This article contains the About Mac OS 8 Read Me file.

This document provides information about Mac OS 8 that supplements the information in your installation manual. Read this document for information about known issuess with this release and possible solutions.

Known problems and compatibility issues

Apple Language Kits & Mac OS 8

Apple's Language Kits require an updater for full functionality with this version of the Mac OS. The Language Kit Updater for Mac OS 8 can be downloaded from the software updates area of Apple's Web site, America Online, and other sites where Apple updates are available.

If you cannot obtain the Language Kit Updater right away, do the following as an interim method of improving compatibility: After installing Mac OS 8, open the Installer again and add the International components of the basic system software. (See Adding and Removing Software in Chapter 3 of the installation manual.) Then reinstall your Apple Language Kit software. If the Language Kit installer asks about older files, always choose Newer.

At Ease and Mac OS 8

Some of the Mac OS 8 control panels can't be enabled for At Ease users and won't appear in At Ease Setup. You should use these control panels in the Finder before running At Ease. Also, note that At Ease does not support file sharing. Do not turn on file sharing when using At Ease or your computer may freeze.

Apple Location Manager and Mac OS 8

To use the Apple Location Manager with your PowerBook computer, you must install Apple Location Manager 1.0.1, which is included with Mac OS 8. Due to changes in Mac OS 8, previous versions of Apple Location Manager will not function correctly and should not be used.

Programs refuse to open

Some programs refuse to run if the system font is set to anything but Chicago. To change the system font, use the Appearance control panel and change the font from Charcoal (the default) to Chicago then restart your computer and try to open the program again. Contact the manufacturer of the program to see if an updated version is available.

Additionally, some programs might require a small amount of additional memory when used with Mac OS 8. If a program refuses to open, increase its minimum memory allocation by 200K or 300K. To do this, select the program's icon, then open the File menu and choose Get Info. See the Memory topic in Mac OS Help for more information.

Printing with a LaserWriter Select 300 or 360 printer

If you experience system freezes or other issues when printing on a LaserWriter Select 300 or 360 printer, make sure the printer is connected to the computer. Trying to cancel printing does not solve the issues and may cause a flashing error message or cause your computer's performance to slow down.

Using Mac OS 8 with HP Printers

If your computer freezes or crashes when you use the Page Setup dialog box, contact Hewlett-Packard to obtain updated drivers for your printer.

Enhanced CDs stop playing

Audio tracks on Enhanced Compact Discs may stop playing if you open a program, access a file, or use the Finder. Enhanced CDs contain both audio and data information, such as text, movies, or multimedia software. On occasion, the Finder needs to access information about the data portion of the CD, which causes the audio to stop playing. This issues does not occur with standard audio CDs.

Apple Telecom software

The Apple Telecom software provided in the CD Extras folder on the Mac OS 8 CD is for PowerPC computers only. Also, the Apple Fax Gateway is no longer provided and will be removed when you install the new version of Apple Telecom.

If you already have an earlier version of Apple Telecom installed on your computer, a regular installation of Mac OS 8 does not remove or alter it. However, if you perform a clean installation of Mac OS 8, you will need to reinstall Apple Telecom software. If you have a PowerPC computer, use the installer on the Mac OS 8 CD. If you have a 68040-based Macintosh, reinstall your previous version.

Note: If you have a 68040 (or earlier) Macintosh, do not install the Apple Telecom software included with Mac OS 8.

Express Modems and GeoPort Adapter

If you have an Express Modem or GeoPort Adapter, and a 68040-based Macintosh, you may experience unexpected disconnections when accessing the Internet, the Internet Registration Server, and online services. External modems that do not use the Apple Telecom software will not experience this issues.

Internet Setup Assistant and static IP addresses

If you perform a clean installation of Mac OS 8, and you are connected to the Internet via a LAN (instead of a modem connection) and you have a static IP address, you should set the AppleTalk control panel to use Ethernet before using the Internet Setup Assistant. This is necessary so the assistant can update your configuration settings with the information you enter. After you use the assistant, open the TCP/IP control panel to activate TCP/IP for your computer.

Desktop Printing Extension and Mac OS 8

The Desktop Printing Extension is unnecessary with Mac OS 8. If it is present in the Extensions folder it may cause a system crash when you startup your computer.

ATI Xclaim GA and 3DMF files

If you have an ATI Xclaim GA card and your computer freezes when the monitor is set to Thousands of Colors and you try to load a QuickDraw 3D (3DMF) file, remove the Graphics Accelerator 1.0.7x extension from the Extensions folder. This extension is installed by the ATI Installer but is no longer needed with Mac OS 8.

ProDOS disks and File Sharing

Turn off File Sharing before accessing a ProDOS (Apple II) disk or hard drive. Or, if you are using a ProDOS disk, eject it before turning File Sharing on. The Finder will be less responsive when you access ProDOS disks, and may freeze when ProDOS disks and File Sharing are used together.

Macintosh Tutorial

If you have the Macintosh Tutorial, parts of it may not work correctly on computers with 68040 processors and Mac OS 8. Additionally, due to changes in the Finder and other parts of Mac OS 8, the information in the tutorial may not be correct. You can use the Mac OS Info Center to learn about the capabilities of your computer.

IR File Exchange Guide

The Apple Guide for the IR File Exchange control panel does not recognize when the File Sharing control panel is open. You can avoid this issues by setting your owner name in the File Sharing control panel, or by using the Mac OS Setup Assistant.

Using old versions of Cyberdog with international text

Using Cyberdog 1.2.1 or earlier to send or receive non-Roman text in e-mail messages may result in information being lost from the end of the message. Cyberdog 2.0, included with Mac OS 8, solves this issues.

AppleScript and the Finder

Many of the new features of the Mac OS 8 Finder are scriptable, and some of the properties in previous versions of the Finder have changed. Additionally, some scripting capabilities have been removed from the Finder and placed into scriptable control panels. For example, you can now script file sharing by addressing the File Sharing control panel directly. These changes might require some scripts to be updated for use with Mac OS 8.

Recording scripts and Mac OS 8

When you record an AppleScript using the Script Editor, Mac OS 8 does not properly record name changes. For example, when you turn on recording in the Script editor and then change the name of an icon in the Finder, the script will incorrectly record as: set «class» of item "folder name" to "folder name."

The correct recording should be:

1. select item "folder name"

2. set name of selection to "new folder name"

To work around this issues, edit the script after you record it. Change the wording as shown above, substituting the correct names.

AppleShare IP 5.0 servers and Mac OS 8

Apple recommends that you use Mac OS 7.6 with AppleShare IP 5.0 servers. If you use Mac OS 8, you may encounter issuess with FTP access. When several FTP clients try to access the same file simultaneously, the clients may receive one of several error messages and the server may stop serving files properly, or may crash when you shut it down. To avoid this issues until a fix is available, you can turn off FTP access using the AppleShare IP Web & File Admin application. For the latest information on AppleShare IP 5.0 support for Mac OS 8, see the AppleShare IP web site at http://www.apple.com/appleshareip/ .

Miscellaneous notes

Internet access in Canada

If you don't already have an account with an Internet service provider, you can obtain one using the Internet Setup Assistant, or you can choose one from the list in the International Internet Access file in the Internet Extras folder on the Mac OS 8 CD. Read this information before using the Internet Setup Assistant.

Internet access in Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia

If you don't already have an account with an Internet service provider, see the file International Internet Access in the Internet Extras folder on the Mac OS 8 CD for important information. Read this information before using the Internet Setup Assistant.

Installing the Internet Utilities

If you use your computer for sending e-mail, you should install the program DropStuff. DropStuff will install the StuffIt Engine that allows Claris Emailer to compress and send files via e-mail. The DropStuff installer is located in the Aladdin folder of the Internet Utilities folder, in the Internet folder on your hard disk.

General Controls, Empty Trash Warning, and Views settings

These settings are restored to their default values after installing Mac OS 8. Additionally, in previous versions of Mac OS, view settings such as snap to grid and calculate folder size applied to all folders. When you install Mac OS 8 your previous setting is used as the default, but you can now select different settings for each of your folders and the desktop.

If you use a disk with Mac OS 8, and then use it on a computer with a previous version of the Mac OS, you'll notice that some of your views may change. For example, if you set a folder to view by button, then access that folder with System 7.6, the files will be displayed in large icon view because button view is not available under the older system software. Additionally, if you ejected the disk with open windows on a Mac OS 8 computer, the windows will not automatically reopen on older versions of Mac OS.

Unusual or inconsistent appearance

Some applications will exhibit unusual or inconsistent cosmetic anomalies when used with Mac OS 8. These are harmless, but if they bother you turn off the system-wide setting in the Appearance control panel. Contact the manufacturer of the program to see if an updated version of the program is available.

Entering comments for floppy disks

With Mac OS 8 you can no longer enter comments in the Get Info window for floppy disks. The space formerly used for storing comments is now used by Mac OS 8 to store the view settings (button view, etc.) for the disk and its folders.

Stationery pads and Mac OS 8

If you use a stationery pad with an application that does not directly support stationery, Mac OS 8 will automatically make a new copy of the stationery and open it using the application. In previous versions of Mac OS, you were asked to enter a name for the new copy; now it is opened as an untitled document automatically.

Disk cache setting and better performance

If opening windows, emptying trash, and other activities in the Finder seem very slow, increase the size of the disk cache. Click the Use Defaults button in the Memory control panel to set the cache to the minimum recommended size for your system. With Mac OS 8, you can perform many file-related activities at the same time, and increasing the size of the disk cache will help performance.

Using Desktop Pictures

If you select a desktop picture that is on a CD or external disk, the picture might not be available the next time you start up your computer and will not be displayed. You can prevent this by copying the picture you want to display to your hard disk.

Slow screen redrawing

If the desktop is redrawn slowly after closing a window, your computer might be running low on memory. Set Desktop Pictures to display a pattern, instead of a picture, to speed up the redrawing process.

PowerBook 2400 computers and OT/PPP

After installing Mac OS 8, the printer/modem port may be in use by AppleTalk. If you also install OT/PPP, you must turn off AppleTalk then restart your computer in order to release the port for use by OT/PPP. Turn off AppleTalk using the AppleTalk control panel. Then restart the PowerBook and select the modem/printer port in the OT/PPP control panel.

Using Acrobat PDF documents

Some of the manuals included with Mac OS 8 are in Adobe Acrobat format. These files have pdf at the end of their names. To view or print these documents you must install Adobe Acrobat Reader, located in the CD Extras folder on the Mac OS 8 CD.

QuickTake Image Access

When you are copying pictures from a QuickTake 100 or QuickTake 150 camera to your computer, make sure all the pictures you want have finished copying before you erase the contents of the camera. Previously, you couldn't erase the camera until copying was completed. With Mac OS 8, you can copy and delete files at the same time so it's possible to accidentally erase the pictures before they have been copied. You cannot recover a picture once it is erased from the camera.

QuickTake 150 software installs old version of QuickTime PowerPlug

Mac OS 8 includes a new version of the QuickTime PowerPlug for computers with PowerPC microprocessors. The QuickTake 150 installer replaces this with version 2.0. Remove the QuickTime PowerPlug file from your Extensions folder (inside the System Folder) before installing QuickTake 150 software. After the QuickTake software is installed, drag the PowerPlug file back to the Extensions folder.

Using a RAM disk

On some models of Mac OS-based computers, RAM disk contents are saved by writing to the hard disk when the computer shuts down. Then the contents are reloaded at startup. If the RAM disk is large, this may result in a delay when you shut down or start up your computer.

Apple HD SC Setup program

After you install Mac OS 8, you cannot use the obsolete Apple HD SC Setup program to initialize your hard drive. Use the Drive Setup program supplied with Mac OS 8 instead.

Apple CD-ROM and non-Apple CD-ROM incompatibilities

If your computer or CD-ROM drive is not manufactured by Apple, or you have an Apple CD-ROM drive which has been updated with a non-Apple driver, incompatibilities may result. To permit your CD-ROM drive to function correctly, remove Apple CD-ROM from the Extensions folder, and reinstall the software to support your CD-ROM device.

Network Software Installer version 1.5.1 installs older version of AppleTalk

The Network Software Installer installs an earlier version of AppleTalk than the one included with Mac OS 8. If an earlier AppleTalk version is installed, Open Transport networking software will not work. Do not use the Network Software Installer after installing Mac OS 8.

Password Security protects one partition only

The PowerBook Password Security control panel asks for a password in order to start up the computer. If you have formatted your internal hard disk so it has more than one partition, only the start up partition will be password protected. Additionally, if more than one partition has a System Folder, the PowerBook may start up from a non-protected partition.

Password Security on PowerBook 2400 and 3400 computers

The Password Security control panel is incompatible with Mac OS 8 on PowerBook 2400 and PowerBook 3400 computers. The security protection that the control panel provides works correctly on these PowerBook computers, but you cannot use the current version of the control panel to set up password protection. As an alternative, you can boot your PowerBook using a Disk Tools diskette, then open the Password Security control panel on your hard drive and turn password protection on, off, or set your password.

AutoRemounter control panel is for PowerBooks only

The AutoRemounter control panel automatically remounts network devices after a PowerBook computer awakes from sleep. On desktop computers, network devices are not unmounted when the computer sleeps, so AutoRemounter is not needed.

Serial Port In Use error message on PowerBook computers with IrDA

If you receive an error message about the modem port being in use when you try to establish a PPP connection using OT/PPP, open the Infrared control panel and change the setting to IRTalk.

Switching between a LocalTalk network and a serial printer

If you use the same port to alternately connect to a LocalTalk network and a serial printer, the port is not always correctly released after you turn off AppleTalk to use the printer. If you have trouble printing after turning AppleTalk off, restart the computer.

3D images cannot be viewed with OpenDoc 3DMF Viewer 1.0.1 with QuickDraw 3D 1.5 or 1.5.1 installed

If QuickDraw 3D 1.5 or 1.5.1 is installed, a message about insufficient memory appears when attempting to place a 3D image in an OpenDoc document. Increasing the viewer's memory size with the Get Info command in the File menu does not solve the issues. To use the 3DMF Viewer, install an earlier version of QuickDraw 3D.

Internal speaker on Power Macintosh 5500 and 6500 computers remains muted after disconnecting external speakers

If the external speakers are connected when the computer starts up and then are disconnected, the internal speakers remain muted. To work around this issues, restart the computer after disconnecting the external speakers. The internal speaker should work normally.

Using Monitors & Sound with add-on devices

If you have a video or sound device that cannot be accessed using the Monitors & Sound control panel, use the Monitors control panel, or the Sound control panel, instead. Copies of these older control panels are installed in the Apple Extras folder on your hard disk. Unless you need to use these older control panels, use the unified Monitors & Sound control panel instead.

File Sharing and Users & Groups

If you want to be able to use the File Sharing and Users & Groups control panels from a remote computer, you must remove the FileSharing Commands scripting addition from the Scripting Additions folder and turn on the Program Linking setting for both control panels.

File Sharing control panel and AppleShare

If you have AppleShare installed, some of the instructions about file sharing in the on-screen help will be incorrect. For instructions on network identity, file sharing, and activity monitoring, refer to the AppleShare documentation.

ARA 2.1 Personal Server and Users & Groups control panel

AppleTalk Remote Access Personal Server 2.1 cannot automatically open the Users & Groups control panel when you choose Users & Groups in the ARA setup menu. Instead, open the control panel by choosing it from the Control Panels submenu, in the Apple menu.

PowerBook 190, 190cs ,and 5300cs computers

The PowerBook 190cs and 5300cs display may appear blank when you first restart after installing Mac OS 8, as well as every time after resetting PRAM. This is because the power manager is being updated on the PowerBook. Restarting the PowerBook once more will result in a normal screen. To shut down the PowerBook safely, press the Power button one time (which brings up the shutdown dialog box) and then press the Return key.

Reinstalling printer drivers

If you perform a clean installation of Mac OS 8, and an icon for your printer is not available in the Chooser, you may need to reinstall the software that came with your printer. If you have a StyleWriter, StyleWriter II, or StyleWriter 1200, you can use the StyleWriter 1500 driver that comes with Mac OS 8 instead of installing your original printer software. If you have a Color StyleWriter 2200 or Color StyleWriter 2400, you can use the Color StyleWriter 2500 driver instead.

Drive Setup and Energy Saver

Use the Energy Saver control panel to set the hard drive sleep setting to Never when you use Drive Setup to perform an extended operation, such as testing the disk or initializing the disk with a low level format or zeroing all the data. This will prevent errors caused by the hard drive spinning down before Drive Setup completes its operation.

Mac OS 8 hard disks and older Macintosh computers

The hard disk driver software that the Installer places on Apple hard disks is not compatible with computers that have a 68000 microprocessor. If you have an external drive with Apple driver software connected to your computer when you install Mac OS 8, the updated driver software will cause an error if you connect that drive to a Macintosh Plus, Macintosh Classic, Macintosh SE, Macintosh Portable, or PowerBook 100 computer.

Using MacsBug and Mac OS 8

Mac OS 8 requires a new version of MacsBug. (MacsBug is a tool for software developers.) For information, check the Apple developer Web site at http://devworld.apple.com .

Advanced users can find additional technical information in the Mac OS 8 Tech Notes document. This document is located on the World Wide Web at http://devworld.apple.com/dev/technotes.shtml .