Install OSX on MSI Wind / Advent 4211

You can find plenty of places that tell you how to do this.

- Some talk about getting the Wind / 4211 to boot from the USB/DVD. I had no problem with this. Went into the BIOS by pressing the 'del' key and set the DVD drive to be the first boot device. I used a plain vanilla IDE drive with a USB adapter like this one from Maplin.

- I did have a problem with the first boot routine getting stuck. After selecting the region and then the keyboard it goes to the transfer data / settings "transfer from another mac" screen. I've got nothing to transfer so I select "I dont' want to transfer data at this time", but it gets stuck and after 2 minutes goes back to the select language screen. I solved it by booting into safe mode by holding down the shift key on boot. Then go into the terminal and type:

sudo touch /var/db/.AppleSetupDone

You should also create a user account and change the administrator password, which is blank at this point.

- The update to 1_Kalyway_UpdCombo10.5.3 seemed to fail. It got stuck at 96%. After 30 minutes I force quit the installer and moved onto the 2_Kalyway_10.5.3_kernel. This installed OK and on reboot I did the 'update -v' as instructed.

The supplied wireless is not supported, so I installed one I got from Ebay - click this link. You have to turn on the wireless by using the hotkey which is Fn+F11. I find 10.5 to be fairly poor with WPA anyway, and the kalyway one is not exception! So if you don't get onto your AP at first go, be patient.

Opening the case is easy. Use a small cross-head screwdriver to undo the screw, then gently prize off the bottom case. I used a wooden lolly pop stick so as not to damage the case. The wireless card is held on with a screw so undo that, take off the aerial connectors and reverse to fit the new one.

The Fn+F11 hotkey also turns the Bluetooth on, but it seems to be a toggle with the wireless ie I don't seem to be abe to have both on together. If this turns out to be a problem, I can use a Belkin USB Bluetooth adapter which is natively supported.

The camera turns on and off using Fn+F6 and is useable in Photo Booth so I guess thats OK.

The screen res and some other 3rd party KEXTS have intermittent results. For example when I boot only sometimes do I get 1024x600. When I do its great. Sometimes I get a cros through the battery, even though it has a battery.

Also I do not seem to be able to get the wired ethernet working. I'll try installing the KEXTs again.

So right now the only thing of note that doesn't work is the wired ethernet.

Uninstall CISCO VPN client OSX

If you have the joy of running the Cisco VPN client on your Mac, you will rejoice the day you can remove it. Actually that could be unfair.

Whatever. There is no uninstaller, so you need to use to following command from the terminal:

sudo /usr/local/bin/vpn_uninstall

You are prompted to remove all profiles and certificates.

If you answer yes, all binaries, startup scripts, certificates, profiles, and any directories that were created during the installation process are removed.

If you answer no, all binaries and startup scripts are removed, but certificates, profiles, and the vpnclient.ini file remain.

Quick browsing of EXIF data from the Finder

The 'get info' command in the Finder has another option few people know about: The Inspector. Instead of cmd-I you do opt-cmd-I.

The info window opens, but now it auto-updates the file you have selected. Then you can use Quick View as well.

Nokia Maps vs OSX

Nokia, bless them, have only released the Map Loader for WinXp / Vista. Which is a pity if you don't have / want to use those systems.

You would think it wouldn't be too hard to write a little java app that works cross platform like on OSX. They must have enough customers using OSX. I mean its not as though they invested any effort / money in the GUI, is it? And they wrote a photo downloader for N series to iPhoto workflow.

Well anyway, I don't use those systems (by choice) but if I want to download the maps in advance of a trip, then I guess I have to sigh.

The current versions of PC Suite (7.0) and Map Loader (2.0) in theory can transfer the maps by bluetooth.

In practice I never got this working... so I used the USB cable.

Oh yes, and another thing... why does Map Loader not allow you to selectively delete the cached maps on your device? I have a 2Gb card in the N73, a substantial amount of which is used for cached maps. Do they really want me downloading another 2Gb from their server? Bandwidth is that cheap for them?

If you are wondering why I want to cache the maps, well when you are places with no signal eg Mojave Desert, Joshua Tree, Yosemite etc...

Kill / force quit a program / process in OSX

Sometimes a program or process gets into an unresponsive or other undesirable state and you cannot quit it from the GUI.

What you can do is to force quit, or kill it, from the command line. You can either do this locally or by SSHing in.

First run 'top' and see if you can find the culprit. If the process is consuming too much CPU you can find it using 'top -o cpu'.

Make a note of the PID (process ID), so if the PID is 1292, then you do

kill -9 1292

and it'll be gone.

If you get a no permission error then it could be that the process is owned by root or another user, n which case you can do

sudo kill -9 1292

put in the root password, and its killed.

Growl says requires updating, even after updating

If you get this you may need to upgrade to 1.1.4, or, you ay need to check that you have got rid of all the pref panes.

Check your users pref pane ~/Library/PreferencePanes, as well as the system one in /Library/PreferencePanes.

Might require a log out / in afterwards.

Nokia N800 - flashing from OSX

Flashing your Nokia Internet Tablet 770, N800, N810 from OSX is not formally supported, however, it can b done using a 3rd party piece of software, 770Flasher.app from www.bleb.org/software/maemo

1. ensure your tablet is off. You can have it connected to your USB.
2. download the file 770Flasher-2.0.dmg
3. open and drag the application to your applications folder
4. download the latest .bin file for your model from http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/
5. double click the flasher application and when it asks open the .bin file you downloaded from Nokia

Turn on the tablet and watch the messages as the image loads to the 770/N800/N810 after which it reboots automatically.

Done!

If the host doesn't see the tablet on boot then try removing the memory cards. For me at first it wouldn't. I removed the cards and it went through no problem.

Apple OSX reducing PDF file size

Everyone knows that OSX can print to PDF, and you can do this 2 ways: in the print dialog box you can select "save as PDF" which does exactly that, or, you can "open PDF in preview".


An advantage of opening the PDF in preview is that when you can save you can apply some filters, courtesy of the Quartz engine.


You can also save in a different file format, which is cool.



But what about a PDF thats been sent to you? Well you can load it into the ColorSync Utility


and you can then select 'export'


since the underlying engine is the Quartz engine you get the same options. Cool!

Slow motion / speeding up with Quicktime Pro

Usually if you want to slow mo or speed up a clip you need a full editor eg Final Cut. Thats expensive for an occasional requirement.

There is a way to do this usng only Quicktime Pro.

Say your movie lasts 30 seconds, but you want to stretch it to 1 minute.

1 - create a new empty movie from file>new player

2 - in your source, select all and the select copy

3 - swith to the new player and paste, and then paste again

this gives you a 1 minute movie, but everything doubled.

4 - in the new player do apple-j, click on the video track, and press delete

5 - switch back to the source and copy again

6 - switch back to the new player and this time from the edit menu select "add to selection & scale"

This causes your pasted movie to be stretch (scaled) to the length of the new player, which we made double.

Apple OSX - securely erasing disks

Its well known that thee are techniques that allow the retrieval of data from supposedly "erased" disks.

If you use OSX and you would like to make the recovery of data harder eg you are selling or giving away a computer and you wish to make sure that all your credit card, medical and bank data really is gone, you would use have Disk Utility because it has 2 security options to help you.

You should choose either 7-pass or 35-pass if you wish to securely erase a volume. The complete list is:

• Don't Erase Data
• Zero Out Data
• 7-Pass Erase
• 35-Pass Erase

With the "Don't Erase Data" option, only directory information is erased, the data itself is left unchanged on the disk. The data WILL be recoverable and for some time. As noted in Apple article, this option is the quickest, but least secure.

The "Zero Out Data" option writes zeros over all data on the disk. The article claims that "this option provides good data security in a minimum amount of time" but this is not really true. If the only thing that matters to you is time maybe this will suffice.

The "7-Pass Erase" option is the first fairly secure option which conforms to DoD 5220.22-M. Of course this will take longer than the first 2 options. DoD 5220.22-M actually calls for 3 passes, but Disk Utility performs seven.

The most secure is the "35-Pass Erase" option which as you would guess writes data 35 times, not just zeros but using the Gutmann algorithm, which means 35 different patterns are written to the disk.

Swisscom 3G vs Bluetooth vs Apple OSX

In a previous post I blogged how to get the combination of Nokia N73 bluetooth Vodafone and 3g going.

I find myself in Switzerland for a couple of weeks, so I needed to repeat using Swisscom. Through roaming I could just connect, but then there would be a very high data cost.

So I got a Swisscom sim and put that in my N73. The first thing that happened was that I got about 15 SMS messages telling me how to set up my phone for Swisscom. Well that was not required. So I hunted around to see what the dial-up settings are. I couldn't find any at all.

After some trial and error including 3 hard freezes, I got a setting that works:

Number: web
Account Name: gprs
Password: gprs

Then click 'Advanced'

Vendor: Nokia
Model: GPRS (GSM / 3G)
APN: gprs.swisscom.ch
CID: 1




Click OK, then Apply and then Connect and you should be good to go.

Using a Macbook / Macbook Pro with an external monitor and the lid down - part 2 - using a bluetooth keyboard

Previously I had discovered how to use my Macbook Pro in lid down mode which was great, especially now that the 1.5.1 EFI firmware upgrade fixes the graphics issues.

On a short term assignment out of my regular office I wanted to use the more travel friendly Apple bluetooth keyboard.

Well its pretty easy really. Pair up the keyboard and Macbook. Put the Macbook to sleep and put the lid down. Let the bluetooth keyboard turn itself off.

Press the button on the right hand side of the keyboard, and you should get wakeup.

If this doesn't work, you need to check that bluetooth can wake the computer. The setting is in Prefs>Bluetooth>Advanced.


For a complete explanation, here's the text from Apple:

If you use an external display or projector with any MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro (17-inch), MacBook or PowerBook G4 with built-in Bluetooth and have a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, you can close the display and still use the computer. Here's how.

1. Make sure the computer is plugged in to an outlet using the AC power adapter.


2. Verify that Bluetooth is turned on by using the Bluetooth pane of System Preferences or the Bluetooth menu icon.


3. Pair your Bluetooth keyboard or mouse with the computer. For step-by-step instructions, click here for keyboard pairing or click here for mouse pairing.


4. In System Preferences, be sure that the Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer option is selected.


5. Connect the Apple video (VGA or DVI) adapter that came with your computer to the appropriate port on the external display or projector and turn the display or projector on.


6. With the computer turned on and your wireless keyboard or mouse paired, connect the other end of the adapter to the video output port on your notebook.


7. Once your computer's Desktop appears on the external display, close the notebook's lid.


8. Once it's closed, wake the computer up by either clicking your Bluetooth mouse button or by pressing a key on your Bluetooth keyboard.

You should now be able to use your MacBook, MacBook Pro, or PowerBook G4 as you normally would, using your Bluetooth keyboard or mouse.

When you are finished using your MacBook Pro, MacBook, or PowerBook G4 in closed-lid mode, the internal display will not come on when you open the lid until you have disconnected the external display. If you want the internal display to enable again, remove the external display connector, put the computer to sleep, and then open the lid. This will toggle the computer to come out of closed-lid mode and once again provide power and a video signal to the internal display.

Apple DVD player - getting 5.1 surround sound

Its not particularly well known that recent Apples support 5.1 surround sound via optical output. The headphone socket on the side does plain audio out for regular headphones.

But get a TOSlink adapter and you can feed the optical into your receiver. Then you'll need an application that can output source to 5.1 optical, such DVD Player.

To make DVD Player output 5.1 go to Preferences, Disc Setup pane and change Audio Output popup from the default to get the disk's 5.1 sound through the optical.

NB This option will only exist if you have a TOSlink connected.

Importing email into GMail part 3

So following part 1 and part 2, we've moved all the email stored remotely into GMail, but now what to do with the email in Thunderbird's local folders?

Well again Apple Mail comes to the rescue. We need to import the Thunderbird folders in Mail, and then we can drag and drop into GMail.

To do this safely, I went into the profile folder where Thunderbird keeps its mail

~/library/Thunderbird/profiles/xyz123.default/Mail/Local Folders

and in there found the items with email: Inbox and Sent. Copy them elsewhere, and stick a .mbox on them ie so they are named Inbox.mbox and Sent.mbox.

Then go into Mail and go into File>Import Mailboxes and select 'other'. Navigate to the folder where your mboxs are. They will be greyed out. Don't worry. Select 'continue' and they will be imported anyway.

After a few minutes they'll show up in Mail and you can then drag and drop into GMail.

Darwine applications have no fonts in OSX

After installing (dar)WINE on my Leopard MBP, I tried to run DPlot (a great graphing windows only application from www.dplot.com).

It runs, but had access only 2 of fonts, which is clearly not enough.

You can get extra windows compatible ttf fonts called Liberation fonts from Redhat. Unzip them and then copy then into the correct directory:

cp ~/desktop/liberation-fonts/* ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/fonts/

This puts the fonts in your own WINE settings, for other users copy for them as well

XQuartz breaks OpenOffice on OSX

People tell me that Apple's X11 is not as good as it could be and that I really should install the Xquartz community version from xquartz.macosforge.org. So I did, but I found that doing so broke OpenOffice. As I've noted before running OpenOffice under X11 gives you current version, rather than 2.2 based code on which NeoOffice is currently based, although of course NeoOffice is a great product.

The underlying problem is the OpenOffice launcher which fails to call stuff correctly.

You can get OpenOffice to launch by using the following command (line may wrap):

/Applications/OpenOffice.org\ 2.4.app/Contents/MacOS/soffice

Should launch OK.

Moving and migrating email to GMail

I needed to help a family member move their email from a very space limited email account into a nice roomy comfortable GMail account.

No problem I thought, Thunderbird will do the job. Load both accounts as IMAP folders, and drag and drop.

Well, no.

The email moves thats true, but Thunderbird does not save the dates of the emails. All the email shows up as brand new.

Not good!

Fortunately being a Mac user I was able to use Apple Mail to move the emails over.

Mac OSX X11 application - turning off the 'sure you want to quite notice'

I run Open Office on my Macbook Pro, which because it doesn't have its own windowing, requires X11. When you quit X11 you get an alert asking "are you sure you want to quit X11' and giving the dire warning that all X11 applications will also be stopped.

If you want to turn this warning off you do (from the command line)

defaults write org.x.x11 no_quit_alert true

If you want to go back run it again - just swap true with false.

What lens do I need? How to use EXIFTOOL to find out

My trusty Nikon D70 and two lenses (kit 18-70 and Tokina 12-24) have been plenty of places with me, and I'm curious to know if I should continue using them when I get my D300, or if I should consider getting a different lens, say the fabulous Nikon 17-55.

To do this, we can use EXIFTool to extract camera model and focal length information for lots of photos, and then apply some analysis to the result.

First you need to see which EXIF fields you need. To do this run (NB lines may wrap)

exiftool -a -G1 -s 'IMG_4107_Wheat_&_Olives.jpg' >all_tags.txt

from which I can see that I need to extract 'FocalLength' and 'Mode'

so my next command to check is

exiftool -FocalLength -Model DSC_2671_Salt_Flats_2.jpg

gives

Focal Length : 44.0 mm
Camera Model Name : NIKON D70

An alternative field would be 'FocalLength35efl' which gives the 35mm equivalent. Handily this field seems to be present in both my Canon files and my Nikon files.

exiftool -FocalLength -Model -FocalLength35efl DSC_2671_Salt_Flats_2.jpg

gives

Focal Length : 44.0 mm
Camera Model Name : NIKON D70
Focal Length : 44.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 66.0 mm)

So now I need to run this on a directory, and recurse through the various folders and put the result into a file.

exiftool -FocalLength -Model -FocalLength35efl -r ~/pictures >big_extract.txt

Now I can take this file, put the fields onto the same line for each photo, grep out pictures not taken by me, cameras I'm not interested in eg my Nokia N73 and Olympus C2020Z, and separate the fields I want with commas.

After that I will put the file into OpenOffice and run the analysis. Thats the next tutorial.

Apple OSX and SSH Tunnel Manager

If you're using an Intel Mac and you use SSH tunnels, and you like an easy life then you should use SSH Tunnel Manager.

You can of course use syntax like

ssh user@server.address -L localport:127.0.0.1:remoteport

but if you have quite a few ports to tunnel, this gets tedious.

SSH Tunnel Manager is the answer, but the original authors version is not Universal Binary. Now a Universal Binary has been compiled which you get from here.

Great work - thanks!