We've got a stumper here. Bought two identical iMac Indigos (500 mhz) used. One is a thing of beauty; the other hangs shortly after booting every time, just as soon as you move the mouse.
Here are the specs:
Indigo 500 mhz
128 mb ram
8 gb HD
CDRW
MacOS 9.1
I tried swapping different memory into it; that had no effect. Booting without extensions gets you a little farther; you can move the mouse and click on something before the machine hangs. It seems that Finder is unexpectedly quitting.
It came installed with 9.1. We tried to reinstall 9.1 but apparently we have an incompatible install disk (this was a known problem among the various iMac flavors and speeds).
The first time it came up it was OK. I installed some UMAX scanner s/w on it and it has been all downhill since then. We have laboriously removed every vestige (we think) of the UMAX crap but the problem persists.
posted on May 14, 2004 04:42:32 PM new
If your machine has a SCSI buss, it sounds like you may have two devices set to the same address. Check the address on that scanner. Also, if there has ever been HP scanner drivers installed on that machine, the Umax software will cause that problem. You can go to the HP site and search around the troubleshooting section and find the name of the specific Umax file that remains behind after an uninstall and causes the problem.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on May 14, 2004 06:19:36 PM new
This sounds like a similar problem to the one that inspired me to replace a $5 battery with a new $3500 computer. Try switching the batteries between the two and seeing if that helps at all. Since you already have one at your disposal certainly can't hurt to try.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on May 14, 2004 08:51:05 PM new
I'm a bit rusty on 9, but let's see, hmmmm...
Have you tried zapping the PRAM and rebuilding the desktop? That's the first thing to do when these pesky 9 problems rear their heads.
Rebuild the Desktop:
1. Shut down
2. Restart holding down command and option keys together until the computer boots.
3. You'll get a prompt asking if you're sure you want to rebuild the desktop, say yes.
4. It'll take a few minutes.
PRAM reset:
1. Shut down
2. Find the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. Figure out a comfortable hand position, as you'll have to hold down these keys together in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Quickly press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. Youhave to press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time. You can try this again, I sometimes hold for 3 or 4 restart chimes
6. Release the keys and let the machine boot.
You might have an extension conflict. Try booting while holding down the shift key....it'll boot with no extensions loaded.....then , in the extensions manager control panel, set the extensions to a base OS 9 set....reboot.....set it back to the set used when it locks and turn off the the extensions/INITs not needed.
If these don't work, I'd consider doing a system reinstall. In fact, I'd do it as a matter of course on a used machine. I have Macs donated to school all the time and the first thing they get is a fresh OS install.Assuming you got the 9.1 disks with the computer. Afterward, I'd strongly suggest upgrading to 9.2.2, and then to OS X as soon as you can. You won't have these annoyances with Panther.
If this doesn't help, I'll think a bit harder
___________________________________
When a dog howls at the moon, we call it religion. When he barks at strangers, we call it patriotism. - Edward Abbey
posted on May 15, 2004 04:05:55 AM newfluffythewondercat,
We've got a stumper here. Bought two identical iMac Indigos (500 mhz) used. One is a thing of beauty; the other hangs shortly after booting every time, just as soon as you move the mouse.
I tried swapping different memory into it; that had no effect. Booting without extensions gets you a little farther; you can move the mouse and click on something before the machine hangs. It seems that Finder is unexpectedly quitting.
Easy to fix.
First you should disconnect the UMAX scanner and see if the problem vanishes i.e. could be a USB problem.
If not, you need to get a bootable Mac OS 9.x CD-ROM (you should find a 9.2.2 included with the OS X upgrade you bought recently) and use this to boot the 'possessed' iMac so you can exorsize the UMAX 'demons'. If it boots okay and doesn't freeze - checking by launching a few applications - then the problem was a flaky/damaged System. If you hold down the space bar at startup - you can select 'Mac OS 9.x All' which will disable third party extensions like UMAX - as a temporary fix. You might want to do a clean install of 9.2.2 which will restore your Indigo to Apple 'Factory Fresh' standard (including bug fixes).
If it's still crashing then it may be hardware related - you'll need to find an iMac Indigo Mac Hardware Test CD and run the tests.
Also suggest you do a system backup using the handy CD-RW, then check the UMAX website for 9.x and OS X updates before reinstalling the UMAX software again...
Panther (10.3) didn't come with a 9.2.2 CD, or any System 9 CD...at least mine didn't. The install notes say to use the install CD that came with your computer. Gee, thanks, Apple!
We did the zap PRAM/rebuild desktop thang and that helped a little...it took a bit longer for the machine to hang on subsequent reboots.
Finally at 4 am this morning I decided what the hey and installed Panther. I've rebooted it a couple of times since, and all seems well. I guess I will have to invest the $49 to get OS X drivers for the label writers.
Fixing indigo2 was one of my two major repair tasks for the weekend...thanks, guys! Now I get to take apart a G3 Series PowerBook (Wall Street) to see why it can't find its disk when it tries to boot.
I'll see if I can snap a picture of the iMac listing farm this weekend and post it here. It's really pretty with the jeweltone iMacs.
posted on May 17, 2004 11:09:59 AM new
I have a regular old fashioned mouse pad. my desk top is to slick apparently and a sheet of paper gets a bit dingy not to mention doodled all over too. I have an old cloth top flexi pad that from my old company that works great and I can stick it under the faucet when it get too grungy.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on May 17, 2004 11:38:01 AM new
At some point in the distant past when I still had an Amiga (Darn I loved that machine!) I mentioned that dinky mouse pads were too small for comfortable drawing with a mouse. Someone told me to get an office machine pad. Glory be if they are not just giant cloth covered mouse pads! I keep my G3 on a folding table so there is room for a 13 3/4 X 17 1/2 inch pad. My optical Apple mouse works fine on it and it the mouse movement seems much less restricted to me with the big pad.
Look forward to the listing farm pictures.
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The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on May 17, 2004 07:53:38 PM new
I use a Wacom graphics tablet that has a wireless 2 button mouse, the other macs on the place use the stock mouse and one even has the old hockey puck round one. I like my tablet, but the other mice don't bother me, except for the lack of a scroll wheel.
___________________________________
When a dog howls at the moon, we call it religion. When he barks at strangers, we call it patriotism. - Edward Abbey
posted on May 17, 2004 09:10:16 PM new
I think we need to find proper mouse pads.
I did a test run on the listing farm today, using only three machines (since I had no more LabelWriters). I listed 48 auctions in 1 hour 40 minutes. That is a personal best by far. Since previously I had trouble doing as many as 12 an hour, I'm pretty psyched. I can see a day not far off when 100 auctions will be a couple hours' work.
And I'm completely sold on Safari, the browser we've all been waiting for.
We don't use any auction management software at all. I tried AID in the long-ago days (version 2.x, maybe) but it didn't do it for me.
I audit inventory completely every 5 days, checking each item to make sure payment is on the way or that it has been paid for and needs shipping. I've found that sending out reminders blindly (which most auction mgmt s/w does, I think) tends to tick off people who think you haven't read their email. The audit also insures that unsolds are dealt with promptly.
I don't have a one-widget-in, one-widget-out business so automating inventory control doesn't make much sense for me.
We have our own proprietary s/w that sends out EOAs. I pay vrane to do feedbacks.
posted on May 18, 2004 03:34:47 AM new
As a Mac user myself (although admittedly a rather low volume seller) I haven't yet seen the auction software of my dreams. I get the impression the best situation for now is to "roll my own" custom software, and/or use web based services.
The one program I think is excellent is Swordfish - the free version. I can't see springing for the $19.95 a month version that hooks up to Endicia (for both their insurance and postage services) but maybe some can. Both versions at buyolympia.com.
As far as the iMac, I wholeheartedly recommend going with OS X. All the way. Initially it wasn't so hot, but now I'm quite satisfied.
Yahoo ID: grantje
