[Namorado]

Anyone...
Though I seem to remember a posting _somewhere_ in the last month about the existence of
a software to enable an iMac to reboot without having to unplug the computer to kill the freeze,
several hours' searching has been fruitless. Anyone got a pointer to a site?
Particulars: iMac DV 10Gb/64RAM (VM = 119), OS 9.04. Using browsers iCab Pre2.4
(cached to a RAM Disk), Opera 5.0 TI-PPC, Mozilla 0.8-TB, Netscape 4.76 (which usually
crashes early-on), and Netscape 6.01(slow as reputed in spite of Gecko).
Usually crashes come after a pop-up warning to "close extra windows or applications"
because "memory is getting full" while running one or two browsers, in spite of cache-size
not nearing set limits or any quantity that should strain 8Gb of free drive space (e.g., 2 or
3 Mb in cache). Is some looping javascript or animated banner ad(s) filling up some un-
seen limited space that the OS needs?
Also, I.E. 5+, NS6, and Mozilla all apparently see margin-wraps or line returns in the
source-code file (without break-tags or paragraph-tags) as hard returns, which totally
screws up the text and icon positioning on my ___C a sa___d o___N a m o r a d o___
web site. The page-links where it says "Clique aqui!" should have the colored balls on one
line, not vertically above each other. My scripts have been reading o.k. for years, now with
these new browsers I'll have to figure out why exactly it does this. The latest site update is
Dec. 16, '00, unless I've fixed it since posting. Any insights welcome.

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Many topics are at
___C a s a___d o___N a m o r a d o___
http://www.geocities.com/namorado/

[yoyo52]

First, never unplug to reboot. It might do terrible things to your HD, and almost certainly will lead to corrupted files.

There's a reset button--more like an orifice--that's in the side of the iMac where all the ports are. I'm not sure where it's located on iMacs beyond Rev A, but there it's between the ethernet and the modem ports. It's a small opening into which you delicately insert a straightened paper clip. There're two such "buttons." Make sure that it's the right one, because the other one is the "programmer's" button, which you really shouldn't mess with unless you're updating the firmware.

Second, the problem you describe has one of three solutions. The first solution is to buy more RAM, which is pretty cheap right now. Only 64 MB is just barely enough to run one app besides the OS, if you ask me.

The second solution, even if you don't buy more RAM, is to turn on Virtual Memory, which you can do via the Memory Control Panel. With 64 MB, I'd be tempted to set VM to 32 more MB, for a total of 96 MB. If you do buy more RAM, then set the VM to one MB more than what you have in physical memory. If you have a lot of physical memory, you can just turn off VM (I know I know, lots of peope will say that you ought to leave it on anyway). The new VM settings won't be operational until you reboot, by the way.

The third solution, and this one you ought to do right now, is to allocate more memory to your browsers and, for that matter, to all your applications. With only 64 MB of RAM you have to be careful--probably allocate no more than 30% more than what the default "preferred" memory indicates. Leave the "Minimum" memory alone. If you get more RAM, then I'd suggest doubling the allocated memory. The Finder Help menu will tell you how to allocate--just open the Mac Help and type in "adjusting your memory usage."

By the way, I tried to open the URL you indicate, but couldn't find it at all.

[Namorado]

The website URL in my original post omitted the <b>.geo</b> at the end of namorado ... an
unwelcome addition when Yahoo! bought out GeoCities last year, 'cos many people
think it stands for "George." Hopefully, the sig below will read this way: http://www.geocities.com/namorado.geo (if you want to look at it in various browsers
old and new to see what I mean about the text wrap being bad). <b>Reply directly or post
about this side-issue in a more appropriate place than iMac Forum...</b> my main query
is about solving the <b>iMac crashes</b> that require turning the power supply off (unplug-
ging) because no keyboard or power-button actions will stop the <b>total freeze</b>.

------------------
Many topics are at
___C a s a___d o___N a m o r a d o___
http://www.geocities.com/namorado.geo/