Q: Where can I obtain the latest version of AutoBoot ?
A: I always upload new versions to the Internet. Look on any Info-Mac mirror for the latest version. Also check the AutoBoot web pages if you want info on the latest release, download sites, tips, ...
http://www.vl-brabant.be/mac
Q: Why isn't Autoboot always able to restart my Mac when it freezes up ?
A: Certain types of crashes and freeze-ups are more severe than others. AutoBoot depends on a minimum level of remaining system activity to be able to restart the Mac. (see also next question).
Q: How do I know if AutoBoot is functioning correctly on my Mac ?
A: Use the bomb-applications to check AutoBoot functionality. At least one of the bomb-applications should crash your Mac and trigger a restart by AutoBoot.
Q: Some of the bomb-applications don't make my Mac restart. Why ?
A: This is quite normal. Depending on what system your are running, some bomb-applications will cause a system crash and others won't. At least one bomb should crash your system.
Q: My Mac doesn't restart when I crash it with a bomb application. What can I do ?
A: First of all, make sure AutoBoot is the first extension to load at startup. Extensions load alphabetically, so you can influence the order in which they load. If this doesn't help, try to disable all other extensions and control panels. If AutoBoot works now, re-enable other extensions and control panels until you find the conflicting extension/control panel. If you still can't get it to work, contact me.
Q: I'm running System 7.5 and when AutoBoot restarts my Mac, it gets stuck on restart with a dialog warning me to shutdown properly in the future. What can I do ?
A: Switch off the shutdown warning in the general controls control panel.
Q: AutoBoot reboots my Mac after a crash but the log file always says "reason unknown". What is wrong ?
A: The feature which reports the reason for the crash no longer works on some newer Macs. I hope to fix this one day.
Q: AutoBoot says it has restarted my Mac (reason unknown), but it was me who restarted the Mac. Why ?
A: AutoBoot always says this when the Mac was not shutdown properly. It can not always distinguish between an improper shutdown and an AutoBoot reboot.
Q: I get an error saying "The Application xxx has unexpectedly quit because an error of type ZZ occurred". Why doesn't AutoBoot restart my Mac ?
A: AutoBoot doesn't restart your Mac because this is not a System Error but an application error. Another utility I wrote (Keep It Up) takes care of this problem.
Q: When will AutoBoot become PowerPC native ?
A: That depends on Apple. In order to function, AutoBoot patches some of the Macintosh "Toolbox calls". Currently, these calls are still 68000 code. Now there's a rule that says one should never patch 68000 code with PowerPC code. So as long as Apple doesn't change this particular part of the toolbox, AutoBoot can not (and need not) go native. The good news is that AutoBoot is so efficient that it will not hurt the PowerPC's performance.
Q: My Mac is running System 7.1 with the 32-bit enabler. Why isn't AutoBoot able to restart my Mac on system errors ?
A: Due to a bug in the 32-bit enabler, AutoBoot can't restart the mac. Get rid of the 32-bit enabler and get Mode32 instead. Mode32 which is freely available doesn't suffer from this bug.
Q: My Mac is running System 7 with Virtual Memory. Why isn't AutoBoot able to restart my Mac on system errors ?
A: AutoBoot 1.4 is VM compatible except on some older machines. This version of AutoBoot can reboot all modern Macs when VM is active. It can NOT reboot some older Macs (the machines I tested: SE/30, IIx, IIcx) because of some kind of incompatibility between the older ROMS and Virtual Memory. On these computers, you can only use AutoBoot with VM disabled. If you want to use VM and AutoBoot and your Mac isn't listed above, just try it out. Use one of the bomb applications supplied with AutoBoot to see if AutoBoot is able to reboot your Mac when VM is active.
Q: AutoBoot says it can't load some resources. What is wrong ?
A: You need to make sure the AutoBoot control panel is present in the control panels folder. Make also sure you haven't renamed the control panel or extension.
Q: AutoBoot 1.5 refuses to run on my Mac using system 6. Why ?
A: Version 1.3 is the last version which is compatible with system 6. I stopped supporting the system 6 version because I have no longer access to a Mac running system 6. Version 1.3 is however quite stable.
