Mac Users Of Mtc (apple: Go Ahead, Take A Bite!)

[boomouse]

Hello!

 

Does anybody know where i can get keys for my ibook g4 keypad?

 

natanggal kasi siya, and when I inspected it, nasira na yung hinges sa key buttons itself.

 

thanks.

 

Call an Apple repair center and find out if they have junkers of the same model you have and see if you can buy the keyboard off those.

[jayar]

Call an Apple repair center and find out if they have junkers of the same model you have and see if you can buy the keyboard off those.

 

Thanks!

[djrs]

sino meron iblacklist na working?

[serpentor_ph]

@boom - bossing what so special about the two usb ports on the left side of mac books ? any ideas ?

Edited April 20, 2009 by serpentor_ph

[artvader]

Hmmm... the placement?

[serpentor_ph]

Hmmm... the placement?

 

there are some musical devices and softwares the recommends not to use the two left usb ports of mac book pro and the usb port that is nearest to the screen on mac books. problem here is that new macbook pro only has two usb ports and placed on the left side. hope that maestro boom mouse has a technical explanation why is this happening and is there a way to use the new mac book pro on these devices.

[boomouse]

there are some musical devices and softwares the recommends not to use the two left usb ports of mac book pro and the usb port that is nearest to the screen on mac books. problem here is that new macbook pro only has two usb ports and placed on the left side. hope that maestro boom mouse has a technical explanation why is this happening and is there a way to use the new mac book pro on these devices.

 

Theoretically, there should be no difference in performance and characteristics between the USB ports on the left and right side of the Macbook pro.

 

However, having said that, let me say that I kinow what you mean. On my old non-unibody MBP 15, I experienced flaky performance from some devices connnected to the left port such as generic USB hard drives, and generic web cams. My theory is that it has more to do with the power requirements of the device. The MBP somehow refuses to work with a device that might tax its power supply if you use the left USB port.

 

On my new unibody MBP 17 I have not experienced any problems. Neither on my first and second gen Macbooks Air, any of several Mac Minis, or unibody Macbooks. I use external DVD, Blue Ray, Drobo drives and several have 2 GB Western Digitial notebook drives thethered to them with no problems.

 

The only thing I would caution you against is the use of those USB powered cooling pads sold by places like CDR King. Those things can k*ll your battery if you leave it connected with the laptop in sleep with the power suply disconnected because it will continue to drain you battery beyond the allowed limit. I learned this as an expensive P8k lesson for a new batt in my MBP 15. If you want to use a colling pad, connect it to a separately powered USB hub.

[serpentor_ph]

Theoretically, there should be no difference in performance and characteristics between the USB ports on the left and right side of the Macbook pro.

 

However, having said that, let me say that I kinow what you mean. On my old non-unibody MBP 15, I experienced flaky performance from some devices connnected to the left port such as generic USB hard drives, and generic web cams. My theory is that it has more to do with the power requirements of the device. The MBP somehow refuses to work with a device that might tax its power supply if you use the left USB port.

 

On my new unibody MBP 17 I have not experienced any problems. Neither on my first and second gen Macbooks Air, any of several Mac Minis, or unibody Macbooks. I use external DVD, Blue Ray, Drobo drives and several have 2 GB Western Digitial notebook drives thethered to them with no problems.

 

The only thing I would caution you against is the use of those USB powered cooling pads sold by places like CDR King. Those things can k*ll your battery if you leave it connected with the laptop in sleep with the power suply disconnected because it will continue to drain you battery beyond the allowed limit. I learned this as an expensive P8k lesson for a new batt in my MBP 15. If you want to use a colling pad, connect it to a separately powered USB hub.

 

Thanks boom ! :thumbsupsmiley: since i cant sleep because of this issue, i asked mr. google :

 

"If you own a Macbook or Macbook Pro (and Torq, obviously), I'm sure you're well aware of the problem when you plug the Connectiv into one of the USB ports (typically the left USB port on Macbooks), you get dropouts when you touch the trackpad or keyboard. This happens in both Torq and Serato. Supposedly becuase the trackpad and USB port share the same power source and also the trackpad goes to "sleep" after a certain amount of time (~15 seconds) of no activity, then when you touch the trackpad it causes a power spike and hence the dropout. This has been a known problem for a while now and Apple has yet to address the issue."

 

According to the people monitoring this case this issue has been solved by update 10.5.2. I traced the contents of the update 10.5.2 and i cant seem to find any fix for the USB port thinggy listed. Can you confirm this ? If not, its ok. :goatee:

Edited April 23, 2009 by serpentor_ph

[boomouse]

Thanks boom ! :thumbsupsmiley: since i cant sleep because of this issue, i asked mr. google :

 

According to the people monitoring this case this issue has been solved by update 10.5.2. I traced the contents of the update 10.5.2 and i cant seem to find any fix for the USB port thinggy listed. Can you confirm this ? If not, its ok. :goatee:

 

I can only confirm that I have not had this problem recently. I'm on 10.5.6 and although I remember problems with the left side USB, now that I think about it, yes it seems to have gone away. But this is just me talking and I just move to my desktop machine when the laptop hiccups.

 

----------------------------

 

At various times, mention of a "hackintosh" has been made in the thread. I recall @djrs and myself mentioning dabbling in trying to get OSX to work in a made-for-windows machine at various times. My experience has ranged from wildly successful (meaning: OSX boots but essential services are none existent) to fairly successful (meaning: mostly everything works but the user experience is still not there).

 

Wired.com recently ran a feature on the experience of two journalists on a MSI Wind hackintosh unarguably, one of the most OSX-compatible laptops (and probably the cheapest at P18,500 in Manila).

 

Six Months With a Hackintosh Netbook: It Ain’t Pretty

By Brian X. Chen, April 27, 2009

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/04/six...it-aint-pretty/

 

 

Is hacking a netbook to run Mac OS X really worth the trouble? Two tech journalists today expressed grief with their Hackbooks, so I felt like chiming in with my thoughts about my somewhat controversial MSI Wind Hackintosh. In short, my Hackintosh and I have been pals for six months, but it’s been a pretty bumpy ride.

 

When I first bought my Wind in October, I was thrilled after successfully hacking it to run Mac OS X Leopard. I loved the netbook so much, in fact, that I almost stopped using my first-generation MacBook Pro altogether. To express my delight, I even made a custom wallpaper for my netbook featuring my favorite childhood ice cream flavor (Superman). The Wind was a great companion device: I use an iMac in the office, so when I got home the dumbed-down, lightweight netbook was great for web surfing, chatting and general unwinding.

 

But over time the problems started surfacing. Like Wired.com’s Charlie Sorrel, I grew to despise the Wind’s dinky trackpad: Whoever designed it had in mind an infant’s hands; navigating grew so tiresome that I started carrying around an external mouse to make it tolerable.

 

Second, the software issues. Seeing as this netbook was hacked to run OS X, of course it didn’t work perfectly. I accepted that, and with some tweaks I got most software utilities working properly. But while I was traveling in Europe, my netbook’s Wi-Fi suddenly stopped working. The Airport utility simply wouldn’t light up, and I discovered a few fixes that worked temporarily, only for the connection to fail again. As you can imagine, a netbook without the net in a foreign country was a huge drag — a piece of useless plastic added to my luggage. I ended up barely using my netbook during my trip, and I instead heavily relied on my problem-free iPhone.

 

When I returned home, I completely reinstalled OS X, and Wi-Fi worked once again. And then the hardware issues kicked in. Minor ones, actually: Screws at the bottom of the clamshell kept falling out, even after I screwed them in as tightly as possible. I inspected the case more closely and realized it no longer clamps all the way shut, which is why the screws aren’t staying in. This issue was probably a result of cheap plastic or shoddy clamshell design. Unfortunately this created another annoying problem: The battery kept popping out of the case ever so slightly — just enough to shut off the computer whenever I nudged the netbook. I eventually resolved the problem with some double-sided tape, but I wasn’t happy about it.

 

Given all these issues, I became pretty jaded about my netbook — hence my lack of mentioning it here at Wired.com in recent months. I ended up selling my MacBook Pro and buying the latest unibody model refurbished, and now I rarely use my netbook. So unfortunately, I have to agree with Dave “MacSparky” Sparks and The Unofficial Apple Weblog’s Steven Sande, who both grew frustrated with their Dell Mini 9 Hackintoshes. It’s a fun hacking project, but it’s like the fixed-gear bicycle you built but left sitting in the garage, because over time you realized it was too impractical.

Edited April 28, 2009 by boomouse

[chancepassenger30]

Globe is now offering a DUO service wherein you are assigned a virtual landline. So basically you get a landline through your cellphone. My question is, has anyone tried using this service to fax through MAC OSX? Is it possible to send faxes though our cellphone's bluetooth?

[serpentor_ph]

Globe is now offering a DUO service wherein you are assigned a virtual landline. So basically you get a landline through your cellphone. My question is, has anyone tried using this service to fax through MAC OSX? Is it possible to send faxes though our cellphone's bluetooth?

 

if the fax machine has a bluetooth receiver technically i can be done. the limitation that i can see here is the distance between the sending and receiving devices.

[chancepassenger30]

if the fax machine has a bluetooth receiver technically i can be done. the limitation that i can see here is the distance between the sending and receiving devices.

 

 

No I mean like using your MAC with just your cellphone's line. No fax machine, like when you use your PC as a fax, with the phone line just plugged into the pc. Except, you use your cellphone with your MAC

[artvader]

I think that can be done, depending on your cellphone's capabilities... problem is ata newer cellphone models don't support this feature anymore.

[serpentor_ph]

No I mean like using your MAC with just your cellphone's line. No fax machine, like when you use your PC as a fax, with the phone line just plugged into the pc. Except, you use your cellphone with your MAC

 

hhhmmm...... my guess is :

 

1. you need a fax sending apps on your iphone

2. not sure whether if iphone has modem like features, if it has then maybe this will work.

[serpentor_ph]

@ Boom - bossing fast one, my update for safari 4 beta public is failing. failing in the sense that it installs ok but after the restart and do a check for updates the patch is still there which means that i have not applied it. any idea why it failed ?

[marc.alan]

@boomouse... thanks for the info on the hackintosh... i was close to doing one myself, but now, im deciding to stick with the good ol' macbook...

 

however, the project seems to be pretty interesting. im itching to try to out on a desktop. i have an old Sempron desktop id like to test it on, but i couldn't find anything useful online. got any tips sir?

 

Thanks in advance

[boomouse]

@boomouse... thanks for the info on the hackintosh... i was close to doing one myself, but now, im deciding to stick with the good ol' macbook...

 

however, the project seems to be pretty interesting. im itching to try to out on a desktop. i have an old Sempron desktop id like to test it on, but i couldn't find anything useful online. got any tips sir?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Using a sempron for a hackintosh project can be tricky and frustrating. First, the new installers will probably not work in the same way the work on the late model netbooks. You will have to do some hard core installs requiring use if early versions of the IATKOS distro.

 

Second, Semprons came out with cores that are SSE, SSE2, and SSE3 compatible. Leopard requires SSE2 or SSE3. Which one do you have? The wiki seems fairly accurate but I would not know how to identify what it is installed. Perhaps if you could ask some of the AMD fans in the AMD thread. Then too, take note of your MoBo brand, and model and get as much info about what that supports, what chipsets it uses (intel integrated video is fine, VIA will definitely cause some hair-pulling). Same with the sound and networking hardware.

 

Once you get this info, then we can probably devise an installation strategy.

[marc.alan]

oooooh.... tricky tricky... sounds very complicated. and a lot of time devoted to research. in that case, i would have to do this when my workload lightens up. thanks so much for the tech info! Really appreciated.

[na922]

Any final cut pro studio 2 users? need help with drop frames what should i do to stop the drop frames?

[boomouse]

Any final cut pro studio 2 users? need help with drop frames what should i do to stop the drop frames?

 

A word of advice to thread patrons who have tech problems/issues… it would be helpful for people who are going to try to answer if you provide more information about your work environment. That is, CPU, RAM, and hard disk size and type, plus OS version, and if it is application related, App version.

 

Now to your problem. Dropped frames can either happen on capture or playback (or both). You did not indicate which. On both issues, lack of hardware resources is the culprit. I have found a support document from the Apple site and I am pasting it in:

 

 

What Are Dropped Frames?

Dropped frames are frames that are unintentionally skipped during playback or output, either because the hard disk cannot keep up with the video data rate or because the computer processor cannot perform all of the applied effects in time. Some real-time playback modes allow dropped frames, while others require rendering to avoid dropped frames.

 

Dropped frames during editing are usually tolerable. However, during capture and output, dropped frames are almost always unacceptable. Dropped frames during playback are almost always caused by a hardware setup issue. When properly configured, Final Cut Pro should not drop frames.

 

Reporting Dropped Frames During Playback

 

There are two similar "Warning -- Dropped Frames" messages that might appear:

 

• The first message can appear if dropped frames are detected for any reason during playback http://km.support.apple.com/library/APPLE/APPLECARE_ALLGEOS/TS1165/TS1165_1.jpg
  
• The second is like the first, but with the explicit notification that the disk I/O speed is the reason for the dropped frames. http://km.support.apple.com/library/APPLE/APPLECARE_ALLGEOS/TS1165/TS1165_2.jpg
   
  The suggestion to try increasing the speed of your disks involves using a hard disk solution capable of greater throughput; it's generally not possible to actually increase the spin speed of a given hard disk.
  

Dropped frames during playback may indicate that your hard disk or RAID is too slow or your video footage uses a codec that is too processor-intensive for your computer to handle. If you plan to output your sequence to tape, you will need to resolve this issue at some point. However, for editing purposes, you can disable the message that appears when dropped frames occur.

 

To disable the dropped frames message:

 

1. Choose Final Cut Pro > User Preferences.
   
2. In the General tab, deselect the "Report dropped frames during playback" checkbox.
   

Note: A separate option, "Abort ETT/PTV on dropped frames," controls whether Final Cut Pro cancels playback if frames are dropped during Print to Video and Edit to Tape operations. In most cases, you should keep this checkbox selected.

 

• Improving Real-Time Performance
   
  If the processing demands of all applied effects exceed the capabilities of your computer, you have several options to improve real-time performance:
  • Reduce the playback video quality and frame rate in the RT pop-up menu in the Timeline or in the Playback Control tab of the System Settings window.
    
  • Play your sequence using the Unlimited RT mode instead of the Safe RT mode.
    
  • Choose Play Base Layer Only from the RT pop-up menu.
    
  • Render any clips whose render status bars indicate they can't be played in real time before you play them back.
    
  • Turn off external video monitoring.
    

  Refer to the Final Cut Pro User Manual for detailed information on the options listed above.

   

   

  [*] Check your hard drives

   

  It's critical for Final Cut Pro to have sufficient and continuous access to the files on disk that it's using.

   

  Final Cut Pro may report dropped frames if your hard disk is not capable of the throughput required by the video format or number of streams you are using.

   

  Final Cut Pro may also report dropped frames if your hard disk is extremely fragmented or damaged, or if your RAID or network-based storage contains a bad hard disk or is not configured correctly.

   

  For more information about hard disk and storage considerations for Final Cut Pro, refer to the related Knowledge Base document, "Final Cut Pro: Choosing a Hard Disk"

  [*] Memory configuration in Mac Pro computers

   

  To achieve optimal performance when running Final Cut Studio applications, memory DIMM pairs should be installed evenly on both risers. For details, refer to the related Knowledge Base document, "Final Cut Studio: For best performance on Mac Pro, install memory in risers symmetrically "

  [*] HD Video may require more RAM

   

  Certain workflows involving HD Video may require additional system resources. Additional RAM may be necessary in order to avoid dropping frames when editing with High Definition video. For more information, see this document.

  [*] PCIe Card Slot Configuration

   

  When using Final Cut Studio in a configuration that uses more than one PCI Express (PCIe) card, it's important to check that the expansion slots are configured to best utilize the bandwidth required by those cards. For more information, refer to the related Knowledge Base document, "Final Cut Studio: How to optimize PCI Express card performance"

   

  Refer to manufacturer's support information for your video interface card, and confirm that you have the latest applicable software, drivers and recommended configuration:

  • AJA Video Systems - Support
    
  • Blackmagic Design - Support
    

  [*] Automatic Pulldown

   

  Some video interface cards have the ability to automatically change the field cadence pattern (known as "pulldown"), performing an on-the-fly conversion from 24 fps to 29.97 fps. In some cases, this process may result in dropped frames being reported.

   

  To determine if pulldown is the reason that dropped frames are reported, you can test by playing the video in the Timeline at its native frame rate:

  Turn off external video in Final Cut Pro to avoid playback through the capture card.

  1. Choose View > External Video > Off.
     
  2. Next, choose View > Video Playback Video > None.
     

   

   

  [*] Update to the latest release of QuickTime

   

  Get the latest QuickTime version with the most recent update. Choose Software Update from the Apple menu to install the latest update, or get it from the QuickTime Download page.

  [*] Disable "Mirror on Desktop"

   

  Try deselecting "Mirror on desktop during Playback" in the A/V Devices tab in the Audio/Video Settings window. If your computer is running close to its capacity, this setting may prevent dropped frames.

  [*] Too many sequences open

   

  A potential cause of dropped frames during output is having too many sequences open simultaneously in the Timeline. Especially with complex sequences with numerous edits, having more than one sequence open at the same time can affect playback performance. To resolve this, close all sequences except the one you want to output to video.

  [*] Lots and lots of little clips

   

  Another cause of dropped frames is playing sequences with numerous short edits. Projects with a large number of short edits (for example, a video made up of several hundred ten-frame clips) can sometimes overwhelm a hard disk's ability to jump from one clip to another. In this case there are a couple of things you can try:

  • Write out one single file. When rendering out using the Export QuickTime Movie command, disable the Recompress All Frames feature to save unnecessary rendering time.
    
  • Another solution, particularly in the case of long sequences, is to split a single long sequence into multiple short sequences, outputting them to tape one at a time.
    

  [*] Using Final Cut Pro with Xserve RAID

   

  If your Final Cut Pro workstations are connected to Xserve RAIDs, ensure that each Xserve RAID has been configured with the setting described in this document.

  [*] Using Final Cut Pro with Xsan

   

  Xsan configuration may impact Final Cut Pro performance. To ensure optimal Xsan performance and stability, see this document.

  [*] Switching to Final Cut Pro from Soundtrack Pro

   

  When you switch from Soundtrack Pro to Final Cut Pro, there may be a short period when Soundtrack Pro is storing data from RAM to the hard disk. If you try to play your project in Final Cut Pro while the data is storing, you may see dropped frame warning messages . The specific length of time of the data storage may vary depending on the sizes of the Soundtrack Pro and Final Cut Pro projects and the amount of physical RAM on the computer.

[boomouse]

Why Can't the Competition out-Apple, Apple? I ran into this article at http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/why...ut-apple_apple/ and while I won't be pasting it into here, I believe that the following points/observations were made:

 

No computer of whatever brand running a Microsoft operating system of whatever name be it XP, Vista, or "7" will be able to make a computer a well put together and as solid as an Apple Computer because they do not control the whole product.

 

The OS is made by Microsoft which has to make sure that one OS will be usable in as many different types of computers as possible and in the process of providing for the slightly different way each hardware will work with the OS, they make it more 'open' to the bad stuff.

 

The hardware makers themselves rarely have to compete against Apple but more so against other makers also using a MS OS because that is the price point they compete in. And as you strive to make continuously cheaper hardware, you will have to use cheaper materials, corner cutting production procedures, and perhaps even lower quality control standards. The result: cheap, lousy computers.

[bubuy]

stupid question but ill ask it nonetheless: does the Firefox for Mac and it's add-ons (more specifically Greasemonkey) work perfectly on a Mac?

[boomouse]

stupid question but ill ask it nonetheless: does the Firefox for Mac and it's add-ons (more specifically Greasemonkey) work perfectly on a Mac?

 

I know it works on Firefox 3.5b4. But I don't use it and haven't installed on 3.5b99 which is what I use now. My feeling is that there is a very good chance that it would.

[jayar]

stupid question but ill ask it nonetheless: does the Firefox for Mac and it's add-ons (more specifically Greasemonkey) work perfectly on a Mac?

 

It works perfectly with Mac. I use it way more often than Safari itself.

[antoneverland]

Mac user here.

 

Eagerly awaiting the release of Snow Leopard.

 

Family pack anyone? hahahaha. Joke.