extensions issue

[Cheryl]

Rebuilding the desktop will give you fresh invisible files that help the computer find the apps needed.

How much memory do you have installed? To find out check About this Mac in the Apple Menu or the Memory control panel.

Go to the Apple web site and check out:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=24714

If your hard drive is 2 GB or larger check this out:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30239

One thing I just thought of. It could be that USB card that is screwing up everything. If you remove the card, then do a Clean install of the OS, then install the USB card, then install the drivers for it, you might get better luck... I remembered that someone with a SCSI card had to do this and everything went smoothly.

[Shifting]

Cheryl, just wanted to let you know i finally figured out the problem. it's that damn usb drive. that's why my attempt at a clean install of 9.2 didn't work, why none of my OS X install discs work, and why music discs freeze everything up. last night i tried to restart and nothing happened, and i'd already started to suspect the usb drive, so i unplugged it and then restarted without a hitch. so now i've convinced my buddy that a new usb drive/burner would be very good for the G3's health. thanks again for your help, it really figures it would be something so simple.

[Cheryl]

You proved the point that not all USB equipment works well with a Mac.
So what brand/model is that USB drive?

[Shifting]

it's an old Iomega Predator burner.

personally i've never had any luck with Iomega products...i used to have a usb zip drive and that was pretty worthless.

the only problem now is finding a new usb drive. everything available these days seems to be usb 2.0 and there's no point in spending extra on that.

[Arden]

USB 2 will work fine with USB 1 (see related thread), but you won't have the speed associated with USB 2. Check www.pricewatch.com for prices.

My 250 MB Zip drive caused my iMac a number of problems before it broke down, including frequently freezing the system during startup after restarting from a crash (this is all in OS 9, BTW). It also tended to mount Zip disks twice, which I think came from when I was trying to get it working after first getting it, and I hotswapped it, and something happened with that... I don't remember exactly, but when I plug a Zip drive into the computer, I have to force quit the Finder because it freezes (though it usually restarts just fine).

Good luck with your endeavors, Shifting. You'll probably need it.

[Shifting]

Originally posted by arden
USB 2 will work fine with USB 1 (see related thread), but you won't have the speed associated with USB 2. Check www.pricewatch.com for prices.

i know that about usb 2. all i'm saying is, all the usb 2 drives i've seen seem rather pricey, and my friend and i would rather just pick up a simple usb 1 drive and not have to spend that much. thanks for the link, btw.

My 250 MB Zip drive caused my iMac a number of problems before it broke down, including frequently freezing the system during startup after restarting from a crash (this is all in OS 9, BTW). It also tended to mount Zip disks twice, which I think came from when I was trying to get it working after first getting it, and I hotswapped it, and something happened with that... I don't remember exactly, but when I plug a Zip drive into the computer, I have to force quit the Finder because it freezes (though it usually restarts just fine).

exactly, their zip drives just seem worthless to me. i used to have a 100mb one, and it would randomly initialize disks. perfect for back up purposes.

Good luck with your endeavors, Shifting. You'll probably need it.

thanks, man. i see you have a beige as well, nice. i still want to install X on the G3, but if not, at least i can stick with 9.2.

[Arden]

Heh. The beige G3's seem to have more issues with OS X due to outdated hardware, at least by Apple's standards.

Also, I think I damaged my Zip drive's mechanism because I stuck a number of personal checks into it. Hindsight is 20/20, and this was undoubtedly a bad idea because the drive stopped working after that. I'm not sure why I did it, I think I wanted them readily available where they wouldnt get knocked off the desk or anything. I should have put them under something...

So word to the wiser: don't stick anything into a slot that isn't made to fit in there in the first place, unless you're a technician for the drive's company of course.