The Dorling Kindersley Sampler, Version 4.0 Readme
This Read Me file is designed to address most of the problems you may encounter when using the Dorling Kindersley Sampler. Please take a look at the table of contents to see if your particular problem is addressed:
1. System requirements for running the Dorling Kindersley Sampler
2. Installing QuickTime™ 2.1
3. Installing the Dorling Kindersley Sampler
4. Performance problems
5. Running the Dorling Kindersley Sampler with low memory
6. Sound problems
7. Screen size and colour configuration
8. Playing Video
9. Care of Compact Discs
If you are still having problems or need further technical support on any Dorling Kindersley product, please call the Multimedia Helpline with details of the problem, including any error messages that were produced, and the full specification of your Macintosh.
The numbers in London, United Kingdom are:
Telephone: 0171 753 3488
Fax: 0171 753 7575
E-mail: DKMM@dkmm.co.uk
The numbers in New York, USA are:
Telephone: 1-8000 DKMM 575
Fax: 212 213 5240
E-mail: DKMM@phantom.com
1. System requirements for running the Dorling Kindersley Sampler
The minimum computer specification required for running the Dorling Kindersley Sampler is as follows:
Any Apple Macintosh 68030 25MHz computer, or above, that supports a 640 x 480 pixel monitor displaying 256-colours, 4Mb RAM, a double-speed CD-ROM drive, and System 7.0 or later.
The Dorling Kindersley Sampler aslo requires a certain amount of free RAM in order to run. You can check the minimum amount of free RAM required by the Dorling Kindersley Sampler in the following way:
1. Insert the Dorling Kindersley Sampler into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Click once to highlight the Dorling Kindersley Sampler icon.
3. From the File menu, select Get Info.
4. Under the Memory Requirements section, look for the figure in the Minimum Size box. This is the minimum amount of free RAM that the Dorling Kindersley Sampler needs in order to run.
2. Installing QuickTime™ 2.1
If you do not have QuickTime™ 2.1 you will need to install it from the Dorling Kindersley Sampler CD before running the program. Below are instructions explaining how:
A) To find out which version of QuickTime™ you have installed.
B) To install QuickTime™ 2.1 from the Dorling Kindersley Sampler CD.
A) To find out which version of QuickTime™ you have installed
1. Locate the System Folder on your hard disk. Open the System Folder by double-clicking on its icon.
2. Locate the Extensions folder inside your System Folder. Open the Extensions folder by double-clicking on its icon.
3. If there is a copy of the QuickTime™ extension in the Extensions folder click once on its icon to select it.
4. Select 'Get Info' from the File menu. If the version is earlier than version 2.1 you will need to install QuickTime™ 2.1 from the Dorling Kindersley Sampler CD.
B) To Install QuickTime™ 2.1
1. Locate the System Folder on your hard disk. Open the System Folder by double-clicking on its icon.
2. Locate the Extensions folder inside your System Folder. Open the Extensions folder by double-clicking on its icon.
3. If there is a copy of the QuickTime™ extension in the Extensions folder, drag it to the Trash. Note: do not empty the Trash until you restart your Macintosh.
4. If there is a copy of the QuickTime™ PowerPlug extension in the Extensions folder, drag it to the Trash.
5. Close the Extensions folder. Close the System Folder.
6. Locate the System Software Folder on the Dorling Kindersley Sampler CD. Open the System Software Folder by double-clicking on its icon.
7. Drag the QuickTime™ and QuickTime™ PowerPlug icons to your hard disk's System Folder icon (not the open folder).
8. A dialog box will appear with the message:
"Extensions need to be stored in the Extension folder in order to be available to the
Macintosh. Put (filename) in the Extension folder? "
Click OK in the dialog box that appears.
9. Restart your Macintosh.
10. You may now empty Trash to delete your old version of QuickTime™.
3. Installing the Dorling Kindersley Sampler
• The Dorling Kindersley Sampler may be run directly from the CD simply by double-clicking on theDorling Kindersley Sampler icon.
• To prevent unwanted interuption, any screensaver system installed should be turned off.
• If you have problems, or an error message saying that Sound Manager is not present, you should install Sound Manager from the Dorling Kindersley Sampler CD. To do this, drag the Sound Manager extension and the Sound control panel, from the System Software folder on the CD, onto the system folder on your hard disk.
• If you still experience problems with either Sound Manager or QuickTime™ 2.1, contact your Apple dealer for further help.
4. Performance problems
If the Dorling Kindersley Sampler runs slowly or sound output is interrupted, try the following suggestions:
• Running the Dorling Kindersley Sampler with your Macintosh in Virtual Memory mode can cause sound break-up. In Virtual Memory mode, your Macintosh uses a section of its hard drive to emulate RAM. Although this increases the free RAM available to the Dorling Kindersley Sampler access to that RAM can be slow. For best performance, use the Memory control panel to turn Virtual Memory off and then restart your Macintosh.
• An old or slow CD-ROM drive will impair the program's performance. The only solution to this problem is to upgrade your CD-ROM drive.
• SCSI termination problems can affect your CD-ROM drive. Your CD-ROM drive must be either internally or externally terminated. Consult your Macintosh documentation for more information on SCSI termination.
• If you have an extension called Aaron switched on, then you should switch it off. This has caused a variety of problems with while running our products.
If the Dorling Kindersley Sampler crashes, or freezes up, the most likely cause is a problem with memory. You should try the following solution:
1) Press ALT + APPLE + ESC to force the Dorling Kindersley Sampler to shut down.
2) From the Apple menu, choose Control Panels, then Memory.
3) In the Memory control panel, make sure that the Modern Memory Manager is set to Off. DO NOT click Use Defaults.
4) Now restart your computer and try to run the Dorling Kindersley Sampler again.
5. Running the Dorling Kindersley Sampler with low memory
The Dorling Kindersley Sampler requires a minimum amount of free RAM to run . You can check the minimum amount of free RAM required by the Dorling Kindersley Sampler in the following way:
1. Insert the Dorling Kindersley Sampler into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Click once to highlight the Dorling Kindersley Sampler icon.
3. From the File menu, select Get Info.
4. Under the Memory Requirements section, look for the figure in the Minimum Size box. This is the minimum amount of free RAM that the Dorling Kindersley Sampler needs in order to run.
You can check on the amount of free RAM available by opening the About This Macintosh dialog box from the Apple menu in the Finder. If you have less than the minimum amount of free RAM available try the following suggestions to free up additional RAM:
• Make sure you have only one application running at a time.
• You may be able to reduce the amount of memory used by your system software by removing unused Apple menu items, fonts, extensions, sounds, etc. from your system folder. These items can occupy considerable amounts of memory and their removal may allow the Dorling Kindersley Sampler enough RAM to run efficiently. Consult your Macintosh documentation for more information on how to remove these items.
• If you still have less than the minimum amount of RAM free, you can allocate some hard disk space to work as Virtual Memory. You can set your Macintosh to use Virtual Memory by using the Memory control panel, found in the Control Panels folder within your System folder. Using Virtual Memory will, however, slow your Macintosh's access time to RAM and may cause sound and video breakup.
• If your Macintosh is set to more than 256 colours you can reduce the amount of memory the Dorling Kindersley Sampler uses by setting the monitor control panel to 256 colours. To do this, select Control Panels from the Apple menu, and then select Monitors. From the list of settings for your selected monitor you should choose 256 colours.
If the Dorling Kindersley Sampler crashes, or freezes up, the most likely cause is a problem with memory. You should try the following solution:
1) Press ALT + APPLE + ESC to force the Dorling Kindersley Sampler to shut down.
2) From the Apple menu, choose Control Panels, then Memory.
3) In the Memory control panel, make sure that the Modern Memory Manager is set to Off. DO NOT click Use Defaults.
4) Now restart your computer and try to runthe Dorling Kindersley Sampler again.
6. Sound problems
If the Dorling Kindersley Sampler produces no sound at all, check the following points:
• Use the Sound control panel to check that the sound volume level on your machine is turned up.
• If you have external speakers, check that they are on and that their volume control is turned up.
• If you wish to use either the internal or external speakers, make sure that you have not left headphones plugged in.
If the Dorling Kindersley Sampler produces interrupted or distorted sound, check the following points:
• If the sound volume level in the Sound control panel is set at maximum volume, it may cause sound to distort. The same problem may occur with external speakers set at maximum volume. Experiment with different volume levels until you find a comfortable sound level.
• Running your Macintosh in Virtual Memory mode can cause sound breakup. In Virtual Memory mode your Macintosh uses a section of its hard drive as RAM. Although this increases the free RAM available to the Dorling Kindersley Sampler, access to sounds stored in that RAM can be slow. For best performance, use the Memory control panel to turn Virtual Memory off, and then restart your Macintosh.
• The built-in speakers supplied with Macintosh computers vary in quality depending on the age and model of the machine. A poor quality speaker may cause distorted sound, especially at high volume levels.
• The Dorling Kindersley Sampler requires the Macintosh to have some spare memory available to generate the sounds. For this reason, do not allocate quite all the available memory to the Dorling Kindersley Sampler when you start it up. See section 5, on Running the Dorling Kindersley Sampler with low memory for more details on how to set the memory allocation.
7. Screen size and colour configuration
• The Dorling Kindersley Samplerwill run on any colour monitor with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, and supports 256 colours or more. The program will work on a grayscale monitor, but is not designed to work in black and white.
• The Dorling Kindersley Sampler is not designed to run on multiple monitors. If you have such a setup, the program will run on your primary monitor only.
8. Playing Video
• If the Dorling Kindersley Sampler fails to play any video at all the most likely reason is that QuickTime™ is not installed on your system. (QuickTime™ is normally installed as part of System 7.5, but even if your Macintosh is running System 7.5, there is no guarantee that QuickTime™ is available - someone may have removed it from your Macintosh system). If you suspect QuickTime™ is not installed see section 2, Installing QuickTime™ 2.1.
• If the videos played in the Dorling Kindersley Sampler are slow or jumpy this may be due to Virtual Memory being turned "on" on your Macintosh. Use the Memory control panel to make sure that Virtual Memory is switched off. Networking can also cause a delay in access to video files. If your Macintosh is connected to a network, try disconnecting it by selecting Control Panels, then AppleTalk. From the AppleTalk control panel, choose Options, and set AppleTalk to Inactive. For more information, refer to your Macintosh documentation.
• If you are using Connectix Speed Doubler, you should switch this off before playing the Dorling Kindersley Sampler. Using Speed Doubler will interfere with the playing of video in our product.
9. Care of Compact Discs
Contrary to early reports, compact discs (CDs) are very easily damaged if treated carelessly. Such damage has a much greater effect on the digital data of a CD-ROM than on the information of a music CD. A dirty or damaged CD-ROM is quite likely to malfunction. With CD-ROM drives becoming ever faster and more disc-sensitive, this is becoming an increasing problem.
The surface of the disc can quickly gather dirt and is very easily scratched. To protect the data from scratches, fingerprints, dust particles, and smears, do not touch the readout side (unlabelled side) of the disc or place it face down on a hard surface.
Should the CD become dirty, clean it with a soft cloth lightly moistened with CD cleaning fluid or ethyl alcohol, working from the center to the edge. Do not use any type of solvent, such as benzene, lacquer thinner, anti-static agents or LP record cleaners as they may damage the surface.
Never leave the disc in a place subject to direct sunlight, high temperature or high humidity. Recommended storage conditions are:
