Please take a moment to fill out, and mail in, your registration card.
Please read the PBTools manual; this file only covers additions to the printed manual.
The PowerWatch menu, PowerWatch control panel, and PowerWatch log all support 4 batteries instead of 2. The control panel and menu changes are shown below:
The PowerWatch graphs now display 4 Battery In Use indicators, instead of 2. The graph indicators are unchanged for Battery 1 In Use and Battery 2 in Use. (If battery 1 is in use, the line at the top of the graph is normal, single thickness. If battery 2 is in use, the line at the top of the graph is double thickness). When battery 3 is in use, the top of the graph has the normal line, there is a 1 line empty space below that line, and another line right below that. When battery 4 is in use, the top of the graph has a triple thick line:
PBTools now exports a second type of PowerWatch Log, better formatted for a spreadsheet. When you click on the Export PowerWatch Log button, the standard file dialog that comes up now has a pair of radio buttons on the bottom, and you can choose between Word Processor format (default) and Spreadsheet format.
The Word Processor document uses the same format, filetype, and creator as documented in the printed manual; the Spreadsheet document has a filetype of TEXT, a creator of XCEL (MicroSoft Excel), and a new format. The first record in the Spreadsheet file has the name of each field in every record. Each succeeding record has the same number of fields as the Word Processor version, and each field describes the same information as the corresponding field in the Word Processor version; the difference is the format of the information in each field:
PBTools can now turn the PBTools menu on in running applications. You can turn the PBTools menu on and off to your hearts content, and the menu will appear and disappear in all applications. The warnings in the printed manual to restart after turning the PBTools menu off and on are no longer necessary.
The SafeSleep control panel has a new checkbox, controlling a new feature, as illustrated below:
Some Duo owners didn’t want to be asked for their password when their Duo was at home and docked, but wanted SafeSleep to be fully functional at other times. This new function gives them that. Just below the “Require Password at Startup” checkbox is a new checkbox that says “unless fully docked”. The new “unless fully docked” checkbox is not available (it’s grayed out) unless you have a Duo, and the “Require Password at Startup” checkbox above it is checked. Fully docked means in a standard Duo dock, not a mini-dock. Note that when a Duo is docked, it can’t go to sleep, so the only time the SafeSleep screen comes up is at startup time. Checking the “unless fully docked” checkbox will prevent the startup SafeSleep screen from coming up at startup time when the Duo is docked. The “unless fully docked” checkbox is OFF by default.
Some users wanted their PowerBooks to display the owner information in case they lost their PowerBooks, but they didn’t want to bother with a password (even a single character password...). SafeSleep now has the ability to accept a password of “Any Key”. (This means any “printable” key; the modifier keys [caps, shift, control, option, command] won’t dismiss the owner info screen). When the password is set to “Any Key”, if you haven’t pressed a key by the time SafeSleep times out, PBTools will press the key for you, and the PowerBook will NOT be put to sleep. The “Accept ANY Key” button is added to the password entry dialog shown below:
(This feature could also be known as “Don’t fall asleep if the modem is powered”).
The Power Manager has always considered a powered internal modem a “user action,” and wouldn’t allow a PowerBook to fall asleep if the modem was powered. The advent of the Apple Express Modem, required by Duo owners, and available (in a slightly different hardware package) to all post-PB100 users, has changed this. With the Apple Express Modem, when sending or receiving a fax, or using a data terminal program that supports the comm toolkit, the Power Manager does NOT prevent the PowerBook from falling asleep. This means that just when you least expect or want it, your PowerBook takes a nap, and the fax or data you were sending or receiving, as well as the connection, is gone. Apple specifically warns users to be careful not to let their PowerBook fall asleep when using the Express Modem (by plugging in the PowerBook charger and making sure that “Stay Awake when Plugged In” is checked in the PowerBook control panel). PBTools will prevent your PowerBook from falling asleep while the modem is on if you check the “Express Modem Sleep Watchdog” checkbox. No need to alter your settings and find an AC outlet every time you want to use the Express Modem (and every time you stop).
Those users who do not have an internal modem installed will find that the “Express Modem™ Sleep Watchdog” checkbox is grayed out and unavailable; the Express Modem Sleep Watchdog is disabled unless an internal modem is installed in your PowerBook.
Those users who have a different internal modem installed (not an Apple Express Modem) will be able to check the “Express Modem™ Sleep Watchdog” checkbox, but it is unnecessary. Checking it won’t hurt anything either.
Sleep/Wake Drive is now a toggle instead of two items. When the drive is spinning, the menu item will say “Sleep Hard Drive”; when the drive has spun down, the menu item will say “Wake Hard Drive”. Though it makes a lot of sense to have two separate HotKeys for Sleep Drive and Wake Drive (so you don’t have to know the state of the Drive while you’re typing away; you can just hit the appropriate HotKey without looking up, and know the Drive will put into the state you want), it makes little sense to have two separate menu items to accomplish what one will. The AppleTalk toggle item has been moved up to directly below the new Sleep/Wake Drive item. Since PBTools now tracks 4 batteries (see above), the Battery x In Use items have been moved to the bottom of the PowerWatch menu, and there are now four of them. The “Open PBTools™…” item is now in the middle, below the top group of HotKey items, and above the Battery In Use group of items.
Some users requested the ability to enter “nothing” as a HotKey (i.e., to turn off an individual HotKey). In order to accommodate that request, there is now a third button in the HotKey Password entry dialog, between the “OK” and the “Cancel” buttons (shown below). If you don’t want any HotKey for a particular function, just click on the new “Disable” button. The field for that HotKey will be emptied, and that HotKey will be inactive.
AppleTalk is a wonderful tool for increasing the scope of your PowerBook. When AppleTalk is loaded and active, and your PowerBook is connected to a network, you gain access to all the resources of that network; you can print to any printers on the network, and you can access all the shared volumes on the network.
Access to the shared volumes on the network allows you to copy files from your desktop machines to your PowerBook, and to backup and synchronize the files you’ve been working with on your PowerBook.
You may not realize you are using AppleTalk. Apple’s ARA program, supplied with many PowerBooks, lets you hook up to your home or office Macintosh, remotely, over the telephone lines. ARA stands for AppleTalk Remote Access. ARA requires AppleTalk.
As with many of the powerful tools that Apple has provided, there are trade-offs the well informed PowerBook user should consider and make, when using AppleTalk.
PBTools will automatically attend to the bothersome details of using AppleTalk, and will greatly simplify the manual actions you’ll want to tend to yourself.
(1) A new checkbox in the PowerControl section of the PBTools control panel,
"Always load AppleTalk at startup". When checked, AppleTalk will always be
available, whether it was active (On) or inactive (Off) when you last restarted.
(2) A new menu item in the PowerWatch menu, "Turn AppleTalk Off" (if AppleTalk
is inactive, the menu item will say "Turn AppleTalk On"). With this menu item,
you can quickly and easily turn AppleTalk on and off from any application.
If AppleTalk is not loaded, the menu item will say “AppleTalk On at Restart”,
and selecting it will place a checkmark next to the item (or will remove the
checkmark, if the item was checked when you selected it).
(3) A new "double dots" marker in the PowerWatch menu title icon, the "AppleTalk
is Active" indicator, just below the bar used to show the internal hard drive
status. If AppleTalk is active, the double dots will show; if AppleTalk is
inactive, the dots will disappear.
Without PBTools:
If AppleTalk was active (On) the last time your PowerBook shut down, AppleTalk will load and activate the next time your PowerBook starts up; if AppleTalk was inactive (Off) the last time your PowerBook shut down, AppleTalk will NOT load the next time your PowerBook starts up.
When AppleTalk loads, it consumes about 250K of memory. This 250K is unavailable to your programs, even if you turn AppleTalk off. To recover this 250K so your programs can use it, you must turn AppleTalk off (with the Chooser Desk Accessory in the Apple Menu), and restart.
You can’t activate AppleTalk unless it loaded the last time your PowerBook started up; if you subsequently want to turn AppleTalk on, you’ll not only have to make a trip to the Chooser Desk Accessory (to turn AppleTalk on), you’ll have to restart your PowerBook as well.
While AppleTalk is active, your PowerBook consumes more power.
While AppleTalk is active, your PowerBook will NOT go to sleep by itself, since the Power Manager considers AppleTalk turned on to be an "activity."
Problem: You have to restart every time you use AppleTalk. Sometimes it feels as if you are spending all your time turning AppleTalk on and off.
AppleTalk loaded at startup:
Negative - 250K of memory is used, even if AppleTalk is later turned off.
Positive - you can turn AppleTalk on and off without restarting.
AppleTalk loads if it was active at shutdown, doesn’t if it was inactive at shutdown:
Negative - AppleTalk loading should be determined by your ability to
spare the 250K it uses, not the state it was in (on or off) the
last time your PowerBook was shut down.
Positive - If you never activate AppleTalk, this will assure you don’t
waste the memory it would use.
Solution: If you never use AppleTalk, leave the “Always load AppleTalk at startup” checkbox unchecked. If your PowerBook has only 2 meg of memory, leave the “Always load AppleTalk at startup” checkbox unchecked. Otherwise, check the “Always load AppleTalk at startup” checkbox in the PowerControl panel. AppleTalk will always be available to you. It will be active only when YOU turn it on, and it will be inactive only when YOU turn it off. It will NOT be turned on “for you” each time your PowerBook is restarted. If AppleTalk was inactive when your PowerBook shut down, it will be inactive when your PowerBook restarts; if AppleTalk was active when your PowerBook shut down, it will be active when your PowerBook restarts. “Always load AppleTalk at startup” only effects the loading of AppleTalk, not whether it is active or inactive.
Problem: Now that AppleTalk is always available, it would be easy to accidentally leave it active, even when you didn’t want it active. Needlessly leaving AppleTalk active wastes power, and prevents your PowerBook from going to sleep.
Solution: Glance at the “Double Dots” indicator in the PowerWatch menu title icon. You won’t have to remember to make a trip to the Chooser to see if AppleTalk is active; a glance at the PowerWatch menu indicator will tell you if you’ve forgotten to turn AppleTalk off. (Or if you’ve forgotten to turn it on...).
Problem: When you want to turn AppleTalk on or off, you have to stop what you’re doing, locate the Chooser Desk Accessory, open it, click on a button, respond to a couple of dialogs, and close the Chooser. If memory is low, the Chooser may not open, and you’ll have to save your document, quit the application, open the Chooser, make all those click, locate the document you just closed, re-open the application,...
Solution: Just reach for the PowerWatch menu. Much faster and easier than using the Chooser Desk Accessory, and the PowerWatch menu will work even when low memory constraints prevent the Chooser from opening.
