Tag: Apple Macintosh

Article

Using external drives to save space on your Mac? Format them first. | MacFixIt – CNET Reviews

My Comments

A typical external hard disk

This article highlighted the benefits of formatting external hard disks that are to be connected to an Apple Macintosh as HFS+ file-system disks. This advice hails well for formatting an external hard disk to an operating system’s native file-system such as NTFS for Windows or ext3 for Linux. This is because most of the external hard disks come preformatted to FAT32 more as an interchangeable file system that can be used on Windows, Macintosh and UNIX/Linux.

In the context of an external hard disk that you attach to a network-attached storage device for extra capacity, it may be worth looking through the instruction manual for your NAS or router to find the optimum file system. Some of the NAS units may work with ext3 or NTFS as the file system whereas most, including the routers with NAS functionality will stay with FAT32.

But this situation would apply to external hard disks that are primarily connected to the host computer all of the time rather than the “portable” hard disks that are likely to be moved between different computers and file systems. It wouldn’t hold well with thumb-drives and memory cards that you would expect to move between various computer devices including specific-purpose devices because most of these devices would only know the common FAT32 file-system.

This advice is best applied with an external hard disk that you have just purchased rather than one that contains all of your data because a format routine can wipe all of the data that exists on the hard disk.

Article

Tackle a hung App Store update in OS X | MacFixIt – CNET Reviews

My Comments

You have that Macintosh computer running with Apple’s App Store as your preferred download spot for programs. But you notice that the Mac is not being its usual self while you are running an App Store update or download. It starts to show that dreaded “beach ball” for ever during the update process while nothing is happening. This means that the App Store client application is hanging and effectively slowing down the rest of your system.

The main problem that can lead to this typically are about the App Store working with corrupted files in its folders as what happens with any computer programs. This encompasses where the installation packages are held after they are downloaded as well as any temporary files that the App Store creates. The folders will exist on the “Macintosh HD” secondary storage location which is the main storage location for all of your Mac’s programs and data.

Here, when you notice this behaviour, you would have to “force-quit” the App Store application. Either this is done by selecting “Force Quit” from the Apple menu or pressing Command–Option–Esc on the keyboard. You could also “force quit” from the Dock by using Option-Right-Click on the unresponsive application’s icon. After you have done this, the Mac should be more stable by now.

Dealing with the corrupted data

Installation package folder

Then you would have to use Finder to clear out the App Store Updates folder which is at Macintosh HD/Library/Updates. This is where the software update or download packages are held by the App Store before being installed. Once you clear this folder out, it means that the App Store application can draw down fresh “known-to-be-good” install packages from the iTunes App Store.

Temporary and “work” files created by the App Store

Another location that you may have to clear out are the App Store Caches. These represent the temporary files that the App Store application creates as it goes about its work.

Here, you run Terminal and type in: “open $TMPDIR../C” to expose the “cache” folders where data that the App Store needs for speedy operation exists. In this window, look for folders that begin with “com.apple.appstore” and remove these folders.

You also go back to Terminal and type in “open $TMPDIR../T” to expose the temporary-file folders. Here, you look for the folders that begin with “com.apple.appstore” and remove them.

The App Store will take longer to start as it re-builds the cache and temporary files with the fresh “known-to-be-good” data.

Permissions fix for the system resources

This is another area that could house corrupt data and could generally affect your Mac’s stability. It is because the information about the permissions required by the applications to use system resources is kept as data on the Macintosh HD.

Here, you use the Disk Utility to do this task. You select the Macintosh HD in this program’s sidebar and click “Repair Permissions” in the “First Aid” tab to start it repairing any corrupt system-permissions data.

Tips to avoid this problem

If you are using a Wi-Fi wireless LAN connection or a mobile-broadband connection, and you intend to do a lengthy App Store update, make sure that you are getting a consistently strong signal from the wireless network. This is because a poor or inconsistent wireless signal could lead to an increased risk of failed downloads.

As well, it may be a good idea to have your MacBook connected to external power while you are doing a lengthy update. This avoids the risk of a failed download occurring because the battery is on the way out.

Here, you could confine the App Store software updates to your home or workplace so you can be sure of a smooth update scenario.

Article – From the horse’s mouth

Viber – Free calls, Free text messages, photo and location sharing

My Comments

Previously, we have known of Viber as an “over-the-top” VoIP telephony program that offers a free telephony and SMS path for smartphone users. This has been of strong appeal to overseas travellers who want to escape the horrendous roaming charges that most mobile operators are charging people who use the phone out of their home country.

Now Viber have reached version 3.0 and released a desktop version of the softphone which will run on Windows or Macintosh regular computers. This has provided features like desktop-to-desktop videocalls and the ability to transfer a call between the regular computer and a mobile device. This is a sign that Viber has matured and started to approach Skype.

But for Viber to answer Skype, they have to offer IP-based videocalls on mobile clients. Similarly, they would need to provide the client software “knowhow” to enable the user interface to work on devices other than platform-based regular or mobile computing devices. This is somewhere where Skype has a considerable strength in with the Samsung and Sony smart TVs, the Panasonic Blu-Ray players, the desk phones, and the Logitech TV Cam HD Skype camera.

It can be easy to state that Viber’s free IP telephony model isn’t sustainable but they could offer services like partnership with some of the carriers like the French “n-box” carriers. They can also offer paid-for off-ramp services where a Viber customer could dial a regular phone that isn’t part of the Viber ecosystem. It can extend to a software-based “trunk” or “tie-line” for IP-based business phone systems as a subscription-driven business-to-business service.

Now that Viber has hit the stage of maturity, we could be seeing the opening of lively competition on the “over-the-top” IP-based voice and video telephony front for both consumers and small businesses.

Article

Belkin’s Mythical Thunderbolt Express Dock Is Finally Here | Gizmodo

Belkin’s Thunderbolt Express dock is finally shipping, offers its ports for $299  | Engadget

My Comments

I have made a bit of coverage of expansion modules aka docks for use in “expanding” the connection opportunities that are available for laptop computers. These were mainly connected to host computers via the USB 3.0 connector and provided video connections, audio connections along with Ethernet and / or extra USB connections for these host computers, with some of the boxes having removable storage of some form like an optical disk drive or an SD card reader.

Now, Belkin have set up another path between the host computer and the expansion module / dock by exploiting the relatively new Thunderbolt connection primarily used on Apple Macintosh computers. Here, the MacOS user could connect 3 USB 3.0 peripherals, a Firewire peripheral along with a DisplayPort display. There is even an integrated sound module which has an input and output that uses 3.5mm stereo jacks, while the user can connect to a Gigabit Ethernet network segment.

For the Mac user, this may be seen as another more reliable way to “skin a cat” especially when it comes to adding extra deskbound capabilities to that MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.

Article

Apple releases fix for increased power consumption in new MBP and MBA | ZDNet

From the horse’s mouth

Apple – Software Download (direct)

My Comments

You may have just bought the Retina-based MacBook Pro or a Macintosh laptop over the past year but have noticed that you always have to run it on AC power rather than on battery. In some cases, you may have noticed that the fan in the computer is running more than it should.

This has been discovered by Apple as a firmware bug and they have prepared a software update to rectify this problem. This bug is allowing the CPU in the MacBook to run harder than it really needs to, thus allowing it to draw on more power and yield more heat. The software update also improves operating-system compatibility with certain USB devices which may also help with the stability of the system.

This software update is available at Apple’s Website or through the Software Updates panel in MacOS X Lion. Infact, if you have just bought a Mac laptop, I would recommend that you visit the Software Updates option and deploy this and other important updates to your Mac.

Article

Apple issues Leopard update with Flashback removal tool – Engadget

Downloads

Apple

Java security update (targets Flashback Trojan)

Adobe Flash security update

Adobe

Latest Flash Player update

My Comments

Owning an older Macintosh computer that is running MacOS X Leopard but isn’t powerful enough to be upgraded to Snow Leopard or Lion? Or you haven’t upgraded your Mac to Snow Leopard or Lion due to keeping a LocalTalk peripheral in service using that link.

You may fear that this situation may make you vulnerable to the recent security scares involving Trojan-Horse programs written in cross-platform code that is targeting the Macintosh platform. Now Apple has remedied that problem by releasing two patches targeting this version of MacOS X.

The Java security update checks for and removes the Flashback Trojan from your Mac, but also disables Safari’s Java plug-in. If you need to use Java in Safari, you would need to visit the Preferences menu by going to Safari>Preferences or pressing [Command] and [,], then clicking the “Enable Java” option.

The Adobe Flash update will disable the out-of-date version of Adobe Flash Player end encourage you to visit Adobe’s Website in order to download the latest version of the software. Here, you make sure that you are downloading for MacOS X 10.4 – 10.5 to get the latest version for your MacOS X Leopard computer.

Introduction

In the late 1980s when the scourge of computer viruses hitting popular home and small-business computing platforms was real, this issue was exposed across all of the platforms that were in use during that year. This encompassed Apple’s two desktop platforms i.e. the Apple II and the Macintosh; along with the Commodore Amiga, the Atari ST and, of course the MS-DOS-driven “IBM” platform. Of course, the computer magazines ran articles about this threat and how to protect against it and disinfect your computing environment from these software pests.

But through the 1990s, the Windows / DOS systems were the main malware target, especially the Windows 98 and XP systems that ran Internet Explorer due to their popularity. The other platforms weren’t targeted that much due to their lesser popularity in the field and the computer press didn’t touch on that issue much. It was also because some of these platforms like the Amiga and Atari ST weren’t being supported any more by their manufacturers.

But lately there has become a trend for people to hop from the Windows platform to the Macintosh platform due to reduced targeting by malware authors and the perceived hardening that Apple has done to this platform. This has been recently augmented by the popularity of the iOS mobile-computing devices i.e. the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad as well as elegant computing devices available to this platform. All of these factors has led to an increased popularity of Apple Macintosh computers in the feild and they have become a target for malware authors.

But most Macintosh users run their computers with the Apple-authored Safari Web browser and are likely to implement Apple iWork or Microsoft Office productivity software. They also run these computers without any desktop-security or system-maintenance tools because they perceive that Apple has made the task of keeping these computers in ideal condition easier than with the Windows platform.

What can Macintosh users do

Macintosh users can harden their computers against malware by installing and keeping up-to-date a desktop security suite. A free example of this is the Avast program that has been recently ported to the Macintosh platform and another paid-for premium example is the Kaspersky desktop-security suite. These programs are, along with a system-maintenance suite like Norton Utilities, a must-have so you can keep these computers working in an ideal condition.

Another practice that I always encourage is to keep all the software on your Macintosh computer lock-step with the latest updates. This can also help with dealing with any bugs or stability issues that may affect how the software runs on your computer. Here, you may want to enable a fully-automatic update routine for security and other important updates or a semi-automatic routine where the Macintosh checks for these updates and draws your attention to any newly-available updates, that you then deploy.

It is also worth disabling Adobe Flash Player, Java and similar “all-platform runtime” environments if you don’t need to run them. There are many articles on the Web about this in response to the Flashback Trojan Horse. Otherwise make sure that the runtime environments are kept updated. Similarly, you may want to change your default Web browser to a purely-open-source browsers like Firefox or Chrome, which is more likely to be kept up-to-date against known bugs and weaknesses. This was also made easier with new-build installations of MacOS X Lion i.e. when you had a new Macintosh with this operating system “out of the box”. Prior operating systems had the Java runtime installed by default and this survived any operating-system upgrade.

What Apple needs to do

Apple needs to come down from its silver cloud and see the realities of what is involved with keeping a computer in good order. For example, they need to provide desktop-security and system-tuning tools so that users can keep their Macintosh computers in tip-top condition and free from malware. They also need to transparently and immediately implement all updates and upgrades that Oracle releases for the Java environment in to their distribution or allow Oracle to distribute the Java environment  for the Macintosh platform.

As well, they need to take a leaf out of Microsoft’s book by implenenting a “default-standard-user” setup that has the user operating as a “desktop-user” privilege level by default. Then the user is asked if they want to go to an “administrator” privilege-level when they perform a task that requires this level and only for the duration of that task. This is important with home and small-business computer setups where there is typically only one fully-privileged user created for that system.

Conclusion

What the recent “Flashback” Trojan Horse has done is to bring the Apple Macintosh platform to a real level where issues concerning desktop security and system maintenance are as important for it as they are for other platforms.