NewsBITS/30-Sep-91

A quick recommendation. If you are interested in the future of the computer industry and electronic technology, read the September 1991 issue of Scientific American. I haven’t finished mine yet, but it has numerous interesting articles by luminaries in the field.

Jasmine has toppled again, and this time its parent company won’t prop it up with extra money. You always hear about (American) companies filing for Chapter 11, which means that they’re bankrupt but are planning to recover and stay in business. Jasmine did that last time, but this time they’re going for Chapter 7, which means that the executives are heading for the border. Not really, that’s the protection afforded by incorporating, but Jasmine is liquidated. I’m sure a pithy quote by Arnold Schwarzenegger would be appropriate here if it weren’t for all the customers who are in danger of being crushed as Jasmine falls. Apparently Jasmine has no plans to return the drives it has in for repair, and it is still accepting (well, throwing in a corner) drives that come in for repair. It’s not that they’re being sleazy – it’s just that there’s no one working, and no money to pay anyone to do so. The moral of the story is: Avoid Jasmine! Do not send them anything! Do not pass Go! Do not collect on your warranty! For those of you who have bad drives from Rodime PLC in Scotland (I’d guess that mostly European users are affected), don’t send them back for repair either. At least one person has yet to receive confirmation of receipt of his drive, sent in some weeks ago, and Rodime PLC has announced that it will cease manufacturing operations. Rodime PLC is separate from Rodime Systems, Inc., of Boca Raton, FL, which is why US Rodime users have less to fear. Several companies, including DriveSavers and Mipro III, will recover dead drives for a fee, so it’s worth talking to them if you are in serious need. I have no experience with any of these companies, and I’m sure there are others, so check into it before sending in your drive. See below for numbers.

Mark H. Anbinder writes, "MacTCP version 1.1, which is System 7 compatible, is now shipping from APDA. To order, customers can call APDA at 800/282-2732. The single-user price is $100. APDA will send MacTCP version 1.1 free of charge to current MacTCP Commercial Distribution and Internal Use licensees. For more information on licensing MacTCP, contact Software Licensing at 408/974-4667."

There’s been concern about a minor ROM bug in the IIci, IIfx, IIsi, and LC. The bug isn’t fatal – it merely slows down a small number of programs a small amount. At some point a bug fix in the form of an extension called MMInit was leaked to the outside world. Thomas Okken kindly quoted to the nets the relevant section from d e v e l o p magazine that closes the issue for good. The answer is, Apple fixed the problem in System 7 (yet another reason to upgrade) and the version of MMInit that made it out of Apple is buggy and can cause data corruption, data loss, and crashes. It’s evil, so don’t use it. If you see it on BBS, please ask the sysop to delete it (especially since it’s not sanctioned by Apple anyway). By the way, if you use MMInit under System 7, it will defeat Apple’s fixes. Even more reason not to bother.

DriveSavers — 415/883-4232
Mipro III — 415/306-1100 — 415/364-9002 (fax)

Information from:
Murph Sewall — [email protected]
Dave Platt — [email protected]
Steve Burgess, Mipro III — MrMipro on AOL
Mark H. Anbinder, TidBITS Contributing Editor
Thomas Okken — [email protected]

Related articles:
d e v e l o p, #7, pg. 95-96
MacWEEK — 10-Sep-91, Vol. 5, #30, pg. 107
MacWEEK — 24-Sep-91, Vol. 5, #32, pg. 6