Hi! Thanks so much for the informative, friendly answers I got to the first question I posted to this list!
About my duo's unreliable behavior (intermittent crashes, freezes, trouble awakening, etc -- even after the usual troubleshooting routines and after clean system install and everything) I'd written wondering whether magnets might've caused it (since I'd put it on top of some magnets). . . and Greg wrote: >I would doubt that the magnets caused any problem particularly since you >say you reinstalled software. It takes a very serious encounter with >magnets to hurt a hard drive or floppy. They say "never put your floppy >near speakers!" because speakers have magnets. Yes, speakers do have >magnets but a disk needs a very intimate contact with a magnet to harm >it, not a "casual pass in the vicinity of". Try this... fill a floppy >with programs data etc. Now set the floppy on your fridge magnets. Put >then all in a bag and shake 'em up. Now stick your floppy in your >computer. I dare say you will see no problems with the data on the floppy. I finally got around to trying this -- put the magnets right on the floppy, moved them all around on both sides of the floppy. I put the floppy back in the computer then. I had my doubts, I must admit, but it worked just perfectly; nothing on it seemed affected. >As far as your random crash/freeze problem, it sounds like it may be an >intermittent fault with hardware. The first thing I would look at is all >the connectors and such inside the computer. You might remove and >reinstall the ram card, or remove it and try without it (maybe use >Virtual memory if needed for the testing). > >Remove and reconnect all other ribbon cables etc. Yikes -- Isn't a novice more likely to do harm than good when attempting something like this? Well, I do have a copy of the 2300's service manual that I can refer to, so maybe that's enough. By the way, how necessary is a grounding wriststrap? What _is_ a grounding wriststrap anyway; what's it made out of? Is it possible to make one out of ordinary household materials? What if one disassembles the computer in the kitchen with a couple of pots of water boiling away on the stove -- would that make the chance of static much more unlikely (because the air is damp)? By the way, I was the one that put in the ram card it has now, after removing the one it originally had (and I didn't use a grounding wriststrap). What sort of damage _can_ happen from static (Would it ever cause assorted, intermittent problems like the ones I've been having)? --- Karsten wrote describing having experienced similar sorts of probs, which then stopped after changing the system from 7.6 back to 7.5.3. As someone else commented, 7.6 was known for being unstable, and it's worth updating to 7.6.1. I actually am using 7.6.1 -- but it occurs to me that I might try another system (7.5.x) as an experiment, for example on a ram disk, to see whether that affects the incidence of the freezing and refusal to awaken. - - - - [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I see you say you're only using some of the system's extensions. >Did you disable something you shouldn't have? Hmmm. . . I generally operate under the assumption that the fewer extensions, the better (even the apple extensions -- which is all I have on the duo at the moment). Unless it's something that the computer seems to need to boot up, or that some application needs to launch, or unless it gives some particular functionality that I want, I'd rather disable it. I'm curious now what the general experience is about extensions: Might there really be some that don't appear strictly necessary (because most of the time the computer works), but which would make things more stable if they weren't disabled? - - - - Again, thank you for the responses! One of these days soon I will delve into the duo and do some poking around -- disconnecting and reconnecting --and some diagnostic tests, as Greg suggests. >There is nothing more joyful than to discover a broken or poor >connection, repair it, and have your problem disappear! Maybe having a >baby is more joyful, I don't no, but for a guy I think this would be top >of the list :-) Oh, I can well imagine how joyful this would be! Well, I will keep you all posted if I make any progress or interesting discoveries. Susanna ---------- Duo/2400 List, The friendliest place on the Net! A listserv for users and fans of Mac subportables. 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