Snow Leopard arrived yesterday right when Apple said it would be delivered.

I ran the install on my iMac this morning. I can’t rightly say how long it took because I went off and did other things while it worked away.

However, it installed without a hitch.

By default it runs in 32-bit mode for compatibility reasons. You can check this by doing a

uname -a

in a terminal window.

You can also use System Profiler and check the “64-bit Kernel and Extensions” under “Software” if you’re a clickety-click type person.

I will have a little issue getting 64-bit working on my Macbook 2,1. While the processor supports it fine, the Firmware has limited it to 32-bit. I hear there are work-arounds for this and will need to investigate. To check if your firmware supports 64-bit mode run the following command in a terminal window:

ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi

Check the EFI result, 64 is what you’re wanting to see.

To boot your new install into 64-bit mode, simply hold down the 6 and 4 keys while the computer boots. Reboot to go back to 32-bit mode.

To make the 64-bit switch permanent edit the file:
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist

find:
Kernel Flags


change to:
Kernel Flags
arch=x86_64

and reboot.

If you then wish to duck back into 32-bit mode just hold down the 3 and 2 keys while the system is booting.

Tags: OS X, apple

Today marks the 25th Birthday of the Apple Mac, or as it was known back then, the Macintosh.

I remember playing a game called Artillery on an Apple Macintosh IIe back in primary school. Those were the days. Incidentally, there was a similar game that came shipped with MS Basic on MSDOS 5 called Gorillas.

The Mac has come a long way. Take a look at the Apple web site to see what the Mac has morphed into, along with all the other gadgets that have come along since.

Thanks to Paul for bringing this to my attention.

Tags: apple, mac

Since OS X update 10.5.5 I have been having a few issues with AirPort on my “Black MacBook”.

Namely, AirPort plays up when switching locations.

At worst, AirPort settings are lost for the location I switch to. At best AirPort takes several start/stops to acquire an IP address from a DNS server (no there is nothing wrong with my DNS server). The most common however is, AirPort doesn’t turn ON if it is OFF as part of the location I’m switching from.

I believe Apple have supplied an update in AirPort Extreme Update 2008-004.

However, I’ve only just applied this update so I’m not sure if it has solved my problem. I’ll know tomorrow.

Prior to finding this update (thanks Paul...again) I was tinkering around trying to figure out what was occurring. It all seemed hit-and-miss in the Network Preferences pane so I switch to the terminal. Lo and behold, I found a quick work-around.

ifconfig en1 down

followed by...

ifconfig en1 up

This immediately and without fuss, fixed my AirPort connection. Why this doesn’t do exactly what the GUI does I’m not sure, but there does seem to be some difference.. perhaps that’s part of the problem as resolved in the update?!

This may or may not work for you but give it a shot if you haven’t had time to install the above update, which requires a reboot - There goes my record uptime attempt AGAIN.

Tags: OS X, apple

A bit more information from Novell regarding iPhone integration with GW.

List: ngw
Subject: [ngw] Novell GroupWise and the Apple iPhone
From: "Alex Evans"
Date: 2008-06-13 15:23:21
Message-ID: 48523C89.4E3C.0093.1 () novell ! com
[Download message RAW]

[Attachment #2 (text/plain)]

Novell GroupWise and the Apple iPhone
Apple recently announced iPhone support for Microsoft Exchange, based on the \
ActiveSync technology that Apple paid Microsoft for. This has prompted GroupWise \
customers to ask what Novell's plans are for iPhone support. Novell is committed to \
providing a solution that allows users access to their email, calendar and contacts \
on the iPhone, and is pursuing multiple avenues to address this goal.

NotifyLink and Toffa both plan to offer iPhone support to GroupWise customers.

There are a number of options that we have been considering:
1. Nokia enhance GMS to provide iPhone support. This had to be postponed due to the \
Apple SDK limitations. And I do mean postponed, not rejected. 2. Jailbreak the \
iPhone and use unauthorized APIs. That is not something that we feel we can \
recommend to corporate customers as an enterprise solution. 3. Create a web \
browser solution like IBM has. Not ideal as it does not sync any data to the device, \
allowing offline access. Much of the value of these kinds of solutions is having all \
the data to hand. 4. Rely on the SDK and create something in house. The SDK is very \
limited and does not allow enough access to the native apps and for services to run \
in the background 5. Do something around ActiveSync - a possibility that we are \
looking closely at, but it is a longer term strategy.

We are currently assessing other options and yes, we are also talking directly to \
Apple.

As Jay Parker mentioned in a previous post, IMAP and iTunes will work to allow cradle \
sync to the device

Thanks
Alex





Alex Evans
GroupWise Product Manager
aevans@novell.com
T: +1 801 861 7288
M: +1 801 368 8930
Blog: http://www.novell.com/communities/user/565

Tags: technology, apple, Iphone, groupwise

So you’ve succumed to the anodised aluminium wonder and purchased the slimline Apple keyboard (wired in this case)... but you don’t own a Mac and you want to get it working on WinXP.

You could just plug it in and it would work satisfactorily as it is.

However, what about the INS (Insert key) or the NUM (Numlock key) and all those specific OS X keys? What do they do now that this brushed beauty is running on a legacy OS?

Solution: Get the Apple driver.

If you’re an OS X user you’ll know that OS X 10.5 comes with BootCamp. This allows you to run a Microsoft OS on your Apple hardware with no OS X in sight. To fascilitate this desecration Apple have provided a swag of Windows drivers to allow the hardware to function.

One of the drivers is for the Apple keyboard.

To get the driver you could try downloading it, or you could ask one of your OS X using friends to get it for you.

If you have an OS X 10.5 DVD as I have you do the following:

1. Mount the OS X DVD on a Windows PC
2. double click the “Drivers” folder
3. double click the “Apple” folder

To install the drivers double click the “applekeyboardinstaller.exe”.

You can reboot if you like, it’s Windows afterall and it’s never happy without a reboot of some type.



Now when you plug in your slimline “twiggy” of the keyboard world, WinXP will detect it and away you go!

Key equivalents:

fn = INS
clear = NUM LOCK


Hiccups that I’ve found:

1. When installing NetWare in ESX server you are required to press the F10 key to accept the licence. In this instance F10 is not translating. Could be the Apple driver, could be the keyboard mapping to ESX. Fairly obscure I know, but worth mentioning.
UPDATE:- The F10 key is working fine, along with all the function keys. Solution: press the FN key in combination with the function key of your choice. All good. So now I have no hiccups.

2. Let me know if you find more and I’ll add them to the list.

Tags: apple, technology, mac

It is a long weekend so I decided to upgrade my Gutsy Gibbon install to Hardy Heron. This was more of a complete install rather than an upgrade. My pc needed a clean out.

I have a slim aluminium Apple keyboard on my PC which is great and everything was fine.

Fine until I hit the Num Lock equivalent (the “Clear”) key on the numeric keypad.

This promptly screwed up my keyboard mapping. Nothing I did would return it to normal, including rebooting the machine. Although I didn’t try powering off the computer, just a soft reset.

Anyhow, I managed to fix this problem by plugging in a standard pc usb keyboard and pressing the Num Lock key thereby resetting the OS. I then plugged the Apple keyboard back in and all was well. I confirmed the problem again by pressing the “Clear” key. Problem returned, numeric keyboard not working but neither were the alpha keys.

Fix by repeating the above.

After some googling this seems to be a kernel bug in Ubuntu 8.04. Hope they fix it soon.

Tags: apple, technology, ubuntu

I decided to wash the bike today. It has been a while and I was feeling sorry for it, the amount of bug-guts smeared over the fuselage was becoming a distraction for the flies.

Sudsy foam washer in hand I began to scrub back the layers of splat, when to my surprise I uncovered a startling truth...



Seems the bike has aligned itself with the rider!

Tags: apple, mac

So clean. So... Intelligent.

Tags: apple, mac, OS X

Well I've been fiddling around with Leopard for a few days now and am fully back up and running. The entire process was hassle free.

This is the process I followed:

1. took an image with carbon copy cloner to my external drive
2. took a second image with CCC to my external drive
3. then copied my documents folder to the external drive
4. the booted of my OS X 10.4 CD and used Disk Utility to take a clone of the entire hard drive to my external disk.

5. Inserted the OSX 10.5 CD and started the install
6. I think the term is "nuke 'n pave"

Done.

All the good stuff you've probably heard about is true.. it's all good!

Even on my MacBook Leopard is quite a bit faster in just about everything.

Updates as the come in...

Tags: apple, mac, OS X

October 26 is the date.

I don't get too excited about much I.T. related, however this has got me hopping with anticipation.

OS X Leopard is a rather large update from Tiger with some 300+ new things. Hop on over to the Apple website for a sneak preview on what will devastate the Windows Vista devotees.

I have never bought an operating system without a PC to go with it. That is, I've always received an OS via the OEM. Leopard is the first OS that I have laid down the plastic for.

Since embracing the Mac way of life my computing experience has never been better. It just works.

I can empathise with those who are unsure about making the change. All the doubts about software compatibility, range of software and usability went through my head before I took the leap. All of them, bar none, were worries I shouldn't have been having and I quickly learned this... with the help of a Mac redi-reference at work (Paul, you're a legend). I recommend you just do it.. you won't look back and you'll be living in PC nirvana.

I have pre-ordered Leopard and eagerly await it's arrival some time after the 26th. I live in the 'Bush' so I don't expect to get it on that Friday.

In preparation for the new arrival, I have been preparing my little MacBook. Thanks again to Paul, I have a great little tool called Carbon Copy Cloner that can make a DMG image of my hard disk. This is my backup strategy should I wish to roll-back for some reason...can't think of one at the moment but there may be some weird kind of software that I desperately need and can't do without that won't run on Leopard.

Anyway... Tiger was/is great, Leopard looks positively Grand, and if those Apple dudes continue their trend Leopard is going to be a jaw dropper!

Check back from time-to-time as I'll be putting up my impressions of the new animal.

Tags: OS X, mac, apple

So this is my new keyboard...

Sexy isn't it!?

It's the new offering from Apple and is currently shipping with the new iMac. I picked up this wired USB version (also comes in wireless but that's too much smoke and mirrors for me) because I've been using a MacBook for a while now and have come to like the keyboard on the MB very very much. This new keyboard gives me the same luxurious feel on my PC that I've come to appreciate from my MB.

It works fantastically with SLED10 and seems to work perfectly with Windows XP, based on my experience with a virtual machine.

I'm likening the key press to what a sniper might be feeling as he rests his finger on the trigger of his weapon. There is enough resistance so you know you've pressed the key, but requires no effort to type continuously. Fantastic all round if you ask me.

Apple are masters of design and function, they prove it over and over again.

Tags: apple

So... this is my MacBook.
Friends at work (on ya Paul and Rob) through subtle and subliminal advertising convinced me to buy one and I'll be forever grateful.

The history of this purchase is... I was looking for something to take traveling with me, that would be portable, stable, run Photoshop, and have enough storage to take multiple Gigs of images from my Canon 10D. I do a fair amount of travel and I'm an avid photographer so I needed something that would cater for all this. I was originally looking at an image viewer from Epson, however this wouldn't allow me to backup to DVD if required. Something I tend to do regardless of what they say about X-Ray screening machines. Plus I couldn't run PS.

I also looked at a tiny Dell laptop however, after checking out a MacBook owned by one of the other guys at work, I was hooked.

Down went the plastic and as they say, the rest is history.

Quick specs:
Dual core 2Ghz processor
2 Gb RAM
120Gb Hard drive
SuperDrive
Firewire/USB
Built in camera (iCam)
OS X Tiger

I mentioned stability. According to iStat Nano the longest I've had my MacBook running is 30 days 21hrs. That's with constant daily use. Try that with windows!
For PS work, I connect to a 24" Dell monitor and colour manage with a ColorVision Spyder2.

Tags: apple, OS X