There is a conflict with this control panel, that causes MyBattery to unexpectedly quit if the "Cancel" button is pressed in the Preferences dialog. Other problems may also exist. I am currently trying to work with Aladdin to resolve this bug. Until then, the only recourse is to turn off Magic Menus through its control panel.
Registration and disk compactors
Several users have reported that disk compression utilities can prevent proper registration. If you are using an automatic disk compression utility, you should exclude MyBattery from compression until after you have registered it. For example, if you are using AutoDoubler to compress your hard drive, you should expand MyBattery before attempting to register your copy. This problem does not appear with âdrive-levelâ compression utilities, such as TimesTwo and Stacker.
CursorBeacon CDEV
Bill Monkâs CursorBeacon is a freeware control panel that lets you find your cursor on PowerBook or large displays. Several users have reported that if you activate the CursorBeacon with MyBattery in the foreground, MyBattery will unexpectedly quit.
Apparently, CursorBeacon âstealsâ free memory from the current application. MyBattery has just enough memory allocated for its own use; this conflict can be easily fixed by allocating more memory to MyBattery.
1) Quit MyBattery, if it is currently running.
2) Locate your copy of MyBattery.
3) Click on the application icon once to select it.
4) From the File menu, choose âGet Infoâ.
5) Move the cursor to the âSuggested Sizeâ text field, and increase the current number by 10k.
6) Close the window.
The next time you run MyBattery, it will consume a little more memory, but the conflict with CursorBeacon will be fixed.
Menu bar conflicts
The menu bar is the one constant among all Macintosh applications. Many software programs use it to display additional information. These applications sometimes try to use the same space as MyBattery, which can cause menu bar display conflicts. For example, Appleâs AppleShare uses the left side of the menu bar to indicate if information is being transmitted or received by your PowerBook over the AppleTalk network, which can interfere with MyBatteryâs left menu display.
There is no simple solution, other than turning off menu bar displays, which isnât much of a solution at all...
HP PaintWriter Drivers
One MyBattery user has reported a conflict with the Hewlett Packard PaintWriter driver software. He noticed an unusual problem with the MyBattery Preferences dialog. When he upgraded the drivers to a new version, the problem went away. Therefore, if you are noticing a black box being drawn in the lower right corner of the âPreferencesâ dialog, covering the âOKâ and âCancelâ buttons, you should upgrade your PaintWriter drivers to 3.0.7b. Thank you, Mike!
Troubleshooting
While I have attempted to test MyBattery as thoroughly as possible, there is no way of testing all the possible configurations. If MyBattery is operating erratically, it is always possible that some piece of software is interfering with it.
Occasionally, it is possible that the âMyBattery Dataâ and âMyBattery Preferencesâ files can become corrupted, if your Macintosh crashes while these files are open (MyBattery periodically updates these files). If you are getting internal MyBattery errors, try deleting these files from your âSystemâ folder (or âPreferencesâ folder under System 7). The errors should disappear.
Application interference
If MyBattery is operating erratically with other applications running, note the other applications that are running. Next, restart your computer and try running MyBattery by itself. If the problem does not appear, try running the same applications, one by one. When you isolate the problem application, drop me a note and let me know what it is!
INIT/CDEV/Extension interference
If MyBattery continues to operate erratically, an INIT, CDEV or system Extension (collectively known as extensions) may be interfering. First, restart your machine while holding down the SHIFT key. A message will come up stating âExtensions offâ. Try MyBattery; if the problem doesnât appear, it is most likely an extension causing the problem.
Isolating the offending extension can be tedious, especially if you have lots of extensions loaded. Start out by removing half of your extensions. Restart and try MyBattery. If the problem occurs, remove half of the extensions that were loaded, and try again. If the problem did not occur, swap the extensions you loaded with the ones you didnât, and try again.
Continue this process until you isolate the offending extension. Drop me a line and let me know what extension was causing the problem.
Upgrading System 6 to System 7
When MyBattery is running under System 6.0.x, it creates a âMyBattery preferencesâ file and a âMyBattery dataâ file in your âSystemâ folder. If you upgrade to System 7 and want to preserve your preferences and estimation data, copy these files to the âPreferencesâ folder in your âSystemâ folder. Otherwise, MyBattery will create new files in your âPreferencesâ folder using default values.
Acknowledgments
Not being wealthy, every time Apple introduces new PowerBooks, I must rely on the kindness of others to provide me with the information I need to support the new machines. To all of you who have helped, thanks!
Thanks also to those who have enthusiastically responded with criticisms and suggestions for new features. MyBattery continues to mature, with your guidance.
Iâd particularly like to thank Rich Wolfson for providing me with the low voltage tables and other information, Marcus Wallgren of Apple for contributing much knowledge on the Duo power manager, and Joe Vantaggi for providing me with cool telephone icons instead of the icky "typewriter" icons I created. Thanks to John Fernandez for his cool folder icons!
Compatibility
MyBattery requires System 6.0.8 or later. It is fully compatible with System 7.0.x and System 7.1.
MyBattery has been tested on all current flavors of PowerBooks. It should work on any portable Macintosh that supports the Power Manager (part of Appleâs Macintosh system software).
MyBattery was designed as a stand-alone application for two reasons - to minimize the possibility of conflicts with other programs (with CDEVâs or INITâs, thereâs always a risk), and to allow you maximum flexibility with free RAM. If you need more memory, simply quit MyBattery (with a CDEV or INIT, youâll have to reboot, wasting time and battery power).
Technical information and references
References
The information used to write MyBattery and this manual has been culled from various sources, including:
⢠Inside Macintosh, Volume VI (Apple, published by Addison Wesley). This volume contains a discussion of the Power Manager software.
⢠Macintosh PowerBook Family Developer Notes (Apple). Discusses technical side of PowerBook hardware and firmware.
⢠The PowerBook Companion (Richard Wolfson, Addison Wesley). A great book with loads of tips for PowerBook users (did you know that when Apple prepares your PowerBook hard drive, megabytes of hard drive space are unused? Buy the book and find out how to get it back!).
Development environment
MyBattery has been developed using:
⢠Apple PowerBook 100 8/40, PowerBook 165c 8/80, Duo 210 12/80, and Centris 610 (for original color prototyping).
⢠Appleâs ResEdit, version 2.1.
⢠Symantec THINK C 6.0.0. This is one of the best C development environments Iâve seen - it only lacks a configuration management system of similar quality.
⢠Symantec THINK C Reference. I use this so much my printed copies of âInside Macintoshâ are getting dusty. A truly useful tool if youâre doing any sort of Macintosh programming - the code examples alone are worth the price!
As Apple has introduced new PowerBooks, they have also been increasing the charge capacity of their accompanying NiCad batteries. The list below illustrates the current models of the NiCad batteries Apple has provided. Apple has made no upgrades to the lead-acid battery used in the PowerBook 100.
Apple has also been busy upgrading the battery chargers. Note that while all chargers work with all PowerBooks, charging a newer PowerBook on an older charger may take longer.
⢠Option to hide display when charging (MyBattery only).
⢠Sleep shortcut added.
⢠Optimized to minimize disk accesses, to conserve power.
1.31 - 22 April 1993
⢠Histogram now displays last four hours of time, and is reset manually.
⢠Added support for insertion of unformatted floppy while MyBattery is in foreground.
⢠Description of CursorBeacon conflict, with work-around.
1.30 - 10 March 1993
⢠Added column displays.
⢠Added text-only displays.
⢠Added text-only displays.
⢠Display estimated time remaining on collapsed displays (makes âem smaller).
⢠Updated calculation of PowerBook Duo voltages.
⢠Enhancements to estimate of battery time left.
⢠Support for PowerBook 165c, 180c added.
⢠Internal changes to make adding new PowerBooks easier.
⢠Improved error recovery with corrupted estimation data files.
⢠âTime leftâ display averaged to give a âsteadierâ display.
1.22 - 12 January 1993
⢠Added histogram display.
⢠Enhancements to long-term estimate technique.
1.21 - 24 November 1992
⢠Added support for PowerBook 145, 160, 180, Duo 210 and 230.
⢠Decreased memory requirements.
⢠Enhanced estimate for non-registered users.
⢠Elapsed time now saved between sessions.
⢠Optimization problems with Think C fixed by Symantec, so turned optimization back on.
1.20 - 7 October 1993
⢠Password registration.
⢠Historical estimating technique.
⢠Auto-configure for different PowerBook types.
⢠Handling for system sleep.
1.10 - 23 August 1993
⢠Estimate limited to 4 hours.
⢠Display --h --m fix for bar graph display.
⢠Add elapsed battery time display.
⢠Improved estimations of remaining battery time.
⢠Improved error checking.
⢠"Full" is now 6.20 volts on gas gauge.
⢠Turned off compiler optimization to fix PowerBook 140/170 problems.
1.00 - 17 August 1992
⢠Displays two-color bar graph.
⢠Added separate icon for low battery condition.
⢠Gas gauge display.
⢠"condensed displays".
0.90 - 4 August 1993
⢠First release.
Disclaimer
While I have attempted to test MyBattery as fully as possible, I cannot guarantee proper operation on other computer systems. I am not liable for any direct or indirect damage caused by MyBattery. The individual using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software.
If you have registered your copy of MyBattery, and are not satisfied with its operation, your registration fee shall be returned to you. You are then obligated, however, to delete all registered copies.
