2/12/2023 0 Comments Techtool pro 6.0 3 serialIn summary, it seems that “most 68020, 68030, 68040” means those machines which have sufficient RAM. We suspect that there would be no way to get the CD-ROM to successfully start an 8 MB 650, whereas if the CD-ROM had chosen the smaller OS 7.6, there might well be sufficient RAM for it to work. Both he and I wonder what would happen to a Centris 650 with the original 8 MB of RAM. On his particular Centris 650 with 12 MB of RAM, Paul reports needing to start from the TTP CD-ROM with extensions off in order to have enough RAM to run TechTool Pro 2 (the CD-ROM chose OS 8.1 as the startup system). Paul reports some quirks involving holding down keys at startup and needing to keep extensions off (on the CD-ROM!) to have enough of the 8 MB of RAM left for TTP to run. Thanks to ATPM reviews editor Paul Fatula, we know that the TTP 2.5.3 CD-ROM can successfully start up and run on his particular LC III. “Most” is an important qualification, one I hope MicroMat will elaborate on in future versions. The TechTool Pro 2 CD-ROM can now boot most 68020, 68030, 68040 and all PowerPC machines.” In the latest release, MicroMat has given the CD-ROM the “ability to selectively boot the proper system folder according to Macintosh model. Older TTP 2 CD-ROMs could only start Macs that supported OS 8.1. My full review for repair utility suggestions and serious bugs/workarounds affecting both TechTool Pro and the freeware TechTool. Users of vintage Macs and OSes (and especially 68000 and/or System 7.0 users) should consult Truth please, MicroMat! Honest declarations of minimum system requirements plus informative messages when one runs software on unsupported configurations are expected of all software suppliers, and MicroMat needs work here. To date, nowhere in any read-me file anywhere (CD-ROM, updaters, Web site) have I found any updated system requirements. To make a long story short, TechTool Pro 2 does not run on the Mac Plus (or other 68000-based Macs), even though the manual clearly says it will. In all tests performed, the actual RAM required by TTP 2.5.3 itself was at least 5 MB, often closer to 6. Any responsible company should know this, and MicroMat needs to change the documented system requirements to reflect reality. Since it is not possible to install more than 4 MB of RAM on an unmodified 68000-based machine, and since the smallest possible System 7 consumes close to 1 MB by itself, there is no way for TTP 2 to run on a 68000 (unless it can do so in a 2.5 to 3 MB memory slot). Tired of computer products that do not meet their published claims? I sure am.really tired! Here’s what MicroMat claims TechTool Pro 2.5.3 supports (paper manual MM00777, page 4): “Yeah, it’ll work on that” (System Requirements) The remainder of this review highlights what I have learned as a TechTool Pro user, up to the currently-shipping version 2.5.3. If you don’t already have it, definitely get the latest version of TechTool (version 1.1.9)-you are not likely to regret it! You can read more and get it atĪround January 1998, I decided to take up MicroMat’s offer to buy the waning TechTool Pro version 1, and get TT Pro 2 for no extra cost when it shipped. Many readers are probably already familiar with their excellent freeware utility, TechTool, a nearly indispensable aid for basic Mac maintenance. TechTool Pro follows a long lineage of diagnostic and repair products from MicroMat. More recently, as dissatisfaction with Norton, Symantec, and Norton’s non-support of HFS+ began to reach fever pitch, MicroMat decided the time was right to take on Snortin’ Norton. Seeing a need (and an opportunity), MicroMat, a small company in Windsor, California, who (I believe) may have been or may still be involved with Mac repair themselves, rolled up a number of its older diagnostic products, added a bunch of additional features, and created TechTool Pro. Since they had eaten the competition (and NUM was eating HFS+ users’ data) the market was ripe for a new entrant. Did they continue to develop and support Public Utilities and MacTools Pro, as promised? No! They took what they wanted from each, and effectively killed both off. At that point, practically speaking, they had a monopoly on high-power Mac repair and diagnostic utilities. Over the years, Symantec, publisher of Norton Utilities, bought Public Utilities and MacTools Pro. Roughly a decade ago, Mac users generally chose from three popular repair utilities when the going got rough and Disk First Aid was insufficient to correct the problem(s) at hand: Public Utilities, Norton Utilities for Macintosh (NUM), and MacTools Pro. Oh those repair utilities.gotta love ’em, at least until someone gets us that stable, protected-memory OS we keep hearing so much about, with the look, feel, and friendliness of the Mac OS we’ve come to love (and loathe, when things get unstable and all productive work stops). By Nick Kratz, MicroMat Computer Systems, Inc.
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