Web Sites for Troubleshooting Mac Problems-report
Bill B. Johnson
updated Sept 1998. I post this in three mac related
newsgroups the first week of every month.
I suggest that you make a copy of this article
and keep it near your Macintosh.
POWER MACINTOSH EMERGENGY HANDBOOK
You can download this 62 page book at this web site:
ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/Apple.Support.Area/Manuals/PMac_Emergency_Handbook.pdf.
MacFixIt
Go to this web site: http://www.macfixit.com/
Look for the words near the top of the first screen that say: "MacFixIt
Reports".
Click on "MacFixIt Reports".
There are about one dozen separate MacFixIt troubleshooting reports on the list.
Find the ones that you need and download them. I suggest that you download
troubleshooting
reports in case you have a major crash that prevents you from going on line
and reading the reports. I also suggest that you place all of the
troubleshooting
reports in a notebook and keep the notebook near your computer. Place a
copy of this report that you are now reading in the same notebook.
TROUBLESHOOTING SYSTEM ERRORS ON THE MACINTOSH
I found this web site at the following URL:
http://www.adobe.com/supportservice/custsupport/TECHGUIDE/MACSYS/main.html
Make a bookmark of this web site ASAP.
Mac-related Stuff
This is an excellent web site that you should bookmark. It contains the names of
at least 10 or more mac-related web sites and many of them are related to
troubleshooting macs or mac-related magazines and software. You should
bookmark it.
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/russ/mac.html
More Mac-related Stuff
This site is similar to the one mentioned directly above. However, I was
impressed with the fancy way that the site was organized. The webmaster
who designed the site is a real pro. This site has lots of great mac
related links. I suggest that you bookmark it. URL:
http://www.macaddictnetwork.com/today.html
Mac Answers web site offers free tech support by e-mail. Here's the URL:
http://www.macanswers. com/
ASK JEEVES is a web site that will help you find things you can't find making
use of Yahoo and other search engines. It's the fastest and easiest way to
find answers on the web. Here's the URL: http://www.askjeeves.com/
MacAlliance is a web site that features a team of the best known names in the
Macintosh community. The site will provide troubleshooting help and more:
http://www.macalliance.com/
ERROR CODES
Many readers of Macintosh related newsgroups see posts on a regular
basis asking for help in understanding what various error codes mean.
I suggest that you download APPLE ERROR CODES. After you download
it, make copies and place them in a notebook just in case you can't get
your mac to start or get on the web because of a error. Keep the
notebook near your Macintosh. Here's the URL where you can download
APPLE ERROR CODES:
http://members.aol.com/raymeow/AEC.sit.hqx
BATTERY PROBLEM?
If you have intermittent problems starting your mac and the date suddenly
becomes 1956, it means you need to exchange the battery inside your mac.
I found a web site devoted to the macintosh battery. It tells you how to
change the battery and lots more info. about batteries on almost every
macintosh ever made. Here's the URL
http://www.academ.com/info/macintosh/
SCSI PROBLEMS or SCSI CHAIN PROBLEMS
APS Technologies sells a device (called SCSI Sentry) that will make your
SCSI Problems go away. The device monitors your SCSI chain and will
fix errors as they occur. Here's the URL:
http://www.apstech.com
RAM PROBLEMS or RAM QUESTIONS
GURU is the industry standard tool for determining all possible memory
upgrades for Macs, Clones and Powerbooks. It is a standalone program that
runs on 68k and PPC Macs. The URL for downloading this shareware program is:
http://www.newerram.com/guru.html
Mac Memory Explained and other surprises: Here's the URL:
http://macsupport.miningco.com/library/weekly/mcurrent.htm
OFFICIAL APPLE SUPPORT RE: WEB SITES
Software Updates: http://www.info.apple.com/swupdates/
Tech Info Library: http://www.info.apple.com/til/
Tech Exchange: http://www.info.apple.com/te/
Basic Troubleshooting: http://www.info.apple.com/basictroubleshooting/
Support Options: http://www.info.apple.com/supportoptions/
Feedback: http://www.info.apple.com/feedback/
Apple Support Services
http://www.apple.com/support/
step 1: Look for these words: "Technical Support For..."
step 2: click on the words "choose your distination"
step 3: choose the first option which is "Basic Troubleshooting"
step 4: choose any of the options that apply to your specific mac.
MAC HELP
Go to this web site:
http://www.interactivepages.com/
Click on the words "Mac Help". It takes a while for the first screen to load.
Shareware
Macintosh Shareware Top Ten: <http://swtopten.magnet.at/>
Shareware Download library <www.macfixit.pair.com/library.shtml>
MacWorld (magazine) <www.macworld.com>
MacAddict (magazine) <www.macaddict.com>
I suggest that you purchase at least one copy of MacAddict magazine.
The magazine comes with a free CD that has lots of great shareware programs
and trial versions of various programs.
DO YOU HAVE AN OLD MAC?
If you have an old mac such a MacPlus or a Mac SE, MacAddict <www.macaddict.com>
has a section of their web site labelled, "This OLD Mac".
Update: It might now be called "OLD MAC" . Once you find the report on
your particular old mac, make a copy of it and keep it near your computer.
MacAddict is my favorite mac related
magazine.
If you have an old mac and want an old version of Netscape that is
much smaller in size (needs much less RAM
as a result), go to to this web site:
<ftp://archive:old...@archive.netscape.com/archive/index.html>
Do you need products for your old mac? Call 1-800-821-3221 and
order a catalog from Sun Remarketing or
visit their web site at: www.sunrem.com
It's a company that specializes in old macs and parts and supplies for old
macs.
Newsgroups
http://www.liszt.com/news/
Even if you have a newsreader such as MT-NewsWatcher, it's a good idea
to bookmark this web site. I say this because you can use it to get a
list of newsgroups on any subject such as Macintosh or Apple. The
list you get is every newsgroup that has the word in it.
When was your mac manufactured? (This is secret info. that Apple does not
want you to know.)
Want to find out when your Macintosh computer, peripheral, or darn near
anything made by Apple was manufactured? We've got the secret code to
decipher when something was manufactured. Look at the serial number of the
Apple product to find this out. The third number in an Apple serial number
is the year a product was manufactured. (ie. if the Serial number is
NN428TYN33G, the number 4 stands for the year the product is
manufactured). The next two number of the serial number are the week of
the year the product was manufactured. (In the serial number listed above,
the product was manufactured in the 28th week (June 24-30) of 1994.
Note: The above info. was posted on a mac related website for one day but
someone at Apple, Inc.
contacted the webmaster at the web site and told them to remove the
information. The person
from Apple would not give the reason but it's probably because they were
concerned that people
whom purchased Macintosh computers might demand the return of their money
from Apple
if they determined from the serial numbers that their so called new
computers were actually a year or more older than the customer expected
the computer to be.
Performa Information: http://www.yetanother.com/performa/
Focus on Mac Support: http://macsupport.miningco.com
Macintosh Virus Information: www.macvirus.com
Web Tip: Have you ever experienced what is known as a freeze, crash or
mouse freeze
while visiting a web site. This is frustrating especially if it's a web
site that your really want
to explore in great detail. I discovered a solution to the problem that
usually (but not always)
will help you explore such a site in great detail without experiencing a
freeze or crash. It
involves revisiting the site and watching the bottom of the screen as you
navigate the
various pages that are part of the site. The messages at the bottom of the
screen will tell
you details about what's going on regarding the loading of the various
pages. These are the
words you should wait for until going to the next page of the site:
DOCUMENT: DONE.
You might see other words that mean the same thing depending on the type
of browser.
However, these are words that are usually used by Netscape to let you know
that all of
the information for the page has successfully been loaded and is now ready
for viewing. After
you see these words, proceed to the next page. You don't need to use this
tip on most web
sites but you will need to use it on those web sites that cause your mac
to freeze or crash.
This tip does not always work on web sites that have serious bugs but it
usually works
on web sites that only have minor bugs or were poorly designed.
If you want to post the above URL's as LINKS in your personal web site or
any portion of this report as a part of your personal web site, you
have my permission to do so. This is Public Domain information and you
can use it for free and don't even need to give me credit. I'm used to not
getting credit for the things I do but that does not stop me from helping
people.
I post this report the first week of every month in
three different mac related newsgroups. If you want to
copy and paste it in newsgroups on a more frequent
basis, you have my permission to do so.
--
If you wish to send me e-mail, delete
the word NoSPAM from my e-mail address.