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TechNote (Archived)

General Macintosh OS 9.x troubleshooting

Conflicts between applications or between an application and a system element are common. Symptoms of a conflict may include crashing, slow performance, or unexpected behavior. If you are experiencing one of these symptoms using Dreamweaver, try the list of standard tests below. These steps will help identify and often resolve common conflicts.

Note: If you are using Macintosh OS X, please refer toTroubleshooting Dreamweaver MX on Macintosh OS X (TechNote 16471).

Check that the computer meets the minimum system requirements for the product

Verify that your system meets at least the minimum requirements that are printed on the box, in the user manual or located in the Help files in the program. Running below or without the advertised minimum requirements may cause the software to malfunction.

  • Dreamweaver MX:
    • A Power Macintosh G3 or better
    • Mac OS 9.1 or higher or Mac OS X 10.1 or higher
    • 96MB RAM (128 MB recommended)
    • 275 MB of available disk space
    • Mac OS 9.1 & 9.2 users must have at least CarbonLib 1.5 installed. The Dreamweaver MX installer will install CarbonLib 1.5, but it may not overwrite an older version of CarbonLib. The latest version of CarbonLib installer may be downloaded from Apple's website.
    • The monitor must be capable of displaying at least 800 x 600 resolution and 256 colors, although 1024 x 768 resolution with millions of colors is recommended.
    • Note: For Macintosh OS X, a display of thousands of colors is required.
  • Dreamweaver 4:
    • A Power Macintosh
    • Mac OS 8.6 or 9.x
    • 64 MB of available RAM
    • 135 MB of available disk space
    • The monitor must be capable of displaying at least 800 x 600 resolution and 256 colors, although 1024 x 768 resolution with millions of colors is recommended.
Close other applications

Close all other applications and verify that the problem still happens if Dreamweaver is the only application running.

Move the Dreamweaver Prefs file to the trash

Preferences files are located in System Folder:Preferences. Sometimes these files can become corrupted and result in unexpected behavior within the application. If you are having problems with Dreamweaver, quit the application, locate the Dreamweaver Preferences file and move it to the trash. When you launch Dreamweaver again, it will create a new Preferences file automatically. Dreamweaver 4 should prompt you to re-enter your serial number. Dreamweaver MX will not prompt you to re-enter your serial number, unless you also move the Dreamweaver MX Registration file to the trash.

Note: Before using this option be aware that you will lose your Dreamweaver site definitions if you do not back them up prior to removing the preferences file. If you backup your site definitions, you can re-import them afterwards. Web pages and related assets will be unaffected by removing the preferences file.

To back up Dreamweaver site definitions:

  • Dreamweaver MX:
    Use Dreamweaver MX's native Site Import Export feature: Site > Export... Export each site definition that you would like to keep for the reinstall.
  • Dreamweaver 4 and Dreamweaver UltraDev 4:
    Use Macromedia's Site Import Export extension, located on theMacromedia Exchange for Dreamweaver. Once at the Macromedia Exchange, type the keyword"import" into the search engine to locate the extension. Once installed, you should have the following option available to you in Dreamweaver: File > Export > Export Site...
Allocate more memory

In many cases, applications will not work properly if they don't have enough memory allocated. When a software product is shipped, it defaults to a specific memory setting. Sometimes, this default memory allocation is too low for a user's specific use, and the amount of allocated memory needs to be increased.

To increase the amount of memory allocated to Dreamweaver:

  1. Quit Dreamweaver.
  2. Navigate to the folder containing the Dreamweaver application.
  3. Click once on the Dreamweaver application icon to select it.
  4. Choose File > Get Info > Memory.

    Note: You can also use the keyboard shortcut, Command+I. This will activate the Get Info dialog box for Dreamweaver. To access the memory settings, select Memory in the Show pop-up menu.

  5. In the Preferred Size text box, increase the numeric value. Apple recommends that you increase the preferred size in increments of ten.

    Users may also set the Minimum Size to match the Preferred Size. This will insure that Dreamweaver allocates all the memory you've specified when launched. If there is not enough memory available, a warning may occur and Dreamweaver won't launch.

    Note: If the fields are uneditable, the application is running, so you need to exit the application in order to change the memory allocation. For additional memory considerations (including Virtual Memory), see Memory Issues on Mac (TechNote 14263).

  6. Close the Get Info dialog box and re-launch Dreamweaver.
  7. To check the amount of memory Dreamweaver is using, choose the About This Computer from the Apple Menu. About This Computer will show you the amount of memory being used by an open application (including the operating system).
Test for an extension and/or control panel conflict

Extension and control panel conflicts commonly occur on Macintosh. They can cause a program to fail to launch or to operate incorrectly. Turning off some of the extensions (by restarting with Base OS extensions only) may resolve a system conflict:

  1. Launch the Macintosh Extensions Manager (choose Apple Menu > Control Panels > Extensions Manager). If you are using a different extension application, revert back to the system's Extension Manager.
  2. In the Selected Set pop-up menu, switch to the Mac OS Base extension set, and close the Extensions Manager panel.
  3. Restart your machine.
  4. Launch Dreamweaver and test its performance.

If the problem does not occur when the Base OS extension set is active, then one of the extensions previously in use is conflicting with Dreamweaver. Further testing by trial and error will help determine which extension is causing the conflict. Common culprits include RAM doublers, crash guards, and anti-virus extensions.

Check to make sure you have not used special characters in the path to the Dreamweaver application folder or in the paths to any defined sites

Having special characters in the path to the Dreamweaver application folder can cause Dreamweaver to malfunction. Dreamweaver site files are linked by paths within a site structure. Special characters also cause these paths not to be read properly.

The following are examples of special characters:

~ @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) + | / \ ' ;

Verify that file, folder, and hard disk names do not contain special characters. If special characters exist, rename the files, folders, or the hard disk so that the paths that connect Dreamweaver to the files and browser can be correctly interpreted by Dreamweaver. For more information about this issue, see File or folder name in Mac OS may break Dreamweaver functionality (TechNote 14452).

Reinstall Dreamweaver with extensions off

Note: The Dreamweaver MX installer on the Studio MX CD may not run with extensions off. Use the instructions to Reinstall Dreamweaver with Base OS extensions.

Note: Before uninstalling and reinstalling Dreamweaver, be aware that you will lose your Dreamweaver site definitions using this option, if you do not back them up prior to uninstalling. Web pages and other files stored outside of the Applications:Dreamweaver folder will be unaffected. See the section above titled "Backing up site definitions".

  1. Quit Dreamweaver and move the Dreamweaver application folder to the trash.
  2. Go to System Folder:Preferences and select the Dreamweaver Prefs file. Move it to the trash and empty the trash. If you are using Dreamweaver MX, also delete the Dreamweaver MX Registration file in the Preferences folder.
  3. Copy the Dreamweaver installer file from the CD to the Macintosh desktop.
    • On Studio MX CDs, the installer for Dreamweaver MX is located in the FSCOMMAND folder and is called DW_Client_Installer.
    • On Dreamweaver 4 Fireworks 4 Studio CDs, the Dreamweaver installer is located inside the Dreamweaver folder on the CD.
  5. Restart with extensions turned off (hold down the Shift key as the computer restarts).
  6. Run the Dreamweaver installer that was copied to the hard drive.
  7. After the software has been installed, restart the computer again (letting it come up with Mac OS Base extensions enabled). The serial number must be re-entered.
  8. Launch Dreamweaver and test its performance.
Reinstall Dreamweaver with Base OS extensions

Note: If installing Dreamweaver 4, use the instructions to Reinstall Dreamweaver with extensions off.

Note: Before uninstalling and reinstalling Dreamweaver, be aware that you will lose your Dreamweaver site definitions using this option, if you do not back them up prior to uninstalling. Web pages and other files stored outside of the Applications:Dreamweaver folder will be unaffected. See the section above titled "Backing up site definitions".

  1. Quit Dreamweaver and move the Dreamweaver application folder to the trash.
  2. Go to System Folder:Preferences and select the Dreamweaver Prefs file. Move it to the trash and empty the trash. If you are using Dreamweaver MX, also delete the Dreamweaver MX Registration file in the Preferences folder.
  3. Copy the Dreamweaver installer file from the CD to the Macintosh desktop.
    • On Studio MX CDs, the installer for Dreamweaver MX is located in the FSCOMMAND folder and is called DW_Client_Installer.
    • On Dreamweaver 4 Fireworks 4 Studio CDs, the Dreamweaver installer is located inside the Dreamweaver folder on the CD.
  5. Launch the Macintosh Extensions Manager (choose Apple Menu > Control Panels > Extensions Manager). If you are using a different extension application, revert back to the system's Extension Manager.
  6. In the Selected Set pop-up menu, switch to the Mac OS Base extension set, and close the Extensions Manager panel.
  7. Restart your machine.
  8. Run the Dreamweaver installer that was copied to the hard drive.
  9. Launch Dreamweaver and test its performance. The serial number will have to be re-entered.
Zap your PRAM

This is your machine's Parameter RAM, which stores user settings such as time and date. Under System 7 or later, you can zap your PRAM by holding down Command+Option+P+R during startup and continuing to hold down these keys until you have heard asecond start-up chime.

Rebuild the desktop files

A corrupted Desktop file may cause the error "Application Not Found" or other unexpected behavior. The Desktop files can be rebuilt by holding down the Option and Command keys on startup. Click OK when asked if you want to rebuild the desktop.

Reinstall the system software using the "Clean Installation" option

The reasons for doing this and instructions are available in Apple's Knowledge Base Article ID# 30691 which can be found by searching for 30691 in the search field at http://www.apple.com/support/

Additional information

Below you will find additional troubleshooting TechNotes and links to more resources:

TechNotes on specific Macintosh issues
Third-party resources

Third party links
Although links to external web sites are provided as a resource, the web sites are not part of Macromedia. Please see the Macromedia policy regarding links to third party web sites in the Legal Notices and Information section. Pages to external web sites will open in a new browser window.

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