Macends

Show hidden files in Finder

Kevin — 2008-08-05T12:55:23Z

More of a reminder to myself, - sometimes you may need to see those hidden files on your system.

In Terminal type:
"defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE" press the return key, then
"killall Finder" and obviously press return again.

To revert this, write "TRUE" instead of "FALSE"

10.5 troubleshooting: mail reply shows wrong "sent on" date

Kevin — 2008-06-26T09:42:33Z

We came across this problem today: Replies in Apple Mail app always show the same (wrong) sender date like "On 26.09.2007, at 14:08, Tom Jones wrote:" and its always 26.09.2007 in every reply to any sender, no matter on what date they had really sent their e-mail.

The solution to this is in System Preferences > International > Formats
Change the Region from "Custom" to your local Region e.g. "Switzerland"

Memory testing utility

Kevin — 2008-01-10T09:34:20Z

If you need to test your RAM, Microsoft offer a free tool called windiag. The tool has its own loader, so it works autonomously for Intel or AMD processors, this means it works for Intel Macs or Linux Systems just as well as for Windows machines. You can download the ISO file here, burn a bootable CD and boot your computer from the CD. That's it.

Go here for the German windiag website.

And here's a reminder on how to burn an ISO disc image in Mac OS X:

1. Insert a blank disc.
2. Start Disk Utility.
3. From the File menu, choose Open Disk Image and select the ISO to be burned.
4. In the list of volumes, you will now see an item representing the ISO file. Select it.
5. Click the Burn button and follow the instructions.

This reminder is courtesy of vocaro on macosxhints.com. Thanks!

10.5 System Upgrade - another blue screen cause

Kevin — 2008-01-08T09:32:55Z

Not so long ago I upgraded a 12" PowerBook from Tiger to Leopard OS X, resulting in a blue screen on restart right after installation.
The cause was the Unsanity Application Enhancer installed on the old system. If you do an upgrade, check if you have Application Enhancer (a helper Extension in System Preferences, used for Applications like Airfoil for example) installed and uninstall it if its there.

In case the blue screen is already there, help is provided on the Apple's Support Discussions:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1197402&tstart=45

Boot your blue screen Mac in Firewire-mode if possible (by pressing T on startup), connect to another computer and remove the following files:

/Library/Preference Panes/Application Enhancer.prefpane
/Library/Frameworks/Application Enhancer.framework
/System/Library/SystemConfiguration/Application Enhancer.bundle
/Library/Preferences/com.unsanity.ape.plist

If Firewire-mode doesn't work you may have to remove your hard disk and place it in an external drive to sort t out. For me Firewire-mode worked fine though.

10.5. Can't find Boot Camp Assistant app

Kevin — 2007-11-27T09:36:48Z

Can't find the Boot Camp Assistant.app on your freshly installed OS X 10.5? No one's going to believe you? - It's part of the system they'll say..? Well, it's just happened to us on 3 brand new MacBooks.

Luckily there is an easy solution to install Boot Camp separately:
Insert the OS X Leopard installer DVD, in Finder press command + shift + g () and enter the following path:
/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/System/Installation/Packages/ for the Leopard retail CD or /Volumes/Mac OS X Install Disc 1/System/Installation/Packages for Disc 1 that came with a new Mac.

Then double-click the BootCamp.pkg - this package is the Boot Camp installer.

Kein Boot Camp installiert? - Boot Camp lässt sich in OS X Leopard von der System DVD einfach nach installieren:
Aus dem Finder geben sie folgendens Tastenkürzel ein: (umschalttaste + befehlstaste + g)
/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/System/Installation/Packages/ für die Leopard DVD oder /Volumes/Mac OS X Install Disc 1/System/Installation/Packages für Disk 1 die mit einem neuen Mac mitgeliefert wurde.
Dann doppelklick auf BootCamp.pkg

Problems shutting down under OS X 10.5

Kevin — 2007-11-27T09:33:38Z

If your Mac won't shut down, there's a big chance the problem lies with iDisk Sync being turned on (in System Preferences), - it can even cause problems in manual mode. It may also use up a large chunk of local disk space, because the system keeps a copy of your iDisk's contents.

10.5 Time Machine: Backup to network drive

Kevin — 2007-11-23T09:37:39Z

macosxhints.com now have an easy solution to enable backup on mounted network drives with Time Machine: type the following in your Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

and Time Machine will let you select mounted network drives (under Set up Time Machine / Change Disk). I have no idea how reliable it is to use Time Machine with network storage and what kind of format is best. I still use a Firewire disk. Another issue is, that Time Machine will eventually fill all available disk space, no matter how many TB you have (more on this issue discussed here).

10.5 Connect to your Mac from Windows XP

Kevin — 2007-11-18T09:30:13Z

We we're trying to connect to a Mac running OS X 10.5.1 from a Windows machine running XP over the network...
Following the instructions the Sharing Preference on our Mac gave us, we were without a chance.

OS X 10.5. suggests the following path: smb://10.0.1.9. - we got nothing but error messages on our Windows machine. I remembered in OS X 10.4. it used to be backslash, - and indeed, without the "smb" and using double-backslash instead of double-slash it works.

To avoid problems with routers blocking your connection, use a network (ethernet) cable to connect your mac and your PC directly.
- Switch off the AirPort on your MAC, for this will give you the wrong address in the Windows Sharing pane.

Why the hell do Apple tell us "Windows users can access your computer at smb://10.0.1.9." when this obviously doesn't work? Maybe I don't know enough about Windows (true!) and using this path somewhere other than in Run from Start Menu would work..?

However, the Sharing Preference Interface in OS X has gone from bad in 10.4 to worse in 10.5 - this is not what a Mac should be - which is to offer an intuitive and user friendly interface. Although it must be said, technically it has improved, for example by offering the long missed option to allow access to specific folders.

On Windows enter your Mac's address 10.0.1.7. in the Run app:

If you can't see the smb://... path in your Mac's Sharing Preference, remember to click "options" located bottom right in the sharing preferences window and select "Share files and folders using SMB" and deselect the AFP checkbox - this used to simply be "Windows Sharing" in 10.4 Tiger...

To configure your Mac so you can access more than just your shared folders from the PC, add whichever directory / folder you want by clicking on the plus below the Shared Folders pane in the Sharing Preference window (in my example this is the folder "Larne" - with you it might be the "Documents" folder. Then grant Read & Write access for yourself in the Users pane.

Troubleshooting: If you still can't connect, try...
- with your firewall on your Mac turned off (remember to turn it back on when you're done).
- try using a direct computer to computer ethernet cable connection instead of going through your wireless network.
- If you have a direct connection with a cable, make sure to turn off the AirPort on your MAC!

iSync plugins for Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones

Kevin — 2007-11-14T09:26:34Z

If Apple won't do it, manufacturers will: Nokia and Sony Ericsson ( P1, P990, W950i...) offer their own iSync plugins:

Sony Ericsson | Nokia

Leopard Screen Sharing app

Kevin — 2007-11-13T09:43:09Z

A new feature in Leopard is the inclusion of an application called "Screen Sharing" - it is apparently based on Apples Remote Desktop. The Screen Sharing app (which Apple suggests we use via the iChat app where it is built in as a feature), is actually a separate application located in
/System/Library/CoreServices/Screen Sharing.app

Mac OS X Hints posted the following hint, which greatly improves usability of this app, by adding favourites and the Bonjour-Browser, - enter the following command in Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing ShowBonjourBrowser_Debug 1