Odds & Ends: QT 5 PP3 due soon?; iWebkey conflict?; Open Firmware error; OE/Mac safe from security leak; more

QuickTime 5 Public Preview 3 due out soon? Several readers report that a new 5.0b9 version of QuickTime 5 is available (again, only if you use the version of QuickTime obtained from Apple's ADC site). However, the version name for the new QuickTime control panel is listed as Preview Release 3. So a new general public version may be coming out very soon.

Mac OS 9.1 Open Firmware error linked to having 192MB of RAM? Since upgrading to Mac OS 9.1, Clint Ragsdale gets an Open Firmware error (open, unknown word; DEFAULT CATCH! code=300 at %SRR0: ff80b070 %SRR1: 00003030) every time he does a warm restart of his Power Mac Dual G4/450. After much troubleshooting, he has become convinced that it only occurs when there is 192MB of RAM installed (he has one 128MB and one 64MB chip).

iWebkey and Power Mac G4 conflict? When starting up from his new new dual-processor power Mac G4, a MacFixIt reader found that the CD-RW tray would eject/open. This was especially annoying when trying to boot from a CD - which was now impossible to do. The reader eventually determined the cause: the Macally iWebkey keyboard. If he unplugged the keyboard, the symptom vanished.

Outlook Express for Mac safe from HTML email security leak Regarding the recently noted security leak involving JavaScript and HTML email, Dan Butcher was informed by Microsoft that this does not effect Mac version of Outlook Express, as JavaScript is not enabled and there is no option to turn it on.

QuicKeys and Fireworks conflict? Jefferis Peterson claims that QuicKeys 5.0 conflicts with Fireworks 4.x, leading to a Type 11 crash when quitting Fireworks (running Mac OS 9.0.4 on a G4). We have not had other reports of this as yet.

Update: Joop Greypink has this same problem. CE Software referred him to the Mac OS 9 Navigation Services bug discussed on this page. Two work-arounds are offered. However, the page specifically cites QuicKeys 4.1, not 5.0. Presumably, CE Software is acknowledging that the symptom may extend to 5.0 as well. Peter Fine reports not having this symptom at all; so perhaps another extension is also involved.

Orange Micro FireWire card and Maxtor drives: a follow-up Regarding our previous report of a possible conflict between Maxtor FireWire hard drives and Orange Micro PCI FireWire cards. Richard Patterson received confirmation for Maxtor that the conflict does exist "because the PCI card uses a proprietary chipset and is not fully OHCI compliant." However, tunring File Sharing off appears to be a work-around to gain access to the drive.

On Guard and DVD-RAM Steve Godun claims that, with On Guard installed, in order to write to a DVD-RAM cartridge, you need to return to the On Guard control panel and set write privileges each and every time you insert a DVD-RAM cartridge. Another reader has now confirmed this.