)
Sold: 2/94 till Present
Features: CD-ROM (optional on Performa 460)
LC 630 (Performa 630)
Processor: M68LC040 33 MHz
System: 7.1.1-7.5.1
RAM: 4-36 MB, 80 ns, 1 72 pin SIMM slot
ROM: 2 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, 2 stereo out, stereo in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 030 PDS slot, 1 communications slot, 1 video slot
Video: 1MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors up to 15" plus some VGA,
SVGA displays;
Audio: 8 bit, 8-48 kHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 4.3 x 12.6 x 16.5 in, 19.0 lbs (10.95 x 32.0 x 41.95 cm, 8.6 kg)
Sold: 7/93 till Present
Features: optional CD-ROM, optional TV tuner, optional Presentation
system for NTSC/PAL output, optional video input card,
IDE internal hard drive
Performa 640CD DOS compatible
Processor: M68LC040 33 MHz, 486DX2 66 MHz
System: 7.5.1
RAM: 8-52 MB, 80 ns, 2 72 pin SIMM slots,
4-32MB of DOS RAM in one 72-pin SIMM slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, serial, stereo out, mono in, video
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: Video, Communications
Video: 1 MB video DRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA
Audio: 22 KHz, Mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, optional Ethernet
Size: 4.3 x 12.6 x 16.5 in, 19.0 lbs (10.95 x 32.0 x 41.95 cm, 8.6 kg)
Sold: 10/28/93 till 6-94
Features: MS-DOS 6.2, CD-ROM
Mac LC 5200/75 (Performa 5200CD)
Processor: PPC 603 75 MHz
System: 7.5.1
RAM: 8-64 MB, 80 ns, 2 72 pin SIMM slot, 256K L2 cache
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, stereo out, stereo in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height IDE, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 LC III PDS, 1 video-in slot, 1 TV Tuner slot,
1 communications slot
Video: Built-in 15" flat-square tridot monitor, 832 by 624 pixels
at 81 dpi, 256 colors, or 640 by 480 pixels at 63 pdi, 32,768
colors, 0.28 mm dot pitch, 75 Hz refresh rate
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 17.5 x 15.1 x 16.0 in., 47 lbs (44.5 x 38.3 x 40.6 cm, 18.4 kg)
Sold: 4/3/95 till Present
Features: CD-ROM 300i
Performa 460, Performa 465, Performa 467
Processor: M68030 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler ???
RAM: 4-32 MB, 80 ns, 1 72 pin SIMM slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, mono out, mono in, video
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 1 LC PDS
Video: 512K-768K VRAM
Audio: 8-bit, 22 kHz, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 3.2 x 12.2 x 15.0 in, 8.8 lbs (8.1 x 31.0 x 38.2 cm, 4.0 kg)
Sold: 2/93 till Present
Features:
Performa 6200CD
Processor: PPC 603 75 MHz
System: 7.5.1
RAM: 8-64 MB, 80 ns, 2 72 pin SIMM sockets
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, 2 Serial, video, stereo in, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: LC PDS, communications, video in, TV Tuner
Video: DRAM based, 32,768 colors on 14" monitors, 256 colors on
16" monitors
Audio: 22 KHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 4.3 x 12.6 x 16.5 in, 19.0 lbs (10.95 x 32.0 x 41.9 cm, 8.6 kg)
Sold: 6/95 till Present
Features: Internal Quad Speed CD-ROM
Centris 610
Processor: M680LC40 20 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 040 1.1
RAM: 8-68 MB, 80 ns, 2 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, stereo out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 7" Nubus or Quadra PDS slot
Video: 512K-1MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA,
SVGA, NTSC, and PAL monitors
Audio: 22 KHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: Localtalk, optional Ethernet
Size: 3.4 x 16.3 x 15.6 in, 14.0 lbs (8.5 x 41.5 x 39.7 cm, 6.4 kg)
Sold: 2/93 till ????
Features: FPU can be added by replacing the 680LC40 with a 68040 CPU.
No heat sink is necessary for this upgrade.
Centris 650
Processor: M68040 25 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 040 1.1
RAM: 8-136 MB, 80 ns, 4 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, 2 ADB, stereo out, mono in, AAUI-15
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 3 Nubus, one Quadra PDS
Video: 512K-1MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA,
SVGA, NTSC, and PAL monitors
Audio: Mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 6.0 x 13.0 x 16.5 in, 25 lb (15.2 x 33.0 x 41.9 cm, 11.3 kg)
Sold: 2/93 till ????
Features: Some models have only 4 megabytes of soldered RAM and no
Ethernet. These can only be expanded to 132 megabytes.
Centris 660av (aka Quadra 660av)
Processor: M68040 25 MHz, 55-MHz AT&T 3210 DSP
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 088 1.1
RAM: 8-68 MB, 70 ns, 2 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 2 MB
Ports: Geoport serial port, RS-232/RS-422 serial port, SCSI, ADB,
stereo out, stereo in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 7" Nubus
Video: 1MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTSC,
and PAL monitors; 2 S-Video and two composite video ports, one
each for input and output.
Audio: 16 bit, 8-48 kHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 3.4 x 16.3 x 15.6 in, 14.0 lbs (8.5 x 41.5 x 39.7 cm, 6.4 kg)
Sold: 7/93 till ????
Features: PlainTalk speech recognition, video capture
Quadra 605 (LC 475, Performa 475, Performa 476)
Processor: M68LC040 25 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 065 1.0
RAM: 4-36 MB, 80 ns, 1 72 pin SIMM slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 ADB, SCSI, 2 serial, stereo out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 1 LC III PDS
Video: 512K-1MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA,
SVGA, NTSC, and PAL monitors
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 kHz, stereo microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 3.2 x 12.2 x 15.0 in, 8.8 lbs (8.1 x 31.0 x 38.2 cm, 4.0 kg)
Sold: 10/93 till Present
Features:
Quadra 610
Processor: M68040 25 MHz (M680LC40 on 8/160 models sold in the U.S.)
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 040 1.1
RAM: 8-72 MB, 80 ns, 2 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 ADB, SCSI, 2 serial, stereo out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 7" Nubus or Quadra PDS slot
Video: 512K-1 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA,
NTSC, and PAL monitors
Audio: 22 KHz, Mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, optional Ethernet
Size: 3.4 x 16.3 x 15.6 in, 14.0 lbs (8.5 x 41.5 x 39.7 cm, 6.4 kg)
Sold: 10/28/93 till Present
Features:
Quadra 610 DOS compatible
Processor: M68LC040 25 MHz, 486SX 25 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 040 1.1
RAM: 8-72 MB, 80 ns, 2 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 ADB, SCSI, 2 serial, stereo out, mono in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 7" PDS slot filled with DOS compatibility card
Video: 512K-1 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA,
NTSC, and PAL monitors. Dual monitor support.
Audio: 22 KHz, Mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, optional Ethernet
Size: 3.4 x 16.3 x 15.6 in, 14.0 lbs (8.5 x 41.5 x 39.7 cm, 6.4 kg)
Sold: 10/28/93 till 6/94
Features: MS-DOS 6.2
Quadra 630
Processor: M68040 33 MHz
System: 7.1.1
RAM: 4-36 MB, 80 ns, 1 72 pin SIMM slot
ROM: 2 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, ADB, 2 stereo out, stereo in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 030 PDS slot, 1 communications slot, 1 video slot
Video: 1MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors up to 15" plus some VGA,
SVGA, monitors;
Audio: 8 bit, 8-48 kHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 4.3 x 12.6 x 16.5 in, 19.0 lbs (10.95 x 32.0 x 41.95 cm, 8.6 kg)
Sold: 7/93 till 8/95
Features: optional CD-ROM, optional TV tuner, optional Presentation
system for NTSC/PAL output, optional video input card,
IDE internal hard drive
Quadra 650
Processor: M68040 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 040 1.1
RAM: 8-136 MB, 80 ns, 4 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 serial, SCSI, 2 ADB, headphone jack
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 3 Nubus, one Quadra PDS
Video: 512K-1 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA,
NTSC, and PAL monitors
Audio: 22 khz, Mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 6.0 x 13.0 x 16.5 in, 25 lb (15.2 x 33.0 x 41.9 cm, 11.3 kg)
Sold: 10/28/93 till present
Features:
Quadra 700
Processor: M68040 25 MHz
System: 7.0.1-7.5.1
RAM: 4-128 MB, 80 ns, 4 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, video, stereo out, mono in, AAUI-15 Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height
Slots: 2 Nubus, 1 Quadra PDS
Video: 512K-2 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTSC
Audio: Mono in, stereo out, microphone
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Dimension: 5.5 x 11.9 x 14.4 in, 14.0 x 30.2 x 36.5 cm
Weight: 13.7 lb., 6.2 kg
Sold: 10/91 till ????
Features:
Quadra 800
Processor: M68040 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1
RAM: 8-132 MB, 60 ns, 4 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, video, stereo out, mono in, AAUI-15 Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" full-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 3 NuBus, 1 Quadra PDS
Video: 512K-1 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTSC
Audio: Mono in, stereo out
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 14.25 x 8.9 x 16 in, 25.3 lbs (30.6 x 19.6 x 39.6 cm, 11.5 kg)
Sold: 2/93 till ????
Features:
Quadra 840av
Processor: M68040 40 MHz, AT&T 3210 66 MHz DSP
System: 7.1-7.5.1
RAM: 8-128 MB, 60 ns, 4 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 2 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, 2 serial, Ethernet AAUI-15, stereo in, stereo out,
GeoPort, 2 S-Video and two composite video ports, one each for
input and output.
Slots: 3 Nubus 90, 1 Quadra PDS
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" full-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Video: Built-in support Expandable with an extra 1 MB VRAM to 24-bit
color on 16" monitors, 16-bit color on larger monitors,
NTSC out, PAL out
Audio: 16 bit, 8-48 kHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: Ethernet, LocalTalk
Size: 14.25 x 8.9 x 16 in, 25.3 lb (30.6 x 19.6 39.6 cm, 11.5 kg)
Sold: 7/93 till ????
Features: DMA, async SCSI, PlainTalk, video capture
Quadra 900
Processor: M68040 25 MHz
System: 7.0.1-7.5.1
RAM: 4-256 MB, 80 ns, 16 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, video, stereo out, stereo in, AAUI-15 Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 3 3.5" half-height bays
Slots: 5 Nubus, 1 Quadra PDS
Video: 1-2 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTS
Audio: Mono Microphone, stereo in, stereo out
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 18.6 x 8.9 x 20.6 in, 37 lbs (47.3 x 22.4 x 52.3 cm, 17 kg)
Sold: 10/91 till 5/92
Quadra 950
Processor: M68040 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1
RAM: 8-256 MB, 80 ns, 16 30 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: 2 ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, video, stereo out, stereo in, mono in,
AAUI-15 Ethernet connector
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 3 3.5" half-height bays
Slots: 5 Nubus, 1 Quadra PDS
Video: 1-2 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTS
Audio: Mono Microphone, stereo in, stereo out
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 18.6 x 8.9 x 20.6 in, 37 lbs (47.3 x 22.4 x 52.3 cm, 17 kg)
Sold: 5/92 till Present
Features:
Mac TV
Processor: M68030 32 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 404 1.0
RAM: 5-8 MB, 80 ns, 1 72 pin SIMM slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: SCSI, 2 serial, 2 ADB, cable, video-in, stereo out, stereo in
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 PDS occupied by TV tuner
Video: 14" Trinitron, 8-bit color
Audio: 8-bit, 22kHz, stereo speakers
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 17.5 x 13.5 x 16.5 in., 41.5 lbs (44.5 x 34.4 x 42.0 cm, 18.9 kg)
Sold: 10/93 till ????
Features: 16-bit databus, cable-ready, 16-bit color TV, CD-ROM, single-frame
video-capture, remote control, ClarisWorks, 7 CD's, keyboard
PowerMac 6100/60, 6100/66, 6150/66 (Performa 6115, )
Processor: PPC 601 60 MHz (66 MHz)
System: 7.1.2-7.5.1
RAM: 8-72 MB, 80 ns, 2 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, 2 GeoPort, video, stereo in, stereo out,
AAUI-15 Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 1 7" Nubus or PDS slot
Video: DRAM based, 32,768 colors on 14" monitors, 256 colors on
16" monitors
Audio: 22 KHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 3.4 x 16.3 x 15.6 in, 14.0 lbs (8.5 x 41.5 x 39.7 cm, 6.4 kg)
Sold: 3/14/94 till 8/95
Features: Optional AV configuration, optional VRAM card for the
PDS slot, 6100/66 comes with 256K cache card standard,
optional on 6100/60 model
PowerMac 7100/66, 7100/80
Processor: PPC 601 66 MHz (80 MHz)
System: 7.1.2-7.5.1
RAM: 8-136 MB, 80 ns, 4 72 pin SIMM slots
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, 2 GeoPort, 2 video, stereo in, stereo out, AAUI-15 Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 3 Nubus, one PDS (occupied by AV card or VRAM card)
Video: 1-2 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTSC,
and PAL monitors. DRAM support for a second monitor, 32,768
colors on 14" monitors, 256 colors on 16" monitors
Audio: 22 khz, Mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 6.0 x 13.0 x 16.5 in, 25 lb (15.2 x 33.0 x 41.9 cm, 11.3 kg)
Sold: 3/14/94 till 8/95
Features: Optional AV configuration, 7100/80 comes with 256K cache card standard,
optional on 7100/66 model
PowerMac 8100/80, 8100/100, 8100/110, 8100/120, 8150/110, 8150/120
Processor: PPC 601 80 MHz (100 MHz, 110 MHz, 120 MHz)
System: 7.1.2-7.5.1
RAM: 8-264 MB, 80 ns, 8 72 pin SIMM slots, 256K L2 cache
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: ADB, 2 GeoPort, SCSI, 2 video, stereo in, stereo out,
AAUI-15 Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" full-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 3 NuBus, 1 PDS (occupied by AV card or VRAM card)
Video: 2-4 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTSC
and PAL monitors. DRAM support for a second monitor, 32,768
colors on 14" monitors, 256 colors on 16" monitors
Audio: stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 14.25 x 8.9 x 16 in, 25.3 lbs (30.6 x 19.6 x 39.6 cm, 11.5 kg)
Sold: 3/14/94 till present
Features: Optional AV configuration
PowerMac 7200/75, 7200/90
Processor: PPC 601 (75 MHz, 90 MHz)
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 8-256 MB, 80 ns, 4 DIMM sockets, optional 256K-512K L2 cache
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, 2 GeoPort, 2 video, stereo in, stereo out, AAUI-15 Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 3 PCI
Video: 1-4 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTSC,
and PAL monitors.
Audio: 44.1 kHz, 16-bit, stereo microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 6.15 x 14.37 x 16.93 in, 22 lb (15.6 x 36.5 x 43.0 cm, 9.97 kg)
Sold: 8/95 till present
Features: Internal Quad-speed CD-ROM occupies the internal 5.25" bay.
PowerMac 7500/100
Processor: PPC 601 100 MHz
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 8-512 MB, 80 ns, 8 72 pin DIMM slots, 256K-1MB L2 cache
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, 2 GeoPort, DB-15 video, stereo in, stereo out,
AAUI-15 and 10Base-T Ethernet, Composite video input
connectors
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 2 3.5" half-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 3 PCI
Video: 2-4 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTSC,
and PAL monitors. 24 bit composite and S-video input and output
Audio: 44.1 kHz, 16-bit, stereo microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 6.15 x 14.37 x 16.93 in, 22 lb (15.6 x 36.5 x 43.0 cm, 9.97 kg)
Sold: 8/95 till present
Features: Internal Quad-speed CD-ROM occupies the internal 5.25" bay.
PowerMac 8500/120
Processor: PPC 604, 120 MHz
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 16-512 MB, 80 ns, 8 DIMM sockets, 256K L2 cache
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: ADB, 2 GeoPort, SCSI, DB-15 video, stereo in, stereo out,
AAUI-15 and 10Base-T Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 3.5" full-height, 1 5.25" half-height removable
Slots: 3 PCI
Video: 2-4 MB VRAM drives all Mac monitors plus some VGA, SVGA, NTSC
and PAL monitors. 24 bit composite and S-video input and output
Audio: 16-bit stereo input and output
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 14.25 x 8.9 x 16 in, 25.3 lbs (30.6 x 19.6 x 39.6 cm, 11.5 kg)
Sold: 8/95 till present
Features: Internal Quad-speed CD-ROM occupies the internal 5.25" bay.
PowerMac 9500/120, 9500/132
Processor: PPC604 (120 MHz, 132 MHz)
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 8-768 MB, 80 ns, 8 112 pin DIMM slots, 512K L2 cache
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, DB-15 video, stereo out, stereo in,
10BaseT and AAUI-15 Ethernet connector
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 5 3.5" half-height bays, 2 5" full-height bays
Slots: 6 PCI
Video: 0-4MB VRAM
Audio: 16-bit stereo in, stereo out
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 16.9 x 7.75 x 15.75 in, 28 lbs (43.0 x 19.6 x 40.0 cm, 12.7 kg)
Sold: 6/95 till Present
Features: Internal Quad Speed CD-ROM Drive
WorkGroup Server 9150/120
Processor: PPC601 120 MHz
System: 7.5.1
RAM: 8-264 MB, 80 ns, 8 72 pin SIMM slots, 1MB L2 cache
ROM: 4 MB
Ports: 1 ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, DB-15 video, stereo out, stereo in,
AAUI-15 Ethernet connector
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 5 3.5" half-height bays, 2 5" full-height bays
Slots: 4 Nubus, 1 PDS
Video: 32,768 colors 640 by 480, 256 colors at 832 by 624
Audio: stereo in, stereo out
Network: LocalTalk, Ethernet
Size: 18.6 x 8.9 x 20.6 in, 36.8 lbs (47.3 x 22.4 x 52.3 cm, 16.7 kg)
Sold: 5/95 till Present
Features:
Macintosh Portable
Processor: M68000 16 MHz
System: 6.0.5-7.5.1
RAM: 1-5 MB, 100 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 256K
Ports: SCSI, floppy, stereo out
Floppy: 1-2 SuperDrives
Bays: 1 3.5 inch half-height
Slots: None
Video: built-in black and white 10" monitor, 640 by 400 resolution
Audio: Stereo out
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 9/89 till 10/91
Features: Portables sold after March, 1991 have backlit screens.
Powerbook 100
Processor: M68000 16 MHz
System: 6.0.8L-7.5.1
RAM: 2-8 MB, 100 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 256K
Ports: SCSI, serial, floppy, ADB, mono out
Floppy:
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: None
Video: built-in black and white, passive matrix, 640 by 400 pixel screen
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 2.25 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 10/91 till
Features: The hard disk can be attached to another Mac through the
PowerBook's SCSI port.
Powerbook 140
Processor: M68030 16 MHz
System: 7.0.1-7.5.1
RAM: 4-8 MB, 100 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, mono in, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: None
Video: built-in 8.5", B/W, passive matrix, 640 by 400 pixel screen
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz stereo speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: NiCad, 2.5 Ah, 2 to 3 hours of usage, 3 hours recharge time
Size: 2.25 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 10/91 till 6/93
Features:
Powerbook 145
Processor: M68030 25 MHz
System: 7.0.1-7.5.1
RAM: 4-8 MB, 100 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, mono in, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: None
Video: built-in 8.5", B/W, passive matrix, 640 by 400 pixel screen
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: NiCad, 2.5 Ah, 2 to 3 hours of usage, 3 hours recharge time
Size: 2.25 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 8/92 till 6/93
Features:
Powerbook 145b
Processor: M68030 25 MHz
System: 7.0.1-7.5.1
RAM: 4-8 MB, 100 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, audio in, audio out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 Modem slot
Video: built-in 8.5", B/W, passive matrix, 640 by 400 pixel screen
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: NiCad, 2 to 3 hours of usage, 3 hours recharge time
Size: 2.25 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 6/93 till Present
Features: No system disks are included with this model.
Powerbook 150
Processor: M68030 33 MHz
System: 7.1.1-7.5.1
RAM: 4-8 MB, 100 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: serial, SCSI
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: None
Video: built-in 9.5", 4 greys, passive matrix, 640 by 480 pixel screen
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk, AAUI Ethernet
Battery: NiCad, 2.5 Ah, 2 to 3 hours of usage, 3 hours recharge time
Size: 2.25 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 5.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 7-94 till present
Features:
Powerbook 160
Processor: M68030 25 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 131 1.0.3
RAM: 4-14 MB, 85 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, 2 serial, mono in, stereo out, video
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 Modem slot
Video: built-in 10", 16 greys, passive matrix, 640 by 400 pixels
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, stereo speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: NiCad, 2 to 3 hours of usage, 3 hours recharge time
Size: 2.25 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 10/92 till 8/93
Features:
Powerbook 165
Processor: M68030 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 131 1.0.3
RAM: 4-14 MB, 85 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, 2 serial, mono in, stereo out, video
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 640 by 400 pixel passive matrix screen, 16 grays;
video out for up to 256 colors at 640 by 480 on an external display
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 2.25 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 8/93 till present
Features:
Powerbook 165c
Processor: M68030 33 MHz, M68882 FPU
Sysytem: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 131 1.0.3
RAM: 4-14 MB, 85 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, SCSI, 2 serial, mono in, stereo out, video
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 9", 256 color, passive matrix screen, 640 by 400 pixels;
video out for up to 256 colors at 640 by 480 on an external display
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, stereo speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: NiCad, 1.5 to 2 hours of usage, 3 hours recharge time
Size: 2.29 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 7.0 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.2 kg)
Sold: 2/93 till present
Features:
Powerbook 170
Processor: M68030 25 MHz, M68882 FPU
Sysytem: 7.0.1-7.5.1
RAM: 2-8 MB, 100 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, stereo out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: Black and White, active matrix
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, stereo speaker, mono microphone
Network: LocalTalk
Sold: 10/91 till 1994
Features:
Powerbook 180
Processor: M68030 33 MHz, M68882 FPU
Sysytem: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 131 1.0.3
RAM: 4-14 MB, 85 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, mono in, stereo out, video-out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 Modem slot
Video: built-in 10" active-matrix, 16 greys, 640 by 400 pixels, 77 dpi;
video out for up to 256 colors at 640 by 480 on an external display
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: NiCad, 2.5 to 3 hours of usage, 3 hours recharge time
Size: 2.25 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 10/19/92 till present
Features:
Powerbook 180c
Processor: M68030 33 MHz, M68882 FPU
Sysytem: 7.1-7.5.1, System Enabler 131 1.0.3
RAM: 4-14 MB, 85 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, 2 serial, SCSI, mono in, stereo out, video-out
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 10" active-matrix, 256 colors, 640 by 400 pixels, 77 dpi;
video out for up to 256 colors at 640 by 480 on an external display
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Nickel-cadmium, 1 to 2 hours of usage
Size: 2.25 x 11.25 x 9.3 in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 6/93 till present
Features:
Powerbook 190/66
Processor: M68LC040 33 MHz
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 4-40 MB, 70 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, stereo out, power adapter
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height, 1 IDE
Slots: 2 PC card slots for Two Type I or II or one Type III card
Video: built-in 9.5" passive matrix, 16 grays, 640 by 480 pixels,
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: one nickel-metal-hydride, 3 to 5 hours usage
Size: 2.2 x 11.5 x 8.5 in. in., 6.0 lbs. (5.3 x 29.2 x 21.6 cm, 2.7 kg)
Sold: 10/95 till present
Features: Trackpad
Powerbook 190cs/66
Processor: M68LC040 33 MHz
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 4-40 MB, 70 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, stereo out, power adapter
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height, 1 IDE
Slots: 2 PC card slots for Two Type I or II or one Type III card
Video: built-in 10.4" passive matrix, 256 colors, 640 by 480 pixels,
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: one nickel-metal-hydride, 2 to 4 hours usage
Size: 2.2 x 11.5 x 8.5 in. in., 6.3 lbs. (5.3 x 29.2 x 21.6 cm, 2.9 kg)
Sold: 10/95 till present
Features: Trackpad
Powerbook 520
Processor: M68LC040 25 MHz
System: 7.1.2-7.5.1, PowerBook 500 Series Enabler 1.0.2
RAM: 4-36 MB, 70 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, stereo in, stereo out, video-out, AAUI Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: modem slot, 68040 PDS slot, optional Type II/III PCMCIA adaptor
Video: built-in 9.5" passive-matrix, 16 grays, 640 by 480 pixels, 84 dpi;
video out for up to 256 colors at 832 by 624 on an external display
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: one or two nickel-metal-hydride, 2 to 3 hours usage per battery
Size: 2.25 x 11.5 x 9.65 in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 5/16/94 till present
Features: Trackpad
Powerbook 520c
Processor: M68LC040 25 MHz
System: 7.1.2-7.5.1, PowerBook 500 Series Enabler 1.0.2
RAM: 4-36 MB, 70 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, stereo in, stereo out, video-out, AAUI Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: modem slot, 68040 PDS slot, optional Type II/III PCMCIA adaptor
Video: built-in 9.5" passive-matrix, 256 colors, 640 by 480 pixels, 84 dpi;
video out for up to 256 colors at 832 by 624 on an external display
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: one or two nickel-metal-hydride, 2 to 3 hours usage per battery
Size: 11.5 x 9.65 x 2.25 inches, 6.8 lbs.
Sold: 5/16/94 till present
Features: Trackpad
Powerbook 540
Processor: M68LC040 33 MHz
System: 7.1.2-7.5.1, PowerBook 500 Series Enabler 1.0.2
RAM: 4-36 MB, 70 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, mono in, stereo out, video-out, AAUI Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: modem slot, 68040 PDS slot, optional Type II/III PCMCIA adaptor
Video: built-in 9.5" active-matrix, 64 grays, 640 by 480 pixels, 84 dpi;
video out for up to 256 colors at 832 by 624 on an external display
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: one or two nickel-metal-hydride, 2 to 3 hours usage per battery
Size: 2.25 x 11.5 x 9.65 in. in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 5/16/94 till present
Features: Trackpad
Powerbook 540c
Processor: M68LC040 33 MHz
System: 7.1.2-7.5.1, PowerBook 500 Series Enabler 1.0.2
RAM: 4-36 MB, 70 ns, 1 TSOP memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, stereo in, stereo out, video-out, AAUI Ethernet
Floppy: SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: modem slot, 68040 PDS slot, optional Type II/III PCMCIA adaptor
Video: built-in 9.5" active-matrix, 256 colors at 640 by 480 pixels,
32768 colors at 640 by 400 pixels, 84 dpi; video out for up to
256 colors at 832 by 624 on an external display
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, mono microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: one or two nickel-metal-hydride, 2 to 3 hours usage per battery
Size: 2.25 x 11.5 x 9.65 in. in., 6.8 lbs. (5.7 x 28.6 x 23.6 cm, 3.1 kg)
Sold: 5/16/94 till present
Features: Trackpad
Powerbook 5300/100
Processor: PPC 603e 100MHz
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 8-64 MB, 80 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, stereo in, stereo out, video-out, power adapter
Floppy: Removable SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height, IDE connector
Slots: Two Type I/II PCMCIA cards or one Type III card
Video: built-in 9.5" passive-matrix, 16 greys at 640 by 480 pixels,
video out for up to 256 colors at 832 by 624 on an external display
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, stereo microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Lithium Ion, 2 to 3 hours usage per battery
Size: 2.0 x 11.5 x 8.5 in. in., 5.9 lbs. (5.1 x 29.2 x 21.6 cm, 2.7 kg)
Sold: 9/13/95 till present
Features: Trackpad, IRAD
Powerbook 5300cs/100
Processor: PPC 603e 100MHz
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 8-64 MB, 80 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, stereo in, stereo out, video-out, power adapter
Floppy: Removable SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height, IDE connector
Slots: Two Type I/II PCMCIA cards or one Type III card
Video: built-in 10.4" dual-scan, 256 colors at 640 by 480 pixels,
video out for up to 256 colors at 832 by 624 on an external display
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, stereo microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Lithium Ion, 2 to 3 hours usage per battery
Size: 2.2 x 11.5 x 8.5 in. in., 6.2 lbs. (5.6 x 29.2 x 21.6 cm, 2.8 kg)
Sold: 9/13/95 till present
Features: Trackpad, IRAD
Powerbook 5300c/100
Processor: PPC 603e 100MHz
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 8-64 MB, 80 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, stereo in, stereo out, video-out, power adapter
Floppy: Removable SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height, IDE connector
Slots: Two Type I/II PCMCIA cards or one Type III card
Video: built-in 10.4" active-matrix, 256-32,768 colors at
640 by 480 pixels, 512K-1MB VRAM, video out for up to
256 colors at 832 by 624 on an external display
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, stereo microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Lithium Ion, 2 to 3 hours usage per battery
Size: 2.2 x 11.5 x 8.5 in. in., 6.2 lbs. (5.6 x 29.2 x 21.6 cm, 2.8 kg)
Sold: 9/13/95 till present
Features: Trackpad, IRAD
Powerbook 5300ce/117
Processor: PPC 603e 117MHz
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 16-64 MB, 80 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: ADB, serial, SCSI, stereo in, stereo out, video-out, power adapter
Floppy: Removable SuperDrive
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height, IDE connector
Slots: Two Type I/II PCMCIA cards or one Type III card
Video: built-in 10.4" active-matrix, 32,768 colors at 800 by 600 pixels,
video out for up to 256 colors at 832 by 624 on an external display
Audio: 16-bit, 44 KHz, stereo microphone, stereo speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Lithium Ion, 2 to 3 hours usage per battery
Size: 2.2 x 11.5 x 8.5 in. in., 6.2 lbs. (5.6 x 29.2 x 21.6 cm, 2.8 kg)
Sold: 9/13/95 till present
Features: Trackpad, IRAD
Duo 210
Processor: M68030 25 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, PowerBook Duo Enabler 1.0
RAM: 4-24 MB, 85 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: Serial Port, 152 pin PDS (for docking station)
Floppy: None
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 9" passive-matrix 16 greys screen, 640 by 400 pixels, 85 dpi
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Nickel hydride, 2 to 4 hours of usage
Size: 8.5 x 10.9 x 1.4 in., 4.2 lbs. (21.6 x 27.7 x 3.6 cm, 1.9 kg)
Sold: 10/92 till present
Features: External floppy drives and docking stations sold separately.
Duo 230
Processor: M68030 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, PowerBook Duo Enabler 1.0
RAM: 4-24 MB, 85 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: Serial Port, 152 pin PDS (for docking station)
Floppy: None
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 9" passive-matrix screen, 16 greys, 640 by 400 pixels, 85 dpi
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Size: 8.5 x 10.9 x 1.4 in., 4.2 lbs. (21.6 x 27.7 x 3.6 cm, 1.9 kg)
Sold: 10/92 till present
Features: External floppy drives and docking stations sold separately.
Duo 250
Processor: M68030 33 MHz
System: 7.1-7.5.1, PowerBook Duo Enabler 1.0
RAM: 4-24 MB, 85 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: Serial Port, 152 pin PDS (for docking station)
Floppy: None
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 9" active-matrix 640 by 400 pixels, 85 dpi
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Type II nickel metal hydride battery.
Size: 1.5 x 10.9 x 8.5 in., 4.2 lbs. (3.8 x 27.7 x 21.6 cm, 2.2 kg)
Sold: 10/93 till present
Features: External floppy drive and docking stations sold separately.
Duo 270c
Processor: M68030 33 MHz, M68882 FPU
System: 7.1-7.5.1, PowerBook Duo Enabler 1.0
RAM: 4-32 MB, 85 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: Serial Port, 152 pin PDS (for docking station)
Floppy: None
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 8.4 inch, 93 dpi, active matrix screen; 256 colors at
640 by 480 pixels, 32768 colors at 640 by 400 pixels
Audio: 8-bit, 11 or 22 KHz, mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Type II nickel metal hydride battery, 2 to 4 hours usage
Size: 1.5 x 10.9 x 8.5 in., 4.2 lbs. (3.8 x 27.7 x 21.6 cm, 2.2 kg)
Sold: 10/93 till present
Features: External floppy drive and docking stations sold separately.
Duo 280
Processor: M68LC040 33 MHz
System: 7.1.1-7.5.1, PowerBook Duo Enabler 2.0
RAM: 4-40 MB, 70 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: Serial Port, 152 pin PDS (for docking station)
Floppy: None
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 9" passive-matrix 64 greys screen, 640 by 400 pixels, 84 dpi
Audio: 8-bit, 44 KHz, mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Type II Nickel-metal-hydride, 2.5 to 4 hours of usage
Size: 8.5 x 10.9 x 1.4 in., 4.2 lbs. (21.6 x 27.7 x 3.6 cm, 1.9 kg)
Sold: 5/94 till present
Features: External floppy drives and docking stations sold separately.
Duo 280c
Processor: M68LC040 33 MHz
System: 7.1.1-7.5.1, PowerBook Duo Enabler 2.0
RAM: 4-40 MB, 70 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: Serial Port, 152 pin PDS (for docking station)
Floppy: None
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 8.4 inch, 93 dpi, active matrix screen; 256 colors at
640 by 480 pixels, 32768 colors at 640 by 400 pixels
Audio: 8-bit, 44 KHz, mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Type III Nickel-metal-hydride, 2 to 3 hours of usage
Size: 8.5 x 10.9 x 1.4 in., 4.8 lbs. (21.6 x 27.7 x 3.6 cm, 1.9 kg)
Sold: 5/94 till present
Features: External floppy drives and docking stations sold separately.
Duo 2300c100
Processor: PPC 603e 100 MHz
System: 7.5.2
RAM: 8-56 MB, 80 ns, 1 memory slot
ROM: 1 MB
Ports: Serial Port, 152 pin PDS (for docking station), power adapter
Floppy: None
Bays: 1 2.5" third-height
Slots: 1 modem slot
Video: built-in 9.5 inch, 93 dpi, active matrix screen; 256 colors at
640 by 480 pixels, 32768 colors at 640 by 400 pixels
Audio: 8-bit, 44 KHz, mono microphone, mono speaker
Network: LocalTalk
Battery: Type III Nickel-metal-hydride, 2 to 4 hours of usage
Size: 8.5 x 10.9 x 1.5 in., 4.8 lbs. (21.6 x 27.7 x 3.8 cm, 1.9 kg)
Sold: 10/95 till present
Features: External floppy drives and docking stations sold separately.
Trackpad
--
Elliotte Rusty Harold
elh...@shock.njit.edu