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Copyright (C) 1993 Leon van Dommelen      There is no warranty on this software

			    Trouble Shooting

This subject discusses a number of common problems and their solution.

Topics:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General				General observations

Check First			What to check first

List of Problems		Lists some likely problems
- Waits for a key		Freezes on exit from DOS
- Does not start up		With message `cannot find emacs.ed'
- Starts but does not respond	Keys do not work
- Freezes			Emacs freezes
- Missing keys			Some keys do not work
- Mode line changes, bell	Not an error
- Changed editor misbehaves	Changes do not work out
- One word per line		Only one word is put on each line
- Wrap adds garbage		Garbage at the start of the line
- Mouse pointer invisible	Pointer not visible inside the menu
- Unacceptable colors		Screen colors no good
- Erratic colors		Screen colors vary
- Weird Characters		Trailing spaces and tabs

Bugs				Known bugs


				= General =
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The emacs executable, EMACS.EXE requires at least EMACS.ED and KEYS.ED to
do anything.  It looks for them in the directory pointed to by environmental
name EMACS.  If EMACS is undefined, it searches the path for EMACS.ED.

When a .ED file is changed, it is backed up as a .TMP file.

See subject:	Files	for a list of Freemacs files


			     = Check First =
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below are some things to check first:

Use the DOS command SET and check that:
1. the name EMACS is defined as the correct directory and that it terminates
   in a backslash (\).
2. that the environment variable COMSPEC points to a valid COMMAND.COM file.
   On networks that is not always the case.

Select the emacs directory using the DOS CD command and verify that files
EMACS.EXE, EMACS.ED, KEYS.ED, and MOUSE.ED are present.  If a .ED file
is missing, you might be able to restore it from the .TMP file.

Also check for other missing files:
See subject:	Files	for a list of files

Use the DOS command DIR and check that you have sufficient disk space.
You need at least 100,000 bytes free to make some elementary changes to
the editor (to back up EMACS.ED as EMACS.TMP and save a new EMACS.ED).
But you may need more to make more than one change at a time.

Use the DOS command CHKDSK to check that you have enough memory to run
Emacs.  If memory is very small, you might be in a DOS shell: try the
EXIT command.

Check files INSTALL*.DOC for the correct installation procedures.

It is unknown whether freemacs will run on versions of DOS less than 2.
It runs fine on version 6.2. Use VER to see the version number.

Any buffer must be less than 65535 characters in size.  You cannot edit
files larger than that, or add text to a buffer that would exceed the limit.
The current size of the buffer is shown at the end of the mode line.


			   = List of Problems =
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Waits for a key:
----------------

On some systems, in particular those with TSRs for the keyboard, Emacs waits
for a key before it starts up or returns from DOS.  The key is ignored.


Does not start up:
------------------

If the editor does not start up, check DOS's SETENV that EMACS is correctly
defined as the directory that contains the Emacs files, and that it ends in
a backslash.

If the editor does not start up after an unsuccessful attempt to save modified
libraries, you may need to rename file EMACS.TMP back to file EMACS.ED


Starts but does not respond:
----------------------------

If Emacs starts up but does not respond to any keys, check that KEYS.ED
is in the EMACS directory.  If it is present, you may need to restore
EMACS.ED from EMACS.TMP or another source.


Freezes:
--------

If Emacs freezes after initially editing correctly, you may have exceeded
available memory.  Freemacs will show a MEMORY LOW message in the prompt
line when memory approaches required minima.  If C-Break does not unfreeze,
you will need to kill the process using M-C-Del.

See subject:	Intro, topic Limitations	Explains memory usage

If you notice any particular command that freezes Emacs without showing a
MEMORY LOW message first, please send me E-Mail explaining the circumstances:
See subject:	Contact			My E-mail address


Missing keys:
-------------

Certain M- keys, such as M-Escape and M-| cannot be formed using the Alt key.
Use a two key sequence, such as <Esc><Esc> and <Esc>|.

If you run Freemacs as a DOS Application under MS Windows,  Windows intercepts
certain keys such as M-Return and M-Tab.  Use the two key sequence for such
keys; for example, <Esc><Return> and <Esc><Tab>. You can instead edit EMACS.PIF
using the PIF editor in the Windows main group to disable the Windows keys.


Mode line changes, bell:
------------------------

By default, after a number of key motions, Emacs inverts the colors of the
mode line and rings the bell.  This is a reminder that you may want to save
your files using C-x s, not an error.  You can turn this off:
See command:	M-x set-some-options	to change the auto-save option


Changed editor misbehaves:
--------------------------

If you made changes to the editor and they turn out not to work as intended,
you can refuse to save the modified editor on exit.

If you discover that the changes don't work at a later time, exit Freemacs
and rename EMACS.TMP to EMACS.ED, or whatever library you changed.


One word per line:
------------------

If Emacs starts putting one word on each line, the right margin has been
set to the start of the line.  This happens if yoy press C-x f instead of
C-x C-f while attempting to load a file. Reset the default margin using
C-u 71 C-x f.


Wrap adds garbage:
------------------

If each wrapped line receives additional characters, they are probably the
fill prefix.  Clear the fill prefix by moving the cursor to the start of
a line and press `C-x .'.


Mouse pointer invisible:
------------------------

If the mouse pointer is not visible inside the menu, you need to change colors.
On entering emacs, enter M-x monochrome to set the colors to default black and
white values.  Further color changes can be made using M-x set-some-options.


Unacceptable colors:
--------------------

If some colors conflict on your system, use M-x set-some-options to change
selected colors, or M-x monochrome to set all colors to black and white.


Erratic colors:
---------------

When Freemacs starts up, or whenever it returns to DOS, it remembers the colors
at the cursor and uses those as default screen and text color.  So if you
enter Freemacs while the screen colors are abnormal, Freemacs will continue
using those.

To make sure Freemacs always uses the same color, use M-x set-some-options
to set the screen color and screen text color to definite values. Typically
these would be 0 and 7.


Weird Characters:
-----------------

You may notice some lines terminating in strange characters.  They are
trailing tabs and spaces,

trailing tabs:		
trailing spaces:        

Since even trailing spaces and tabs are real characters in your file, Freemacs
feels, correctly, that it should show them somehow. Key M-C-\ will get rid of
all trailing spaces, if you want.


				= Bugs =
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This topic discusses known bugs.  I left the unknown bugs for next time.

Bugs which can be visible to users:

1. Emacs tends to crash if memory is exceeded.  A warning is shown in the
mode line when memory gets low.

2. The inverse video mode is sometimes a bit cranky, leaving parts in the
original color.  Repeating the command clears it up.  It does not affect
execution of the command.

3. A single carriage return character on an empty line may confuse the screen
writing routine, resulting in a garbled screen.  Despite it, Freemacs is great
for directly editing binary files of up to 64k long.

4. Under some conditions, a key must be pressed before Emacs starts up or
returns from DOS.  Note that in Dired, Emacs shells to DOS to read a directory.
Whatever key you press is ignored. This occurs with certain TSRs that redefine
the keyboard.

5. When saving to PRN, CON, or NUL, Emacs prompts whether to backup.
Backup aborts, use the default R[eplace].

Internal bugs:

1. Attempting to put a mark on the start of the buffer can corrupt buffer
boundaries.  Note that it is illegal: the mark would be outside the buffer.

2. The cd routines abort on an empty floppy drive.  There is a work around in
the Mint code Fcd.

3. Searching for strings over 64 characters in length is buggy and can lead
to hangs. Prevent the user from entering such strings.

If you see other bugs, or undesirable features, please send me an E-mail:
See subject:	Contact			My E-mail address

If you have written some Mint code that might be of use to others, send me a
copy so that I can include it.


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