November 25th, 2009

Six updates for your parent's computer over Thanksgiving

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 10:33 am

Categories: Snow Leopard, Software, Software Update

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Thanksgiving, Photograph, Computer, Productivity, Jason D. O'Grady

If your like most, you’re probably getting ready to go to your parent’s (or grandparents) house for a delicious Thanksgiving feast.

If you are, do your folks a favor and load up a flash drive and/or external drive with some of the latest and greatest software updates for their computer.

Here are some quick suggestions for five easy upgrades for your parent’s Mac on Thanksgiving.

1. Back up all photos. If your folks have a digital camera, back up all their photos to an external drive. If you burn them to disc, make two copies and bring one home to your house. While you’re at it, burn a copy of your photos to leave at their house. If their hard drive is more than three years old, it’s a ticking time bomb. Backup all data regularly.
2. Run Disk Utility (it’s in Applications > Utilities) and Repair Disk Permissions. This cleans up a lot of system gunk that builds up over time and makes the Mac run better. This is especially important before undertaking a major system update, like #3 below.
3. Upgrade to Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6), it’s only $29, well worth the price and it’s faster and more secure. Just make sure to run software update afterward and patch up to 10.6.2 and install all of Apple’s recommended updates too. You may want to start the update before dinner is served though, it takes a while.
4. Install the latest version of FireFox (currently 3.5.5). If they’ve already got FireFox, make sure that it’s patched up, auto-updating (Preferences > Advanced > Update) and in the Dock. If they’re using Internet Explorer – put it in the trash.
5. Configure iChat for screen sharing with this excellent tutorial. This it eminently useful for those “I lost the AOL icon” phone calls. If you have a MobileMe account, you can also set up your parent’s Mac for remote access via Back to My Mac. If you’re having router issues, read this article.
6. Set your folks up with a Google account, it works with Docs, Spreadsheets, Calendars and gets them a free Gmail account too. Even if you don’t think that they’ll use it immediately, set it up anyway, and make sure that they remember the password.

While you’re at, customize your Mac with some tasty Thanksgiving icons (pictured) from Icon Factory. Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo: TUAW

November 11th, 2009

Mac OS 10.6.2 breaks hackintoshes

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 3:00 am

Categories: 10.6, Countermeasures, Hackintosh, Mac OS, Netbook, Snow Leopard

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Apple Inc., Netbook, Hymn Project, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Apple Mac OS, Operating Systems, Hardware, Software, Jason D. O'Grady

No one loves a hackintosh more than me. So I was very sad to read that Mac OS 10.6.2 breaks Atom-based netbooks that have been hacked to run Mac OS X. Hackintoshes, as they’re known.

Wired has confirmed the bad news: 10.6.2 drops support for the Intel Atom processor. That’s the one found in most netbooks.

Apple essentially slammed the door shut on a loophole that allowed creative users to install OS X on small, light and cheap netbooks from Dell, EEE, HP and Lenovo. Hackers using Mac OS X on up to 20 different Atom-based netbooks will have to stop at Mac OS 10.6.1.

According to Stell’s blog installing Apple’s 10.6.2 update causes netbooks to permanently hang at the gray Apple logo at boot – essentially bricking the machine. Here’s a video of a MSI Wind U100 trying to boot 10.6.2 that is stuck in a continuous reboot.

It’s a bummer, but I can’t say that Apple didn’t give us any warning. On November 2 Apple suddenly dropped support for the Atom processor in a developer build of 10.6.2 only to restore it again in build 10C535 three days later. The release version of 10.6.2 is build 10B504.

Apple’s assault on the netbook is shaping up to be a classic game of cat-and-mouse with the hackintosh community, not unlike Cupertino’s recent fued with the Palm Pre and iPhone jailbreakers. The Hymn Project is another classic example of Apple’s Spy vs. Spy tactics

If you’re a hackintosh wielding daredevil you’ll to have to stick with 10.6.1 on your Dell Mini 9, Vostro A90 or Eee 1000H until a workaround comes along.

Picture and tip: Wired

November 9th, 2009

Snow Leopard update squashes bugs

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 1:46 pm

Categories: 10.6, Snow Leopard

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Performance, Apple MobileMe, Mobile Operating Systems, Performance Management, Desktops, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Hardware, David Morgenstern

The Mac OS X v10.6.2 Update released Monday includes “fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac,” Apple says.

Before installing the update, be sure to back up your Mac with Time Machine (and to a clone system on a bootable external volume if downtime is a concern).

What’s included? Here are some of the fixes on the list that I noticed:

General operating system fixes:
•Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts
•an issue with the four-finger swipe gesture
•creation of mobile accounts for Active Directory users
•reliability and duration of VPN connections
•this update addresses video playback and performance issues for iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) and iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) computers that may occur in some situations while AirPort is turned on

Read the rest of this entry »

November 3rd, 2009

Thursby updates DAVE and ADmitMac solutions for Windows networking

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 9:11 am

Categories: 10.6, 64-bit, Snow Leopard, Windows 7

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Windows Networking, ADmitMac Version 5, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows 7, Software, David Morgenstern

With recent changes coming to both Mac and Windows OSes, Thursby on Tuesday released new versions of ADmitMac, its Windows Active Directory client software for Macs, and DAVE, its file- and printer-sharing solution. The updates feature support for Mac OS X 10.6 Leopard and Windows 7.

The previous ADmitMac Version 4 and DAVE Version 7 did not support Snow Leopard and a link to uninstalling instructions was featured on the company’s support pages (and still is). The current versions of ADmitMac for CAC and ADmitMac for PIV are still incompatible with Snow Leopard.

ADmitMac Version 5 improves compatibility with Active Directory and now supports the Windows Group Policy console.

Administrators can manage their domain users in a consistent way – regardless of whether they use a PC or a Mac. And ADmitMac requires no Active Directory schema changes.

According to the company, DAVE Version 8 supports all current Windows operating systems including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and WIndows NT

When running on Snow Leopard, both products now support 64-bit multi-threaded operation and multiple processors.

The ADmitMac v5 upgrade is $89.95 for users of Version 4.x; the DAVE v8 upgrade is $69.95 for users of Version 7.x.

November 3rd, 2009

Snow Leopard: Don't get caught in date handling change in AppleScript

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 6:49 am

Categories: 10.6, Snow Leopard

Tags: AppleScript, Scripting Languages, Software/Web Development, Web Development, David Morgenstern

As users migrate to Snow Leopard they will find that AppleScript is less forgiving about date and time formatting. Formerly reliable scripts, years old, may fail.

I was reminded of this change in a MacTech article by scripting consultant Ben Waldie, president of Automated Workflows and author of many books on AppleScript scripting.  (The article can be found in hardcopy in the latest issue of MacTech magazine, which is all about Snow Leopard. I bet that many will also appreciate the detailed rundown of changes to launchd in Snow Leopard by Greg Neagle at MacEnterprise.)

Waldie says that “coercions from strings to dates are also a bit finicky in Snow Leopard.” Previously, AppleScript was more forgiving in its handling of dates, he said. However, now date and times that ran correctly will either fail or work at the wrong time.

For example, if you had a script that ran at 5:00 a.m., it won’t run. It now needs to be formatted as AM. No periods allowed.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 21st, 2009

Avoiding version confusion with Snow Leopard Server's diagnostic toolset

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 11:43 am

Categories: 10.6, Leopard, Server, Snow Leopard, Xserve

Tags: Apple Xserve, Apple Macintosh, Mac OS X Server, Tool, Apple Mac OS X, Apple Mac OS, Productivity, Operating Systems, Software, David Morgenstern

An Apple support note says that its Xserve Diagnostics Mac OS X Tools Version 3X104 are not supported with Snow Leopard Server.

If you have upgraded your Xserve to Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Server, you should not use Apple Xserve Diagnostics Mac OS X Tools version 3X104.  You should use Apple Xserve Diagnostics EFI Tools version 3X104 instead.

Xserve Diagnostics Mac OS X Tools let managers run down issues in the Boot ROM, Ethernet controller, fans, hard drives, power supply, processor, RAM, sensors, USB ports and video controller board. But where is the EFI Tools?

There’s no need for confusion here. Remember back on Xserve Apple Xserve Diagnostics User Guide for Version 3X104 Chapter 1, Page 5.

You can run AXD in Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), which is referred to as AXD EFI tools, or in Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server, which is referred to as AXD Mac OS X tools.

By running AXD EFI tools, you can diagnose hardware issues that prevent Mac OS X Server from successfully starting up. You can also run tests without interference from Mac OS X Server and test more than 2.5 gigabytes (GB) of memory. However, AXD Mac OS X tools provides an enhanced interface and has more extensive sensor, hard drive, and video controller tests. For a detailed comparison and description of all available tests, see “AXD Tools Test Reference” on page 35.

So it’s the same tests but a different interface. And the support note put caps on the Tools.

October 13th, 2009

Snow Leopard bug deletes all user data (Updated)

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 8:42 am

Categories: 10.6, Snow Leopard

Tags: Account, Guest Account, Apple Inc., User Data, Backups, Jason D. O'Grady

"I haz eat yur data!"

Several posts on the Apple Support forums (1, 2) dating back to 12 September indicate that some users have been losing all their data due to a nasty bug in Snow Leopard, a.k.a. Mac OS 10.6.

On Saturday iTWire reported on the bug which rears its head when a user logs into their Mac’s Guest account and then tries to log back into their regular account.

In some cases, users have reported finding their regular account empty of data, as though it were a brand new account… The home directory still exists under “/Users/username” but is completely empty.

Affected users report that data is unrecoverable and cannot be found on the hard drive. The only way to recover is from a backup on external media. You do make regular backups, right?

Apple acknowledged the problem on Monday stating:

We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix,” an Apple representative said in a prepared statement Monday.

CNet has posted a technique for restoring a lost home folder from a backup if you’ve been afflicted. A work around – until Apple releases a fix – is to disable the Guest account, or disable it and re-enable it as a native Snow Leopard account. It’s highly recommended that you perform and maintain a complete and bootable backup.

Tip: Neowin

Update: User “WalterDweller” on the Apple support forums claims that the bug may not be limited to Snow Leopard, saying “I had the same thing happen to me with Leopard 10.5… when I called Apple they said they had never heard of it happening before…”

Gratuitous Snow Leopard pic from Apple Scoop.

September 3rd, 2009

Snow Leopard install fails? Find a flashlight!

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 2:42 pm

Categories: 10.6, Snow Leopard

Tags: Installation, Apple MacBook, Apple MacBook Pro, F2, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, David Morgenstern

Several users report a blank screen after installing Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard. However, one suggested fix is to find a flashlight to read the screen.

In the Apple Discussions topic Display blank 24hrs after SL install, as with another describing a “very faint screen,” MacBook Pro users report that the backlight just goes out during the installation.

Some posters suggest that the display went to sleep during the installation and then it didn’t “wake up” with the necessary brightness for humans to see the screen.

One answer is to find a flashlight.

I had a similar issue on my MacBook Pro. I was able to complete the installation by using a flashlight on the screen. My problem was that the screen was very very dim that it looked blank. I also attempted to increase the brightness of the display, but that didn’t work. Once I used the flashlight I was able to select my language and locate the mouse so I could select accept. The installation completed once that was done.

In addition, you can try increasing the brightness. F2 is the usual keyboard command for increasing brightness. Depending on your config, you may have to hold down the Fn key to get this Function key to work.

Another post points to the Energy Saver settings as the culprit:

My installation was on a MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo. After I finally completed the installation, I had to change the screen brightness setting and manually change the gamma in the calibration of the display to 2.2. I now picture the Snow Leopard holding a high-end flashlight in its mouth.

It is possible that this problem could have been avoided if the display preferences in Energy Saver had been set, before the installation began, to never have the display sleep. My display went dark and did not recover after about the same amount of time for which sleep was set.

So, if you’re heading into an install of Snow Leopard, it might be best to manually turn all of the display sleep settings to Never (and maybe do the same for system sleep as well as unchecking the hard disk sleep box). Of course, it’s never wise to install systemware when running on battery power. But anything can happen, or the installer may decide you’re running on the Power Adapter settings.

September 3rd, 2009

Snow Leopard Compatibility: Some sound I/O utilities broken

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 2:15 pm

Categories: 10.6, Audio, Snow Leopard

Tags: I/O, Apple Mac OS X, Operating Systems, Software, Apple Mac OS, David Morgenstern

The Mac OS X Snow Leopard update is an issue users of audio switching helpers — menubar items that can quickly switch sound input and output sources. Some of these utility programs are broken and others will require an update.

These utilities are very popular, especially for persons that have external speakers or USB microphones or other i/O devices connected to their systems for podcasting, speech-to-text input.

On the Rogue Amoeba blog, Quentin Carnicelli late last week announced the release of SoundSource 2.5, the latest version of the company’s free audio I/O switching utility. He said the update had no new features but had “changed dramatically internally.” It was now an application rather than a MenuExtra, like the Apple-standard Clock, Airport menu and others.

Most users are un aware that they can play around with these MenuExtras. For example, we can move them around with a Command-Click-Drag. And they are persistent across booting.

However, Carnicelli said that these capabilities are Apple only. Programmers have gotten around them, of course. But according to the post, Rogue Amoeba is tired of the extra effort and made the latest version of SoundSource into a straight app. It uses the NSStatusItem API to place the Menubar icon, which he admits “provides an inferior experience compared to menuExtras.”

That all said, SoundSource running as its own application is not all that terrible. It is a little annoying to not be able to move it around the menubar, but there are some benefits. We no longer need an installer for it and it can live in your Applications folder like any other application. It’s also easy to open and close, and delete when you are done with it. And if we’re lucky, SoundSource may even work on OS X 10.7 without requiring an update.

That being said, Sound Menu, another free audio switcher, is currently incompatible with Snow Leopard.

September 1st, 2009

Snow Leopard: FileMaker Product Compatibility

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 7:52 pm

Categories: 10.6, Snow Leopard

Tags: Filemaker Inc., Servers, Hardware, David Morgenstern

The good news is that many of FileMaker’s database products are compatible. The not-as-good news is that issues and problems may crop up when transitioning your workflow to Snow Leopard.

According to the latest updates to FileMaker’s support site, FileMaker Pro 10 and Pro 10 Advanced are mostly compatible. The pair of issues are a change in the AppleScript command that opens a file, and the inability to export to .XLS format; these are resolved respectively by changing the old syntax “open file” to the new, plain “open” and by making sure that Rosetta is installed.

Check out: Snow Leopard’s RTF, Rosetta handling: Beware of changed behaviors

However, FileMaker Server 10.0v2 will require a full install from the CD or from the Software Download file, which was made available on Tuesday, Sept. 1.  If you previously updated an older version, then you will need to remove and reinstall 10.0v2.

FileMaker Server 10.0v2 and FileMaker Server 10.0v2 Advanced requires a full installation from either the CD or Software Download file. Do not install FileMaker Server 10.0v1 and update to FileMaker Server 10.0v2 on this operating system as supporting files are not installed correctly.

In addition, if you previously updated to FileMaker Server 10.0v2 on Leopard and update the OS to Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard, the server will not function. You must do a full installation of FileMaker Server 10.0v2 on this operating system.

Older versions of FileMaker have issues as well, such as when Rosetta is missing during installation, printing (cant’) and launching (non). You may have to reinstall your software.

Bento 2.0.5 is compatible and all others, including Version 2.0.4 are incompatible.