The following article is the ReadMe file for the Power Macintosh 7200 and 9500 series computers.

Important Information About Your Power Macintosh 7200 or 9500

CONTENTS

Tips
Apple Personal Diagnostics
AppleShare Server Software
Energy Saver Control Panel (Power Macintosh 7200 only)
Installing Acrobat Reader Software from a Bootable CDROM
Japanese and Chinese Language Kits
Pointer Mode Control Panel (Power Macintosh 7200 only)
Reconnecting to a Server
Software for the GeoPort Telecom Adapter
StyleWriter and StyleWriter II Printers
Using a Microphone (Power Macintosh 7200 only)
Using MIDI Products

Important Information About Document AutoSave (Power Macintosh 7200 Only)
Compatibility with Your Applications
Other DocumentSaving Products
Applications That AutoSave
RAM Disks
SelfDismissing Dialogs
Stickies Windows

Important Information About Macintosh PC Exchange
Apple File Exchange and Macintosh PC Exchange
AutoDoubler
Compressed PC Disks and Files
Working With Disks Containing Multiple Partitions
Working With DOSFormat SCSI Removable Media Devices
Working With DOSFormat SCSI Hard Disk Drives
Tips and Problems

Important Information About Virtual Memory
Running Out of Memory
Native Application Memory Requirements
Performance Problems
Recommended Settings
Adding RAM

Troubleshooting
AppleShare Displays Incorrect Information for Large Drives
Incorrect Balloons for Guide File Icons
PowerTalk and PowerTalk Direct Dialup Mail
Presenting QuickTime Movies at Double Size
Printing with Apple PhotoFlash
QuarkXPress
Screen Flashes at Startup
The Assistant Toolbox and NonNetworked Printers
Using a RAM Disk


Tips

Apple Personal Diagnostics
To use Apple Personal Diagnostics (APD) on this Power Macintosh computer, you should upgrade to APD v1.1.3 or greater. An upgrade patch for owners of APD v1.1 and APD v1.1.1 is available.

If you run the Logic Board tests in APD v1.1, your computer may freeze and need to be restarted; or APD v1.1 may falsely report a logic board error when none has actually occured. APD v1.1.1 and v1.1.3 correct these Logic Board test errors. APD v1.1.3 also corrects a reporting error regarding processor speed in the System Info/Basic Info screen.

***Note: This note is not in the original Read Me file.
Apple Personal Diagnostics 1.1.3 is not supported on the Power Macintosh 7200 computer. As of the modification date of this article, the Power Macintosh 9500 is the latest released computer supported by Apple Personal Diagnostics. Apple has no plans to support the Power Macintosh 7200 in future releases of APD.***

AppleShare Server Software
We do not recommend using version 4.1 or earlier of AppleShare Server Software on the Power Macintosh 7200 & 9500. Version 4.1 is intended only for Apple Workgroup Servers, and earlier versions will not work.

Energy Saver Control Panel (Power Macintosh 7200 Only)

Do not remove the Energy Saver extension from the Extensions folder. If you remove it, you cannot turn off any energysaving features the control panel is currently set to provide, such as automatic sleep or shutdown.

Installing Acrobat Reader Software from the Bootable CDROM

When you install Acrobat Reader 2.0.1 software onto your hard drive, make sure that the bootable CDROM disk that came with your Power Macintosh is not the startup disk. Then open the appropriate Installer to install Acrobat Reader 2.0.1 software.

Japanese and Chinese Language Kits

To use the Japanese Language Kit with your Power Macintosh, make sure you use version 1.2 or later. In the United States, you can obtain an upgrade, with proof of purchase, by calling the Apple Order Center. Customers outside the US should contact their local Apple representative.

To use the Chinese Language Kit with your Power Macintosh, make sure you use version 1.1.1 or later. To install the Chinese Language Kit version 1.1.1, first install the WorldScript Updater 1.0. Then install the Chinese Language Kit version 1.1. Finally, install the Chinese Language Kit Updater to update your software to version 1.1.1.

Pointer Mode Control Panel (Power Macintosh 7200 Only)

The Pointer Mode control panel lets you control the way the mouse pointer works with certain types of graphics software and screen capture programs. For more information, read the document titled "Pointer Mode Read Me" in the Pointer Mode folder (inside the Apple Extras folder).

Reconnecting to a Server

If you unexpectedly lose a connection to a server on which you have items in use, and then choose the server from the Recent Servers item in the Apple menu once power is restored, you get a message that the disk could not be opened because you do not have enough access privileges. Before you can reconnect to the server, you must close any open files. If you need to save work in a file, use "Save As..." to save it on a different disk.

Software for the GeoPort Telecom Adapter

For Power Macintosh 7200 series, 7500/100, 8500/120, and 9500 series computers, the software necessary to use the GeoPort Telecom Adapter is Apple Telecom software version 2.1 or later. Apple Telecom 2.1 is included in the Apple Telecom folder within the Apple Extras folder, and on the Power Macintosh CD.

The Apple Telecom folder also contains MegaPhone¬ 1.0.2, a screenbased telephone application that supports the telephone capabilities of the Apple Telecom 2.1 software, including dialing from a graphical keypad, copying and pasting telephone numbers, and dragging and dropping business card information.

If you previously purchased the Apple Telecom 2.0 upgrade package or a Geoport Telecom Adapter Kit that included Apple Telecom 2.0, you also received SITcomm SE/GTA (a terminal emulation program). SITcomm is compatible with the Power Macintosh 7200, 7500, 8500, and 9500 series.

If you are using a GeoPort Telecom Adapter with Apple Telecom 2.1 software, be sure to disable LocalTalk. To do this, disconnect any devices attached to the printer port (except serial printers, which can remain attached).

Apple Telecom 2.2 is available as part of the GeoPort Telecom Adapter Kit, which can be purchased separately. The kit includes MegaPhone as well as SITcomm SE/GTA. Apple Telecom 2.2 along with MegaPhone (but without SITcomm) will also be available as a free upgrade on CompuServe, America Online, and all Apple Internet sites.

StyleWriter and StyleWriter II Printers

If you use a StyleWriter or StyleWriter II printer with your Power Macintosh, use the StyleWriter 1200 printer software (called a "printer driver") that's already installed on this computer with System 7.5.2. Do not install your older StyleWriter driver; it is not compatible with Power Macintosh computers. For more information about choosing a printer and printing, choose Macintosh Guide from the Guide (question mark) menu, and choose the Printing & Fonts topic area.

Using a Microphone (Power Macintosh 7200 Only)

If you attach a microphone to your Power Macintosh 7200, read the document titled "Using a Microphone" in the SoundInput Level folder (inside the Apple Extras folder). This document explains how to use the Sound control panel to choose the amplification type appropriate for your microphone.

Using MIDI Products

MIDI users may experience slight performance issues due to the new serial architecture of this computer. MIDI Drivers written specifically for this new technology are currently being developed which will resolve these issues. Please check with the distributor of your MIDI product about the availability and necessity of an update compatible with the serial architecture of the Power Macintosh 7200 & 9500.

Important Information About Document AutoSave (Power Macintosh 7200 only)

The Energy Saver control panel that comes installed on the Power Macintosh 7200 contains a feature named "Document AutoSave". The purpose of this feature is to automatically quit all open applications during an idle or scheduled shutdown, while saving changes to any open documents in each application. Below are some helpful tips for working with Document AutoSave. For more information about Energy Saver & Document AutoSave, choose Macintosh Guide from the Guide (question mark) menu, and choose the Power & Energy Saving topic area.

Compatibility with Your Applications

Since there are literally thousands of applications available for the Macintosh (with new ones always arriving), we cannot guarantee that Document AutoSave will be compatible with every application. This is especially true for any application that does not use standard routines to implement the alerts or dialog boxes that ask the user to save changes to new or modified documents. When an application is incompatible with Document AutoSave, it will either not automatically quit, or it displays alerts or dialog boxes which Document AutoSave does not recognize and therefore does not dismiss.

If you intend to turn Document AutoSave on, we recommend that you monitor its operation during the first attempted idle or scheduled shutdown and note if any of your applications are not compatible. You can avoid problems with incompatible applications simply by making sure you leave no documents open that are new or modified before an idle or scheduled shutdown is to occur. Alternatively, you can modify the Document AutoSave preferences in the Energy Saver control panel to sleep instead of shutting down when unsaved documents are open.

Other Document Saving Products

There are conflicts when nonApple documentsaving control panels or extensions are used in conjunction with Energy Saver's Document AutoSave. Examples of such products are NowSave and SuperBoomerang. For best results, use the documentsaving features of only one control panel or extension.

Applications That AutoSave

Document AutoSave performs more quickly and efficiently if you have enabled autosaving in the applications that support it. For example, Microsoft Word has an option available that will save your changes at predetermined time intervals. It is recommended that you take advantage of application autosaving whenever possible.

RAM Disks

Do not choose a folder on a RAM disk for autosaving untitled documents unless you have installed a product which preserves the RAM disk contents before shutdown. Otherwise, your autosaved documents will be lost when an idle or scheduled shutdown occurs.

Self-Dismissing Dialogs

Under some rare conditions, the Energy Saver control panel may continuously dismiss dialog boxes if the Document AutoSave feature unexpectedly fails during an idle or scheduled shutdown. (Whenever a dialog box appears, it is dismissed as if you have pressed the Return key.) To return things to normal, simply click the mouse button or press the space bar.

Stickies Windows

If you are using the Document AutoSave feature of the Energy Saver control panel, and you have any Stickies notes open during an idle or scheduled shutdown, an extra carriage return is inserted in the active (frontmost) Stickies note window. No other Stickies windows will be affected.


Important Information About Macintosh PC Exchange

Apple File Exchange and Macintosh PC Exchange

The Apple File Exchange software is not compatible with Macintosh PC Exchange and should not be used while PC Exchange is installed. Version 2.0 of PC Exchange contains an easier method for accessing DOS and Apple II ProDOS disks on a Macintosh.

AutoDoubler

To use AutoDoubler with Macintosh PC Exchange, you must first open the AutoDoubler control panel and turn off the "Show DD on Compressed Files" option from the DD menu.

Compressed PC Disks and Files

Macintosh PC Exchange does not work with DOSformat floppy disks or SCSI hard disks that have been compressed using Stacker or other DOS or Windows diskcompression utilities. Before transferring compressed DOS files to a Macintosh, you must decompress the files and save them to a noncompressed DOSformat floppy disk.

Working With Disks Containing Multiple Partitions

If a SCSI hard disk or removable media cartridge has been formatted to contain multiple partitions, you can use PC Exchange to mount the Macintosh, DOS, or ProDOSformat partitions as individual volumes on the Macintosh desktop. If the disk contains both Macintosh and DOSformat partitions, PC Exchange will only recognize the Macintosh partition. In addition, PC Exchange will recognize ProDOSformat partitions only on SCSI hard disks that are less than 32 megabytes.

You can use PC Exchange to erase existing individual partitions on a SCSI hard disk or removable media cartridge if they have the same format. However, you cannot use PC Exchange to reformat and resize individual partitions contained on the disk. Nor can you format a Macintoshformat hard disk or removable media cartridge as a DOSformat disk. To resize or reformat multiple Macintosh, DOS, or ProDOS partitions, you need to use thirdparty software designed for partitioning hard disks and removable media cartridges.

Working with DOS Format SCSI Removable Media Devices

In order for PC Exchange to recognize any SCSI removable media device, you must turn on the device and eject any cartridges before you turn on your Macintosh computer.

Do not install the device driver software that came with your removable media device. Instead, open the PC Exchange control panel, click the Options button, select your SCSI device from the list, and then restart your Macintosh. PC Exchange will install its own device driver for that SCSI device.

The Eject Disk command is unavailable when you are working with removable media devices. To unmount and eject a removable media cartridge, drag the device's icon to the Trash. Once the device has spun down and the red light goes out, you can manually eject the cartridge from the drive. To access a removable media cartridge that has been ejected, simply reinsert the cartridge in the drive.

When initializing and formatting Bernoulli and SyQuest cartridges on a DOS or DOScompatible computer, use the disk setup and partitioning software that came with the SCSI controller card installed in your PC or that came with your Bernoulli or SyQuest device. (Do not use the MSDOS FDISK command.) Also, use the MSDOS FORMAT command to format a newly intialized removable media cartridge on a DOS or DOScompatible personal computer (PC) before you copy DOS files onto it.

When you initialize a removable media cartridge on a DOS or DOScompatible PC, you must fully partition, initialize, and erase the cartridge using the software that came with your SCSI controller card or removable media drive. If you do not, PC Exchange may not recognize the new DOSformat partitions on that cartridge.

Working with DOS Format SCSI Hard Disk Drives

In order for Macintosh PC Exchange to recognize SCSI hard disk drives, you must turn on the drive before you turn on your Macintosh.

Do not install the device driver software that came with your removable media device. Instead, open the PC Exchange control panel, click the Options button, select your SCSI device from the list, and then restart your Macintosh. PC Exchange will install its own device driver for that SCSI device.

When initializing and formatting an external SCSI hard disk connected to a DOS or DOScompatible PC, use the MSDOS FDISK command or the disk setup and partitioning software that came with the SCSI controller card installed in your PC. In addition, you should use the MSDOS FORMAT command to format and erase the disk before you copy DOS files to a new SCSI hard disk connected to a PC.

Tips and Problems

* A "Sad Mac" icon may appear on your Macintosh screen at startup if a removable media cartridge has been left in the drive. To keep this problem from occurring, manually eject removable media cartridges from their drives before you turn on your Macintosh.

* Macintosh PC Exchange cannot recognize SCSI hard disks, removable media devices, or drive container files that contain more than one gigabyte of disk space.

Important Information About Virtual Memory

Virtual memory (VM) is a feature of the Macintosh that lets you use part of your hard disk as additional memory. If you are using an application program designed especially for Power Macintosh computers (often called a "native" application program), turning on virtual memory may help you avoid running out of memory.

Your computer comes with virtual memory turned on. With virtual memory turned on, a Power Macintosh program uses less memory than when virtual memory is turned off. If you check the program's Get Info box before and after turning on virtual memory, you'll see that the numbers in the Memory Requirements box change. That is because turning on virtual memory allows the program to use memory more efficiently.

If you notice performance problems (such as your computer's responses seeming unusually slow) using certain application programs, you may want to turn off virtual memory. For information on how to turn virtual memory on and off, choose Macintosh Guide from the Guide (question mark) menu, and click the Memory topic area. Then click "How do I use hard disk space as memory?" and "How do I manage Power Macintosh memory?"

For best performance, try setting virtual memory to no more than 150% of the memory (RAM) installed in your computer, or no more than 50% of your currently available hard drive space, whichever number is lower. For example, if your computer has 16 MB of RAM and your hard drive has 50 MB of available space, set virtual memory to a maximum of 24 MB (this is 150% of your 16 MB of RAM, and less than 50% of the available space on your hard drive). A maximum of 1 gigabyte (GB) of disk space can be used as virtual memory. If your hard disk has additional disk space available, the amount over 1 GB cannot be used as virtual memory.

To improve performance, you can also add memory (RAM) to your computer. See the user's manual that came with your computer for more information.


Troubleshooting

AppleShare Displays Incorrect Information for Large Drives

If you use File Sharing to connect to a disk attached to another computer, and the shared disk is larger than 2 gigabytes (GB), the Get Info box for that disk shows an incorrect size. (Get Info reports the disk to be 2 GB in size, even if it is larger.)

Incorrect Balloons for Guide File Icons

System 7.5.2 includes Apple Guide documents, which provide the onscreen instructions and other information that help you use your computer. However, if you turn on Balloon Help*by choosing Show Balloons from the Guide (question mark) menu*and point to a Guide file icon (any icon with the Guide question mark on it) on the hard disk, the balloon may give you the wrong information about where the file belongs or how to use it. To avoid being misled by incorrect balloons, follow the guidelines below:

* Leave Guide files where they are. Some Guide files (for example, the Guide file named "Macintosh Guide") belong in the Extensions folder. Other Guide files do not belong in the Extensions folder*and will not work if they are put there.

* Keep application programs that have Guide files in the same folder as the Guide file. For example, keep the file named "File Assistant Guide" in the same folder as the File Assistant program. If you move a Guide file that belongs with an application program, you won't be able to get help while using the program.

PowerTalk and PowerTalk Direct Dialup Mail

If you use PowerTalk Direct Dialup Mail and have trouble sending a fax, it may be because both Direct Dialup and STF PowerFax PE are set to autoanswer. To turn off STF autoanswer, open the STF Setup window and set 'n' to "never" (in the "Answer on 'n' rings" section).

Presenting QuickTime Movies at Double Size

Using MoviePlayer 2.0, you can play a movie at double (2X) size. You cannot present a movie (that is, play the movie on a second monitor) at double size. Presenting a movie at 2X size results in the MoviePlayer application quitting without warning.

**NOTE: This is not in the original ReadMe file.
The early releases of the Power Macintosh 7200 and 9500 shipped with MoviePlayer 1.0 installed on the hard drive.**

Printing With Apple PhotoFlash

If you have problems printing images with the PhotoFlash software, make sure that you choose a printer in the Chooser before you choose the Print command from the File menu.

Quark XPress

To use Quark XPress with System 7.5 or later on a Power Macintosh, you must upgrade to QuarkXPress version 3.3.1 or later.

Screen Flashes at Startup

You may see the screen flash during startup of your Power Macintosh. The flash is normal. It occurs because software needed to use the monitor is being loaded.

The Assistant Toolbox and Non-Networked Printers

The Print Later option (LaterLaser) of the Assistant Toolbox extension is not compatible with some non-networked PostScript printers. If you have the Assistant Toolbox extension installed on your computer and you want to print with a non-networked printer, you may want to turn off the Assistant Toolbox extension.

For example, if you want to print with a LaserWriter Select 310 printer, you need to turn off the Assistant Toolbox extension (in the Extensions Manager control panel) to be able to use the Print Later option.

Using a RAM disk

If your computer has 8 megabytes of RAM (random access memory), and you wish to set up a RAM disk, allocate no more than 500K to the RAM disk. Otherwise, when you start your Macintosh you may see the message, "This disk is unreadable by this Macintosh. Do you want to initialize the disk?" (Important: This message applies to the RAM disk only. Your hard disk will not be initialized.)