Q: My PowerBook never goes to sleep when I am connected to an external monitor. Why?
A: Most PowerBooks cannot enter the sleep mode when a external monitor is connected. This includes all PowerBook 100 series with built-in video and the PowerBook Duos when in their docking station.
Q: Why is the “16MHz if Sleep or Restart When on Battery” control disabled in the Expert panel?
A: Some PowerBooks are not capable of running the processor at a reduced speed. Currently, none of the ‘040-based PowerBooks (PowerBook Duo 280, 280c and PowerBook 500 series) support this feature.
Q: Sometimes when I startup my PowerBook, the startup sound plays twice. Why?
A: On PowerBooks that can switch from normal processor speed to 16MHz, CPU switches the processor speed automatically at sleep or restart depending upon whether or not the AC charger is plugged in. On most PowerBooks, you must restart to make the change in clock speed. At boot, CPU checks to see if the charger is connected, sets the PowerBook to boot at the desired clock speed (full speed when the charger is plugged in, 16MHz if not) and restarts the PowerBook if necessary. This is why the PowerBook startup sound is heard twice. Since PowerBook Duos are capable of dynamically switching clock speed, the “stutter-start” never occurs on these computers.
Q: Why doesn't the caps lock key work?
A: CPU allows you to modify the behavior of the caps lock key on the PowerBook's built-in keyboard. You can change caps lock so that it activates only if the shift or control key is held down, or disable caps lock altogether. You may change the behavior of the caps lock key in CPU’s Extended Keys panel.
Q: Why does only one application show its windows at a time?
A: In order to help you avoid a cluttered desktop, CPU's AppManager can automatically hide an application's windows when it is in the background. If you want to temporarily see all of your applications' windows, select “Show All” from the System 7 Application Menu. You can turn this feature off by unchecking “Hide Background Apps” in QuickConfigure mode or by unchecking “Hide Background Applications” in the AppManager panel in Fine-Tune mode.
Q: Why does the cursor seem to act like a paint brush on the window when running certain software?
A: Some programs (especially games) which bypass Quickdraw and write directly to the screen may not work properly if CPU’s “Inverting” LCD Saver is loaded. To completely disable the “Inverting” LCD Saver, uncheck “Use Inverting LCD Saver” or turn off the LCD Saver master switch in the all sets and restart. (TIP: Uncheck “Use Inverting LCD Saver” or turn off the master switch in the current set and then hold down the command and option keys and click on the checkbox or master switch to “punch-through” the setting to all sets)
DEVELOPER NOTE: Information about Quickdraw and drawing directly to the screen is available in “develop” magazine Issue 11 (8/92), the article is: Graphical Truffles: Writing Directly to the Screen, page 59. For more information about drawing directly to the screen, software developers may contact Connectix directly.
Q: How come the CPU display does not appear in the menubar when using certain applications?
A: Some programs use the whole menu bar. In this case, CPU will remove its display from the menu bar. Choose a smaller font or size in the CPU Display panel to allow the display to fit in the menu. If you want to quickly access the CPU control panel but can’t access the CPU menu, use the configure CPU hot key to launch the control panel (the default combination is Shift-Command-Option-c).
Q: I have an external keyboard or mouse connected to my PowerBook. Sometimes after waking from sleep, the external keyboard or mouse does not respond as it should. What should I do?
A: In some cases, the feature “Only Reset ADB When Necessary” in the Instant Wake panel may prevent an external Apple Desktop Bus device such as a keyboard or mouse from behaving normally after waking the PowerBook from sleep. If you are having problems using an external keyboard or mouse, turn this feature off.
Q: Why do I get Postscript errors during printing after switching from one set to another with a different remembered Postscript printer?
A: LaserWriter 8 (a.k.a. PSWriter) provides a new method for specifying Postscript printer capabilities through the use of Postscript Printer Description (PPD) files. Currently, CPU is not capable of switching the current PPD to one designed for use by a particular printer model. If you switch among printers which are the same or have the same capabilities, using CPU’s “Remember AppleTalk and Printer” feature to perform the switch should not result in any problems. However, switching among printers with much different features may result in Postscript errors during printing. The only way to properly switch network printers using the LaserWriter 8 driver is through the Chooser desk accessory or the Desktop Print Monitor extension.
You may still use CPU’s “Remember AppleTalk and Printer” feature to switch network Postscript printers using LaserWriter drivers earlier than version 8.0.
Q: Why does my serial printer print garbage when I start up?
A: CPU is set to always make AppleTalk available by default. This will cause some serial printers to print garbage at startup if they are connected to the printer port. If you do not use AppleTalk, uncheck the “AppleTalk Always Available” feature in the Expert panel to prevent this from happening.
Q: Why does the system slow down and appear to hang when connecting to a network with Shiva Dial in software?
A: We have worked with Shiva on a fix for connecting networks when using Instant Wake. It was implemented in Shiva Config v3.7.5b1. It should be available on Shiva's BBS.
Q: My PowerBook doesn’t seem to wake up any faster now that I'm using Instant-Wake. Am I doing something wrong?
A: Some extensions may conflict with Instant-Wake because of a problem with the wake-up mechanism in System 7.0 and 7.0.1, which was fixed in System 7.1. We have found this problem specifically with Norton Utilities Filesaver. FileSaver and Instant-Wake work fine together under System 7.1. Turning off “update at sleep” in Norton Utilities FileSaver control panel will eliminate this from occurring when using both FileSaver and CPU in System 7.0 and 7.0.1.
Q: One of my applications crashes when I launch it with CPU installed. What is going on?
A: CPU’s Balloon Help panel allows you to remove the Balloon Help menu to regain menubar space. Some applications assume the presence of a Balloon Help menu and will crash if there is none. To avoid problems with such programs, turn off “Remove Balloon Help” in QuickConfigure mode or “Remove Balloon Help” in the Balloon Help panel in Fine-Tune mode.
Q: Should CPU load in any particular order?
A: When using other extensions, you may need to change the loading order. In System 7, INITs load alphabetically from the Extensions Folder, then from the Control Panels folder, and finally from the System Folder itself. To change the load order of items, add a space in front of its name to put it higher in the alphabetical list. If you need a control panel to load before an extension, move the control panel to the extensions folder, make an alias, and put the alias in the control panel folder.
CPU Loading Order Suggestions:
• Alysis’ SuperDisk! should load after CPU.
• Olduvai’s Multiclip should load after CPU.
• ICOM Simulations’ OnCue should load before CPU.
• Now Software’s NowSave should load before CPU.
• Aladdin's Magic Menu and Now Software's NowMenus should load before CPU.
• Berkeley Systems’ After Dark screen saver should load after CPU on the Macintosh PowerBook 100 and Portable computers when using CPU’s “Inverting” LCD Saver.
• The Mouse control panel that comes with Apple's PowerBook File Assistant must load before CPU when using the “Inverting” LCD Saver.
• Extensions that add their own menus in the menu bar, except for Magic Menu or Now Menus, should load after CPU in order to be accessed by Keyboard Power.
Q: What does the Quick Discharge set do? When should I discharge the battery?
A: Quick Discharge is just another preconfigured set, much like any other set in which the battery timeouts (rest processor, spin down hard disk, dim backlighting, and sleep) are set to never. Whenever this set is selected, the PowerBook will not do anything to conserve battery power and will fully discharge the battery as quickly as possible. Only users who rarely use the battery to its capacity should discharge their battery periodically (once every 3 months or so is fine) to prevent a “memory” effect. A “memory effect” may occur if the battery is rarely used, or used to a partial discharge repeatedly. For example if you consistently use the battery for 30 minutes and then recharge it, the battery may eventually not hold a full charge. NOTE: Only PowerBooks that use NiCad batteries would ever need to use Quick Discharge.
Q: What is the Time Remaining estimate?
A: Time Remaining is an estimate of the amount of total working time left on the battery. If you use power saving features (such as dim backlighting, spin down hard disk), your total elapsed time of battery may be longer than the working Time Remaining estimate. Time Remaining is an initial estimate, the more you use your battery to its capacity, the more accurate the Time Remaining estimate will become. The percent battery charge and working time remaining are only rough estimates based on power consumption, and can only be as accurate as the consistency of usage. In addition, the power delivered can vary greatly from battery to battery and even from charge to charge, while the power consumed by the computer is constantly changing. We have provided two different methods of tracking the battery’s charge state: % Power Remaining and Time Remaining. You may find that one method works better for your system at different times. With use, CPU learns and remembers your power usage patterns and adjusts its estimates. Charge estimates become more accurate after a few minutes of continuous operation from the battery, because it is very hard to accurately measure the charge state of a battery which is currently charging. CPU will provide more accurate readings if your PowerBook is awake when you plug in or remove the power adapter.
Q: I have just switched over to using Type II or other extended life batteries and CPU’s displays don't seem to reflect the extra battery life. What should I do?
A: As you use a battery, CPU keeps a history of how much life it can expect from that battery. CPU maintains this history on a user-by-user basis. When you switch to a larger capacity battery, CPU still uses the history it collected for the previous battery. In order to prepare CPU for use with a Type II or extended life battery, create a new user (not a clone) and go through one complete discharge cycle with CPU active. CPU will then provide more accurate estimates of power remaining.
If you use multiple batteries with different charge capacities, you can also use CPU’s “User” preferences mechanism to track different batteries. Just create one new user for each battery that you have and go through one complete discharge cycle for each battery using a different “User.” Then when you switch batteries, open the CPU control panel and switch the “User” from the old battery to the new battery.
Q: Why didn’t the appropriate action occur when using CPU Hot Keys?
A: Some of CPU’s default hot keys could be the same default hot keys as other products. For instance, Command-Option-Shift-B, CPU’s default Hot Key which toggles the backlighting, can be used by Super Boomerang to toggle Super Boomerang on and off. These types of conflicts are unavoidable and can be overcome simply by reassigning one of the two keys to another key combination. In CPU, you may change a Hot Key by selecting its field and typing the new key combination that you want to assign to that task.
Q. Why does Keyboard Power randomly stop responding to key commands now that I have installed System 7.5?
A. We have found that Keyboard Power's menu keys will occasionally fail to respond if you are running System 7.5. The problem is eliminated if some form of extended memory (Virtual Memory or RAM Doubler) is activated. Unfortunately, the cause for this problem is unclear. We will continue to search for a more permanent solution.
Q: Why doesn’t Keyboard Power work properly with WYSIWYG Menus or Now Menus 4.0/4.0.1?
A: When using Keyboard Power arrow keys in a WYSIWYG menu, the cursor may lock up. When using Keyboard Power with Now Menus 4.0/4.0.1, Keyboard Power may not select the proper items on menus which are long enough to be scrolled.
You may still use Keyboard Power with WYSIWYG menus or Now Menus. To avoid conflicts do not use Keyboard Power in a WYSIWYG menu or in a Now Menu that is long enough to be scrolled. Connectix is working with Now Software to find a solution to this problem.
Q: Auto drop or click drop menus do not seem to work. What should I do?
A: This feature may not function properly if you have another utility that provides the same feature, such as Now Menus. To avoid this type of conflict, enable this feature in only one of your utilities.
Q: Will Keyboard Power work in menus created by other extensions?
A: Yes, extensions (for example: Kiwi PowerWindows, WordFinder+, etc.) that add their own menus in the menu bar should load after CPU in order to be accessed by Keyboard Power.
Security is not installed by the CPU Installer, but rather by the CPU Control Panel. Before the CPU Control Panel is closed, it looks to see if Security is on (active) in any of CPU’s currently installed sets. If it is, then the security features are added to your System file. If you never wish to use security, you may disable it in all sets (read the section following on how to “punch through” a selection, to save time) before you first close the CPU Control Panel, and your System will not be modified (PowerBook users with switchable processor speeds must also turn off the “16 MHz when Battery Powered” option in the Expert Panel to leave their System files unaffected).
NOTE TO CPU 1.0 USERS: Instant Security has replaced the old Panic feature. Instant Security can be configured in the Security panel.
Q: My password is not accepted by the security field, what next?
A: CPU’s security is case sensitive, be sure to enter the appropriate capital letters or click the caps lock key when entering your password. (Note: When using CPU’s security, the caps lock key is automatically turned off when booting or waking up from sleep). CPU also allows you to have different passwords in different sets or for different users, therefore you need to enter the appropriate password for the user and set that is running at sleep or shut down.
Q: I forgot my password, and CPU will not let me change the password. What can I do to reconfigure security?
A: If a password is only used in one set, select a set with no password and “punch through” the password to all the sets by holding down the Command and Option keys and click in the old password field to “punch through” the password. Otherwise delete the set to remove the password associated with that set.
Q: What happens when the wrong password is entered in a security field?
A: When using Instant Security or Sleep Security, the PowerBook will sleep after 5 unsuccessful attempts or after the sleep time out has elapsed. For Instant Security, the time out is the sleep time out in the A/C Power or Battery setting. For Sleep Security, the time out is 30 seconds.
When using Boot Security, the PowerBook will automatically shut down if 5 unsuccessful password attempts are made or after 30 seconds if there are no attempts to enter a password. Since Boot Security may shut down the PowerBook, you should be cautious when using Boot Security with a RAM disk which has not been saved.
Q: I just attached an external monitor to my PowerBook, where is the password entry field?
A: Security always appears on the PowerBook’s built-in LCD screen. However boot security will appear on an external monitor if it is selected as the startup monitor.
Since On The Road and CPU both control printer and AppleTalk selections, this can lead to some confusion. In order to avoid unexpected behavior, we recommend that you turn off “Remember Printer and AppleTalk” and “AppleTalk Always Available” in CPU's Expert Panel and rely on On The Road to provide these features.
Also, On The Road version 1.1C automatically switches among CPU's sets when it determines that your location has changed. For example, if On The Road detects that you are at work it will switch CPU to the “Office” set. Likewise, when you are on the road, On The Road will switch CPU to your Travel set.
If you do not have On The Road 1.1C and would like to obtain a copy, contact our Customer Service department. Upgrades to version 1.1C are free to all registered users of On The Road.
