These are the best for bread machines because they don't have to be proofed. If it is not foaming by that time assume your yeast has gone south. If you'd rather use all-purpose flour then add one tablespoon of vital wheat gluten for each cup of flour in your recipe. Vital wheat gluten can be obtained at your local health food store. As far as the crust problem, that's sort af a bread machine thing.
Bread machines have just one or two little heating coils and begin baking from a standing start.
The baking cycle lasts about an hour. I've noticed this does have a tendency to toughen up the crust just a little. When baking in a conventional oven this is not as apt to happen because you put the bread into a preheated oven. Try it in your machine and adjust the ingredients as suggested. If you still get a hockey puck, you probably do need a new machine.