Apple Menu Options can not launch

[bjorkj02]

Hello,

I recently acquired a Mac PowerBook G3/333 (Bronze Keyboard/Lombard), and did a clean install of OS 9.1.  I'm now going through the control panels and setting things up, etc., and everything launches as expected ...

Except for 'Apple Menu Options'. When I select that from 'Control Panels', I get the message:

"There has been an error opening the preferences file. As a result Apple Menu Options can not launch."

I'm not sure why this is happening (especially on a new, clean install), or how to fix it. Any advice will be appreciated!

- Jim

[OS923]

Can you open Apple Menu Options with ResEdit or does it complain?

[ovalking]

Did you try deleting 'Apple Menu Options Prefs'?
If it doesn't exist yet, could try copying the file from another machine.

[FdB]

Why stop at OS 9.1 when you can install OS 9.2.2?
Don't make me find & fire up the Lombard here to check.
[OS 9.2.2 just might fix yer problem.]

[bjorkj02]

Thanks to everyone for your replies on this!

@OS923: It was good to have that suggestion about ResEdit. I hadn't heard of it, but it looks useful so I downloaded it from macintoshgarden.org ... And to answer your question, I was able to open Apple Menu Options with no problems.

@ovalking: I hadn't tried deleting that file yet ... So I deleted the 'Apple Menu Options Prefs' file, restarted the computer and tried again to launch the 'Apple Menu Options' control panel. And this time it worked perfectly!

@FdB: Since I'm *only* planning to use OS 9 natively on this computer, and since I've heard the 9.1 is the final true version of OS 9 where the later versions only added overhead for OS X's OS 9 compatibility mode, then I'm hesitant to upgrade further at this point. But I appreciate the thought

[OS923]

If Apple Menu Options Prefs was damaged, then this indicates that you had a problem with updating a resource fork. This problem is common in OS 9. This can cause a bad System file and unable to startup. The best way to prevent this is that you use something like AutoFlush. OS 9 should not be used without AutoFlush. https://macgui.com/downloads/?file_id=20440

[bjorkj02]

Thanks OS923 - that sounds like a very good thing to do!

So I downloaded and expanded AutoFlush 1.0, and that produced 2 files:

- AutoFlush 1.0.cpt
- AutoFlush 1.0 Folder

Note - inside the folder are the following: AutoFlush (extension file) and "AutoFlush ReadMe"

I checked the ReadMe, but it doesn't actually tell me what to do next. So I'm assuming these are the next steps:

1. Move the "AutoFlush" system extension into System > System Folder > Extensions (Disabled)
2. Launch 'Extensions Manager' from the Controls Panel
3. Check the box next to "AutoFlush" to enable the extension, and restart the computer

Assuming this is correct (and let me know if something is amiss), then the final question is what to do with the "AutoFlush 1.0.cpt" file? I'm not sure if this needs to be placed somewhere, or deleted, or something else ...

Thanks again for your advice and assistance!

[GorfTheChosen]

Drag the AutoFlush extension and drop on the System Folder ... the System will place it where it needs to go (likely in the Extensions Folder, not Disabled)

It will appear/be added to your existing EM set the next time you open the Extensions Manager.

Save the AutoFlush1.0.cpt file as a back up - in case you have to reinstall your System software at some point.

[IIO]

isnt .cpt the extension for compact pro archive?

[GorfTheChosen]

Last time I looked ...

[bjorkj02]

Thanks Gorf - that is very helpful and everything worked as you described! The only question now is whether there is a way to manually trigger AutoFlush?

The 'ReadMe' says this extension is automatically run after one of 5 critical resource manager calls is executed. However, this doesn't seem to account for -- as in my scenario -- something happened in the past when AutoFlush wasn't installed ...

So if there is a fairly simple way to manually trigger AutoFlush to run, that would be good to know.

[OS923]

That wouldn't be necessary in most circumstances because files are flushed automatically when they are closed and AutoFlush flushes the open files.

Flushing everything (open and closed files and volumes) can be done with a hotkey using CacheSaver. I've used this before, but it will constantly flush a USB stick and this causes wear.