Andy's Un-Official Unsolicited Mac Advice Thread

[cabbey]

I'm not so sure about that. Doing a very quick search, all the wireless access points that support 802.11n were more expensive than the airport express.

If all you want is an AP, this one is 1/2 the price of apple's: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156232

I've got one installed and live, just waiting for my N equipped hardware to arrive. (@$##^$%^ fedex has it sitting at their facility < 10 miles from my house since 6:08am Saturday, but they list an expected delivery date of Tuesday morning. If history is any guide, they will not bring it out Monday, and of course they wouldn't let me come over and pick it up today... if I had known it was there already before the office closed at 11:30 this morning.)

Now it is *only* an AP, it's NOT a router. So no dhcp, no nat, no dns, no print server, no hard drives. It's purely an AP that bridges WLANs to ethernet.


EDIT TO ADD: On second thought... you get what you pay for. As soon as I enable N mode on this thing in any way I can't get anything to connect to it: b, g or n. And my new MBP when I drop it back to g mode is almost unusable over it at a distance that was never a problem with my work issue thinkpad and the old access point. (I need to bring home the work thinkpad and try it against this AP still.)

[gregneil]

It normally should. But if you're not seeing one then I'll guess you have 'automatic login' enabled. Go into System Preferences (aka, the control panel for reformed windows users). Click on Accounts, then the padlock at the bottom to enable editing (if it's locked). Clikc on Login Options at the bottom of the user list, then set the dropdown box at the top of the options pane to 'Disabled'. Switch back to showing all to apply the change and quit. Now when you reboot the box should present you with a login prompt. (Make sure you know your password before you turn this on. ;) You'll likely also want to enable passwords on the screen saver. Back in the main System Preferences list, open Security, selet the General tab, and ensure "Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver" is checked. (and now I notice you can disable automatic login here too.)

I agree.

And I'd like to add that filevault is more pain than its worth... I've seen it cause more problems than it solves.

[gregneil]

I've always been curious, what does it take to get that job? Do they give good training before putting a new Genius out at the bar?

I ask because I always seem to end up playing "stump the genius" it seems when I go in to ask them a question. I've actually stopped bothering to ask them questions.

Haha... it doesn't take as much as you'd think to get the job. Not these days, anyway. Geniuses do get pretty solid training before hitting the bar, but the bar's a bit lower than you'd expect to get the job in the first place. It wasn't always that way. In the beginning the geniuses were all tack sharp. Then they realized that most people needing help at the genius bar don't need someone who has that level of knowledge... Since they can help 98% of the customers with geniuses who make 2/3 the salary, it was probably a good business move.

It also probably depends on what store you go to. I know there's still a few super-smart geniuses hanging around down here in Los Angeles...

Really the job is more about troubleshooting and hardware repair than it is about answering really detailed tech questions. Most geniuses aren't super-nerds... but (usually) they've got good people and communication skills, which tends to be more useful than knowing command line inside-out, or being able to understand every line in a crash log.

[cabbey]

Haha... it doesn't take as much as you'd think to get the job. Not these days, anyway. Geniuses do get pretty solid training before hitting the bar, but the bar's a bit lower than you'd expect to get the job in the first place. It wasn't always that way. In the beginning the geniuses were all tack sharp. Then they realized that most people needing help at the genius bar don't need someone who has that level of knowledge... Since they can help 98% of the customers with geniuses who make 2/3 the salary, it was probably a good business move.

That's just about exactly what I expected, thanks for the confirmation.

It also probably depends on what store you go to. I know there's still a few super-smart geniuses hanging around down here in Los Angeles...

Really the job is more about troubleshooting and hardware repair than it is about answering really detailed tech questions. Most geniuses aren't super-nerds... but (usually) they've got good people and communication skills, which tends to be more useful than knowing command line inside-out, or being able to understand every line in a crash log.

Yeah, I mostly hit the stores in the Twin Cities, since Apple still hasn't opened a store down here in Rochester. (a mind boggling state of affairs really, when you think about the concentration of their target markets that live here.

There's one guy up in the cities that I've seen them go to... Josh or Joe I think his name was... the "geniuses' genius" if you will... when I was asking about the bewildering behavior of iCal with WebDav servers the two "geniuses" working the bar that day got glazed over eyes really quick and one of them went to get him from in back. Once he realized what I was talking about he admitted that it was a bug, and said they didn't even have any special access to engineering to file a bug, but that he could help me file it on apple's website if I wanted. (yeah, that was the last time I went to the genius bar I think.... when my free ADC account has better bug reporting tools than the support staff in the store... what's the point?)

[gus]

It normally should. But if you're not seeing one then I'll guess you have 'automatic login' enabled. Go into System Preferences (aka, the control panel for reformed windows users). Click on Accounts, then the padlock at the bottom to enable editing (if it's locked). Clikc on Login Options at the bottom of the user list, then set the dropdown box at the top of the options pane to 'Disabled'. Switch back to showing all to apply the change and quit. Now when you reboot the box should present you with a login prompt. (Make sure you know your password before you turn this on. ;) You'll likely also want to enable passwords on the screen saver. Back in the main System Preferences list, open Security, selet the General tab, and ensure "Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver" is checked. (and now I notice you can disable automatic login here too.)
Thankyou...done ! You've no idea how many people i asked that question.

[cabbey]

Thankyou...done ! You've no idea how many people i asked that question.

No worries! I just learned today with my new MBP that this is the default now. I'm pretty sure it wasn't when I installed the wife's mini, or my G5. (circa late 10.3 and mid 10.4 respectively I think.)

[Poseidon]

I am hoping someone can help me with an e-mail issue from home. My ISP (Charter) is completely useless as far as Tech Support goes.... Here is my issue, I can't send e-mail from my Macbook Pro, I can get e-mail just fine, but messages time out or just sit in the outbox forever. I am using a 3rd party e-mail, not Charter, and Charter keeps trying to tell me to set my outgoing server to mail.charter.net :mad:

Oh, my e-mail address is Poseidon (a) reefland.com and the server is located at mail.reefland.com if that helps....

I know that it is not my mail settings, or my mail program, as when I am away from home it works just fine. :scratch

The outgoing server is set on port 25, my username and password are correct, it is just irritating as can be to not be able to send!!!

Maybe, just maybe, someone will have an idea as to what I can do or change to get my outgoing mail to work from home!....

[StevenV]

Charter keeps trying to tell me to set my outgoing server to mail.charter.net :mad:many ISPs block port 25 to any server but their own, setting outgoing mail server to theirs is pretty normal.

[Poseidon]

Is there another port that I can use then? Over on my other computer, I am using port 26, but that won't work on this machine with this account. My other machine uses mike (a) perfect-pix.biz and I can send from there just fine....

[StevenV]

Is there another port that I can use then? that would depend on your mail server's setup. My other machine uses mike (a) perfect-pix.biz and I can send from there just fine....using the same ISP (meaning that you're using a perfect-pix.biz outgoing server while connected via Charter)? It sounds like perfect-pix lets you use alternate ports (26) and that's getting through Charter ok. It'd be worthwhile asking whomever's hosting the outgoing mailserver for reefland.com if you can use a non-25 port.

[SloYerRoll]

http://botw.org/articles/mac-freeware-apps.htm

[DavidTO]

http://botw.org/articles/mac-freeware-apps.htm


There's some good stuff in there. Unfortunately, the best of them, QuickSilver, is no longer being developed, AFAIK.

[Andy]

Moved from 17-in Macbook Pro to 15 in Macbook Pro today. This is nice :)
Why? The 15 travels more nicely :clap

[Poseidon]

that would depend on your mail server's setup. using the same ISP (meaning that you're using a perfect-pix.biz outgoing server while connected via Charter)? It sounds like perfect-pix lets you use alternate ports (26) and that's getting through Charter ok. It'd be worthwhile asking whomever's hosting the outgoing mailserver for reefland.com if you can use a non-25 port.

Yup, same ISP. I'll ask over at Reefland if the mail server can be set up for port 26....

What is the reason for blocking port 25? Just to anger people?

[bwg]

There's some good stuff in there. Unfortunately, the best of them, QuickSilver, is no longer being developed, AFAIK.

The current Quicksilver branch has been abandoned by the original developers and open sourced.

The original Quicksilver devs are working on a new version from scratch. No ETA.

[CatOne]

The current Quicksilver branch has been abandoned by the original developers and open sourced.

The original Quicksilver devs are working on a new version from scratch. No ETA.

Awesome. Working on an app for 4+ years, never getting to a 1.0 version, and then starting a re-write from scratch?

LOL.

[SloYerRoll]

Awesome. Working on an app for 4+ years, never getting to a 1.0 version, and then starting a re-write from scratch?

LOL.Sometimes that's the best course of action when you keep on spending money on something and see no ROI.

[StevenV]

What is the reason for blocking port 25? Just to anger people?nope, to try to cut down on spam. lots of spam is set through one ISP to another mail server, one that's "open" i.e. will accept connections from anywhere. The mail has the original ISP's IP addresses in the header making it look like they're, if not contributing to the problem, at least not doing anything to stop it. It'd be like somebody putting junk mail in your mailbox for the postman to take & deliver - it might appear that you're sending it.

Another tactic is to have a 'virus' that gets into your system and has you sending mail for them, again going through your ISP but to an open mail relay. This blocking is also supposed to help cut down on that "zombie" type spam sending.

see
http://www.commercestreet.com/Blocking_Port_25.htm
http://help.unc.edu/4770

it's not a 100% solution, the spammers could very easily re-write their stuff to find open ports, but it's what's being done.

[Poseidon]

Okay, I changed my outgoing server to smtp.charter.net and I am in business... What a PITA. I guess in the end it truly doesn't matter, but I feel like I am being forced to use "their" service instead of one of my choosing. Also, I don't have any limits on file size attachments with my reefland account, but I'll bet Charter (Crapper) will limit me to something.... That may not be a big deal to some, but when you are sending .psd files, they get very large very quickly!

[StevenV]

oh, I understand completely; my ISP does the same thing and I don't like it either. just understand what they're doing and how it was biting you too.

[Poseidon]

I think they should have advertised this limit in the literature that I got when I signed up....

"Welcome to Charter, we SUCK." Or something like that.....

[Andy]

pwned (http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/711).

[Moogle Pepper]

It is time to save up for a macbook pro!! :barb

RIP Sony, Feb 15th- Mar28th 2008. :cry ... >.> :thumb:clap

[ian408]

pwned (http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/711).

Only after relaxing the rules a bit :)

Still, it's worth noting that it doesn't take much to own something that
connects to your site :deal

[Milan]

Update to Aperture brings plugins.

CUPERTINO, California—March 28, 2008— Apple® today released Aperture™ 2.1, which introduces an open plug-in architecture ...

[shrekie]

Update to Aperture brings plugins.

The new plugin is great, although I find that the Blur effect doesn't work. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing?

[gus]

So with iphones...can i change a 4 gig to an 8 gig or an i stuck with the size i buy ?

[DoctorIt]

So with iphones...can i change a 4 gig to an 8 gig or an i stuck with the size i buy ?as a mere mortal, you're stuck. sure, an uber geek could take it apart and swap the memory, but let's emphasize GEEK in that phrase. It's like an ipod, all jammed in there, not like a laptop where you swap a drive.


You're gettin an iphone now!?! :huh You are SO getting a mock turtleneck for xmas! :lol3

[Richard]

You're gettin an iphone now!?! :huh You are SO getting a mock turtleneck for xmas! :lol3

Gus as Steve Jobs...now there's an image for you. :rofl

[gus]

You're gettin an iphone now!?! :huh You are SO getting a mock turtleneck for xmas! :lol3

My phones die quickly from sweat & dust being in my overalls pocket. They drown by the end of each summer basically. Ive just killed another & whilst searching ebay...i saw an iphone go in as new nick (local pick up) go for $315...so as usual i will buy myself a good phone only to have my daughter swap the sim cards & i thus end up with her old one. She got a B in science & an A in italian so that helps also.

[gus]

ok..next.

Due to some crap that few people believe. Ebay crashes on me when viewed in leopard at random. So i gave up & downloaded firefox to use for just ebay.

I turned my machine on the next day & found firefox had disappeared from my desktop :dunno so i searched my HD ..found it & unzipped it again & used it but it then disappeared again & this just keeps happening.

Every time i turn the imac back on..i have to find & unzip firefox to use it.

Whats that about ?

[colourbox]

Is there any chance that you have been using Firefox from its mounted download/install disk image, and have not yet dragged it into the Applications folder? If this is the case, then its disk image becomes unmounted every time you log out. It's sort of like running an application from a CD.

I only mention this because it's a common new-Mac-user thing to do. If you make sure to drag it into your Applications folder, it should not disappear.

[gus]

Is there any chance that you have been using Firefox from its mounted download/install disk image, and have not yet dragged it into the Applications folder? If this is the case, then its disk image becomes unmounted every time you log out. It's sort of like running an application from a CD.

I only mention this because it's a common new-Mac-user thing to do. If you make sure to drag it into your Applications folder, it should not disappear.
I actually thought that was it...but i just did as you said & re-booted & the firefox desktop logo has gone walk-about again.

[ivar]

I actually thought that was it...but i just did as you said & re-booted & the firefox desktop logo has gone walk-about again.Can you use spotlight and see where it lives after you have rebooted?

[gus]

Can you use spotlight and see where it lives after you have rebooted?
Where do i find spot light :uhoh

[Richard]

I get the feeling that you might be confusing the installer icon with the program icon. Look here (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Installing_Firefox) and scroll down for OS-X. Follow the pictures on the right.

[colourbox]

I actually thought that was it...but i just did as you said & re-booted & the firefox desktop logo has gone walk-about again.

I don't think there is a Firefox desktop icon by default. Are you talking about the icon in the Dock? It will temporarily appear when you are running Firefox, but if you want it to stay there you should drag it to a permanent dock position or right-click it and choose "Keep in Dock."

If you want a desktop shortcut you'd have to make one (Command-Option-drag the icon to the desktop). Once done, that should stay.

[StevenV]

gus, my phone just died too. $20 at WallyMart for a go-phone and swap my SIM into it and I'm back in business :D Not cool or top-shelf as far as style or functionalty, but it was easy and cheap (a good thing when jobless).

[StevenV]

oh, and spotlight's in the top-right corner of your screen - the magnifying glass in the blue dot.

or Command-Space.

[gus]

oh, and spotlight's in the top-right corner of your screen - the magnifying glass in the blue dot.

or Command-Space.
tks..i found that...it didnt have the word spotlight on or near it. Now i just need to find 'disk image' ive used spotlight in the HD & cant see it anywhere :scratch

[Mike Lane]

tks..i found that...it didnt have the word spotlight on or near it. Now i just need to find 'disk image' ive used spotlight in the HD & cant see it anywhere :scratchYou're not actually searching for 'disk image' are you? Search for 'firefox' instead if you are.

[gus]

You're not actually searching for 'disk image' are you? Search for 'firefox' instead if you are.
I know where fire fox is...i read it as to search for disk image & if you go back over everything you can see these words..anyway i know now thats not what to do.

Im having hells time trying sort this crap. I will get it but it may take me a bit. This is where PC is better imo...unzip & all is fine.

[Mike Lane]

I know where fire fox is...i read it as to search for disk image & if you go back over everything you can see these words..anyway i know now thats not what to do.

Im having hells time trying sort this crap. I will get it but it may take me a bit. This is where PC is better imo...unzip & all is fine.I think what they're saying is to find the firefox disk image. It should be named something like firefox 2.0.dmg or something like that. The thought is that you may be running firefox straight from the disk image.

I had troubles with this kind of thing when I switched. It's just a different way of doing things than on the PC. I don't really like the fact that there are multiple ways of installing things on the Mac. Some programs like photoshop you double click and a program installer pops up. Some programs like firefox you have to double click the disk image, it pops up with an icon that if you double click, will work just fine. But for those ones, that doesn't actually install the program it just runs it right from the disk image. You have to actually drag that icon from the disk image to your applications folder to install it on your system. Those are two completely different ways to install programs and it's confusing IMO.

Anyhow, that could be part of the confusion. It's tough to say since none of us are there to see what's going on.

[Richard]

But for those ones, that doesn't actually install the program it just runs it right from the disk image. You have to actually drag that icon from the disk image to your applications folder to install it on your system. ...Anyhow, that could be part of the confusion. It's tough to say since none of us are there to see what's going on.

According to the Mozilla link I posted earlier, Firefox is one of these.

[DoctorIt]

I know where fire fox is...i read it as to search for disk image & if you go back over everything you can see these words..anyway i know now thats not what to do.

Im having hells time trying sort this crap. I will get it but it may take me a bit. This is where PC is better imo...unzip & all is fine.House call? (visitors are all gone, back to boring old life)

[greenpea]

So what is everyones favorite file comparison tool for the mac?

I spent a bit of time this weekend pulling some old images off of my old PC (which I haven't started up in nearly a year). Now I have some 100GB of raw, jpeg and psd files and I'm not sure what is what.

What would be REALLY great is if someone knows of a tool that will tell you that a given jpeg was generated from a given raw file with out me having to actually visually inspect the two files.

In the PC world I use a tool called Beyond Compare (http://www.scootersoftware.com/moreinfo.php) that is amazing.

[DavidTO]

So what is everyones favorite file comparison tool for the mac?

I spent a bit of time this weekend pulling some old images off of my old PC (which I haven't started up in nearly a year). Now I have some 100GB of raw, jpeg and psd files and I'm not sure what is what.

What would be REALLY great is if someone knows of a tool that will tell you that a given jpeg was generated from a given raw file with out me having to actually visually inspect the two files.

In the PC world I use a tool called Beyond Compare (http://www.scootersoftware.com/moreinfo.php) that is amazing.


I don't have a specific recommendation, but you can always search versiontracker.com (http://www.versiontracker.com/php/qs.php?mode=basic&action=search&str=compare&srchArea=macosx%7Cmacosx-all&submit=Go).

[greenpea]

I don't have a specific recommendation, but you can always search versiontracker.com (http://www.versiontracker.com/php/qs.php?mode=basic&action=search&str=compare&srchArea=macosx%7Cmacosx-all&submit=Go).

Thanks David. There are a plenty of options to try out there.

[SloYerRoll]

In the PC world I use a tool called Beyond Compare (http://www.scootersoftware.com/moreinfo.php) that is amazing.Why not dub your fies to a DVD and run Beyond Compare on a PC?

I've used BC and I've never heard of anything comparable in the Mac world for it. In defense of Macs; when I was a Mac user, I didn't have a need for file comparison.

[greenpea]

Why not dub your fies to a DVD and run Beyond Compare on a PC?

I've used BC and I've never heard of anything comparable in the Mac world for it. In defense of Macs; when I was a Mac user, I didn't have a need for file comparison.
I would do that except that I have 3 hard drives to compare each with between 120Gb and 180Gb in image related files.

I might try networking the mac and pc again and seeing if I can run BC from the PC to compare Mac drives, but I'm not too optimistic about that. What I really need to do is some seriously culling of all of those bad photos, I bet I could get myself down to a DVDs worth of files once I delete the bad ones. :rofl:rolleyes

[SloYerRoll]

I would do that except that I have 3 hard drives to compare each with between 120Gb and 180Gb in image related files.

I might try networking the mac and pc again and seeing if I can run BC from the PC to compare Mac drives, but I'm not too optimistic about that. What I really need to do is some seriously culling of all of those bad photos, I bet I could get myself down to a DVDs worth of files once I delete the bad ones. :rofl:rolleyesSorry, I misread your total file sizes. I'd never recommend a DVD for anything over 10GB. I hate DVD's anyway, but they can be useful.

Is a 500GB external possible? Or is that just not practical for you needs?

If not, good luck finding something Mac for your needs.

Best,
-Jon

[Richard]

not sure what is what.

What would be REALLY great is if someone knows of a tool that will tell you that a given jpeg was generated from a given raw file with out me having to actually visually inspect the two file

Does OS-X support a folder view that includes the EXIF date/time of a pic as a column? If you have your raws and jpgs in the same folder, you could sort on that column. Ties are possible if you are shooting in burst mode, but unless you are doing that all the time, there probably will be few enough so that you can figure that out manually.

[colourbox]

What would be REALLY great is if someone knows of a tool that will tell you that a given jpeg was generated from a given raw file with out me having to actually visually inspect the two files.

I know this won't help fix this, but the above problem is why I keep an image's base file name consistent forever. I only change the end of the filename to distinguish different outputs. This means Raw and JPEG images always sort themselves together when listed by name.

Beyond Compare looks better than anything I've seen on the Mac!

[DavidTO]

Apple is getting hit from all sides (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/03/31/apple_hit_with_another_millions_of_colors_lawsuit. html) on their color claims for their monitors. Sounds like they could have done a better job of telling the truth.

[greenpea]

Apple is getting hit from all sides (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/03/31/apple_hit_with_another_millions_of_colors_lawsuit. html) on their color claims for their monitors. Sounds like they could have done a better job of telling the truth.
All this time I thought it was my photography that was bad, but it turns out it was just my MBP screen (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/05/18/apple_hit_with_class_action_suit_over_macbook_macb ook_pro_displays.html). :rolleyes Guess its time to buy a cinema display, at least they're all S-IPS panels (at least according to this site (http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php)).

[TriggerHappy]

Hi all,

I'm having trouble uploading videos to my smugmug site from my mac, and am wondering what works well for other people? What software are people using to capture video and edit and upload to smugmug?

I'm using iMovie HD to capture from my Sony HDV camera. I edit in full HD res and then export to quicktime, web size. Quicktime movie plays fine on my mac, but after uploading using the latest MacDaddy uploader, the audio is garbled for the first 2 seconds, and then silence.

Is anyone successfully using iMovie HD? Is anyone using Quicktime Pro? I just need basic editing so Final Cut Pro is too much for me.

Cheers,
Sheila

[DavidTO]

Hi all,

I'm having trouble uploading videos to my smugmug site from my mac, and am wondering what works well for other people? What software are people using to capture video and edit and upload to smugmug?

I'm using iMovie HD to capture from my Sony HDV camera. I edit in full HD res and then export to quicktime, web size. Quicktime movie plays fine on my mac, but after uploading using the latest MacDaddy uploader, the audio is garbled for the first 2 seconds, and then silence.

Is anyone successfully using iMovie HD? Is anyone using Quicktime Pro? I just need basic editing so Final Cut Pro is too much for me.

Cheers,
Sheila

Sheila, your best bet is to make a post in this thread (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=85929). It's where all the video geeks hang out. :thumb

[TriggerHappy]

Sheila, your best bet is to make a post in this thread (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=85929). It's where all the video geeks hang out. :thumb

Thanks, I'll try there. :clap

[BradfordBenn]

Why? The 15 travels more nicely :clap

That is the reason I got my 15" with the 17" processing power :)

[greenpea]

Dell's equivilent to the MacBook Air (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyBaNwDX8c)

[BigBadBill]

That was awesome. Now I want to see someone get that thru security at the airport! :D

Big Bad Bill (I really want to take good pictures!)
http://william1034.smugmug.com/

Dell's equivilent to the MacBook Air (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyBaNwDX8c)

[cabbey]

Hi all,

I'm having trouble uploading videos to my smugmug site from my mac, and am wondering what works well for other people? What software are people using to capture video and edit and upload to smugmug?

I'm using iMovie HD to capture from my Sony HDV camera. I edit in full HD res and then export to quicktime, web size. Quicktime movie plays fine on my mac, but after uploading using the latest MacDaddy uploader, the audio is garbled for the first 2 seconds, and then silence.

Is anyone successfully using iMovie HD? Is anyone using Quicktime Pro? I just need basic editing so Final Cut Pro is too much for me.

Cheers,
Sheila

When you export the video, don't set audio to anything other than 128kbit, all other settings seem to get that result.

[SloYerRoll]

A friend of mine is selling his MacBook and I have a few questions. Hopefully the details aren't so vague, that my questions can't be answered...

I still need to figure out screen size to figure the price point.. But:

"The laptop is a 2Ghz Intel Core Duo 2 with 2GB of RAM and a 75GB hard drive."

Questions:
Can I swap out the drive when the time comes easily enough?
Is 2GB RAM the max? Or can I load up on some more to help the processor out?
I'm sure it is, but is wireless built in?
Anything in general I want to know when asking questions?

I don't need major horsepower. I'd just use this machine when I'm writing code and would never use it for CS3 or anything heavy like that.

I'd do a fresh OS load and all my software, I'm comfy w/ Mac's, just not the laptops..

Thanks for the help :thumb

-Jon

[DavidTO]

A friend of mine is selling his MacBook and I have a few questions. Hopefully the details aren't so vague, that my questions can't be answered...

I still need to figure out screen size to figure the price point.. But:

"The laptop is a 2Ghz Intel Core Duo 2 with 2GB of RAM and a 75GB hard drive."

Questions:
Can I swap out the drive when the time comes easily enough?
Yes (http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY.pdf).

Is 2GB RAM the max? Or can I load up on some more to help the processor out?

Should do (http://www.apple.com/macbook/specs.html), but if it's an older one, might not. But I think so.


I'm sure it is, but is wireless built in?
Yes. (http://www.apple.com/macbook/specs.html)


Anything in general I want to know when asking questions?

I don't need major horsepower. I'd just use this machine when I'm writing code and would never use it for CS3 or anything heavy like that.

I'd do a fresh OS load and all my software, I'm comfy w/ Mac's, just not the laptops..

Thanks for the help :thumb

-Jon

:thumb

[SloYerRoll]

Thanks David. I knew I'd get a hasty response :thumb

So I'll hoping for the deal of the decade, but what would you personally pay if you were going to buy this used but in good condition?

And do you recommend this model? or are there reasons I should keep stashing away more in the piggy bank?

[DavidTO]

Thanks David. I knew I'd get a hasty response :thumb

So I'll hoping for the deal of the decade, but what would you personally pay if you were going to buy this used but in good condition?

And do you recommend this model? or are there reasons I should keep stashing away more in the piggy bank?


The only reason to spend more, IMO, would be for screen real estate. Yeah, the Pro has some cool features, but really, the only one that I think would make a difference to you is more pixels.

It's less than a year old? (Still under warranty?)

I'm not entirely sure. $650?

http://img.skitch.com/20080404-rmc418em4s832qdrf5gnfq1pt4.preview.jpg (http://skitch.com/davidrosenthal/ehtx/the-apple-store-u.s)Click for full size (http://skitch.com/davidrosenthal/ehtx/the-apple-store-u.s) - Uploaded with plasq (http://plasq.com)'s Skitch (http://skitch.com)

[SloYerRoll]

The only reason to spend more, IMO, would be for screen real estate. Yeah, the Pro has some cool features, but really, the only one that I think would make a difference to you is more pixels.

It's less than a year old? (Still under warranty?)

I'm not entirely sure. $650?Not sure how old it is. Didn't these MacBooks go into production in 06?
Thanks for the other info. I don't care too much about real estate. If I do anything tough, I'm working on the beast anyway.

Your a wealth of Mac information David.. You should really be on the Apple payroll :D

[DavidTO]

Not sure how old it is. Didn't these MacBooks go into production in 06?
Thanks for the other info. I don't care too much about real estate. If I do anything tough, I'm working on the beast anyway.

Your a wealth of Mac information David.. You should really be on the Apple payroll :D


Depends on which 2.0GHZ it is:

http://img.skitch.com/20080404-g1cmtqt41rngqkff3k7u91kkmf.preview.jpg (http://skitch.com/davidrosenthal/eh1u/macbook-13-inch-late-2006)Click for full size (http://skitch.com/davidrosenthal/eh1u/macbook-13-inch-late-2006) - Uploaded with plasq (http://plasq.com)'s Skitch (http://skitch.com)


http://img.skitch.com/20080404-j87c9qytipkn4gwygi6fib6wk.preview.jpg (http://skitch.com/davidrosenthal/eh1i/macbook-13-inch-mid-2007)Click for full size (http://skitch.com/davidrosenthal/eh1i/macbook-13-inch-mid-2007) - Uploaded with plasq (http://plasq.com)'s Skitch (http://skitch.com)


http://img.skitch.com/20080404-b434nsh9gb2rk7rg51sexx44cq.preview.jpg (http://skitch.com/davidrosenthal/eh1s/macbook-13-inch-late-2007)Click for full size (http://skitch.com/davidrosenthal/eh1s/macbook-13-inch-late-2007) - Uploaded with plasq (http://plasq.com)'s Skitch (http://skitch.com)

[DavidTO]

BTW, you have a Mac already, right? Those screengrabs were from MacTracker (http://mactracker.dreamhosters.com/). :thumb

[SloYerRoll]

Ya, but my Mac sits patiently in my closet to be sold or somthing. I have it maxed out on RAM etc, but it just doesn't have the horseposer I need..
**G4 Quicksilver 733 w/ 1.5GB RAM

[patch29]

Finally figured out how to do one thing I did in Firefox with Safari.

In FF, highlight a work, right click and you can choose search in google, which will open a new tab in the background.

Safari has the same method, but the search occurs in the current tab, my moment of inspiration, hold down the cmd key while right clicking and choosing search in google, creates a new tab in the background. :clap I hope this might help someone else. :D

[cmason]

Well I broke down...Just ordered a refurb, 24" 2.16Ghz iMac. I am looking forward to the sweet IPS screen on this thing, and the fact that it is the matte, not glossy screen.

Now, I have to figure out how to connect all my hard drives. My PC is set up with the following: 1 main 160 GB IDE drive for OS and apps, a secondary 40GB IDE (PS scratch), a 160GB SATA drive for photos and video, and an external 250GB USB drive for backup.
I think it will be a shame losing the 1.5 GB transfer rate on the SATA drive, and going with the poky Firewire 800 MB transfer rate. (not that i will notice, but there was a reason I bought SATA and not IDE hard drives.

My backup drive in already USB, so that is easy. And I have another 40GB as my scratch disk, so I am not sure what to do about that...but suppose I will just use the main iMac drive for that.

Anyone with experience in NewerTech (http://www.newertech.com/products/externalhd.php) drive enclosures? Any recommendations, or maybe just go with a NAS solution?

[DavidTO]

Well I broke down...Just ordered a refurb, 24" 2.16Ghz iMac. I am looking forward to the sweet IPS screen on this thing, and the fact that it is the matte, not glossy screen.

Now, I have to figure out how to connect all my hard drives. My PC is set up with the following: 1 main 160 GB IDE drive for OS and apps, a secondary 40GB IDE (PS scratch), a 160GB SATA drive for photos and video, and an external 250GB USB drive for backup.
I think it will be a shame losing the 1.5 GB transfer rate on the SATA drive, and going with the poky Firewire 800 MB transfer rate. (not that i will notice, but there was a reason I bought SATA and not IDE hard drives.

My backup drive in already USB, so that is easy. And I have another 40GB as my scratch disk, so I am not sure what to do about that...but suppose I will just use the main iMac drive for that.

Anyone with experience in NewerTech (http://www.newertech.com/products/externalhd.php) drive enclosures? Any recommendations, or maybe just go with a NAS solution?


Congrats!!!

If you're buying enclosures, you're getting firewire, right? Well, if you need it to work with your PC maybe you're not, but it kicks USB's butt around the corner. I have no experience with newertech, they should be fine, I usually buy though macsales.com.

[cmason]

Congrats!!!

If you're buying enclosures, you're getting firewire, right? Well, if you need it to work with your PC maybe you're not, but it kicks USB's butt around the corner. I have no experience with newertech, they should be fine, I usually buy though macsales.com.

Yes, my choices are USB or Firewire. USB and Firewire 400 have the same throughput, there is no reason to choose one over the other. But this iMac has a Firewire 800 port so I will use that for photo storage. But, I need an enclosure that supports a SATA drive, since that is what I have.

PC is being replaced with the iMac+ Parallels, so I am reusing bits from it that I can.

[ivar]

USB and Firewire 400 have the same throughputFirewire is even supposed to be slower (400 as opposed to 480) but firewire seems to be a whole lot faster for me :dunno

[DavidTO]

Firewire is even supposed to be slower (400 as opposed to 480) but firewire seems to be a whole lot faster for me :dunno


That's because it (http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=322369&postcount=837) is (http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=322371&postcount=838), in real-world terms. :deal

[Richard]

That's because it (http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=322369&postcount=837) is (http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=322371&postcount=838), in real-world terms. :deal

The USB protocol requires more work by the CPU than Firewire, which tends to reduce the real world performance on single CPU machines. The best bet is to try both and see which works best on your particular configuration.

[ivar]

That's because it (http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=322369&postcount=837) is (http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=322371&postcount=838), in real-world terms. :deal
Firewire is awesome :super

[colourbox]

Yes, my choices are USB or Firewire. USB and Firewire 400 have the same throughput, there is no reason to choose one over the other. But this iMac has a Firewire 800 port so I will use that for photo storage.

The truth is:
USB for compatibility (never for speed)
FireWire for best speed and compatibility on Macs today
eSATA for best speed on future computers

The port question is an "And" choice (http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB), not an "Or" choice.

But, I need an enclosure that supports a SATA drive, since that is what I have.

The store above sells SATA drive-compatible enclosures (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW924AL1K/) with a grillion ports on the back.

[SloYerRoll]

ya, eSATA blows it all out of the water. You can grab a PCI card for eSATA really cheap too. ($20-30)

USB and Firewires' days are numbered w/ eSATA IMO. They will be around for a long time, just to keep things compatible, but that's about it.

[cmason]

ya, eSATA blows it all out of the water. You can grab a PCI card for eSATA really cheap too. ($20-30)

USB and Firewires' days are numbered w/ eSATA IMO. They will be around for a long time, just to keep things compatible, but that's about it.


Funny. One reason for buying the iMac is that my SATA adapter AND my LCD are both on the fritz. With my PC aging (AMD Athlon XP 2900+), I am beyond replacing parts. To update my current PC, which I built and have updated and replaced parts over the years ( including firewire), it was going to cost about $1000, going for a good Core2 Duo chip, and motherboard (been burned by cheap MBs), and a 20-24" monitor.

The iMac refurb was $1300, and was a bit lower spec processor and video than I was planning with my rebuild, and has no eSATA port, but it has a much better IPS 24" monitor that I could not have otherwise afforded.

Plus its a new toy :rofl

[DavidTO]

ya, eSATA blows it all out of the water. You can grab a PCI card for eSATA really cheap too. ($20-30)

USB and Firewires' days are numbered w/ eSATA IMO. They will be around for a long time, just to keep things compatible, but that's about it.


That makes sense to me.

[CatOne]

ya, eSATA blows it all out of the water. You can grab a PCI card for eSATA really cheap too. ($20-30)

USB and Firewires' days are numbered w/ eSATA IMO. They will be around for a long time, just to keep things compatible, but that's about it.

Doesn't work too well on an iMac or a laptop, though :wink

There are few to any cases where an eSATA connection will be any faster than a FW 800 connection for a single drive.

Does eSATA also power a drive, or do you need a separate power connector?

[Richard]

USB and Firewires' days are numbered w/ eSATA IMO. They will be around for a long time, just to keep things compatible, but that's about it.

For disk drives, that may be true. But USB is going to be around for a long time to support keyboards, mice, printers and other slow peripherals. Which is really what it was designed for in the first place.

[cmason]

Doesn't work too well on an iMac or a laptop, though :wink

There are few to any cases where an eSATA connection will be any faster than a FW 800 connection for a single drive.

Does eSATA also power a drive, or do you need a separate power connector?

eSATA is considerably faster than firewire 800, both theoretically and practically. eSATA does not have integrated power, yet, but that is coming:

http://digitalmason.smugmug.com/photos/278111462_oDgpv-M.jpg


from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

[CatOne]

eSATA is considerably faster than firewire 800, both theoretically and practically. eSATA does not have integrated power, yet, but that is coming:

http://digitalmason.smugmug.com/photos/278111462_oDgpv-M.jpg


from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

I said with a single drive, because few 7200 RPM mechanisms can push more than 50-60 MB/sec sustained. A drive that can push 60 MB/sec will perform identically on an 80 MB/sec bus as it will on a 150 MB/sec bus (or a 300 MB/sec bus if eSATA supports that now).

A 1967 VW Bus will go the same speed on I-5 as it will on the Autobahn... way below the speed limit in both cases :wink

For a 3.5" powered drive that's hooked up to a desktop machine eSATA makes sense. For a portable machine... no sense.

[SloYerRoll]

For a 3.5" powered drive that's hooked up to a desktop machine eSATA makes sense. For a portable machine... no sense.That's the same kind of thing they were saying when they first started commercially developing computers. I'm glad they didn't listen to them. We'd still be using mechanical logic machines..

[Andy]

Moved from 17-in Macbook Pro to 15 in Macbook Pro today. This is nice :)
Why? The 15 travels more nicely :clap
few weeks later, I am *really* happy with the 15 :) Screen size isn't everything - easy to handle, still hugely powerful (4gb, 2.5ghz)...

Just a plug for considering.

[cmason]

OK searched this thread, and found that most who use virtualization to run Windows on OS X seem to be favoring VMWare Fusion. But Parallels is really appealing to me for its integration, file sharing and launching of windows apps via preferences.

I have Office 2007, Quicken and PS CS2 for Windows. I will NOT be buying the Mac version of Office, nor trading in my CS2, and of course Quicken is really not an option on the Mac. So I am thinking to use Parallels.

Why does everyone seem to like VMWare better? If you believe this MacTech article (http://www.mactech.com:16080/articles/mactech/Vol.24/24.02/VirtualizationBenchmark/), Parallels outperforms VMWare easily running XP. Am I missing something?

[CatOne]

That's the same kind of thing they were saying when they first started commercially developing computers. I'm glad they didn't listen to them. We'd still be using mechanical logic machines..
What sense is there in using an interface whichis absolutely no faster for a portable use case and requires you to schlep a power brick everywhere to use it?

there are not infinite ports; use the best ones for the job.

[DoctorIt]

I'm at wits end!!!

I have 90mb worth of photos that I want to put on a 128mb SD card. Why won't the SD card take them?!!! I'm trying to send grandma some photos for a digital photo frame.

1) I take a bunch of photos and batch resized them in CS3 to the tiny photo frame size.

2) I drag them onto the card (which I have even erased thoroughly w/disk utility) and I get an error saying "not enough free space to copy xxxxx.jpg" - the funny thing, its just one random file of the 200 or so that comes up as the named file in that message.

3) I click OK on the error, and then the copy dialogue comes up anyway and says "copying x of 200"... only it just copies about the first 80 or so. It does this consistently, only the first 83 files make it over, and the 84th is corrupted. Finder window then still says "80mb available" on the card.

4) Its not the card, I can take 120mb of random other files (movies, word files, etc) and fill it right up, no problems.

WHAT is going on with these photos that I batch??? I have tried using CocoThumbX to strip extra crap, I have tried adding a "save for web" step to my batch resize to strip off exif and all that junk as well.

I just don't get it. This is the second time this has happened. Last time I just gave up and only sent grandma the 80 files that it would take.
:wxwax

[Richard]

Did you reformat the card as well as erase?

[cmason]

I'm at wits end!!!

I have 90mb worth of photos that I want to put on a 128mb SD card. Why won't the SD card take them?!!! I'm trying to send grandma some photos for a digital photo frame.

1) I take a bunch of photos and batch resized them in CS3 to the tiny photo frame size.

2) I drag them onto the card (which I have even erased thoroughly w/disk utility) and I get an error saying "not enough free space to copy xxxxx.jpg" - the funny thing, its just one random file of the 200 or so that comes up as the named file in that message.

3) I click OK on the error, and then the copy dialogue comes up anyway and says "copying x of 200"... only it just copies about the first 80 or so. It does this consistently, only the first 83 files make it over, and the 84th is corrupted. Finder window then still says "80mb available" on the card.

4) Its not the card, I can take 120mb of random other files (movies, word files, etc) and fill it right up, no problems.

WHAT is going on with these photos that I batch??? I have tried using CocoThumbX to strip extra crap, I have tried adding a "save for web" step to my batch resize to strip off exif and all that junk as well.

I just don't get it. This is the second time this has happened. Last time I just gave up and only sent grandma the 80 files that it would take.
:wxwax

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-SDSDB-512-A10-A11-512-Digital-Package/dp/B0000AKVJC/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1207997851&sr=8-2


sorry, couldn't resist.

Does the card report 128mb free after formating? There may be a hidden file,or if it is an older card, it may have some wear that reduces the full capacity.

Finally, and this has happened to me before, if the card is formatted FAT, there may be a problem with the filename, since FAT perfers 8.3 file names.

[DavidTO]

Doc,

I think you've got a corrupt file. Try dragging all of them by that xxxx.jpg.

Or, try dragging in half. Then half of what remains, etc. If you can put 120mb of other files but not those 90, then it's corruption, I think.

[SloYerRoll]

Doc, I'll bet you any amount of money the Mac can't see the files. So you really don't have the memory space, you just can't see the PC or camera created files.

I had the same issues w/ an old flash drive before I figured out the how/whys of pc/mac.

Load your card onto a PC and you'll see files that weren't there before. And for some strange reason, even formatting won't remove them unless you use a third party app specifically for formatting.

[Andy]

OK searched this thread, and found that most who use virtualization to run Windows on OS X seem to be favoring VMWare Fusion. But Parallels is really appealing to me for its integration, file sharing and launching of windows apps via preferences.

I have Office 2007, Quicken and PS CS2 for Windows. I will NOT be buying the Mac version of Office, nor trading in my CS2, and of course Quicken is really not an option on the Mac. So I am thinking to use Parallels.

Why does everyone seem to like VMWare better? If you believe this MacTech article (http://www.mactech.com:16080/articles/mactech/Vol.24/24.02/VirtualizationBenchmark/), Parallels outperforms VMWare easily running XP. Am I missing something?
We at Smug were heavy users of parallels then switched fully to VMware Fusion. I love it. No more Parallels for this boy. VMware for months and months so far, no crashes, no problems, it just works.

[cmason]

We at Smug were heavy users of parallels then switched fully to VMware Fusion. I love it. No more Parallels for this boy. VMware for months and months so far, no crashes, no problems, it just works.

So Andy, does that mean Parallels doesn't work and crashes? Why the switch?

[Andy]

So Andy, does that mean Parallels doesn't work and crashes? Why the switch?
I've posted about it a lot. Work? Yeah I'm sure it works. But VMware works better for us. Start up and shut down is way faster. Stable. As I posted, my many VMs never, ever crash my Mac. Not so with Parallels before we switched.

[CatOne]

So Andy, does that mean Parallels doesn't work and crashes? Why the switch?

Parallels plays a bit more "fast and loose" with things than does VMWare. VMWare does *extensive* QA cycles for their products, and sometimes is slower to adopt features. This is because historically they've sold business products that have to run all day long on servers. Business-critical QA is in their DNA.

Parallels moves more like a consumer products company, meaning faster to market with more features is what people (consumers) typically want, at the expense of finding more bugs.

Would you pay the same for a product that came out later, and was maybe a bit slower, if it were more stable? Depends on what you want.

I mean, would people pay more and shop elsewhere for products than Wal-mart, if quality were higher? Many people in the US would not. I most certainly would :-)

[cabbey]

I just don't get it. This is the second time this has happened. Last time I just gave up and only sent grandma the 80 files that it would take.
:wxwax

Have you considered the relationship between the filesystem block size and size of the files?

Case in point, say you use FAT16 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat16) which commonly has a cluster size of 32K. Say your photos are all 35K in size... every one of them will use 2 clusters, so 10 images will consume 640K of disk space, even if they only appear to consume 350K of space when you list them out. Now when you dropped on other files, such as a large movie that is 623K, it will use the same 640K of space. Basically, every *file* is rounded *up* to a multiple of the cluster size. This can lead to a lot of wasted space if the size of the files are just slightly larger than the size of the cluster. This is rarely a problem in camera, when we're talking about multi-meg images, but I'm betting you are resampling these image down to the size of the display in the photoframe so that you can fit as many as possible... which is going to magnify the problem.

Here's a real life example:
madhatter:Pictures cabbey$ ls -ls 5th.jpg art.cat.ap.jpg
24 -rw-r--r-- 1 cabbey cabbey 11418 Jul 26 2007 5th.jpg
24 -rw-r--r-- 1 cabbey cabbey 9316 Jul 26 2007 art.cat.ap.jpg

Those are just two images I grabbed that had the same number of blocks (first column) but wildly different sizes (6th column).

[cabbey]

I mean, would people pay more and shop elsewhere for products than Wal-mart, if quality were higher? Many people in the US would not. I most certainly would :-)

I suspect everyone on *this* thread would. :D

That said, I recently picked up VMWare Fusion based in part on the glowing recommendations of Andy and others. So far I've not been at all impressed. The two VMs I have that I brought over from VMWare Workstation on Linux have had serious kkeyyybooaaadd sttutteerrrinngs which has meant I've been unable to login to them to reconfigure the network. (After trying to almost 2 hours I managed to successfully blind type and backspace out the dupicates in the login password for my account, I've now put in almost an hour trying to blind type root's password for an su - session.) A downloaded VM from their application gallery has behaved the same, I just downloaded a live cd iso for DSL to try creating a brand new VM to see if it has the same issues. VMWare support site hasn't been much help... they seem to want me to buy a support incident to get them to help me. :rolleyes

[gus]

ok..ive got a new phone (nokia 6110) Ive no idea if its compatable with a mac. the manual just says 'a compatible computer'. Ive tried loading the software supplied with the phone & it appeared to reject it.

Im trying to download a photo from the phone so where do i look for it on the mac once they are connected via USB ?

On the PC it was simply seen as a drive & you go in there.

** EDIT. I got it...had to download some crap. Its working on toothless atm & i have no possible idea how i did it but working none the less.

[gus]

Stuck again. I have blue toothed the photo to iphoto (apparently) and now i wish to open the photo in CS3. Where the bloody hell is iphoto ???

I open file in CS3 to look & cant see iphoto anywhere ?

[cabbey]

Stuck again. I have blue toothed the photo to iphoto (apparently) and now i wish to open the photo in CS3. Where the bloody hell is iphoto ???

I open file in CS3 to look & cant see iphoto anywhere ?

It is easier to push from iphoto to photoshop. Open iPhoto, find the image, right click, show file. That will open a finder window with your files, probably in Pictures/iPhoto Library/ somewhere.

[gus]

It is easier to push from iphoto to photoshop. Open iPhoto, find the image, right click, show file. That will open a finder window with your files, probably in Pictures/iPhoto Library/ somewhere.
Tks...that isnt working because when i do that i can see the option you mention but i cant click on it (its not highlighting). The only option i can right click on is 'show photo info'

I ended up getting it just then. I managed to somehow copy it to my desktop (my desktop is my filing bin believe it or not) & i opened it from the desktop.

[CatOne]

I suspect everyone on *this* thread would. :D

That said, I recently picked up VMWare Fusion based in part on the glowing recommendations of Andy and others. So far I've not been at all impressed. The two VMs I have that I brought over from VMWare Workstation on Linux have had serious kkeyyybooaaadd sttutteerrrinngs which has meant I've been unable to login to them to reconfigure the network. (After trying to almost 2 hours I managed to successfully blind type and backspace out the dupicates in the login password for my account, I've now put in almost an hour trying to blind type root's password for an su - session.) A downloaded VM from their application gallery has behaved the same, I just downloaded a live cd iso for DSL to try creating a brand new VM to see if it has the same issues. VMWare support site hasn't been much help... they seem to want me to buy a support incident to get them to help me. :rolleyes

Bummer. I created my VM from scratch and it's fairly minimalist (I only run Quicken because their Mac version is horrible, as well as SRM Power Meter software and some other stuff called "Training Peaks" which is Windows only). So I haven't had the fun of trying a VM pulled over from Linux.

[DoctorIt]

Have you considered the relationship between the filesystem block size and size of the files?

Case in point, say you use FAT16 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat16) which commonly has a cluster size of 32K. Say your photos are all 35K in size... every one of them will use 2 clusters, so 10 images will consume 640K of disk space, even if they only appear to consume 350K of space when you list them out. Now when you dropped on other files, such as a large movie that is 623K, it will use the same 640K of space. Basically, every *file* is rounded *up* to a multiple of the cluster size. This can lead to a lot of wasted space if the size of the files are just slightly larger than the size of the cluster. This is rarely a problem in camera, when we're talking about multi-meg images, but I'm betting you are resampling these image down to the size of the display in the photoframe so that you can fit as many as possible... which is going to magnify the problem.

Here's a real life example:
madhatter:Pictures cabbey$ ls -ls 5th.jpg art.cat.ap.jpg
24 -rw-r--r-- 1 cabbey cabbey 11418 Jul 26 2007 5th.jpg
24 -rw-r--r-- 1 cabbey cabbey 9316 Jul 26 2007 art.cat.ap.jpg
Those are just two images I grabbed that had the same number of blocks (first column) but wildly different sizes (6th column).I knew someone would actually read my query and not just jump on the card and hidden files on it :D

OK, you nailed it. I've resized those jpgs and "magnified my problem". This makes sense, can I fix it? Is there another way to process those images, or are they truly just bigger than 128mb... you lost me on that.

[DavidTO]

I knew someone would actually read my query and not just jump on the card and hidden files on it :D



Hey!

No Fair!

I read the whole thing....I'm just not that smart!

[SloYerRoll]

I knew someone would actually read my query and not just jump on the card and hidden files on it :DSmart ppl :rolleyes

[cabbey]

I knew someone would actually read my query and not just jump on the card and hidden files on it :D

OK, you nailed it. I've resized those jpgs and "magnified my problem". This makes sense, can I fix it? Is there another way to process those images, or are they truly just bigger than 128mb... you lost me on that.

I guess the first thing I'd do is figure out if that really is the problem. A study of the ls -ls output for those files on the card should help figure it out. (on a linux box I'd say stat the file, but mac's stat isn't as useful from what I've seen.)

Assuming it is, there are a couple things to try:


reformat the card with smaller clusters / sectors. (not sure at the moment how to do that on a mac... I'll look around when I don't have the baby on my lap.)
try to shrink the images with the jpeg quality until they no longer waste as much space. (ugly. trial and error on an image by image basis.)


I've actually used a combination of the two for a similar purpose in the past. (iow: btdt)

[zweiblumen]

N/M Cabbey said what I was going to.


Oh, and Cabbey, the Stat info is all there in BSD(/Mac), just not as user friendly as it is in SysV. Actually, it's damn ugly in BSD if you don't format it, and I sure as **** don't know the format codes.

[DavidTO]

That stat info from the mac is just as useful, however significantly less user friendly. All of the information is there, just not labeled. (Joys of BSD vs. SysV)

Anywho, I agree, the ls -ls would be a good place to start... but that's a lot of math IMHO.

I'd use the disk utility to reformat the card. If you really are suffering from block issues (though I wouldn't imagine you'd be making your pictures THAT small, but I'm not sure), you can set your blocks size to itty-bitty. Makes things slower, but for what you are doing with the card it shouldn't matter that much.

HTH


After reading Cabbey's first post, I would have just tossed the card. Just reading it would have been more work than the card is worth. :deal

[DoctorIt]

After reading Cabbey's first post, I would have just tossed the card. Just reading it would have been more work than the card is worth. :dealBut but... I STILL don't get how its the card??!!! I can fit 120mb worth of stuff on it, just not those images. I thought I had it, now you just confused me again.

And remember, it did this to me previously with another card, and another batch of images (same batch process, different image files). It MUST be something about the way I'm batching, saving, whatever these images, right?!?

:scratch


edit: BTW, I just tried yet ANOTHER card w/twice the capacity, a 256. The EXACT thing happend - "not enough free space to copy image xxxx-083.jpg" then it only copied 83 of 200 images, just like with the other card. Its not the cards.

[DavidTO]

But but... I STILL don't get how its the card??!!! I can fit 120mb worth of stuff on it, just not those images. I thought I had it, now you just confused me again.

And remember, it did this to me previously with another card, and another batch of images (same batch process, different image files). It MUST be something about the way I'm batching, saving, whatever these images, right?!?

:scratch


edit: BTW, I just tried yet ANOTHER card w/twice the capacity, a 256. The EXACT thing happend - "not enough free space to copy image xxxx-083.jpg" then it only copied 83 of 200 images, just like with the other card. Its not the cards.


Back to my theory, which you, ahem, overlooked. You have a corrupt file.

[DoctorIt]

Back to my theory, which you, ahem, overlooked. You have a corrupt file.Nope. If I clear the card, and just move photo 83, it works fine. More than just one corrupt file. Corrupt directory or process or something.

No matter what I do, I can only fit 83 of those files at a given time onto ANY card. So I have 306 total files... if try to copy paste 1-100, I end up with 1-83. If I do 200-300, you guessed it, 200-282. I even tried randomly selecting 20 here, 10 there, nope, doesn't matter, as long as I'm copying out of that directory, I can only paste 83 files. Again, ANY card, even tried my big 2gb card.

This is totally bizarre.

[SloYerRoll]

At this point your spending more time fixing it than if you just started from scratch.

[DoctorIt]

At this point your spending more time fixing it than if you just started from scratch.But thats the thing... how else do you suggest I start? I've pretty much proved its a repeatable error with something CS3 or my computer in general is doing. So I should ignore that?

How else do i resize photos? I'm obviously not going to send full size jpgs out of my 30D for a photo frame that can only handle 720 x 480 pixels.

[SloYerRoll]

But thats the thing... how else do you suggest I start? I've pretty much proved its a repeatable error with something CS3 or my computer in general is doing. So I should ignore that?

How else do i resize photos? I'm obviously not going to send full size jpgs out of my 30D for a photo frame that can only handle 720 x 480 pixels.Have you tried other methods besides cut/paste to move the files? It's a different process than if you drag and drop or use the Mac equivalent of "Send To"

[DoctorIt]

Have you tried other methods besides cut/paste to move the files? It's a different process than if you drag and drop or use the Mac equivalent of "Send To"Tried both ways, no diff.

Also just tried opening them all in Preview, select all, then "save selected" at a lower quality right onto the card. This gained me about 20 files, but the card still says "100mb available" and won't let me add anymore.

The strangest part, the mysterious 83 files... so if it was a space allocation thing as cabbey suggested, wouldn't you at least think I'd gain a number of files when I doubled the card size (from 128 to 256)? Well, it doesn't, only the magical 83 files will copy over.

I guess I give up again. :dunno

If my PC at work can do it tomorrow (got all the images, small versions, on my portable hard drive) then I'm burning my mock turtlenecks.

[cabbey]

Oh, and Cabbey, the Stat info is all there in BSD(/Mac), just not as user friendly as it is in SysV. Actually, it's damn ugly in BSD if you don't format it, and I sure as **** don't know the format codes.

Actually, the formatting is what killed me. I've come to use the '-x' option to stat to get something 'readable' only that DROPS the one stat I was looking for! (how many blocks were used.) without the formatter it appears to be the 3rd from last item.


madhatter:~ cabbey$ stat test.png
234881047 4854603 -rw-r--r-- 1 cabbey cabbey 0 2956199 "Apr 13 02:22:38 2008" "Apr 13 02:22:37 2008" "Apr 13 02:22:37 2008" "Apr 13 02:22:37 2008" 4096 5776 0 test.png
madhatter:~ cabbey$ stat -x test.png
File: "test.png"
Size: 2956199 FileType: Regular File
Mode: (0644/-rw-r--r--) Uid: ( 501/ cabbey) Gid: ( 501/ cabbey)
Device: 14,23 Inode: 4854603 Links: 1
Access: Sun Apr 13 02:22:38 2008
Modify: Sun Apr 13 02:22:37 2008
Change: Sun Apr 13 02:22:37 2008
madhatter:~ cabbey$ ls -ls test.png
5776 -rw-r--r-- 1 cabbey cabbey 2956199 Apr 13 02:22 test.png


That's my BSD inspired MAC working from the internal HFS+ volume, let me copy that image over to a CF card in my usb reader which is formatted vfat (likely what Erik's card is formatted as well):


madhatter:~ cabbey$ cp test.png /Volumes/CF\ CARD/
madhatter:~ cabbey$ cd /Volumes/CF\ CARD/
madhatter:CF CARD cabbey$ stat test.png
234881049 8 -rwxrwxrwx 1 cabbey cabbey 0 2956199 "Apr 13 00:00:00 2008" "Apr 13 02:27:22 2008" "Apr 13 02:27:22 2008" "Apr 13 02:27:22 2008" 1048576 5824 0 test.png
madhatter:CF CARD cabbey$ stat -x test.png
File: "test.png"
Size: 2956199 FileType: Regular File
Mode: (0777/-rwxrwxrwx) Uid: ( 501/ cabbey) Gid: ( 501/ cabbey)
Device: 14,25 Inode: 8 Links: 1
Access: Sun Apr 13 00:00:00 2008
Modify: Sun Apr 13 02:27:22 2008
Change: Sun Apr 13 02:27:22 2008
madhatter:CF CARD cabbey$ ls -ls test.png
5824 -rwxrwxrwx 1 cabbey cabbey 2956199 Apr 13 02:27 test.png


and to sanity check (for my sanity at least) here's that CF card moved to my GNU inspired Linux box:


tweedle mnt # stat test.png
File: `test.png'
Size: 2956199 Blocks: 5824 IO Block: 32768 regular file
Device: 821h/2081d Inode: 316 Links: 1
Access: (0755/-rwxr-xr-x) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2008-04-13 01:00:00.000000000 -0500
Modify: 2008-04-13 03:27:22.000000000 -0500
Change: 2008-04-13 03:27:22.930000000 -0500


So on the CF Card the two machines agree that the file uses 5824 sectors (that's hardware sectors of 512 bytes) which vfat (the filesystem) turns into 91 32k clusters (each cluster is 64 sectors). This is MORE than what the same file used on HFS+ by 48 sectors... but that's because HFS+ is more efficient than FAT.

[cabbey]

OK, you nailed it. I've resized those jpgs and "magnified my problem". This makes sense, can I fix it? Is there another way to process those images, or are they truly just bigger than 128mb... you lost me on that.

Ok, so in the case I've done personally, these weren't images, they were audio clips... and the filesystem used much larger chunks (2M) so a file that was 1.9M vs 2.1M saved me a full 2M. In that case, I made more files fit by slightly reducing the quality of the files. 240kbit encoding instead of 256kbit for most of them, or in one case, 224kbit. The difference in audio quality was virtually un-noticable. I suggested the same thing for your images. Say you export it at the native resolution and a jpeg quality of 9 and it comes out as 35K, but you want it to fit in 1 cluster on the card, not 2... so re-export it with a quality of 8.... now it might be 29K instead. (there remains a question of if that image quality is acceptable to you... but hey, you've already squashed it down to what? 640x480? :) ) I do the same thing at work with binaries for embedded applications... only there we're doing much uglier things with objcopy and strip and other binary manipulation tools that... but I digress......

But thats the thing... how else do you suggest I start? I've pretty much proved its a repeatable error with something CS3 or my computer in general is doing. So I should ignore that?

I wouldn't, but then I'm a self confessed nerd about things like this. :D

Here's a small bit of shell script that will do the math for you to see how many sectors you're using, just pop open a shell and cd onto your card and plop this in:

n=0; ls -1s * | while read s junk ; do let n=$(($n + $s)); done ; echo $n

(note that that's "ell ess, dash one ess" now, as opposed to the "ell ess, dash ell ess" earlier)

A 128M flash drive is only going to have 262,144 sectors on it... minus partitioning overhead, minus filesystem overhead, I'd say around 260,000 is probably a safe assumption of what you'll have available to put files in.

Just to put a couple of the other theories to rest, while you're in that shell, this command will list out every file on the device... you can confirm for yourself that there's not (much) there that you don't expect.

find .

A couple files that Mac OS/X will create in your cards when you use finder are .DS_Store and (sometimes, but unlikely in your case) .localized. For your usage, I'd nuke both. Also good subjects for nukage, anything named .Trashes and .fseventsd (they're usually directories, so take everything below them too... and .fseventsd will be regenerated if you touch the fs after that, so make it your last step... at which point it doesn't really help much. :)

Now then, for corrupted files.... I assume you have a folder on your local system that has all of the original images you're trying to copy out there, cd into it and do this to convince yourself there's no underlying harddrive or filesystem issue:

md5 *

You should see something like:

madhatter:CF CARD cabbey$ md5 *
MD5 (DCIM) = 8a0db95f7f3e3aa6946fd6e24f6b4798
MD5 (OWNER) = c7f3b704f53252ce3139ba7d25479b8f
MD5 (comstate.tof) = c36304eee769602120634b5ef61613ff
MD5 (test.png) = bce0449c53b1511c99343b14c7998484

If you see anything about I/O errors... then the concern over invalid files is legit. You can also do the above sector count here in this directory, you should be able to estimate it as follows: (total size reported by finder of all files / 512 ) + number of files. If that number comes out substantially different, then it's possible that you have a corrupted directory, or that whatever generated those images was very creatively written. ;)

[Richard]

Have you considered the relationship between the filesystem block size and size of the files?

Good thinking, but the numbers don't work with 512 byte sectors. Assuming the worst case, there would be 200 mostly empty 32k clusters, one for each pic. That only consumes 6.4M. I confess I don't remember how you check the sector size of the file system. They would need to be 4k or so for this explanation to be plausible.

[cabbey]

edit: BTW, I just tried yet ANOTHER card w/twice the capacity, a 256. The EXACT thing happend - "not enough free space to copy image xxxx-083.jpg" then it only copied 83 of 200 images, just like with the other card. Its not the cards.

uhm, :scratch :huh :dunno

I'll ponder what else it could be. You don't have long file names do you? Sticking to 8.3 will save you space.

[cabbey]

Good thinking, but the numbers don't work with 512 byte sectors. Assuming the worst case, there would be 200 mostly empty 32k clusters, one for each pic. That only consumes 6.4M.

Ha-ha! damn good point!

I confess I don't remember how you check the sector size of the file system. They would need to be 4k or so for this explanation to be plausible.

None of the routes I would usually use seem to be working for me on a CF card I've got usb attached with a fat16 filesystem on it.

[Richard]

Corrupt directory or process or something.
:nod Curiouser and curiouser. It is starting to sound like something weird in the directory. Try this:

1) Reboot the machine to rule out bit rot in running processes.
2) Try repeating the copy you were originally trying to do, to make sure the problem is still there.
3) Try to copy 200 different images from a different directory to the card.

If (3) succeeds, then it is likely a problem in the directory structure. You might be able to fix it by copying the pics to a new directory on the machine and then working from the new directory.

If (3) fails, then you must have done something to offend the digital deities. Repent now, or forever avoid anything with a microprocessor in it. :rofl

Seriously, this is very strange. If you have a utility that checks the integrity of your machine's file system, I would run it soon.

[DoctorIt]

I'll ponder what else it could be. You don't have long file names do you? Sticking to 8.3 will save you space.did at first, but thought of this and renamed them all with 3 digits: "001.jpg" up to "306.jpg"

Seriously, this is very strange. If you have a utility that checks the integrity of your machine's file system, I would run it soon.Done. No hiccups.

Took the offending files, put them on MrsIt's Powerbook and did the Preview trick (open all in there and save selected at super low quality). Still didn't fit. The end result was the same thing - what MacOS said was only 38mb (now very small) would not fit onto a 128mb card. Magic 83. I don't have photoshop on that machine so I couldn't have a go at another batch, but I did once again grab 120mb of random other jpgs and they worked as they should (used "get info" for a bunch of files =~100mb).

Demons, only explanation.

Thanks for all the help.

[BradfordBenn]

That said, I recently picked up VMWare Fusion based in part on the glowing recommendations of Andy and others. So far I've not been at all impressed. The two VMs I have that I brought over from VMWare Workstation on Linux have had serious kkeyyybooaaadd sttutteerrrinngs which has meant I've been unable to login to them to reconfigure the network.

This sounds very similar to a problem I was having using an external keyboard on a Windows laptop running VMWare Player. The solution was enabling or disabling I don't remember the HID in the config file. The support forum got me an answer pretty quickly though.

Sorry to hear about the problems.

[cabbey]

This sounds very similar to a problem I was having using an external keyboard on a Windows laptop running VMWare Player. The solution was enabling or disabling I don't remember the HID in the config file. The support forum got me an answer pretty quickly though.

Sorry to hear about the problems.

So far, it looks like it's an issue with importing VMs from Linux or Windows VMWare Workstation. I imported a VM that I know was created on Fusion and it just works. I created a VM fresh and booted a copy of Damn Small Linux and it just works. :rolleyes

[cmason]

Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper...and why? CCC has the potential to be cheaper..sort of.

Its painfully hard to find recommended sw on this thread now...maybe a summary post at the top?

[DavidTO]

Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper...and why? CCC has the potential to be cheaper..sort of.

Its painfully hard to find recommended sw on this thread now...maybe a summary post at the top?


SuperDuper. Stays up to date and updgrades easier. Better support, IMO.

[W.W. Webster]

Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper...and why?Time Machine, and it's free! :thumb

[gus]

Guys how do i make a folder in my email of safari ?

[SloYerRoll]

folder. email. safari. :scratch

[gus]

folder. email. safari. :scratch
Yeah...same as outlook express. Cant be done then ?

[DoctorIt]

Yeah...same as outlook express. Cant be done then ?If this is a new Safari thing, I have no idea. But in Mac Mail, simple as cmd-click (right-click) in the folders pane and "make new folder".

I can investigate more when I get home if you haven't figured it out.

[colourbox]

Guys how do i make a folder in my email of safari ?

If you meant "email or Safari" then in Apple Mail, the key is that they're called Mailboxes, so you go under Mailbox and do New Mailbox or New Smart Mailbox. In Safari, there are folders in bookmarks so if that's what you mean, click the bookmarks icon or do Bookmarks>Show All Bookmarks and click the plus sign at the bottom left of the bookmarks window.

Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper...and why? CCC has the potential to be cheaper..sort of.
Time Machine, and it's free! :thumb


They solve two different problems. I would trust CCC or SuperDuper for making bootable backups. Have used both over the years. Started with CCC, then moved to SuperDuper when it pulled out ahead in features and ease-of-use. Recently CCC came out with a major upgrade and looks more on par with SD, but I'm still sticking with SD for now.

Time Machine is better for set-and-forget incremental backups, and providing many versions to roll back to. But if your drive goes south, you can't boot from a Time Machine backup. You must wait until you reconstitute a bootable drive using your original OS DVD + your Time Machine backup (I hear Time Machine can do this automatically). With CCC or SuperDuper, you can produce a complete, immediately bootable mirror of your disk that can be updated incrementally, but you don't get multiple versions of files. I like being able to boot immediately from a backup. If the main drive fails, I can pull my SuperDuper backup out of the closet, boot, and return to work right now. I will eventually use Time Machine and SuperDuper together: SD for the immediately bootable backup that can be rotated off site, and Time Machine for access to many backup versions.

[gus]

Apple mail ?

ok...k...k...k

I had a PC with outlook express. In the left hand side when i opened outlook i could choose 'make new folder' which i would & when i got an email i wanted to keep separate i would simply right click on that email & it would ask if i wanted to move it to a folder & which folder would i like it to be destined to.

I now have a mac which runs Safari. I want to do the same as i did on my PC.

I am not interested in macmail & have no idea what it is other than what i assume is an email account with mac. I am quite happy with my currents ISP's email addresses & dont wish for any more.

[colourbox]

Apple mail ?...

I now have a mac which runs Safari. I want to do the same as i did on my PC.

I am not interested in macmail & have no idea what it is other than what i assume is an email account with mac. I am quite happy with my currents ISP's email addresses & dont wish for any more.

Apple Mail is a standalone mail client like Outlook. I don't have a .Mac account, I use Apple Mail as a standard IMAP client to retrieve mail from my ISP and Gmail.

If you mean you are using webmail inside Safari, then the way to create folders depends on the individual mail service (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.)

[gluwater]

If you meant "email or Safari" then in Apple Mail, the key is that they're called Mailboxes, so you go under Mailbox and do New Mailbox or New Smart Mailbox. In Safari, there are folders in bookmarks so if that's what you mean, click the bookmarks icon or do Bookmarks>Show All Bookmarks and click the plus sign at the bottom left of the bookmarks window.



They solve two different problems. I would trust CCC or SuperDuper for making bootable backups. Have used both over the years. Started with CCC, then moved to SuperDuper when it pulled out ahead in features and ease-of-use. Recently CCC came out with a major upgrade and looks more on par with SD, but I'm still sticking with SD for now.

Time Machine is better for set-and-forget incremental backups, and providing many versions to roll back to. But if your drive goes south, you can't boot from a Time Machine backup. You must wait until you reconstitute a bootable drive using your original OS DVD + your Time Machine backup (I hear Time Machine can do this automatically). With CCC or SuperDuper, you can produce a complete, immediately bootable mirror of your disk that can be updated incrementally, but you don't get multiple versions of files. I like being able to boot immediately from a backup. If the main drive fails, I can pull my SuperDuper backup out of the closet, boot, and return to work right now. I will eventually use Time Machine and SuperDuper together: SD for the immediately bootable backup that can be rotated off site, and Time Machine for access to many backup versions.
I would have to agree with all you said. One plus for Super Duper is that time Machine will only back up your main hard drive. If I am wrong with that statement please correct me. But I have all my images on an external and I use Super Duper to back that up and Time Machine to back up my OS.

[zweiblumen]

Apple mail ?

ok...k...k...k

I had a PC with outlook express. In the left hand side when i opened outlook i could choose 'make new folder' which i would & when i got an email i wanted to keep separate i would simply right click on that email & it would ask if i wanted to move it to a folder & which folder would i like it to be destined to.

I now have a mac which runs Safari. I want to do the same as i did on my PC.

I am not interested in macmail & have no idea what it is other than what i assume is an email account with mac. I am quite happy with my currents ISP's email addresses & dont wish for any more.

Safari == Internet Explorer
(mac)Mail == Outlook(express)

Safari is not a mail client. Mail is just a client, you don't need to get a new email address or anything like that.

My guess is you are currently using safari to view a webclient provided by your ISP to view your mail. As such, you'd need to use that clients tools to add different folders and "mail boxes" to sort things in. For instance, in my webclient I can right click on the "folders" tab and I get an option for "make new folder." I'm sure your webclient has the equivalent somewhere. Or, you can just set up Mail to be your mail client instead of using the browser.

[DoctorIt]

Apple mail ?

ok...k...k...kYes, Apple Mail. You're already using it, I've seen you! It's the default mail application on your iMac.
:nod

Mate, I've got what you're on about... So, you're in safari, you go to my smugmug site and you click on the "email me" link on the bottom. When you do that, Apple Mail is the default program that opens up so you can send the message.

So in that case, someone already said it, they're called "mailboxes" instead of folders. So up across the top you've got Mailbox > New Mailbox

http://img.skitch.com/20080417-cd6nyc7nqre797s21mcqpdkmy7.jpg

[BradfordBenn]

Howdy All-

So I went to Leopard and did it as an upgrade not a clean install. I am having some weirdness, such as Preview is called "2007 Holiday Card.pdf". And there are other things that just make me think it ain't working as well as it could. So I figure before I just jump into the pool I would ask questions. So here are my questions:


How does one backup the Entourage mail data?
Will I need to reinstall the Windows instance on the Boot Camp Partition?
Is there a way to download all the patches and updates ahead of time; both for the OS and for Creative Suite 3?
Did I miss anything that I should be aware of?


Thanks!

[DavidTO]

Brad,

Sounds like something definitely went wrong. I think that reinstalling instead of troubleshooting is a good idea at this point. Here's what I would do:

1) Repair the disk with Disk Warrior, or if you don't have that, Disk Utility (which you can run on the install disk before installing).

2) Do an Archive and Install. You don't need to erase the entire drive, you lose nothing, but it reinstalls the new OS completely, archiving the old System so that you have it for long enough to know that you no longer need it, after which time you can trash it.

I don't know about the Boot Camp or Entourage things, I never use 'em. :D

[colourbox]

Is there a way to download all the patches and updates ahead of time; both for the OS and for Creative Suite 3?


For Mac OS X and CS3, if you have an accurate list of the patches you need, you can download them as self-contained installers from both companies' sites. It's a pain, though. For Adobe, each product and several sub-components have updates, and for OS X, there are updates for everything from Safari to Security to AirPort to OS X 10.5.2 itself. You should at least make sure you download a full .dmg of OS X 10.5.2 Combo Updater in advance because it's a very large download, and because installing that major update gets you to a fairly recent baseline for whatever incremental updates are left.

For CS3 what I do is install the suite, activate it, then run Adobe Updater and let it collect everything it needs.

For Mac OS X, if you start with your freshly installed baseline system and you run Software Update, there is a command Update>Download Only. This will bring you exactly the patches you need, without installing them. Obviously, you can only do this if you have a system already installed; you can't really do it "ahead of time" because you don't know the difference between the system you have on disk and the current versions of all the system components.

[BradfordBenn]

Thanks.

My plan is to copy the drive contents (both partitions) to my external hard drive and then do the install. We shall see what happens. I did some RTFM'ing for Entourage before I posted here and it tells you how to restore from a backup... but not real clear on how to create a backup. In Outlook on Windows it is a little clearer and there is even a plugin to do it.

[gus]

Yes, Apple Mail. You're already using it, I've seen you! It's the default mail application on your iMac.
:nod

Mate, I've got what you're on about... So, you're in safari, you go to my smugmug site and you click on the "email me" link on the bottom. When you do that, Apple Mail is the default program that opens up so you can send the message.

So in that case, someone already said it, they're called "mailboxes" instead of folders. So up across the top you've got Mailbox > New Mailbox



ta doc, looks like your on the money there. i will see how i go.

[cmason]

Ok, just now migrating to the mac, so far a few stumbles, but no surprises.

But, in both Firefox and Safari, DGrin forums display in this awful, fat font. How to I change the default font for web browsers?

[Mike Lane]

Ok, just now migrating to the mac, so far a few stumbles, but no surprises.

But, in both Firefox and Safari, DGrin forums display in this awful, fat font. How to I change the default font for web browsers?The font is set by the page generally. For the dgrin style I use (don't remember what it's called - dark with orange accents) it is this: verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif. So if you don't have verdana you get geneva, and if you don't have that you get lucidia, etc. It's exceedingly unlikely that you don't have any of those fonts and you end up with the default sans-serif. So changing that in your browser isn't likely to do much of anything.

[Moogle Pepper]

I have a question.

If I use bootcamp to load up winxp on the macbook pro, will I still be able to access the hdd? So if I process my photos via aperature or whatever is on the OSX, and then felt like fiddling with software in bootcamp's MS, would I be able to access those files?

[BradfordBenn]

I have a question.

If I use bootcamp to load up winxp on the macbook pro, will I still be able to access the hdd? So if I process my photos via aperature or whatever is on the OSX, and then felt like fiddling with software in bootcamp's MS, would I be able to access those files?

Yes with some caveats. From within Leopard you can access the Win partition as long as it is Fat32 (if I remember right) and copy and paste as you want to. If you use VMWare Fusion with BootCamp you can do it from running Win XP as a virtualization. You can literally drag from one to the other.

Does that make sense?

Basically from Leopard (Mac) you can access the Win partition but from Windows you cannot access the Mac partition. To do it without rebooting VMWare fusion lets you run Win XP within Leopard.

[cmason]

The font is set by the page generally. For the dgrin style I use (don't remember what it's called - dark with orange accents) it is this: verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif. So if you don't have verdana you get geneva, and if you don't have that you get lucidia, etc. It's exceedingly unlikely that you don't have any of those fonts and you end up with the default sans-serif. So changing that in your browser isn't likely to do much of anything.

ok well it is different, and I haven't noticed in other websites so far...

Windows
http://digitalmason.smugmug.com/photos/281401635_oTSrS-M.jpg


Mac
http://digitalmason.smugmug.com/photos/281402949_JuAoH-M.jpg

OK well that doesnt come across well, but the Mac font look fat and round...odd

[SloYerRoll]

This is a known issue w/ mac/ps browser font renderings. Here's (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000885.html) a good article that I think you'd find interesting. It talk about the nuts and bolts, but you strike me as a nuts and bolts kinda guy.

You can even use the same exact font on a mac or PC and see a difference in design applications such as Ps or Il.

It's just the way it is at this point. Font manufacturers are taking cross platform continuity for present and future fonts, but the tens of thousands of fonts that already exist will doubtfully be rendered again as new school fonts since it's just too time consuming and only the "heavies" will most likely be redone.

You can also use stylish in FF to override any fonts or styles ona website.

Check out what my gmail looks like: **this is on a PC, but is very platform independant
(more about stylish here (http://blog.jonbrittstudios.com/2008/04/02/46/))

[Andy]

ok well it is different, and I haven't noticed in other websites so far...

What's your primary browser for the Mac? In FF, you can choose what font your browser gives you, regardless of what the webpage says (if you desire!).

[cmason]

What's your primary browser for the Mac? In FF, you can choose what font your browser gives you, regardless of what the webpage says (if you desire!).

well I have had my mac for, lets see....6 hrs now! LOL

I prefer FF, and suspect it will remain my preference on mac too.

Where do you choose fonts in FF? I see Character Encoding, but that is not fonts, and there is nothing other than "normal, larger, smaller' in the Text style.

Thanks!

[cmason]

This is a known issue w/ mac/ps browser font renderings. Here's (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000885.html) a good article that I think you'd find interesting. It talk about the nuts and bolts, but you strike me as a nuts and bolts kinda guy.


Very helpful.
Apple generally believes that the goal of the algorithm should be to preserve the design of the typeface as much as possible, even at the cost of a little bit of blurriness.

Microsoft generally believes that the shape of each letter should be hammered into pixel boundaries to prevent blur and improve readability, even at the cost of not being true to the typeface.


That makes sense, I think I am so used to Cleartype, that small type size looks much better on a PC than a Mac, go figure.

[SloYerRoll]

I know Mac and PC vary drastically on FF settings. But check under the view tab first. If you can't find it, I can tell you how to change it in the config file easy peasy.

My Mac isn't on right now and I'm sure another exclusive Mac user will be happy to help you anyway.

[SloYerRoll]

That makes sense, I think I am so used to Cleartype, that small type size looks much better on a PC than a Mac, go figure.Ya, that's the most blatant example of irony I've seen in a long time.

[cmason]

FYI SloYerRoll: know all about Gmail skins and CSS:

(Better Gmail 2)

http://digitalmason.smugmug.com/photos/281446963_ocbdJ-M.jpg

[StevenV]

Where do you choose fonts in FF? I see Character Encoding, but that is not fonts, and there is nothing other than "normal, larger, smaller' in the Text style.

to force your font choices:

Firefox -> Preferences...

Content tab

Advanced button

uncheck Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above
is that what you're looking for?

[BradfordBenn]

Thanks.

My plan is to copy the drive contents (both partitions) to my external hard drive and then do the install. We shall see what happens. I did some RTFM'ing for Entourage before I posted here and it tells you how to restore from a backup... but not real clear on how to create a backup. In Outlook on Windows it is a little clearer and there is even a plugin to do it.

Well after crashing two Windoze machines at work on Friday... I decided to postpone this for another week. One machine was such a bad crash that the IT guys and I decided to go with the Format C: approach and reinstall from scratch. So even though it is a work machine I am still installing stuff and not really wanting to do it twice in the same weekend.

I am thinking about making the jump to Office 2008 at the same time... any comments?

[Mike Lane]

I am thinking about making the jump to Office 2008 at the same time... any comments?Yeah. Don't. Office 2008 is a rushed, buggy, heaping pile of crap. I got mine at the ms employee discount and am still ticked off about it.

[cmason]

OK so my Mac is a refurbished model, and arrived with OS X 10.4 installed. It also shipped with a Leopard disk..10.5. So naturally, I put the Leopard disk in and went ahead with the upgrade, first thing. I haven't done much to configure the Mac yet, but I have put Lightroom on it (this 24" IPS monitor ROCKS!) and my iTunes.

So question: should I have done an erase and install with Leopard instead of an upgrade? It didnt offer that, though I didnt look at any options, so I assume it was there. I don't have alot of stuff on this, and the 10.4 was a virgin install that I installed 10.5 on top of. Any advantages in redoing this before I get well into my configuration?

[gus]

Is there any patch or what ever that stops leopard crashing in ebay as yet ?

Anyone else got this issue ?

[SloYerRoll]

OK so my Mac is a refurbished model, and arrived with OS X 10.4 installed. It also shipped with a Leopard disk..10.5. So naturally, I put the Leopard disk in and went ahead with the upgrade, first thing. I haven't done much to configure the Mac yet, but I have put Lightroom on it (this 24" IPS monitor ROCKS!) and my iTunes.

So question: should I have done an erase and install with Leopard instead of an upgrade? It didnt offer that, though I didnt look at any options, so I assume it was there. I don't have alot of stuff on this, and the 10.4 was a virgin install that I installed 10.5 on top of. Any advantages in redoing this before I get well into my configuration?Unless you have data that you don't know how to effectively migrate over. No matter what OS it is. It is ALWAYS better to do a fresh install vs an upgrade. Now I'll step aside and let someone more well versed in Leopard weenieness help you out.

[SloYerRoll]

Is there any patch or what ever that stops leopard crashing in ebay as yet ?

Anyone else got this issue ?Do you mean a browser? If so, which one?

[gus]

Do you mean a browser? If so, which one?
leopard isnt a browser ?

[Andy]

leopard isnt a browser ?
Leopard is your OS.

Safari or Firefox are your browsers.

Where are you crashing, link?

[gus]

Leopard is your OS.

Safari or Firefox are your browsers.

Where are you crashing, link?
:rofl i know computers !

ok safari then. It just randomly crashes with ebay, maybe once or twice in 30 mins. I know of other aussies that have the same issue. I get around it by starting up firefox but really it shouldnt be doing it so i was wondering if there was something obvious that people know about to fix it.

[SloYerRoll]

:rofl i know computers !

ok safari then. It just randomly crashes with ebay, maybe once or twice in 30 mins. I know of other aussies that have the same issue. I get around it by starting up firefox but really it shouldnt be doing it so i was wondering if there was something obvious that people know about to fix it.Sorry Gus, but that is way to vague to be able to help out.

You can probably go into your browser history to see what the last page you visited was. And If you can do that, what you need to do is re-visit that same URL (web page) and see if it crashes your browser again.

Tech stuff you may or may not be interested in: (probably not after I re-read it :D)
E-bay and other large sites like youtube etc don't even have HTML pages. What happens when you click on a link is that your browser tells the server to go to a link, but that page doesn't exist until the server query's a database (asking that database a series of questions) and the databases answer comes in the form of an HTML page that your browser shows you. This can be done though PHP, CGI, Perl and many other cool languages. While this gives websites that ability to make changes on the fly and seem to magically update data. This makes it much harder to track down a bug since the HTML is dynamically generated. There's no static pages to troubleshoot.

[gus]

Sorry Gus, but that is way to vague to be able to help out.

You can probably go into your browser history to see what the last page you visited was. And If you can do that, what you need to do is re-visit that same URL (web page) and see if it crashes your browser again.

Tech stuff you may or may not be interested in: (probably not after I re-read it :D)
E-bay and other large sites like youtube etc don't even have HTML pages. What happens when you click on a link is that your browser tells the server to go to a link, but that page doesn't exist until the server query's a database (asking that database a series of questions) and the databases answer comes in the form of an HTML page that your browser shows you. This can be done though PHP, CGI, Perl and many other cool languages. While this gives websites that ability to make changes on the fly and seem to magically update data. This makes it much harder to track down a bug since the HTML is dynamically generated. There's no static pages to troubleshoot.

I found this o (http://forums.mactalk.com.au/13/14795-safari-keeps-crashing.html)n mactalk. Honestly there is no pattern...its totally random & ONLY on ebay. These updates...i have them on automatic. Is that enough or do i need to go somewhere & load a new update ?

[SloYerRoll]

I found this o (http://forums.mactalk.com.au/13/14795-safari-keeps-crashing.html)n mactalk. Honestly there is no pattern...its totally random & ONLY on ebay. These updates...i have them on automatic. Is that enough or do i need to go somewhere & load a new update ?Sounds like that page has some good answers for you too. Switch to FF :ear

[gus]

Sounds like that page has some good answers for you too. Switch to FF :ear
I know that...ive been switching to FF for a good while but i would like to see if i can fix the issue. I just dont like FF & think that safari should be able to do the job i paid for it to do.

[DoctorIt]

...safari should be able to do the job i paid for it to do.a code is a code, is a code... that's just the thing mate, sometimes they just don't work, and ain't much in fixing it.

Kinda like how iChat is supposed to be this wicked video chat app, but only connects about 10% of the time because it requires an absolutely perfect connection with like zero loss. I feel like Safari is similar, works great in perfect conditions, but can't handle wacky stuff, like those crazy dynamic ebay pages.

simple answer: you know more about this than us. doubt there is a magical fix somewhere. if you have auto updates turned on, you can rest assured that there is no "official" fix for Safari.

[BradfordBenn]

Unless you have data that you don't know how to effectively migrate over. No matter what OS it is. It is ALWAYS better to do a fresh install vs an upgrade. Now I'll step aside and let someone more well versed in Leopard weenieness help you out.

+1 on that one. Despite the friendliness that it seems to have, Mac OS upgrades have the same amount of challenges as Windows or Linux upgrades. Reinstall.

[BradfordBenn]

I know that...ive been switching to FF for a good while but i would like to see if i can fix the issue. I just dont like FF & think that safari should be able to do the job i paid for it to do.

There is a new 3.1 patch out today (at least that is when my machine updated it) I can go through all the problems that I have had with Safari and why I think that Firefox is better; but ultimately it comes down to the code as well. Both of the webpage and of the browser. Both have issues with it. I know that here at DGrin, Safari caused me lots of problems Firefox no problems. The web mail portal for work, Safari works great, Firefox lots of problems. So I just kind of keep track of what works best where, just like what is the right lens for the different application ;)

[gus]

For some reason only steve jobs knows...my mac only sometimes recognises my little USB CF card reader.

Sometimes it appears on the desktop when i plug it in & sometimes it dont. Im currently experiencing a rather long 'Dont'

Exactly where do i look for this card in finder ?

[DoctorIt]

Exactly where do i look for this card in finder ?It'll be under Devices (with your hard drive)

Strange. Have you tried other cards, or is it primarily with one same card in the reader (like, is there one card that you use all the time except for big shoots, I know I do)?

[gus]

It'll be under Devices (with your hard drive)

Strange. Have you tried other cards, or is it primarily with one same card in the reader (like, is there one card that you use all the time except for big shoots, I know I do)?
Nup...its no existant...it does it with any card at random. I dont care if it finds it itself or if i have to but nothing pisses me more than a computer randomly screwing about not being able to make its mind up.

So i go to my hard drive & then what ? Do i look for the word Devices ?

[Richard]

Nup...its no existant...it does it with any card at random. I dont care if it finds it itself or if i have to but nothing pisses me more than a computer randomly screwing about not being able to make its mind up.

So i go to my hard drive & then what ? Do i look for the word Devices ?

No, it is not on the hard drive. It should appear as a separate drive.

[gus]

It should appear as a separate drive.

Yes..but where is it im asking ?? What is the direction of search ? Finder is useless.

[Richard]

Yes..but where is it im asking ?? What is the direction of search ? Finder is useless.

Click on the popup menu in the finder. Then look for the card name. It will probably look something like /dev/diskX

[gus]

Click on the popup menu in the finder. Then look for the card name. It will probably look something like /dev/diskX
Thats the first thing i tried...it always calls itself EOS & that is returning a big fat zero. This is such an easy process on a PC.

[DoctorIt]

Yes..but where is it im asking ?? What is the direction of search ? Finder is useless.Dunno mate, if it doesn't just show up in finder, there isn't anywhere else, that I know of, to look. Maybe some fancy command line code stuff, but not a simple clicky pointy way.
:dunno

http://img.skitch.com/20080427-negcaw3q9k22dhiney6snuf6xy.jpg

[W.W. Webster]

Thats the first thing i tried...it always calls itself EOS & that is returning a big fat zero. This is such an easy process on a PC.Have you recently started using a new, higher capacity storage card in the reader by any chance? :dunno

[DoctorIt]

Thats the first thing i tried...it always calls itself EOS & that is returning a big fat zero. This is such an easy process on a PC.Oh come on, its simple on a Mac too, you've got some weirdness.

Do you have any usb memory sticks or some other usb thing you can plug in to see if you have a buggy card reader connection, or (even less likely) a flaky USB port?

[Richard]

Thats the first thing i tried...it always calls itself EOS & that is returning a big fat zero. This is such an easy process on a PC.

Hmm...I haven't used a Mac in a few years, but IIRC, the card also ought to appear as an icon on the desktop when you plug it in. Oh yeah, I think you may also have to have a card in the reader. :dunno

[gus]

Have you recently started using a new, higher capacity storage card in the reader by any chance? :dunno
nup...same stuff ive always used.

[gus]

Dunno mate, if it doesn't just show up in finder, there isn't anywhere else, that I know of, to look. Maybe some fancy command line code stuff, but not a simple clicky pointy way.
:dunno

http://img.skitch.com/20080427-negcaw3q9k22dhiney6snuf6xy.jpg
Im not getting that which you have pointed out. Ill have to dig out my other card reader & see if it wants to play. Maybe the card reader is on the way out even though its only a few months old. Its light is coming on though.

[gus]

Oh yeah, I think you may also have to have a card in the reader. :dunno
Serious ? It wont work with out the card in it ?

[gus]

That was it. Card reader died. My old one is working fine. Had me stumped as its been hit & miss for a while & the readers light would always light up.

[DoctorIt]

Serious ? It wont work with out the card in it ?Nope :D

And to be clear, sorry, my graphic was misleading. I renamed my card "Card Reader" for the purpose of that screen grab.

[Richard]

Serious ? It wont work with out the card in it ? It might not see the reader without a card. The card is what looks like a disk to the computer, not the reader. At least that's the way it works in Windows. Maybe OS-X is smarter, :dunno.

[gus]

It might not see the reader without a card. The card is what looks like a disk to the computer, not the reader. At least that's the way it works in Windows. Maybe OS-X is smarter, :dunno.
I was pulling your leg.

[colourbox]

It might not see the reader without a card. The card is what looks like a disk to the computer, not the reader. At least that's the way it works in Windows. Maybe OS-X is smarter, :dunno.

You are right. I just tried mine. It won't mount without a volume to mount; a reader is not a volume but a card is.

Also, if a card is in a plugged-in reader but you don't see it, you might check your Finder Preferences since you can suppress display of some media types in the sidebar. Regardless of the Finder setting, if the reader and card are working, then you'll see them in OS X Image Capture utility, Adobe Bridge, and other apps that recognize card readers, which is a way to cross-check things.

The point being that the Finder is not the ultimate test of successful card mounting, because it's possible for everything to be working "right" and yet the card doesn't show up in the Finder due to settings.

[Richard]

It might not see the reader without a card. The card is what looks like a disk to the computer, not the reader. At least that's the way it works in Windows. Maybe OS-X is smarter, :dunno.

Oops, I take that back. XP will see a reader without a card, but will not let you open it, as there is nothing to open. I think Win2K didn't see it at all.

[SloYerRoll]

I think it also depends on what type of card reader you use. I have a backup card reader (Jobo brand) in case my main card reader dies. When I plug this into my machine, it recognizes all the volumes when when it's empty (no memory card inserted) As soon as I plug an SD or CF card in, it just changes the designation of the volume to whatever the memory source is.

My nice card reader isn't recognized until I have a card inserted as well.

Running Vista, but I'm pretty sure this is hardware that drives this, not the OS.

[cabbey]

I think it also depends on what type of card reader you use. I have a backup card reader (Jobo brand) in case my main card reader dies. When I plug this into my machine, it recognizes all the volumes when when it's empty (no memory card inserted) As soon as I plug an SD or CF card in, it just changes the designation of the volume to whatever the memory source is.

My nice card reader isn't recognized until I have a card inserted as well.

Running Vista, but I'm pretty sure this is hardware that drives this, not the OS.

:nod yup, exactly the same here with my main cf only reader, and my backup 4-in-1. My Mac and my inlaws' windows xp box are the same.

[DavidTO]

I think it also depends on what type of card reader you use. I have a backup card reader (Jobo brand) in case my main card reader dies. When I plug this into my machine, it recognizes all the volumes when when it's empty (no memory card inserted) As soon as I plug an SD or CF card in, it just changes the designation of the volume to whatever the memory source is.




I would hate that and can't imagine why in the world you would ever want such a "feature".

[SloYerRoll]

I would hate that and can't imagine why in the world you would ever want such a "feature".I don't like it either. But not liking it doesn't stop it from happening. Just showing this is less of an OS thing and more hardware.

Had a chance to see if the results were the same on my MacBook running Leopard. Same thing. My backup card reader mounts all three volumes (3 separate card reader types in one) and my primary only mounts if media is in the reader itself.

[Van Isle]

it *should* appear on your desktop as a separate drive. If that fails, you can try looking through Disk Utility. You may be able to "see" it there even if it doesn't mount. Try verifying it or repairing permissions on it.

These sorts of actions will act on the card in the reader but if there is a problem between the reader and the computer this probably won't help. :dunno

[SloYerRoll]

Thought the Mac heads would get a kick out of this (http://blogs.inquirer.net/macadoodle/2008/04/28/macpic-of-the-week-microsoft-ceo-uses-a-mac-for-presentations/).

[cmason]

Thought the Mac heads would get a kick out of this (http://blogs.inquirer.net/macadoodle/2008/04/28/macpic-of-the-week-microsoft-ceo-uses-a-mac-for-presentations/).

Thought that was cool, and since MS makes the leading Mac software, don't think it all that hypocritcal. But, if you read the comments on the poster's Flickr site, this one clarifies things (of course that won't stop this from becoming a well distributed legend I predict)

"However, it turns out that he wasn't the one using it. It was being used by the organisers for the presentations, and Ballmer's happened to be one of them"

"I was there and I have to say that there WAS a leftover Mac from a non MS speaker. The 2 previous presenters used it for their keynotes. Ballmer didn't use a computer at all, it was just an automatic slide."

[gus]

Ok...I need a step by step method to burn a DVD with an iMac running leopard please. Using the macs own software please.

Or if not then can someone please tell me how to find my USB storage pen ? I plug it in & nothing comes up on the bloody screen.

Man ive been at this all day googling etc & i need to get photos to punters tomorrow morning.(edit...tried another USB port & the device showed its head)

Man im over this. I love the mac but its a bloody nuisance to find anything on.

[cmason]

Ok...I need a step by step method to burn a DVD with an iMac running leopard please. Using the macs own software please.

Or if not then can someone please tell me how to find my USB storage pen ? I plug it in & nothing comes up on the bloody screen.

Man ive been at this all day googling etc & i need to get photos to punters tomorrow morning.(edit...tried another USB port & the device showed its head)

Man im over this. I love the mac but its a bloody nuisance to find anything on.

Gus, I assume you are needing to copy files onto a CD/DVD vs say burn a movie.

An easy way to do this I found it to use Burn Folders. Just click on the desktop, and when Finder appears in the top bar, choose File> New Burn Folder. This will drop a new folder on your desktop. Simply drag whatever files you want on the CD into this folder. Note that it will NOT copy the files into the folder, only alias's. Thats ok, it will get fixed later, don't worry. When you are done adding files, simply open the folder and click the Burn button on the right hand side. Pop in a blank CD/DVD and away you go.

As for the USB key, I have had trouble finding my USB key when I attach it to a USB hub. When I connect it to a port on the back of the iMac or to the spare port on my keyboard, it works fine. (the keyboard port is a slow USB 1.1 port I think, so don't move lots of files through this one)

[gus]

Ok...i think ive got it burning...i think i needed to put the folder of the jpegs into a 'burn folder'

Anyway now the bloody USB storage pen is ratshit again. If its a port then it can go back under warranty.

Tks guys.

[gus]

Gus, I assume you are needing to copy files onto a CD/DVD vs say burn a movie.

An easy way to do this I found it to use Burn Folders. Just click on the desktop, and when Finder appears in the top bar, choose File> New Burn Folder. This will drop a new folder on your desktop. Simply drag whatever files you want on the CD into this folder. Note that it will NOT copy the files into the folder, only alias's. Thats ok, it will get fixed later, don't worry. When you are done adding files, simply open the folder and click the Burn button on the right hand side. Pop in a blank CD/DVD and away you go.

As for the USB key, I have had trouble finding my USB key when I attach it to a USB hub. When I connect it to a port on the back of the iMac or to the spare port on my keyboard, it works fine. (the keyboard port is a slow USB 1.1 port I think, so don't move lots of files through this one)
Cool mate....i am burning atm (jpegs to DVD) I dont know how im doing it but its working. Dead tired so will digest your post tomorrow...tks heaps.

[barrotj]

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong area. I am about to purchase an Imac G5 used and was wondering if anyone had first hand knowledge of any imparent issues.
it was new in 06 has tiger os 10.4, 1.5 g's ram, 2.0 processor.
Any information, experiences would be gratefully helpfull, as I am Switching from pc to mac.

[cmason]

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong area. I am about to purchase an Imac G5 used and was wondering if anyone had first hand knowledge of any imparent issues.
it was new in 06 has tiger os 10.4, 1.5 g's ram, 2.0 processor.
Any information, experiences would be gratefully helpfull, as I am Switching from pc to mac.

My advice: do not get a G5. Get an Intel iMac. G5 will not run Windows, and in switching, having the ability to run windows in the iMac is a huge benefit/relief.

The G5s are PowerPC based. All the new macs are Intel based. I have no experience with the PowerPC machines, but am told the Intel ones are far faster.

Check our the refurbs on the Apple store: they have Intel machines on the cheap: 20" white Intel is $949, the 24" is $1,199.

[barrotj]

Thanks for the information, This is some of what I was wondering about. Anyone else have .02 cents to offer?

[cmason]

Edit: thread moved, thanks!!

[SloYerRoll]

My advice: do not get a G5. Get an Intel iMac. G5 will not run Windows, and in switching, having the ability to run windows in the iMac is a huge benefit/relief.Depending if hardware or software floats your boat..
The new AMD supported OS build will allow a user to install OS X on a PC if the hardware is compatible and if your the adventurous type. I have a MacBook, but I now run Vista, Ubuntu & OS X off the same machine. (Blows my friends minds when I fire my machine up and the Apple wheel starts spinning:D)

The Apple EULA says that it's OS is only allowed to run on a certified Mac. But if your just doing it for research purposes..

Be warned though. If your not comfy w/ Terminal. Don't try this. The install can be buggy and requires you to configure the Kernel and other things depending on your hardware configuration. After you get it running though. All is well.

More here (http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page).

The following is a quote from one of the resources when I was reading. I can not attribute to it's validity or accuracy.

Various hackers have released hacked ISO torrents that can be installed on PCs. However, this violates the Apple EULA agreement and there are legal issues with using the ISOs. The legal ways to obtain a copy would be:

1) Become an Apple Developer ($500 membership)

2) Buy a real mac, deactivate the copy of OS X and install it on a PC (this way would be pointless because the whole point is to run OS X without getting a mac). This way also somewhat violates the EULA because the agreement says that you can't run OS X on non-Apple hardware.

Its best to get a legal copy of the ISO because then you can install the software without worry about malicious software or about the software phoning home.

[SloYerRoll]

am told the Intel ones are far faster.
I don't think they are faster per say. but software is optimized for the new (cheaper, as in more cost effective for Apple) chipset and will run faster due to configuration.

[colourbox]

I have no experience with the PowerPC machines, but am told the Intel ones are far faster.

I think I've seen benchmarks that indicate that today's portable MacBook Pros outrun yesterday's top-of-the-line G5 multiprocessor towers. Based on that, it's likely that every single Intel Mac sold today, all the way down to the 1.83GHz dual-core CPU at the bottom of the line, can probably outrun a single-core G5 2.0GHz iMac.


2) Buy a real mac, deactivate the copy of OS X and install it on a PC

? There is no activation in OS X of the type seen in Windows.

[ian408]

The Apple EULA says that it's OS is only allowed to run on a certified Mac. But if your just doing it for research purposes..


As a reminder, we're not here to interpret the Apple (or any other) EULA.

[SloYerRoll]

As a reminder, we're not here to interpret the Apple (or any other) EULA.Consider me reminded :D

? There is no activation in OS X of the type seen in Windows.This was put in italics since it was copied from a wiki article. I just copy/pasted it after the fact since I thought it might be helpful. Original post updated.

[ian408]

Anybody know if it's possible to buy the Apple bluetooth/wifi card separately?

I suppose I could haul my mac pro down to Appleville but it would be a whole
lot easier to bring the card home--but they say they want to install it :(

[DavidTO]

Anybody know if it's possible to buy the Apple bluetooth/wifi card separately?

I suppose I could haul my mac pro down to Appleville but it would be a whole
lot easier to bring the card home--but they say they want to install it :(


Neither are user installable parts on that machine.

You can get a USB bluetooth dongle. You can do everything but wake from sleep with that. Costs you $20.

Wifi, I would get airport express and hook up via ethernet from your MP.

[ian408]

Neither are user installable parts on that machine.

You can get a USB bluetooth dongle. You can do everything but wake from sleep with that. Costs you $20.

Wifi, I would get airport express and hook up via ethernet from your MP.
Thanks.

Can two express devices communicate peer to peer?

[barrotj]

As a reminder, we're not here to interpret the Apple (or any other) EULA.


Well, i broke down and just went and purchases a new Imac 2.0 Ghz intel core 2 duo with 2 gb ram.
coming from the pc world, I feel a little lost, but mostly liberated. This thing rocks!!!!!!:thumb

[cmason]

Well, i broke down and just went and purchases a new Imac 2.0 Ghz intel core 2 duo with 2 gb ram.
coming from the pc world, I feel a little lost, but mostly liberated. This thing rocks!!!!!!:thumb

Good choice on the Intel. I have been enjoying my Mac now for almost 3 weeks. I was familiar with Macs before, though OS X is new to me. The apps themselves are not much different, so there is little change there. I was able to copy over my Firefox profile, including all the add-ons, so FF is identical in look and function as it was in the PC. Lightroom catalog came over just fine, and iTunes was a mess, but I got it moved.

Obviously, when moving from a 5 yr old PC to a modern Core2Duo with 3GB of memory, the new PC (Win or Mac) is going to be a great experience. So I can not attribute that much to the Mac being a better machine, because anything is better than the old AMD Athlon I had. But, the Mac is quiet and 'well behaved' in that it goes to sleep and wakes without fuss, restarts are quick. The monitor is stunning.

I think software updates and printer drivers between Windows and Mac are both quite seamless, the only real difference is that the Mac doesn't expose the details of what is going on as does Windows. Plugging in a new printer to both Vista and Mac both automatically add the new printer without any input from the user. Windows shows you the progress, tells you what files are going where, and pops up a print test page option. Mac doesn't tell the user anything, in fact I had to check to see if the printer was installed. Different approaches, both with same result. Mac isn't better or easier in this regard, it is just different. I prefer the Mac approach in the end. I certainly appreciate the lack of a Registry when it comes to adding or removing software. Though some apps do sprinkle files around the system, most don't, so removing an app is a simple drag to the trash can. This is not the case with all apps, and removing them is messy as it is in Windows.

Mac OS X appears quite stable. It seems to recover memory well, unlike Windows which over time seems to grow in memory consumption, and therefore benefiting from a restart. This fine memory management and the Mac's fine Sleep capability allow me to run OS X longer than I could Windows. Apps do crash in OS X, in my case, Dashboard crashes about once a day. But, it simply recovers and aside from an alert, I don't notice.

I love the handling of harddrives, with the simply mount/unmount capability of Unix..othewise known as Eject in the Mac. Brilliant.

I am doing a trial of VMWare Fusion, and it rocks. I have not tried Parallels to compare, but I no longer need the critical feature in Parallels that allows me to launch an app from Mac into Windows based on file type. It is really cool to have Windows running on the Mac, and file sharing, even cut and paste is seamless between the too. Cool.

Time Machine is well done, and for the record, I like the 'space theme'. I bought a 500GB firewire hard drive, and it works very well. One day I will really need it, and then we will see if I feel the same way. It is reassuring to know that backups are happening across the entire system.

Some things I don't care for on the Mac: infatuation with the keyboard. I got used to doing nearly everything with a mouse alone in Windows. There was no reason to touch the keyboard, everything was a click or right click away. With Mac, you have to do key+click combinations to get nearly any app to work. Recommendation: turn on the right click as secondary mouse button in system preferences. The switch will be alot better when you do.

Having the menus disassociated from the window is very odd. I like the windows centered, but then to select any preference or other option, I have to mouse waaaaayyy over to the left to make choices or shutdown the app. Strange. I think I have covered more 'mouse miles' in the Mac in three weeks than I have in years on the PC. Obviously if you want to do multi-key presses and clicks, things get easier, but I just don't work that way. (I bet long time Mac users are really good at things like Vulcan salutes, what with all the 3 finger key sequences most apps want you to do :D ).

Networking with PCs is not as great an experience as I have heard. While I can access my PCs, I get the 'beachball' quite often, with no real way to stop it and little info other than 'Connection with server failed". Connecting to another PC requires the use of SMB connections, which isn't intuative. But, it works, eventually.

Print sharing with PCs has been a mess, getting the PCs in the house to print thru the printer attached to the Mac. Once i got it to work, the results are not as expected: papers print in purple color, not black, and there are connection issues. At the moment, I just network to the PC (see above), grab the doc, and print from the Mac. A wireless print server is on order, and hopefully that will solve the issues.

Overall, I am very pleased with the Mac. I like the stability, and the simplicity of the OS, but with options for running Windows and even futzing in UNIX commands. I think that if I had all Macs in the house, networking and print sharing issues would disappear, but that won't happen for several years, if at all.

[barrotj]

Obviously, when moving from a 5 yr old PC to a modern Core2Duo with 3GB of memory, the new PC (Win or Mac) is going to be a great experience. So I can not attribute that much to the Mac being a better machine, because anything is better than the old AMD Athlon I had. But, the Mac is quiet and 'well behaved' in that it goes to sleep and wakes without fuss, restarts are quick. The monitor is stunning.

My machine was/is a 3 yr old AMD Athlon that I couldn't use a baseball bat to get it out of sleep, took forever to shut down or reboot (literally it took 3 hours one day, hence my new purchase)

Mac OS X appears quite stable. It seems to recover memory well, unlike Windows which over time seems to grow in memory consumption, and therefore benefiting from a restart. This fine memory management and the Mac's fine Sleep capability allow me to run OS X longer than I could Windows. Apps do crash in OS X, in my case, Dashboard crashes about once a day. But, it simply recovers and aside from an alert, I don't notice.

anything along this line has to be an improvement!:clap

I love the handling of harddrives, with the simply mount/unmount capability of Unix..othewise known as Eject in the Mac. Brilliant.

:agree

Time Machine is well done, and for the record, I like the 'space theme'. I bought a 500GB firewire hard drive, and it works very well. One day I will really need it, and then we will see if I feel the same way. It is reassuring to know that backups are happening across the entire system.

I have a 750gb my book and a 500gb both firewired. The mac operates them both seamlessly.

Print sharing with PCs has been a mess, getting the PCs in the house to print thru the printer attached to the Mac. Once i got it to work, the results are not as expected: papers print in purple color, not black, and there are connection issues. At the moment, I just network to the PC (see above), grab the doc, and print from the Mac. A wireless print server is on order, and hopefully that will solve the issues.

My printer is wireless connected to a wireless LAN, not one issue with compatibility. the pc is hard wired with the lan cable and the mac ties in through the router.

Overall, I am very pleased with the Mac. I like the stability, and the simplicity of the OS, but with options for running Windows and even futzing in UNIX commands. I think that if I had all Macs in the house, networking and print sharing issues would disappear, but that won't happen for several years, if at all.

I wont touch another pc if I can at all avoid it. MAC has won me over, although i have been awake 32 straight hours piddle farting around with everything though.

Sad thing is, most people dont' realize the Ole Bill Gates is a 49 percent share holder of apple, so he wins no matter what happens. That's one smart man!:bow :bow

[SloYerRoll]

My machine was/is a 3 yr old AMD Athlon that I couldn't use a baseball bat to get it out of sleep, took forever to shut down or reboot (literally it took 3 hours one day, hence my new purchaseHoly crap! I'd have literally thrown that machine in a river after an hour :D

Glad you like your Mac. But I think your statement about PC's should be geared more towards windows than PC's. There's allot of great OS's out there that meet and beat Mac in many ways that run on "PC's". :deal

[CatOne]

Holy crap! I'd have literally thrown that machine in a river after an hour :D

Glad you like your Mac. But I think your statement about PC's should be geared more towards windows than PC's. There's allot of great OS's out there that meet and beat Mac in many ways that run on "PC's". :deal

Uhhh...

Such as?

Don't tell me about Linux until you can show me a version that seamlessly works with wireless and can connect via 802.1X to WPA2 protected networks, and one that can reliably sleep/wake when you close and open the lid.

Linux still can't do that, without tweaking many files and TONS of effort.

[SloYerRoll]

Uhhh...

Such as?

Don't tell me about Linux until you can show me a version that seamlessly works with wireless and can connect via 802.1X to WPA2 protected networks, and one that can reliably sleep/wake when you close and open the lid.No offense intended. But your so blindly wrapped up in Mac that no matter what my reply is, you'll come up with some overpriced Mac equivalent.
So it's not worth my time.

Not to mention that WPA security is absolute overkill.

[cmason]

Not to mention that WPA security is absolute overkill.

Not sure I understand this one? overkill vs what? Certainly you do not mean WEP, which is breakable in 20 sec?

[SloYerRoll]

Not sure I understand this one? overkill vs what? Certainly you do not mean WEP, which is breakable in 20 sec?I say that because we are talking about peoples home computers. Not corporate infrastructures or military secrets here. (*a computer deep in the underbelly of the govt spins for a moment then shuts back down)

Not every computer has to be a vault. Sheesh.

BTW:
Can you break WEP in 20 seconds? Or is that just something you've read? If you can get your hands on the code to do it. Easy peasy. But that script isn't exactly sitting around in the Google archives.

[StevenV]

How to crack WEP (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/24244/98/).

I see two realistic choices for home wireless networks - either leave it completely open or do it right (i.e. not WEP). If you try to secure it but don't do a reasonable job, and get used by a neighbor for piracy or child porn, you can get in trouble. If you do nothing then (the theory goes) you're not culpable. But this should probably end up in it's own thread...

[colourbox]

Improved security is only one reason for WPA over WEP (though a damn good reason). The other reason is ease of use. I hate entering those long hexadecimal WEP passwords. WPA lets you use shorter, easier-to-remember passwords.

Now, the ease of use of WPA leads to its one flaw. If you use a word or name that could appear in a dictionary, WPA could be cracked with a dictionary attack. But, that doesn't make it any worse than any other very secure password-based system. As long as you follow proper password procedures (sufficiently long and not found in any dictionary) WPA is essentially impregnable, especially for home users, and especially compared to how fast WEP can be cracked without a dictionary program.

Think about it...given the choice between "insecure and difficult" (WEP) and "secure and easy" (WPA), why would anyone choose WEP?

[ChrisJ]

As an admin, I would never use anything less than WPA (WPA2 if possible). However, if you secure your home network with WEP, you'll probably be safe... because odds are that your neighbor *isn't* using any encryption and the evil wardriver will use their network instead. Easier and faster...

FYI: A weak WPA-PSK (pre-shared key) can also be cracked quickly now.

[cmason]

I don't want a vault, but I do want security. WEP is NOT security, not any longer. It may obscure access to your network, but not secure it. Obscurity is not Security.

My neighbor's likely won't try to get to my network, but their teenager might. If I can follow the rules to break WEP, a teenager certainly can. Seeing the 'lock' on the neighbor's network is more of a challenge than a warning to a tean. What is a prank to a teenager is a pain and risk to me. I don't need it, and frankly choosing between WPA and WEP is a button I push in my router config. I choose WPA, because WEP is not security. Everything wireless I buy must support it, even my wireless print router.

[ChrisJ]

Yeah, I agree to some extent. It's always a question of how paranoid you want to be. As I said, I would never use anything less than WPA. My printer also supports WPA (Canon iP5200R).

[SloYerRoll]

Seeing the 'lock' on the neighbor's network is more of a challenge than a warning to a teen.Very true.
All I was getting to was that security is relative.

[SloYerRoll]

How to crack WEP (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/24244/98/).I stand corrected :D
Been a while since I even bothered looking anything like that up.
I only surf the web for two reasons nowdays: dgrin and research for webdev.

[CatOne]

No offense intended. But your so blindly wrapped up in Mac that no matter what my reply is, you'll come up with some overpriced Mac equivalent.
So it's not worth my time.

Not to mention that WPA security is absolute overkill.

So we want to toil in the old pricing thing again? :dunno Look, price is close, but I'm not going to dicker over $100 here and there. For as much as I use a computer, that's like $0.1 cents/hour in difference over the life of the machine.

As far as WPA security being overkill... right. It's absolutely more secure than WEP (which is broken, and it shouldn't take you more than 5 seconds with google to count 10 of the 100 ways). Why *wouldn't* you use WPA, given it's easy to use and secure, if it's an option? If you think it's unnecessary simply because Linux's support for it is flagging, that's a pretty myopic view.

Linux has a number of good things going on it on the server side. Unfortunately, on the desktop side, and *particularly* on the laptop side, it has a few things fighting REALLY hard against it for mainstream use:

1) Commercial application support (especially for photography) sucks. No Photoshop, no Lightroom, no Aperture, no "pretty much anything commercial." You can use GIMP and LightZone if you want... but don't try to print as you don't have any good drivers that are color matched and calibrated. It's tough for commercial vendors to actually build an application for Linux, given the fragmented distros and the difficulty of releasing a closed-source binary product for the OS. LightZone uses Java for this; it would be pretty tough to port Word or Photoshop to Java.

2) Portable support just sucks. Instead of having 2 or 3 good distros where people work together on fixing the hard issues like sleep/wake or wireless security (which, because of the PC industry's nature, each have 50-60 chipsets that need to be supported, many of whom won't provide open source drivers), you have 100+ distros, with various compiler flags, that all have holes in the same areas. I have tried about 3x/year for the last 5 years to find a distro that would install and run properly on a laptop without me having to spend hours in Xconfigurator and all that... and still no dice. It shouldn't be that hard.

There's more, but I don't feel like carrying on here.

[colourbox]

...because odds are that your neighbor *isn't* using any encryption and the evil wardriver will use their network instead. Easier and faster...

This is very true, it's like that old saying that you don't have to run faster than the bear, you just have to run faster than your companion. :heh

But things have changed in my neighborhood. A few years ago, most networks were open (not mine). Today if you open a laptop in my living room, every last network in range is locked...apparently education has had an effect. Therefore, it is no longer enough to use WEP because nobody on this block has an open access point. On this street, if you want to be one level more secure than your neighbor to deflect the hackers away from you, you do need to be using WPA.

[cmason]

This is very true, it's like that old saying that you don't have to run faster than the bear, you just have to run faster than your companion. :heh

But things have changed in my neighborhood. A few years ago, most networks were open (not mine). Today if you open a laptop in my living room, every last network in range is locked...apparently education has had an effect. Therefore, it is no longer enough to use WEP because nobody on this block has an open access point. On this street, if you want to be one level more secure than your neighbor to deflect the hackers away from you, you do need to be using WPA.

Well most routers now turn on encryption by default. Most even include wizards thata ask you to change your SSID and admin password too. Pretty cool.

[SloYerRoll]

There's more, but I don't feel like carrying on here.I'm honestly not here to cary on the mac pc debate. I have an older G4 a new MacBook and about to get a MacBook Pro. So I'm not debating their goodness against a pc.

I'm made a simple statement that was trying to correct one of the many misconceptions that there are two types of computers. PC's & Mac's.

Simple as that.

[SloYerRoll]

apparently education has had an effect. Therefore, it is no longer enough to use WEP because nobody on this block has an open access point. On this street, if you want to be one level more secure than your neighbor to deflect the hackers away from you, you do need to be using WPA.Agreeing w/ cmasons comment. I think to top it all off. Things like geek squad and services like that the come in and set up your network and all you have to do is sit there is a big contributor. They even wrap up the costs so you don't have to pay a dime and it all goes on a line of credit.

Man it's easy to spend money nowdays.. :D

[cmason]

I'm honestly not here to cary on the mac pc debate. I have an older G4 a new MocBook and about to get a MacBook Pro. So I'm not debating their goodness against a pc.

I'm made a simple statement that was trying to correct one of the many misconceptions that there are two types of computers. PC's & Mac's.

Simple as that.


Make that 2.5 types :rofl


Desktop Marketshare

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/chartfx62/temp/CFT0507_03113425599.gif

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=8&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=111&qpmr=100&qpdt=1&qpct=6


Although Linux is more widespread than Windows NT:

Desktop OS versions

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=10&qptimeframe=M&qpsp=111&qpmr=24&qpdt=1&qpct=6
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/chartfx62/temp/CFT0507_0313070CDE2.gif


:D :D :D



edit: gif links busted, click on the url

[SloYerRoll]

Make that 2.5 types :roflGood stuff :thumb
I guess that goes to show that what people are exposed to is usually a minute fraction of the collective whole.

It's pretty rare where I'm not tied into a *nix server a few times a day.

[StevenV]

Desktop OS versions
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/chartfx62/temp/CFT0507_0313070CDE2.gif


What the heck?? This chart shows operating systems... and then some O/S I've never heard of with 4.59% of something. :scratch

[JCC]

Hi-
My prints all have a slight yellow cast to them. Can I adjust something in Smugmug to remove it? I've selected auto color for printing, I'm using a macbook, set to sRGB, and the mac and the external monitor have been calibrated as carefully as I could.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
JCC

[ian408]

Desktop OS versions


The chart is a bit mis-leading. As a whole, not. But by market segment I think
it might be. For example; in the CAD/EDA world, we are almost 100% linux (or
some variant of it).

[cmason]

The chart is a bit mis-leading. As a whole, not. But by market segment I think
it might be. For example; in the CAD/EDA world, we are almost 100% linux (or
some variant of it).

Probably why Sun OS and HP-UX show up, since they are dominant in Workstations.

What the heck?? This chart shows operating systems... and then some O/S I've never heard of with 4.59% of something. :scratch

Assume you mean MacIntel. this would be Mac with Intel chips, vs Mac OS, presumably an older, version like OS 9.

[SloYerRoll]

The chart is a bit mis-leading. As a whole, not. But by market segment I think
it might be. For example; in the CAD/EDA world, we are almost 100% linux (or
some variant of it).I thought the different flavors of nix had a much stronger presesnce then those numbers show as well.

[ian408]

I thought the different flavors of nix had a much stronger presesnce then those numbers show as well.

If you broke them into market segments, yes. I think the nix's are a much larger
percentage of say the Business segment. And if you look at the mix of OS's,
where Solaris was dominant 5 years ago, it's hardly a factor anymore (hence
OpenSolaris--I think).

To put it differently, a 280R used to cost several thousand dollars for a single
uSPARC processor. You could get 1U PC hardware that cost half as much,
consumed fewer watts and ran twice as fast and in the EDA world, 2x the
throughput is a more efficient use of the software licenses. And licenses
are significantly more expensive than hardware to run the tools.

[cmason]

If you broke them into market segments, yes. I think the nix's are a much larger
percentage of say the Business segment. And if you look at the mix of OS's,
where Solaris was dominant 5 years ago, it's hardly a factor anymore (hence
OpenSolaris--I think).

To put it differently, a 280R used to cost several thousand dollars for a single
uSPARC processor. You could get 1U PC hardware that cost half as much,
consumed fewer watts and ran twice as fast and in the EDA world, 2x the
throughput is a more efficient use of the software licenses. And licenses
are significantly more expensive than hardware to run the tools.

Don't forget that this is Desktop measurements, not server. Unix is no where in the business world as a desktop platform. Manufacturing/CAD/CAM, yes, but not Business. It is dominant as a server platform for Business however.

[ian408]

Don't forget that this is Desktop measurements, not server. Unix is no where in the business world as a desktop platform. Manufacturing/CAD/CAM, yes, but not Business. It is dominant as a server platform for Business however.

Which is why I mentioned the business segment in my reply.

I would add that in engineering environments, the preferred desktop is
Linux. For us, a desktop is a server when you're not sitting there :D

[StevenV]

Assume you mean MacIntel. this would be Mac with Intel chips, vs Mac OS, presumably an older, version like OS 9.so the PowerBook (non-Intel) that I'm using right now, running OS X, would fall where in their chart? I'm just not sure I'd be putting much faith in a chart made by somebody that can't even distinguish between hardware and software.

[CatOne]

Probably why Sun OS and HP-UX show up, since they are dominant in Workstations.



Assume you mean MacIntel. this would be Mac with Intel chips, vs Mac OS, presumably an older, version like OS 9.

No, they're distinguishing between OS X on Intel versus OS X on PPC. It seems an artificial distinction, and I'm not sure why it continues.

Add the two to get the OS X market share. The only people still on OS 9 are curmudgeons, and there aren't that many hobbits left in the world :wink