Macintosh Troubleshooting

We've only had one tech support question specific to OSX and it involves sound recording. If you are using an external microphone you may have to open the Sound item in the System Preferences and change the input from “internal” to the microphone (it will usually be listed by name).

OSX

Older versions of our CDs will not run in OSX. OSX compatible software has a large game icon and three smaller icons for the manual, license, and registration. If the CD opens up with lots of little folders, then it is not OSX compatible. We offer an inexpensive upgrade program. Details are found at the Replacement Program page.

OS X—Classic Mode

Older versions of our software will run in classic mode. They will run on OS X Panther version 10.2.6 and higher, OSX Jaguar 10.3 and above, and OSX 10.4 Tiger when running in Classic Mode. OSX 10.5 Leopard does not have a Classic mode.

Running LocuTour software on OS9

General

Many problems will go away by simply shutting down the computer and printer for 15 seconds and then restarting. Virtual Memory should be turned off.

Empty box appears and program freezes

If after starting our program a blank box appears, then you probably don't have a default printer selected. Some computers require a default printer to be set up before our software will work. If you get this error and you have a printer, then make sure it's selected in the chooser.
If you don't have a printer attached to your computer then you have to fool the computer into thinking that you do. Choose the Laserwriter printer icon in the chooser and close the chooser window. Without a printer you won't be able to print, but you will still be able to use our software.
If you are running OSX in Classic Mode, it is not easy to find the chooser to open it. Open a classic application, I use Simpletext. The apple in the top right-hand corner will be multi-colored instead of blue. Click on the apple and then the chooser to select a printer. You have to tell Classic about your printer even if you have selected a default printer in OSX.

PowerBooks

The programs seem to work better if the program icon is copied to the Hard Disk and then used to start the game.

Disk Protection Programs

If you have a disk protection program such as Folder Bolt or At Ease you may not be able to install the program to the hard disk. You may also encounter difficulty with recording since the recording program saves the voice temporarily to the hard disk. Consult the user's guide for these products to determine the appropriate action.

Frequent Crashes

Extensions and RAM

You may have an extension conflict or not enough RAM allocated to the program. Try turning off all extensions except for the CD-ROM (usually Apple CD-ROM or a third party extension such as CD-ROM Toolkit) and running only the LocuTour program. If your computer has 8MB of RAM or less, use the Get Info command to change the amount of RAM allocated to the program. Change the preferred size of the application to 6460.

Sound Problems

Enable Sound Recording

To set the sound input to the microphone, [Select Apple icon; choose control panels; then select sound; finally select input and change the input source to whatever type of mic you have.]

In the Macintosh Sound control panel, set the input device to microphone and turn off play through. If you have been playing music CDs, you may have to adjust the input setting from CD to microphone.

No Sound

In the Macintosh Sound control panel, set the input device to internal speaker or external. If you chose external speakers and still have no sound, make sure that the speakers are plugged into the correct port on the computer, that they are turned on, and that the volume is turned up. Check for loose connections.

Voices Do Not Record

If you cannot record voices, check that you are using the correct type of microphone and that it is in the correct jack. Older Macintoshes use a round microphone that records at mic level, while newer ones use a powered microphone that records at line level. They are not interchangeable. You cannot use a Windows compatible microphone on new Macs.

On some older Macs the microphone must be attached to the machine when it is turned on. In the sound recording setup panel, check to be sure that the recording level is not on mute. Usually, the maximum level works best. Also check to be sure that the input device that you have selected is the microphone. You may have to restart the machine for changes to take effect.

Sound Xtra not found

Sound recording requires that a folder called Xtras be located in the same directory as the program file for the game. Drag the Xtras folder from the CD to the folder where the program resides.

Errors When Recording - Low Disk Space

Sounds take up a lot of room. You will need 2-3 MB of hard disk space for general recording and will get an error message if that much is not available.

Sound Quality

Sound quality depends very much on the microphone used. Using an external mic that is not too close to the computer will produce CD quality sound. Using an internal mic or one that is very close to the computer will produce good sound but will also pick up the background noise of the computer.

"Settings not found" Error Message

Many of our programs save a settings file in your preferences folder. This error is common after older Demo CDs have been run. To fix the problem, open up your system folder and then open up the 'preferences' folder. In that folder, erase any file that ends in '.cst'. For example, the program Articulation II has a preferences file called "ArticII.cst".

Contact Us

If you have questions, please call our tech support line at 800-777-3166 or 805-544-0775.
You can also e-mail Tech-Support at our domain name, learningfundamentals.com and we'll get back to you within a few hours.

Hours:

Weekdays
8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Pacific Time
11:30 A.M. to 7:30 P.M. Eastern Time
We're often in the office earlier and later.