Genetics in Clinical Practice:
A Team Approach
Troubleshooting Macintosh
Using multimedia programs can sometimes be frustrating because of the various hardware, software and operating system components that must work together. Most problems can be solved by simply inspecting the hardware and software setup of your machine.
Below are step-by-step guidelines for checking the most common causes of problems when running the Genetics under Macintosh. If you are experiencing problems with the Virtual Clinic program start by checking
system
requirements. This program requires 8 MB of RAM and 23 MB of
hard drive space. If you do not have sufficient memory on
your system, the program will not run. Additional hardware requirements are listed in the Appendix at the back of this manual.
Macintosh Sound
All Macintosh computers listed under the minimum requirements
can produce sound without additional speakers or hardware.
If there is no audio and you are using external speakers,
the first thing to check is that they are plugged in,
turned on, and all cables are properly connected. You may
also need to adjust the software volume control. Here's how:
- Go to the Apple menu and select Control Panel. When the submenu appears, open the Sound control panel.
- Choose Volume from the submenu, and click and drag the volume control to an appropriate level.
You may also need to ensure that the Playthrough checkbox
is selected under the Options section of the Sound In submenu.
Macintosh Video Display
Be aware that occasionally, you may see brief stuttering
effects that are the result of normal system demands; unless
these effects occur frequently or are of long duration, they are
no cause for concern. If synchronization problems are persistent,
try disabling control panels and extensions which may be
taxing the processor. In particular, try this:
- Go to Chooser under the Apple menu and turn off AppleTalk by clicking the Inactive radio button.
- Then go to the Sharing Setup Control Panel and turn off file sharing.
- To disable extensions, use Extension Manager (if your system has it) or drag extensions into a different folder (e.g., "Extensions Disabled").
- You will need to reboot your system for these changes to take effect.
If you are still having excessive problems during video play-back (stuttering, frequent loss of audio sync, etc.) you can try copying the media to your hard drive. Here's how:
- Make sure you have approximately 350 MB free.
- Insert the Genetics in Clinical Practice CD in and copy the entire folder called "Media" from the CD to the folder where your installed program is on your hard drive.
- When you launch the Genetics program and are asked to insert a CD, click the Cancel button in the lower right. Your audio and video will now play normally from your hard drive.
You can restore extensions when you are not using the Genetics program by turning them back on in Extension Manager or
by restoring them to the active "Extensions" folder in your
"System" folder.
The program was designed to use the True Type (suitcase) fonts
Times New Roman and Helvetica, which should be already installed in your
system. If these fonts are disabled, or have been replaced with
postscript or type 1 fonts, the computer will try to use what
it considers the closest font, which may cause text layout
problems (crowding, words off screen, strange line breaks, etc.).
If this happens, reinstall original fonts.
Macintosh Performance
Here is a summary of things to try if you are having
performance problems:
- Set your monitor resolution to a lower setting, like 640x480.
- Do not run processor-intensive programs while the Genetics program is running, including screen savers, email or web browser applications.
- Defragment your hard drive (refer to instructions which came with your operating system).
