Error Types

Type 1 and 2 errors

Errors with a code of 1 or 2 are memory errors.  Type 1 are bus errors and type 2 are address errors.  Getting one of these errors means that the application is unable to address a segment of memory because that memory is either reserved for another use or doesn't exist.  This can also appear as a type -110 error.

Possible Solutions

1)  Allocate more memory.  At a minimum, you should use the preferred setting of memory for the application.  Quit the application, find its icon on the desktop, and press {apple} -I to bring up the Get Info box.  If you have any extra RAM, go ahead and allocate more than the suggested amount and see if that clears up the problem.

2)  Delete an application's preference file.   If you are experiencing problems with one application and can't seem to find the cause or the solution, quit the application, and remove that application's Preferences file from the System Folder's Preference folder.  Afterwards, re-launch the application so it will start a new preferences file.  You will need to reset any settings or preferences you've changed while customizing the application.

3)  Look for extension conflicts.  You can test for extension conflicts by the process of elimination.  (disable half of your extensions by dragging them out of the Extensions folder, then restart to see if the problem disappears; continue subdividing until you locate the problem extension).   You can also use the same technique using the Extensions Manager.

4)  Reinstall software.  If none of the previous steps have helped, try reinstalling the software.  Afterwards, remember to trash it preferences as directed in Step 2.  If you are still experiencing problems, try reinstalling your system software with the clean install option.

5)  Check for viruses.  It is important to regularly run a virus-detection program on your Mac.  These programs can tell you if a virus is spotted on your computer and sometimes can repair the problem.

A type 3 error is an illegal instruction error.  It means that the application has been given an instruction that it can't carry out. 

Possible Solutions

1)  Delete an application's preference file.   If you are experiencing problems with one application and can't seem to find the cause or the solution, quit the application, and remove that application's Preferences file from the System Folder's Preference folder.  Afterwards, relaunch the application so it will start a new preferences file.  You will need to reset any settings or preferences you've changed while customizing the application.

2)  Look for extension conflicts.  You can test for extension conflicts by the process of elimination.  (disable half of your extensions by dragging them out of the Extensions folder, then restart to see if the problem disappears; continue subdividing until you locate the problem extension).   You can also use the same technique using the Extensions Manager.

3)  Reinstall software.  If none of the previous steps have helped, try reinstalling the software.  Afterwards, remember to trash it preferences as directed in Step 1.  If you are still experiencing problems, try reinstalling your system software with the clean install option.

This error signifies an unimplemented core routine.

Possible Solution

Reinstall the system software using the clean install option.

Most of the time, a type 11 error means something went wrong with the hardware.  But, it can also mean there is an extension conflict or corruption in an application.  These type of errors frequently occur if you are using old software on a PowerPC.  If this is the problem, you may want to upgrade your software to a more recent version.

Possible Solutions

1)  Delete an application's preference file.   If you are experiencing problems with one application and can't seem to find the cause or the solution, quit the application, and remove that application's Preferences file from the System Folder's Preference folder.  Afterwards, relaunch the application so it will start a new preferences file.  You will need to reset any settings or preferences you've changed while customizing the application.

2)  Check for viruses.  It is important to regularly run a virus-detection program on your Mac.  These programs can tell you if a virus is spotted on your computer and sometimes can repair the problem.

3)  Look for extension conflicts.  You can test for extension conflicts by the process of elimination.  (disable half of your extensions by dragging them out of the Extensions folder, then restart to see if the problem disappears; continue subdividing until you locate the problem extension).   You can also use the same technique using the Extensions Manager.

4)  Run diagnostics on your hard drive.  Running diagnostics checks the integrity of your hard drive and also looks for other possible problems.  Apple's Disk First Aid is an example of a diagnostic utility along with Norton Utilities.  You should run one of these programs on your computer if other steps that you have taken didn't work or you get a frowning Mac at startup or a blinking disk with a question mark.  When this happens, attempt to start the computer with a bootable CD or floppy disk.  If you have an Operating System CD, such as Mac O.S. 8, press the "C" key as soon as you hear the tone on your computer in order to run on the CD.  If the computer reads the CD, you will end up with a regular desktop instead of the frowning Mac. 

5)  Reinstall software.  If none of the previous steps have helped, try reinstalling the software.  Afterwards, remember to trash it preferences as directed in Step 1.  If you are still experiencing problems, try reinstalling your system software with the clean install option.

6)  Check for hardware problems.  If you added new hardware shortly before the problem began, there could be something wrong with that hardware or a SCSI conflict.  Each piece of hardware must have a unique SCSI ID number from 0 to 8.  If there are any devices with the same number, problems will occur.  You can find out these numbers by launching Drive Setup, which you will find in the Utilities folder of your hard drive or your system software installation CD.   Drive Setup will check for hardware devices and tell you what their numbers are.   You might have hardware problems  if your Mac won't start up, displaying either a blank screen or a frowning Mac.  This may mean the hard drive came loose or there could be a more serious problem.  Another sign of hardware problems is if your computer crashes when you try to use external devices or if you aren't able to access another drive.

These errors mean that the application made a call for a routine that isn't available.  This happens when you're running software for an older version of the operating system and the new system doesn't handle memory in the same way.

Possible Solution

Upgrade the software that is causing problems.

A type 10 error occurs when a routine isn't available.  Type 10 errors often happen because their isn't a floating point unit. (FPU)  These errors also occur because of software incompatibilities.

Possible Solutions

1)  Upgrade the software that is causing problems.

2)  Get an FPU if you don't have one.  You won't have an FPU if you have a Mac with a 68020, 68030, or 68040LC processor. This program imitates an FPU but probably won't help if you have a 68040LC chip.

This error means that an uninstalled interrupt has occurred, which your Mac uses to identify when certain devices need service.

Possible Solutions

1)  Delete an application's preference file.   If you are experiencing problems with one application and can't seem to find the cause or the solution, quit the application, and remove that application's Preferences file from the System Folder's Preference folder.  Afterwards, relaunch the application so it will start a new preferences file.  You will need to reset any settings or preferences you've changed while customizing the application.

2)  Reinstall the system software.   Afterwards, remember to trash it preferences as directed in Step 1  If you are still experiencing problems, try reinstalling your system software with the clean install option.

These errors mean that the application doesn't have enough RAM available to perform a task.  This error also may occur as a type -108.  A type 28 error means that there's a problem with how an application's memory is being managed. A type 25 error could mean that you have run out of RAM but it could also signify that you had an earlier, possibly unreported error which causes your computer to incorrectly say that you don't have enough memory.  To see if you actually don't have extra RAM, check the "About this Computer/Macintosh"under the Apple on your desktop.

Possible Solutions

1)  Allocate more memory.  At a minimum, you should use the preferred setting of memory for the application.  Quit the application, find its icon on the desktop, and press {apple} -I to bring up the Get Info box.  If you have any extra RAM, go ahead and allocate more than the suggested amount and see if that clears up the problem.

2) Quit other applications.  This will make more of your RAM available.

3)  Restart your computer.

This signifies a segment loader error.  This can be caused by application or system software corruption or  corrupt fonts.  Sometimes this happens because of old software as well.

Possible Solutions

1)  Allocate more memory.  At a minimum, you should use the preferred setting of memory for the application.  Quit the application, find its icon on the desktop, and press {apple} -I to bring up the Get Info box.  If you have any extra RAM, go ahead and allocate more than the suggested amount and see if that clears up the problem.

2)  Delete an application's preference file.   If you are experiencing problems with one application and can't seem to find the cause or the solution, quit the application, and remove that application's Preferences file from the System Folder's Preference folder.  Afterwards, relaunch the application so it will start a new preferences file.  You will need to reset any settings or preferences you've changed while customizing the application.

3)  Check for viruses.  It is important to regularly run a virus-detection program on your Mac.  These programs can tell you if a virus is spotted on your computer and sometimes can repair the problem.

4)  Check for corrupted fonts.  Fonts can cause application crashes, especially if you copy several fonts to the Fonts folder at the same time.  This could be the problem if an application crashes while launching or before displaying its opening screen.  Another sign is when a font  displays onscreen or prints in a different font than the one you selected.  You can manually check your fonts by quitting all of your other applications, dragging half of your fonts out of the Fonts folder to a Fonts(Disabled) folder, and restarting the application and see if you still have the same problem.  Continue removing fonts and repeating the process until you find the problem font.  When you find it, throw it away and reinstall it.

5)  Reinstall software.  If none of the previous steps have helped, try reinstalling the software.  Afterwards, remember to trash it preferences as directed in Step 2.  If you are still experiencing problems, try reinstalling your system software with the clean install option.

If you get any of these error messages, it probably means there is damage to the System file or some of its contents.  It can also mean that items in the System file are missing or damaged.

Possible Solution

Reinstall the system software using the clean install option.

Type -33 means that the directory is full and type -34 means the disk is full.  These errors happen when an application is doing something that needs a certain amount of hard drive space.  This error message tells you that there isn't enough space available to finish the task.

Possible Solution

Create more disk space.  You can do this by either moving some files to a backup or deleting some files.

This type of error is an input/output (I/O) error, which means that the application couldn't read or save a file.

Possible Solutions

1)  Run diagnostics on your hard drive.  Running diagnostics checks the integrity of your hard drive and also looks for other possible problems.  Apple's Disk First Aid is an example of a diagnostic utility along with Norton Utilities.  You should run one of these programs on your computer if other steps that you have taken didn't work or you get a frowning Mac at startup or a blinking disk with a question mark.  When this happens, attempt to start the computer with a bootable CD or floppy disk.  If you have an Operating System CD, such as Mac O.S. 8, press the "C" key as soon as you hear the tone on your computer in order to run on the CD.  If the computer reads the CD, you will end up with a regular desktop instead of the frowning Mac. 

2)  Make sure the file exists.  If you receive this error message while downloading a file, it may have become corrupted during the download, so try and download it again.

These errors are called end-of-file errors.  They occur when an application finds a character that denotes the end of the file but still expects to find more information.

Possible Solutions

If you are trying to launch an application and get this error...

1)  Delete an application's preference file.   If you are experiencing problems with one application and can't seem to find the cause or the solution, quit the application, and remove that application's Preferences file from the System Folder's Preference folder.  Afterwards, relaunch the application so it will start a new preferences file.  You will need to reset any settings or preferences you've changed while customizing the application.

2)  Reinstall the system software.   Afterwards, remember to trash it preferences as directed in Step 1  If you are still experiencing problems, try reinstalling your system software with the clean install option.

If you are trying to open a file and get this error...

Run diagnostics on your hard drive.  Running diagnostics checks the integrity of your hard drive and also looks for other possible problems.  Apple's Disk First Aid is an example of a diagnostic utility along with Norton Utilities.  You should run one of these programs on your computer if other steps that you have taken didn't work or you get a frowning Mac at startup or a blinking disk with a question mark.  When this happens, attempt to start the computer with a bootable CD or floppy disk.  If you have an Operating System CD, such as Mac O.S. 8, press the "C" key as soon as you hear the tone on your computer in order to run on the CD.  If the computer reads the CD, you will end up with a regular desktop instead of the frowning Mac. 

If you are trying to open something that you downloaded...

Try downloading again.  The file may have been corrupted during the download process.

A type -43 error means that the application was unable to access a file.   This probably happened because the file is corrupted or doesn't exist.

Possible Solutions

1)  Run diagnostics on your hard drive.  Running diagnostics checks the integrity of your hard drive and also looks for other possible problems.  Apple's Disk First Aid is an example of a diagnostic utility along with Norton Utilities.  You should run one of these programs on your computer if other steps that you have taken didn't work or you get a frowning Mac at startup or a blinking disk with a question mark.  When this happens, attempt to start the computer with a bootable CD or floppy disk.  If you have an Operating System CD, such as Mac O.S. 8, press the "C" key as soon as you hear the tone on your computer in order to run on the CD.  If the computer reads the CD, you will end up with a regular desktop instead of the frowning Mac. 

2)  Make sure the file exists.  If you receive this error message while downloading a file, it may have become corrupted during the download, so try and download it again.

You may get this type of error if your computer can't access an external device (i.e. a printer or modem).  This could be because there is a problem with the device or a problem with the computer's recognition of the device.

Possible Solutions

1)  Check the cables.  It could be simply loose cables that are causing the error.

2)  Make sure the device is turned on.

3)  Check for hardware problems.  If you added new hardware shortly before the problem began, there could be something wrong with that hardware or a SCSI conflict.  Each piece of hardware must have a unique SCSI ID number from 0 to 8.  If there are any devices with the same number, problems will occur.  You can find out these numbers by launching Drive Setup, which you will find in the Utilities folder of your hard drive or your system software installation CD.   Drive Setup will check for hardware devices and tell you what their numbers are.   You might have hardware problems  if your Mac won't start up, displaying either a blank screen or a frowning Mac.  This may mean the hard drive came loose or there could be a more serious problem.  Another sign of hardware problems is if your computer crashes when you try to use external devices or if you aren't able to access another drive.

4)  Zap the PRAM.  Signs that you need to do this include losing the correct date and time settings even after resetting them, shutting down the computer only to have it immediately start back up, and finding settings in a control panel or anywhere else at the Finder that continually revert to the default.   To zap the PRAM, restart and hold down the {apple}-{option}-P-R keys.  When you hear the startup tone twice, release the keys.  The computer will start up with many of its settings returned to the factory defaults. 

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