Discovering that your Macintosh has a problem can be a scary (if not humbling) experience. The Macintosh has long been branded and sold as ‘the most user-friendly’ computer on the market; a title which many novice Mac users have interpreted to mean that the Macintosh is somehow immune  to technical problems which beguile MS-DOS and Windows users. When confronted with a significant problem, many Mac users are lost—without knowledge of how to diagnose and correct the problems that plague their Macintoshes.

This month MacSense presents a nine-step how-to report, to help you troubleshoot and fix many basic problems your Macintosh may encounter. While we cannot guarantee that following our suggestions will be a cure-all for your Mac (and we advise you to proceed at your own risk), our nine basic steps to Mac Happiness can help familiarize you with the process undertaken by many technicians to rectify basic Macintosh technical problems.

 
Obvious hardware problems are the easiest to diagnose and will require you to visit an authorized service provider. Such problems include:

      When you turn on your Macintosh, nothing happens. You do not hear the fan, 
         spinning of the hard drive or see anything appear on the screen. Diagnosis:
         usually a defective power supply (in desktop Macs). We’ve assumed your
         Macintosh is plugged in!

       Your Macintosh consistently fails to start-up, giving you the “sad Mac” icon on
         a black background in conjunction with a foreboding chime. Diagnosis: you 
         either have defective RAM, a defective logic board, or improper SCSI config- 
         uration (i.e, your hard drives and other devices connected to your SCSI chain
         have improper termination or conflicting SCSI IDs. See your manual for
         details).

      Your Macintosh display is improperly colored or the image is out of focus. 
         Diagnosis: your display requires internal adjustment (by a technician); in 
         extreme cases, your display may need replacing.

      Your floppy drive won’t read any floppies. Diagnosis: your floppy drive has died 
         (it happens). Also: the floppy drive on older Macs (Pluses, SE’s and some Mac 
         II’s) can only use 400k and 800k disks. Make sure you are not trying to feed 
         these machines 1440k disks.

      A number of keys on your keyboard are not responding when pressed, or are 
         responding intermittently. Diagnosis: your keyboard has simply failed due to 
         extended use, or you have spilled something on it.

      Loud noises: your Macintosh should never be excessively loud. If you hear odd, 
         high-pitched, or loud noises coming from your Macintosh (that are not from the
         speaker), take it to a technician. It is important to note you will hear both your 
         floppy drive and hard drive reading and writing, and this is no cause for alarm. 
         If either of your drives suddenly sound like a buzzsaw or small propeller 
         aircraft, something is very wrong.

      There are a number of other problems you may have to speak with an authorized 
         service provider about, such as: your mouse will not “click” anymore; sound 
         from your machine is intermittent; your PowerBook batteries do no appear to
         be holding a charge (this will happen after extended use; if you’ve only had your 
         PowerBook a short time, see a technician); your CD-ROM will not read disks; 
         etc.

 
Most of the problems you are likely to encounter with your Macintosh will be software-based. You may be experiencing software problems if you encounter any of the following:

      Your Macintosh will not install and/or run an application.
      You consistently get the message “The application unexpectedly quit…” when 
         using a certain application.
      Your Macintosh has a tendency to ‘freeze’ when using certain programs.
      Your Macintosh consistently presents you with the dreaded “bomb” dialog box.
      Your Macintosh takes forever to start-up…or at least a lot longer than you
         remember it.
      General and noticeable odd behavior: funny sounds at odd times, unusual 
         slow-downs, consistent crashing.

The next seven steps will help you troubleshoot your way through a variety of problems. Please remember that our suggestions and recommendations are general prescriptions  and may not solve all your problems. If you are in doubt, contact an authorized service provider.

(If your Macintosh fails to start up, displaying a disk icon with a blinking question mark, skip directly to Step 5.)

 
This is the first step you must take to diagnose a software-based problem. From time to time, your Macintosh may have been exposed to a computer virus. This can sometimes happen if you have obtained software via your modem or from the disks of an acquaintance. (Please note that major online services check all software for viruses before making it available for download; additionally, manufacturer’s installer disks are not likely to contain viruses.) If you run an infected application on your Macintosh, you will likely spread the virus within your computer. 

The simplest way to address a virus problem is to routinely use a virus checker as preventative maintenance. Commercial programs are a good choice, such as SAM (Symantec Anti-virus for the Macintosh), but freeware programs such as Disinfectant will certainly do the job (Disinfectant is available from most online services). You should scan for viruses at least once a month, especially if you suspect you may have been exposed to one.

If your Macintosh is behaving erratically, you may already have a virus. If you can start-up your Macintosh, you may be able to successfully run a virus-checker from your hard drive. We recommend running the virus checker from floppy, however, to ensure that the copy of the virus-checker you are using is not itself infected. If you Macintosh does not start-up (i.e., it displays a disk icon with a blinking question mark), you’ll need to start your Macintosh with a floppy and run the virus checker (see Step 5 for more details).

If the anti-virus software is successful at eradicating a virus on your Macintosh, you should restart your computer and experiment to see if there is a noticeable difference in your Mac’s behavior. If the software was not successful in getting rid of a virus, take your Macintosh to an authorized service provider.

 
You will sometimes encounter software which has specific hardware requirements; installing this software on machines without such requirements can cause abnormal behavior (or can cause the install to fail). You should answer the following questions when troubleshooting:

      Does the software require a PowerPC-based Macintosh? Or a 68040-based 
         Macintosh (Quadra, Centris, etc.)?
      Could the software be incompatible with a PowerPC-based Macintosh? Or a 
         68040-based Macintosh?
      Does the software require a math coprocessor (FPU)? Do I have a math
         coprocessor?
      Do I need more RAM?
      Do I need more hard drive space?

Often times, this information can be obtained from the literature that came with your Macintosh and the information printed on the side of the software packaging. If you discover that the software you are attempting to use is incompatible with your Macintosh, you have successfully diagnosed your problem. You may want to contact the software manufacturer to see if there is a work-around to help get the application up and running on your Mac. For applications that specifically require a math coprocessor, you can install SoftFPU, a shareware control panel which fools the Macintosh into believing there is an FPU present. Unfortunately, SoftFPU does not work with 100% efficiency, and is incompatible with some 68040 Macintoshes. SoftFPU can be obtained from most online-services.

 
In much the same way as some applications require specific hardware, some applications require specific software. Additionally, some extensions and control panels installed by various applications and utility software may conflict with each other, and cause your Macintosh to crash intermittently or applications to unexpectedly quit. You should answer the following question when trying to diagnose your problem:

      Does the software require System 6.0.7? 7.0? 7.1? 7.5? Some software is
         specifically written for a certain level of system software, and will not function
         properly unless that level of system software is installed.

      Could the software be incompatible with System 6.0.7? 7.0? 7.1? 7.5?

      Does your Macintosh crash during start-up? If it does, it is likely you have
         extension and/or control panel conflicts. If you can start-up your machine by 
         holding down the “shift” key (this will turn all extensions off), then you will 
         know with certainly an extension is causing the problem. To determine which 
         extension is causing your problem, follow these instructions:

           Start-up your Macintosh holding down the “shift” key.

           Remove all non-Apple control panels and extensions from your Control Panel 
              and Extensions folders, within your System Folder, and restart your Mac.

           If your Macintosh start-up was successful, add approximately five     
              extensions/control panels back to their original locations in your System 
              Folder, and restart your Macintosh. Continue to do this until your Macintosh 
              crashes again at start-up. When this occurs, you will know that one of the 
              most recent five extensions/control panels you added to your System Folder 
              is causing your problem. 

           Reboot holding down the “shift” key, and remove those five extensions/ 
              control panels you had recently added to your System Folder. You can then 
              proceed to add these extensions/control panels one by one to your System 
              Folder, rebooting each time. When your Macintosh crashes again, you will 
              know with certainty that the last extension or control panel you added to your 
              System Folder has been causing your problems. 

           Simply remove this extension or control panel and reboot your Macintosh. 

           If you absolutely require it, you may want to check for the latest version of 
              the offending extension/control panel on various online services or by 
              contacting the manufacturer.

      Are extension/control panel conflicts causing your applications to behave 
         erratically? Some software (such as Microsoft Word 6.0) may have problems 
         operating when certain extensions or control panels are loaded. To determine if 
         an extension or control panel is causing your problem within an application, 
         start-up your Macintosh by holding the “shift” key down (to turn off all 
         extensions). You can then go into your application and try the same sequence of 
         events known to cause your problem. If your application appears to work fine, 
         you will know with certainty that you have a conflict with an extension or 
         control panel. Repeat the same process outlined above in “Does your Macintosh 
         crash during start-up?”, trying the application each time you restart your 
         Macintosh to determine which extension or control panel is misbehaving.

      Are there known incompatibilities between the application and other software 
         you own? Some software will have 'known' incompatibilities with other 
         software you may be using. A 'known' incompatibility is an incompatibility 
         acknowledged by the manufacturer. For instance, when After Dark 3.0 was 
         released, it had a 'known' incompatibility with Norton FileSaver. When both 
         control panels were loaded, After Dark 3.0 would not properly activate itself. 
         (The problem was corrected with After Dark 3.0b. A 3.0 to 3.0b updater is 
         available from many online services). If you discover you are experiencing a 
         'known' incompatibility, you should contact the manufacturer to determine 
         when a software patch or updater is (or will be) available.

 
If none of the above suggestions have been able to explain the odd behavior of your Macintosh, you may have hard disk problems. You should use either Norton Utilities or MacTools Pro to check and repair your hard drive. These maintenance applications are a must for every Mac owner—and you should get into the habit of checking your hard drive for problems at least once a month. If left unattended, small and relatively non-serious problems with your hard drive can accumulate and mutate over time and lead to a major crash of your hard drive, causing you to lose valuable data. Regular preventative maintenance can help to avoid such problems.

Norton Disk Doctor and MacTools Pro will examine various aspects of your hard drive, to make sure everything is in order. If they determine that you do have problems, they will attempt to fix them. (Note: You should run these programs TWICE to ensure that all problems have been cleared up.) If these programs cannot repair your hard drive problems, you should take your Macintosh to a technician as soon as possible.

If your Macintosh will not start-up, and your display has a disk icon with a flashing question mark in it, you have one of three problems: 

      Your Macintosh cannot locate suitable system software on the hard drive. In this 
         case, you can reinstall your system software (skip to Step 7 for more details). 

      Your Macintosh does not recognize your hard drive. To verify this, you can 
         start-up your Macintosh using a the latest ‘Disk Tools’ disk you have. If your 
         hard-drive icon does not appear in the Finder, you will need to reboot your Mac 
         using a Norton Utilities or MacTools Pro emergency disk. If Norton Utilities or 
         MacTools cannot fix your hard drive problems, or cannot “see” your hard 
         drive, you should rush your Macintosh to an authorized service provider as soon 
         as possible. Please note that if Norton Disk Doctor or MacTools Pro does correct 
         all your hard drive problems, you may still have to reinstall your system 
         software.

      Your Macintosh has a virus which has corrupted your system software on your 
         hard drive, consequently causing your Macintosh to be unable to locate suitable 
         system software for start-up. You will need to restart your Macintosh using a 
         floppy (such as Disk Tools), and run a virus-checker. If you do not have anti- 
         virus software on your hard disk, you will need to start-up your Macintosh 
         with a floppy which also contains anti-virus software (such as a SAM emer- 
         gency disk). If you are unable to start-up your Macintosh with such a disk, you 
         should take your computer to an authorized service provider.

 
PRAM (or pseudo-static RAM) is RAM in your Macintosh which is kept alive by battery. The function of PRAM is to retain the time, date and certain preferences when your Macintosh is not turned on. From time to time, the contents of PRAM can become corrupted, resulting in odd behavior of your Macintosh. You can reset PRAM by holding down ‘option-command-p-r’ during a RESTART of your Mac. You should hold these keys down until your Macintosh makes it’s familiar start-up sound at least TWICE—in essence, it will appear to have been reset twice. You can let your Macintosh restart normally after the second start-up sound. You will find that although the time and date have been retained, you will have to reselect your display’s bit-depth, your system highlight color, system beep, sound level and time zone.

 
If none of the above suggestions has been successful in addressing the problems of your Macintosh, you should consider reinstalling the applications which are experiencing difficulty. Over time and for a variety of reasons, some portions of code in an application can become corrupt. This would allow the application to function properly most of the time, but crash when a certain feature is called upon. The simple solution to this problem is to reinstall the application from the original disks. 

 
Many novice Mac users will reinstall their system software at the first sign of trouble, and this a mistake. You should first use the above guidelines to appraise your the condition of your Macintosh; if all above suggestions do not help explain and correct the problems you are experiencing, you should consider reinstalling your system software.

In such a situation, simply reinstalling the system software is not likely to be helpful. What is required is a CLEAN install. Chances are pretty good that if you have not determined what your problem is by this eighth step, you are dealing with a corrupt system suitcase or Finder file. Simply reinstalling the system software will only rewrite portions of your existing system software, leaving potentially corrupt portions of it intact. Thus you would find your problems persisted even after reinstalling the system software.

      Clean Install Option 1: We recommend using this option first. You must find 
         the Disk Tools disk which came with your Macintosh, and start-up your Mac 
         from that floppy. Once your Mac is booted, you’ll have to find the Finder file and 
         system suitcase within the System Folder on your hard drive and throw them in 
         the trash (and empty it). You can then restart your Mac with an installer disk 
         and proceed to reinstall your system software. NOTE: In System 7 and above, 
         your system suitcase will contain your alert sounds. If you have added any of 
         your own alert sounds to the system, you’ll want to open the system suitcase and 
         move those sounds out, before your throw it away. Additionally, System 7.0 and 
         System 7.0.1 store all TrueType and bitmapped fonts within the system      
         suitcase—and you may want to grab these before thrashing your system suitcase.

      Clean Install Option 2: Using Apple’s latest installers, you can choose a 
         complete  clean install by pressing “command-shift-K” while in the installer’s 
         main window. This will install a complete new set of system software—and a new 
         System Folder—onto your Macintosh. This will address the possibility that 
         some control panels, extensions and/or preferences files are corrupt. Your old 
         System Folder will be renamed, and you will have to drag all additional exten- 
         sions, control panels, folders and fonts from the old System Folder to your new 
         System Folder. This can be time consuming and confusing.

Some software (such as Connectix’s RAM Doubler and Apple’s Express Modem and Network Software Installers) add or rewrite code in your system suitcase. Be sure to reinstall such software after reinstalling the system software, to ensure your Macintosh functions optimally.

 
If you have had no success with any of the above suggestions, we recommend you take your Macintosh to an authorized service provider. Unfortunately, some problems cannot be easily addressed and are best left to professionals. It's better to be safe than sorry!

Next month, MacSense will debut a regular Tech Help and Hints column, dubbed “About this Macintosh…”. We invite you to submit your toughest technical questions for answering, as well as any helpful hints you have that may make life easier for the masses. Please send all e-mail to MacSenseEd@aol.com, and title your message “About this Macintosh”.