Known Bugs, Hints, Suggestions

To assist with debugging, MultiMode now creates a text file called STARTUP_STATUS_DEBUG as it starts up. This text file contains status information showing the progress of MultiMode through the startup process. If you report crashing or other difficulties to me, please attach a copy of this file to your email.

Some users have been reporting conflicts with RamDoubler. If you have RamDoubler, and are experiencing problems you may want to try disabling it to see if that helps. MultiMode, unlike many other applications, really does need all the memory it asks for.  The same goes with other extensions - you may want to try disabling them if you’re having problems, to see if that helps. You may also have problems if you're using Virtual Memory, as the disk activity can slow it down. 

I’ve also heard of some problems with some third party printer drivers, particularly Epson. This causes crashing problems, even if you’re not trying to print. The solution was to get the latest version of the driver. 

Don't try to do too much multitasking when decoding. If your Mac is busy and can't get a sound sample in time, it will be lost, causing garbled display. Holding down the mouse button for an extended time can cause this also. (It's not a bug, it's a feature!) Quit all other applications, if possible. 

In Fax mode, all drawing is done to an offscreen port with an 8 bit pixel depth. If CPU utilization is too high in fax mode, you may want to set your monitor pixel depth to 256 colors, this will speed things up. (For example, on my PowerCenterPro 180 system, the CPU time is around 10% in Fax mode, when I am in millions of colors. If I switch to 256 colors, it drops to 3%. On this system, it isn’t much, but on slower systems, it can be critical. ) You also may wish to try not running other applications in the background.

Take time to make sure your signal is properly tuned in, with minimal interference. That's the best way to get clean copy. Don't overdrive the audio input into the Mac either, that will only distort the signal. If the audio volume is too high, the audio can be clipped, which will cause lots of errors (garbage) to be displayed while decoding. So, if the decoding doesn’t seem to be working very well, try turning the volume on your radio down before you try turning it up!