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Troubleshooting

Bluets and Granola Bars message: solved

Several readers came through with the explanation for the appearance of this strange message ( as mentioned yesterday). The phrase "Bluets and Granola Bars" can be found (by using ResEdit) in the System file's DSAT 0 resource; it's where the phrase "Welcome to Macintosh" used to be. There is an additional phrase there that says "make a chewy snack," although this does not appear on the screen with the Granola phrase. You can also see the message (more easily) by using the utility, Errditor, which displays System file messages.

The message is surely … Read more

Weird 'Bluets and Granola Bars' Easter egg(?) and Mac OS 7.6

Paul D. Hitchcox reports on a strange Easter Egg of sorts that appears to be linked to having Apple's 24AC video card installed and running Mac OS 7.6. He claims that if a startup screen file is placed in the System Folder, and the PRAM zapped, the screen becomes monochrome and the system crashes, but only after a window with the words "Bluets and Granola Bars" first appears! It did not happen in System 7.5.5.

Update: Several readers have now confirmed this weirdness, including some that have fairly plain vanilla systems (without the 24AC … Read more

MS Word 6 and Mac OS 7.6

Three readers have now reported problems with MS Word 6.0.1 and Mac OS 7.6. In two cases, the program crashed on launch (Type 3 error typically). In the third case, a crash occurred as soon as any menu was accessed. The problems did not occur in System 7.5.x. In one case, where the reader (Gregory Lawhorn) was using Hard Disk Toolkit, updating to the latest version of the disk driver solved the problem. Another reader contacted Microsoft, who told her it was Apple's problem.

Update: David Werblo (one of the readers to first report … Read more

EtherRX PCI Card and Mac OS 7.6

A reader writes that when he installed a EtherRX PCI Card in his Power Mac 4400 and switched from 7.5.5 to 7.6, he could not longer make TCP/IP connections (although AppleTalk still worked). Kingston reportedly confirmed the problem, "but they have no solution nor a bug fix nor planned release date of a bug fix."

AT&T WorldNet and Mac OS 7.6

Dan Boone writes that he could not access AT&T WorldNet after installing Mac OS 7.6. He contacted AT&T tech service and was told that the software "will not work with 7.6." Furthermore, they do not know when, or if, this problem will be resolved, but they are logging Mac calls to assess the situation.

Update: Many readers report having no problem accessing WorldNet with Mac OS 7.6. Most are not using AT&T's "official" software (such as the version of FreePPP that comes from AT&T). … Read more

Finder Scripting Extension and Mac OS 7.6

Three readers (Jeff Gilbert, Steve Jones and Jason Pellerin) have all reported a problem with the Finder Scripting Extension included with Mac OS 7.6. The symptom is a crash at startup attributable to this extension.

Most users now report that deleting the Finder Preferences file fixes this problem (see also item in Troubleshooting Mac OS 7.6).

Note: As is often the case, not all 7.6 users have this problem. Also, note that disabling Finder Scripting Extension can have its own problems (leading to multiple desktop printers appearing on your desktop, as reported on this page several months … Read more

Connectix products and conflicts with Mac OS 7.6

Several readers (including Gabe Anderson, Alan Barta and Aaron Marasco) alerted me to problems with Connectix Desktop Utilities (CDU) and Mac OS 7.6. Connectix has acknowledged this problem, which it says extends to Connectix PowerBook Utilities (CPU) as well. The following statement is on their web site:

"All versions of CDU and CPU are incompatible with Mac OS 7.6. The symptoms of the incompatibility are cosmetic: garbled video in the menu bar, windows, and dialog boxes. Because there are no work-arounds for this incompatibility, users of MacOS 7.6 need to remove or otherwise disable CDU/CPU. … Read more

Adobe Type Manager 4.0 problems

a. Michael R. Young reports that, when he tried to install the new ATM Deluxe, he got an "invalid serial number" message. He writes: "I called Adobe yesterday, and finally got through to a tech support person who said there is a serial number issue with a batch of ATM Deluxe. She asked where I purchased it, saying they were trying to track the problem. She promised to call me back within a day with a working serial number."

Update: Ronald Bruck says that this problem may be limited to the educational version of ATM, not … Read more