<b>QuickTime 3.0, text files, SimpleText and -2048 errors

Phillip Jones reports that, when using Netscape Communcator, if he tries to "select a Signature file that was created using SimpleText, he receives this error: 'The Document Signature File5 could not be opened, because the application "SimpleText" could not be found. The Document cannot be translated because an expected problem has occurred (-2048).' Further, any document created with a text editor (such as SimpleText or BBEdit) will trigger this message in the Composer Module. Netscape Tech support says that -2048 is QuickTime error." Indeed, disabling QuickTime 3.0 software eliminated the problems. As a better work-around, he suggests:

1. Open Netscape Communicator and go to Edit | Preferences | Mail & Groups | Identity
2. Select your Signature File. A box will come up with two choices: (a) Communicator or (b) Communicator with QuickTime.
3. Do not select Communicator with QuickTime. If you do, Phillip claims that it will not only affect Communicator; it will affect any text document created by SimpleText that has to be translated by any other program.

Phillip is not alone in reporting these -2048 errors. The common thread in the reports is that they all involve SimpleText, text files, and errors that started happening only after installing QuickTime 3.0. For example, Gary Morris got the error whenever he attempted to drag-and-drop text files onto SimpleText v.1.4. D.J. Byrd got the error when trying to use SimpleText to open a text document saved from AOL.

I have never gotten this error myself; so I assume that its occurrence may also depend on what version of the OS and/or SimpleText you are using as well as other possible factors. I continue to investigate this.