Wow, some awesome advice here.

Does SL or Leopard need de-fragmenting or does it do it automatically? I have always wondered that.

Performance wise data partitions run so much quicker when files are contiguous - at least that is what I've found with clunky Windows.

Where can I get a copy of CCC?

SD,
I am not familiar with GPT/EFT issues. The GUID requirement I only found out about when I tried to install an OS update.
I got a message telling me that it could not be done. The initial cause of this whole thing was due to the "Authorized Apple Service' installing a larger drive in my MBP without partitioning it GUID.
I would have understood partitioning to be dividing the drive into, well, partitions however it can remain one single partition, but for Apple OS it is necessary to install either the OS or updates.

I doubt that drives from most of the manufacturers would be partitioned for this Apple requirement, my WD 320GB was not.

CCC and I believe Super Duper, will copy over verbatim all your old drive including the OS, to a new one and all will appear normal until you try to install/re-install the OS or an update.

Disk utility has the tools to do the partition.

In my case I copied the entire new drive contents, (it had been in use for some time), to an external. I had the original that had been replaced in another external housing with the all original content intact.
I used it as the boot drive then formatted and partitioned the "new" disk and copied the cloned content from the external. Bit of a chore but I did the copying overnight.

As a matter of interest, the first clone I did I connected using an Express card via E-SATA and it took 3 hours. The final copy back to the "New" drive would not work by E-SATA for some reason, it took about eleven hours by USB.
Sorry for the rambling but some of the techs that work both Apple and PCs may not be aware of the partition requirements.

Hmmmm...... Interesting.....

My partition scheme does appear to be APS rather than GUID so firmware updates probably won't work.

On the other hand, current firmware is the latest - MM11.0055B08 (EFI 1.1) and 13f4 (SMC 1.0) and Apple probably won't update for this older Mac Mini.

Software updates and the machine work fine so I don't think I'm going to worry about it. If I ever need to reinstall OSX on this drive I'll just image the Data partition, repartition as GUID, install OSX on the primary partition and restore the image to the secondary one.

A most interesting little detour around the Mac ecosystem!

Thanks innuendo and the rest of you!

:ok:

Mac

PS: Linux (and my long-time fave is MEPIS - https://www.mepis.org/ ) is easier to manage and has fewer odd little surprises like this)

Son wants a apple imac or mac mini
 

Help

My son wants a apple thingy mainly for use for music tech studies and gaming
mainly wants to run a program called LOGIC PRO. Does not what spec apple to get

I want him to go for a Windoze but he uses apple at school and he wants to take his work home ( dedication ) is there a program for windows that will run LOGIC PRO for apple ?

Suggestions

Cheers

Well you'll only be able to run Logic Pro on a Mac (Logic 5 was the last for Windows native executables), but if you get a decent Mac you can use bootcamp to boot it into Windows to play games. Otherwise persuade him to use Reason 4 ;)

Many games are now coming out on the Mac natively, however it depends what sort of game he wants to play. For example FSX won't run nice, but X-Plane will, you can get Football Manager for both Windows and Mac.

I use Windows at home (for FSX) and work, but most of my home stuff is on Linux and Mac - I find programming easier on a 'nix platform for some reason. My gaming machine (the Windows one) is a reasonably serious rig and I'd recommend Windows over Mac for that area. For everything else (music, video, programming, document writing, website building, anything else...) I'd recommend the easier, 'cleaner' Mac OSx or Fedora, but then I've not yet put my Windows7 CD in to have a go...

Games wise I think he is into just mass murder shooting and blood baths :ugh:

That'll be the windows route then!

I'd suggest a compromise - a cheapish 'Mac (I know, that doesn't really exist) for the work and music, a console for games... I'm sure plenty of hack'n'slash exist on the 360 and the ps3.

Get him a top-of-the range Mac Mini

:ok:

Mac

Apple don't like you using apple operating systems/programs on anything except an apple system. There is no direct program you can install.

However, apple sell their operating system seperately, as they do with logic pro....

Bit of tinkering required, google has the answers.

The downside is that Apple won't support you if you cock things up.

hi again, my son says he wouldn't actually use it much for gaming and if he did it would be for games that don't require much power. Mainly used for Logic Pro.

He also asks is it worth even more money to get snow leopard on it as well?

You need Snow Leopard and a Core Duo processor if you want to run LogicPro 9.1 in 64-bit mode. Otherwise you need OS X v10.5.7 or higher. You also need a 1280-pixel -wide screen. This is assuming we're talking about LP9.1 with all the extras.

A friend of his has bought logic pro do you know if it can be loaded onto 2 machines ?

Defragment a Mac?

Apple says not really, OSX does it for you, read on........

About disk optimization with Mac OS X

Log in screen gone - old iMac
 

All,

I'm actually posting this for my son who has a problem with his old iMac G4. (The older one which looks like a lamp!)

Seems he had accounts on the iMac for himself, my other son and their mother. According to my son, one evening they had a power failure at their home and the next morning instead of being greeted by the "normal" log in screen on the iMac he was surprised to see a generic-looking one. This may well be the Administrator account he's looking at but I don't know as I have no access to his iMac. He's tried all passwords he can think of and nothing works.

The iMac in question is running OS X (10.2?). So, anyone have an idea on what happened to the login screen and, if so, had to get it back?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks aviate1138 - many, many years ago I worked on pre-historic removable 300MB disk drives larger than washing machines and we had to de-frag all the time - that's probably scarred me into thinking drives have to be de-fragmented.

Mac OS X is based on the Mach Kernel. Other parts of the OS come from NextStep, FreeBSD and NetBSD. All of which are mainly Unix-based. Thus Mac OS X has gained, since OS X 10.5 Unix 03 certification.

The point being? Unix/Linux desktops and servers do not really experience file fragmentation. And certainly not on the order of Windows-based systems.

You may very well defrag. a Mac OS X file system but it is not a necessity.

Save Link Target As....
 

I use a PC, herself uses a Mac.

To save a file from a link (say an article in .pdf format from a link quoted here in the forum), I just right-click and select "Save Link Target As...." in the drop-down menu.
Elementary.

Except... on the Mac there IS no right mouse button....
So she regularly gets stuck.... when there is no "Download" somewhere on the page or in the application she's using.
Since I'm pretty well Mac-illiterate, I'm stuck too...
Any help greatly appreciated.

BTW, she uses Firefox and Safari, and OS X.

CJ

The Wise SWMBO!
 

First off, of course, you CAN use a mouse on the Mac -- there is a lovely 5-button mouse available, if you must!

And then, just remember: On a Mac, Control-Click = Mouse Right-Click on Doze!

Why don't you get wiser, considering that Mrs C-J is so much smarter, huh? :O

Apologies for not taking in all the pages here, but can I install and run the Mac OS on a bare-bones PC to reduce costs, and what spec would I need and hurdles to jump?

Do a Google search for Hackintosh. Never tried it myself, as I buy Macintosh computers myself, albeit older ones from eBay. I have been buying 17" Mac laptops, my first for £400, it was a few years old and was over £2000 new. My latest is a 2006 model MacBook Pro, which again was probably around £2000 when new. The wife uses the old one. I have never felt the need to buy a brand new one.

You can also set up a Mac mouse to have a right click. It only has one button but has some sort of transducer thing underneath which senses the presence of left or right fingers.

Aye, aye, sir...
Herself has a MacBook and insists on using the "mouse pad", rather than get a mouse.
Who am I to argue with her?

Five-button mouse is new to me... used a three-button mouse for years, and now a two-button one plus thumbwheel.

Tah, I'll get her to try that tomorrow.

Blame it on Airbus....
The first Airbus DAFS were Intel, so I was brought up on MDS, then PC, etc. Never got out of the rut, LOL
Also, the Apple II was about the only one with a decent amount of expansion slots.... idea then taken over by IBM. Ever since, when I needed something for a special app, needing add-in boards, the PC was the logical choice.

CJ

Thanks for the pointer, 'mac'.

I bought a 2TB Time Capsule and I find it hideously slow even when direct wired to the network.

I later got a Western Digital MyBook World Edition (1TB) and it's far faster (and more flexible for storage)

Any comments from the floor?

Mac

PS: I'm still on Tiger so Time Machine doesn't work

Old but good [thread creep]
 

A woman was helping her husband set up his computer and, at the appropriate point in the process, she told him that he would now need to enter a password. Something he could remember easily and would use each time he had to log on.



The husband was a bit bored by the process and, feeling in a rather amorous mood, figured he would try for the shock effect to bring this to his wife's attention. So, when the computer asked him to enter his password, he paused for effect, then letter by letter, with his wife watching over his shoulder, he keyed in ......


P
E
N
I
S



His wife fell off her chair laughing when the computer replied:



PASSWORD REJECTED.... ... NOT LONG ENOUGH

I have a 500GB TimeCapsule, but I use Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard so I am able to use TimeMachine with it. Yes it took all night to do the initial back-up, so it is pretty slow, but now it only needs to do incrementals every hour, whilst it is switch on at home. It does this silently in the background, so I don't have to do huge back up regimes every week or whatever.

I luckily haven't had to rely on it because of a serious failure, but I was very glad of it when I moved up to the MacBook Pro from the PowerBook G4. When I clean installed the OS on the MacBook, it noted that I had a TimeCapsule and did I want to restore all user accounts and applications to the new machine. I did this and was surprised to see that everything was in exactly the same place as the old machine, right down to icon positioning on the desktop. Now THAT is how backup and restore should work!

IPod Nano incompatible with OSX?
 

Wasn't sure whether this should be a standalone, or one for Mac Corner thread. Hoever I wanted to get it to as many replies as can help!

I bought my wife an IPod Nano for her birthday a few days ago, to replace an older IPod Classic that we’ve shared for years. She tried plugging it in today to her (Apple) computer, for the first time. She is having problems, in that it fails to connect, because it appears that her MacOS 10.3.9 is out of date, and not compatible with the Nano. We’re not sure whether the incompatibility is with the computer, or ITunes.

It’s not as though we have OS 9, or earlier, which would make a bit more sense, but surely IPods should be at least some ways backwards compatible with earlier software? Seems a pretty poor show.

Or are we failing to resolve something here?

Has anyone got any clues as to a fix for the problem, (other than going out and buying another £1000 Applemac?) Any help will be appreciated.

Tosh - I may be totally out of line here with regard to your problem, but the following information may be of assistance to someone if not your good self:

Several years ago, I was given an iPod with about 3.5 Gb of memory. I downloaded iTunes and after a bit of a struggle - well I am using XP on the other type of computer, I managed to make the program do what it said on the tin. With loads of tunes on my iPod, and a decent set of headphones, it worked beautifully. I never ipdated my music collection on it for a number of years and then lost its computer lead, but in the meantime iTunes had updated itself several times. Finally, I decided that some more music was needed so I purchased a new interface lead, iPod to computer at Apple's humungeous prices. On connecting iPod to computer, the battery charged up, but that was all it did. There was no way I could get the current version of iTunes to interface with my 3 year old iPod and revise its music collection despite many, many attempts.
I therefore determined that the iPod was bust, the new lead was faulty, or that the latest version of iTunes would not interface with my iPod.
and thus revisited my local Apple store from which I acquired my new lead.
They were extremely helpful despite me making it clear that I didn't want to buy a new Mac! My iPod and lead were tested and their current copy of iTunes promptly uploaded a bit of fresh music onto my iPod. Then they considered my dilemma and I was advised that my virus protection (Avast) was interfering with iTunes. I was thus instructed to download a new copy of my virus protector and a new copy of iTunes. Then, after disconnecring my machine from t'internet, instructed to delete my virus protection and iTunes. Then I was to re-install my latest copy of iTunes, then do likewise with my new copy of Avast. I did so, reconnected to t'internet, updated everything that wanted updating and then, with baited breath, connected up my old iPod. Guess what - iTunes worked beautifully and my music collection on the iPod has now been updated as required!

Now, I appreciate that it isn't the same with a Mac, but the order in which software us installed may also be significant. Furthermore, your local Apple store may well prove to be as helpful as mine was. Full marks to them for this, completely free, service.

P.P.

Apple Support, Magic Mouse, USBOverdrive.
 

:ugh:
Don't trust them. Only call or believe them if it is a very simple question.

I recently bought a Magic Mouse and jolly sexy it is too.:ok:
But I couldn't get it to connect. Download the new software update, yes. Turn off, turn on, turn around, touch your toes. Nothing worked.
After considerable time (3 hours) spent with Applecare on the phone and carrying out their instructions I was still no further than when I started.
Called a friend who came round with his macbook and connected with the mouse without difficulty.
So Applecare suggested a clean install of OSX. My mate thought that rather extreme and suggested I search the interweb and suggested a couple of Mac forums.

So, 5 minutes later I had removed the USBOverdrive.kext and installed my Magic Mouse!!!

Difference was that I had removed USBOverdrive but the kext remained. My mate also had UsbOverdrive installed so it was the leftover kext which was causing the failure to connect somehow.

Tosh McCaber, the newer 3rd generation Nanos need Mac OS X 10.4 or later I believe.

Second hand MacBook Pro, Good Idea?
 

Hi

I am looking to buy an MacBook Pro, the prices are close to 1500 for the one i need, but i have noticed they go for around 1k second hand, around a year or so old.

My worry is, i have heard bad things with apples going wrong, but i dont have any hard evidence of this. Logic Board springs to mind? is this just a fancy name for mother-board?

So i was thinking, is it a good idea to save the cash and buy a second hand one, or go for brand new?

Is apple care a good idea?

Thanks for any help

I only ever bought one Apple computer new, an Apple iMac DVSE (well two if you include the iPod Touch!). Since then I have had a series of second hand Apple laptops, all of which still work. I suppose anything second hand is a gamble, the trade off if is this:

Buy new : More expensive and actually more likely to develop a fault, but you get waranty cover.

Buy second hand : Cheaper, and by this point, if it is still working, it is actually less likely to develop a fault due to a manufacturing defect. You are likely to experience age related failures though, but this is typically of easily replaced parts like hard drives, optical drives and fans.

Yes, some of the elder MBPs had errors and problem with the logic boards. They also got too hot. The recent models should be better.

Yawn .... just how is a new machine "more likely" to develop a fault ? Do you realise just how many millions of dollars Apple ploughs into R&D, part of which takes into account historical issues to make a better new product.

Don't forget the newer models have a completely re-designed chassis.... they now laser carve it out of one solid block of aluminium .... this has a number of benefits, one of which is improved heat dissipation.

See Apple video about new chassis concept and how it is machined http://movies.apple.com/movies/us/ap..._r848-9cie.mov

I've owned the older models and now own the new chassis based model..... it's a fantastic mobile workhorse ! And the "unibody" chassis is outstanding, there is really nothing else like it on the market, and I've seen what most manufacturers have to offer..... their stuff looks like plastic tat in comparison.

Never heard of the bathtub curve then?

No! Thought not! :ugh:

No, I haven't. And I honestly couldn't care less about some random theoretical curve. :ugh:

If that's your sole exposure to Apple products, then I don't think you've got anywhere near enough practical experience, trying to fob me off with some theoretical curve won't cut it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Apple products are perfect. But I think you need to understand that a lot more effort goes into them than your average laptop/desktop which is just made up from a bunch of third party components picked off the shelf and held together with a whole ton of mandatory drivers you need to install to make it work.

Anyhow, look, I don't want this to turn ugly, so shall we agree to disagree ? :ok:

Mac Book Pro Mayday, Mac Book pro Mayday
 

I was using my laptop ok last night. I closed the lid as I was going for a shower, came back, opened it up...Nothing! Pressed all the usual. return. space, mouse key, anything to get the log in screen to come on. Lots of whirring that felt like the DVD drive, bottom right corner, but nothing else. The small light near the opening catch was glowing dimly but the 'apple' at the back on the lid was unlit. I pressed the off button, could here the computer power off. I press it on and it clicks and I get the whirring and rather louder than normal noises from what I think is the DVD drive, after 30 seconds as normal the disk drive powers down all goes quiet and the lights are as described above. No flicker at all from the screen, no opening 'noise' through the speakers, just nothing. I have turned it on and off many times. Taken the battery out. I then thought maybe it's booting up but the screen has gone, so I connected it to my projector, still nothing at all.

Any ideas from the resident guru's? Mayday!


Gentleman Jim

two things to try before panic-ing..
try the brightness control, it can be wound right down and the screen is working just dark...
failing that try starting up holding the Alt key.. should get you to the 'which drive do you want to boot from?' screen. could be its trying to boot from the DVD drive and there is nothing there?...

failing that, somebody else will no doubt have some better ideas...

good luck

smallfry

I excitedly tried the alt key thing, nothing but the whirring of the DVD, seems to actually last about 60 secs. I had already played with the brightness.

Gentleman Jim