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qua

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 22, 2006
75
12
Sorry - Intel Duo Core Macs
Not easy. The following, with help from AOL help/chat worked for me. No use trying to get hold of a human being on the phone any more - and the Mac only # is gone:

"AOL for Mac OS X has a tendency to hang during the initial launch when installed for the first time on an Intel-based Macintosh computer. The hang occurs when the AOL splash screen is displayed and the text "Installing Main Database" appears in the lower, left-hand corner."

Solution # 1 (this did not work for me) -- At the point where AOL is hung, go to your preference dialog box for screensavers and:
"Drag the slider back and forth from the minimum amount of time to the maximum several times. This will activate the client, enable it to get past "Installing Main Database."

Solution # 2 (this worked for me) -- if # 1 doesn't work:
"Wait until the AOL icon in the Apple dock stops bouncing up and down. Once it has stopped bouncing, mouse over the AOL icon and select it by holding the mouse button down and dragging it in and out of the dock several times. When it is dragged away from the dock, a small white cloud will appear next to the icon which is evidence of removing it from the dock. When the cloud appears it has been dragged far enough from the dock. At this point, just drag it back into the dock and continue dragging it in this manner several times or until client activates and gets past "Installing Main Database." (in spite of the fact that my wife was practically in hysterics at this point)

THEN - after installation is complete - there will be future hangs if the following sets of actions aren't done - I tried without them and it hung on next dial-up. AOL's words:

SET 1 ( Trash IE Preferences ).
"Step 1: From Finder, click the Go menu, then select Home, Double-click the Library folder, Double-click the Preferences folder, Drag the com.apple.interentconfig.plist to the Trash, Click the Red Dot to close the window."

SET 2 ( Trash software preferences )
"Step 1: On the toolbar, click Go, then click Home, double-click the Library folder, double-click the Preferences folder.

Step 2: Drag the America Online folder to the Trash, click the Button in the left corner of the window, then repeat on all windows to close.

Step 3: Double-click the Macintosh HD, double-click the Users folder, double-click the Shared folder, double-click the America Online folder.

Step 4: Drag the Art Database to the Trash, drag the PFC of the screen name in question, to the Desktop. For example, if your screen name is SteveCase, the PFC will be named "SteveCase's Filing Cabinet."

SET 3 ( Web Graphics )
Step 1: Click the AOL menu, then select Preferences, Click WWW, Uncheck Use Compressed Images, Click OK.

SET 5 ( Artwork )
Step 1: Click AOL then click Preferences, Click the drop sown menu next to Maximum art database size and select 1 Megabyte, Click OK, Click AOL then click Quit AOL

Step 2: Double Click the AOL icon on the Desktop, Click AOL then click Preferences, Click the drop down menu next to Maximum art database size and select 20 Megabytes, Click OK.

ALL this worked for me and I'm stable on line on my MacBook Pro Duo 2.0 on AOL
 
Nitpicking minor point: there are no publically available Pentium based Macs. Intel iMacs and MacBook Pros use Intel CoreDuo chips. These are not Pentium chips. If you really have a Pentium based Mac it is a developer system and unlikely to be supported.
 
Thanks, I corrected it above but couldn't correct the Title.
 
Oh dear god! A Pentium Mac!

(Just teasing ya, but I wish we could edit titles too)
 
this is good info to have.....I'm sure others are going to have to fuss with this too
 
Why this is happening...

Both Windows and Mac can already run on the latest Core Duo from Intel. If you install from a disc, since it has both Windows and Mac installer, it will detect the Intel Processor and will run the AOL Windows installer instead of the installer for your Mac.

It is advisable that you download AOL from: downloads.aol.com
 
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