Re: GraphicWriter III freeze

[casa@unm.edu (Jim Pittman)]

Dave Althoff (dalloff@freenet.columbus.oh.us) recently posted a
question about a GraphicWriter III v.1.1 file becoming unusable.

I have had similar freeze-ups with version 2.0 of GraphicWriter
and I'd sure like to know what to do to prevent them.

In one case I was editing an article with GW III and the computer
froze. Nothing would work except control-apple-reset. After this
restart I opened GW and tried to open the file. The computer froze.
Moving the 3.5 disk with the file to a different IIgs produced the
same result on that machine: I could open other GW files, but if I
tried to open that particular file, the computer would freeze.

Nothing I could think to do would fix that file and I had to abandon
it and start over with a new "model" file and re-import my text files
and re-format my article.

A couple months later I had a replay of this phenomenon with another
file. Similar symptoms, same result: a useless file.

A couple of weeks later I was editing a GW file and everything froze.
When I re-started the computer and tried to run GW III, the computer
froze as soon as the first big logo showed up -- nothing would work,
except the pointer would move around - but control-apple-esc would
not work. I tried everything I could think of to no avail. Even a re-
install of GW III did not help. Finally I did a complete re-install
of System 6.0.1 and now GW would work again.

Interestingly, while typing in this story on my Apple IIe, I tried
running GW III on a IIgs here at work and it did the exact same
thing: froze up tight...

I tried everything I could think of: Shift-booting makes no difference.
Removing the GW3.preferences file makes no difference. Removing the GW
icon file makes no difference. (I already have the Icons/Desktop file
locked in an attempt to reduce crashes.) Running a memory test (Q.TEST)
shows no bad memory. Installing a heavy-duty power supply and then a
Buggie power supply makes no difference.

Finally I tried running Salvation: Deliverance and chose "Recover
Files..." and it checked the entire boot drive and said it found and
fixed one error. After re-booting, GraphicWriter will run. Wow!

Is this a general rule, that when GW makes the computer freeze up, a
"Recover files" with Deliverance will fix it? Or is this an isolated
event? Deliverance didn't tell me where the error was. (Now I'll have
to try Deliverance on the boot partition of my machine at home.)

Both machines in question have an 8-mHz Zip-GSX accelerator. Both
have 4-meg memory cards. Both have Second Sight cards and VGA monitors.
One is a ROM 01 and the other is a ROM 3. The ROM 01 has a Focus hard
drive and the ROM 3 has a RamFAST with a Quantum SCSI drive. Both
have Pointless with TrueType fonts.

I have quite a lot of crashes on all my IIgs computers. I have pared
my inits and NDAs down to a few that I don't want to give up, but I
have given up on all menu clocks. With the exception of the specific
episodes with GraphicWriter freezing as soon as it starts, I have not
found any series of events guaranteed to result in a crash. Some
programs almost never crash (Spectrum 2.0, GNO/ME 2.0.4, Platinum
Paint, Quick Click Calc), while others crash often but at apparently
random times (Hermes 1.3.4, Word Works Pro, GW III).

I'd like to hear anything to prevent GW III freeze-ups since that's
one of my primary applications on the IIgs -- and overall, probably
the one that causes me the most grief.

- Jim Pittman - AppleQuerque Computer Club - casa at unm dot edu