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Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Troubleshooting Roundup Two

David W. Martin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:37:31 -0500

Apple's Mac OS X v10.6 was released two weeks ago and for most of us the transition from Leopard to Snow Leopard went by without incident. However, we've spent part of the last few weeks scouring Apple's discussion boards and support site for solutions to problems people have been reporting with the upgrade.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.1 Security Content

The first update to Snow Leopard, according to Apple, only contains one security update. That update is an upgrade to Flash Player plug-in for Safari. The upgrade brings the plug-in to version 10.0.32.18. You can find more information about the plug-in at Adobe.com.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.1 Update

This update released last week and Mac|Life covered it here.

Problems with MAMP and MAMP PRO

Mac|Life recently published a how to for this incredible tool that you can use to design and code web applications that rely on a webserver running Apache, MySQL and PHP on your Mac. Problems with the older versions prompted the developer to release version 1.8.2 of MAMP and MAMP Pro that is compatible with Snow Leopard. You can download the update from the vendors website.

Installing Snow Leopard and finding 'System Events.app'

When we installed Snow Leopard Mac OS X v10.6 over v10.5, and then after restarting the last time, a window came up right after logging asking for us to locate 'System Events.app. '

We called AppleCare and asked about this issue and their advice was just to hit Cancel on the prompt. We did this and on subsequent reboots the message never reappeared. It was theorized that this belonged to some app that have been previously installed, but could not be identified. The file is part of Mac OS X and it is located at: System/Library/CoreService/System Events.app and appears in some user accounts in Account preferences under Login Items.

MacBook Pro Display Gamma Fix

We found a problem with how colors display on the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro models. The problem, with a suggested work around, can be found on Apple's discussion board. Expect a fix for this in a future OS update where appears to be an accidental omission of settings for a particular display panel used in 13-inch MacBook Pros.

Where are my ODBC and Server Admin Tools?

Snow Leopard does not include the ODBC utility as part of its installation so you must download and install it yourself now. In addition to that if you had the Leopard Server tools installed previously, their updates don't appear in Software Update. You must download and install them yourself if you still need them.

SuperDrive Update 2.1 Unexpectedly Quits

Apple has released a support document on what to do when running the SuperDrive 2.1 update that can affect your computer after it updates and then restarts. The fix prevents the Update from reloading and then crashing on subsequent restarts.

VoiceOver Command Changes for Snow Leopard

Apple has published a support document that details the differences in VoiceOver keyboard commands between Mac OS X v10.5 and Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard. OS X v10.6 includes new keyboard commands and support for standard gestures on Macs with a multi-touch trackpad. If you've used this feature previously you might find yourself having problems since two VoiceOver keyboard commands are completely different in Mac OS X v10.6.

MobileMe Sync Log Changed

If you are trying to troubleshoot MobileMe in Mac OS X Snow Leopard the filename has changed from "dotmacsync.log" to "mobilemesync.log" and it is now located in ~/Library/Logs/Sync ("~" equals your Home folder). This Apple support document gives you all the details including the steps needed to view the log inside of the Console application.

Apple Releases HP and Canon Printer Drivers

If anything Apple's Snow Leopard fails pretty badly out of the box for printer support. While it was a good idea not to load all those drivers by default, to save disk space, it turned out to not be such a hot idea. In some cases the system wasn't going out automatically to Internet or the Snow Leopard Install disk and getting the drivers when they were needed. Some of these problems were addressed in the v10.6.1 update and others were not. Now Apple has posted downloads for Hewitt-Packard (HP) and Canon printers.

Hp MediaSmart Server EX485

Zack Stern — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:36:06 -0500

About one-quarter the size of a Mac Pro, this glossy, little box fits into any corner.

You have media files: music, movies, pictures, and video. If your Macs are networked, the MediaSmart Server effectively shares these and other files. But there’s a bizarre catch--it requires a PC for setup and ongoing administration. Still, the server includes a few Mac-centric features: Time Machine backups and direct streaming to iTunes. We just wish the Macs could take advantage of all of the server’s features; in addition to basic administration, some extras are PC-only.

The MediaSmart Server is available in a couple configurations--with one or two 750GB drives--and two or three free drive bays to add your own storage. It can also connect to external USB and eSATA drives for more space. Instead of offering a redundant RAID array, which would mirror content across drives in case one fails, the server can make duplicate copies of items across multiple disks. Unlike a RAID, it’s easy to add new drives of different sizes and selectively pick which files to duplicate.

After running the installation disc on a Windows XP (and later a Windows Vista) PC, we accessed the server’s control console. The MediaSmart hardware runs Windows Media Server, so the configuration tools require a Windows system. From those PCs, we quickly added Windows PCs to an automated backup routine, activated the media sharing functions (including the iTunes software server), added users and shared folders, and otherwise got started. The server lets up to 10 PCs gain access.

On an unlimited number of Macs, the installer adds different tools, most notably Time Machine support over the network. Our Time Machine backups ran seamlessly after the sluggish, all-night initial transfer--this is network storage, after all. We also had to be patient when recovering old files, but still prefer storing backups on the network instead of a local hard drive. We never had trouble with this setup, but be aware that Apple doesn’t officially endorse any network Time Machine backup solutions that it doesn’t sell.

The server can run 24/7, go to sleep on a schedule, or be woken remotely from Macs or PCs. So it’s always ready--or nearly ready--to send and receive backups and files. It’ll even automate its own backups over the Internet, to Amazon’s S3 storage, for example.

On Macs, you can copy songs to the server’s Music folder, and it smartly broadcasts them to iTunes as a shared device. With these tunes centrally stored, all of our computers could play music from the server. While the MediaSmart Server will store and host other media files--even letting you stream home music across the Internet, for example--none of the other media types work as simply on local Macs. Shared pictures don’t appear in iPhoto, and movies don’t show up in iTunes. However, you can manually copy or stream these files to other Macs.

And it’s easy to send media to a PS3, Xbox 360, or other device with the bundled Twonky software tool. After activation, this program runs on the server, letting other media-savvy hardware recognize and receive streams. We even downloaded a third-party utility to stream video to a TiVo.

While the Time Machine options pleased us Mac fans, too many features are PC-only. All new media files added to Windows computers can be automatically copied and organized so they’re ready for streaming. Mac users have to manually transfer media to the shared folders. And in addition to the initial setup, only PCs can add new user accounts, enable new add-ins for third-party features, and otherwise configure the server. You can access the console through Boot Camp or a virtual machine, but it’s a hassle.

HP Photosmart D5460

Leslie Ayers — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:07:00 -0500

Think you can’t trust your precious memories to a hundred-dollar printer? You’re in good hands with HP.

Given how large the universe of $100 photo printers has grown, it can be difficult to decide exactly which one to throw your 100 bones toward. Do you honor brand loyalty to Epson, HP, or Canon—and when you choose among those, which model do you go for? If you’re already an HP loyalist—or even if you’re not—the HP Photosmart D5460 is a worthy choice for outputting all your favorite snaps, as well as standard Word docs, Google Maps directions, and other home or small-business print jobs. It can print directly on printable CDs and DVDs too.

For printing basic docs, the D5460 is impressively speedy—spitting out a two-page full-color PDF in 38 seconds; 4-by-6-inch snapshots set on Best quality took a bit longer, though: 2 minutes, 9 seconds. But the instantly dry prints were worth the wait, and the photos looked great, with true-to-life skin tones, bright reds, blues, and greens, and deep blacks.

Our only gripe about printing photos with the D5460 was the kludgy print dialogs presented by HP’s driver software. We had to enlist a friend’s help to figure out how to tell the printer to use photo print settings and to pull sheets of HP Advanced Photo Paper from the 20-sheet 4-by-6-inch photo tray. The more-confusing-than-necessary process required us to press Command-P from within Photoshop, select the printer, click Print, then in the resulting dialog, choose Paper Type/Quality, then choose our specific type of photo paper, select the photo tray, and so on—way more clicks and selections than we’d like just to print a pic to send to Grandma.

That said, if you’d rather print directly from your camera’s removable memory card (the printer takes almost every format in existence), you can certainly do so, using the printer’s buttons and the 1.5-inch LCD, though we much prefer printing from within a photo-editing app like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Printing directly from a card is truly a cinch, with the added bonus that your Mac will recognize the card when you insert it into the printer, and you can import your photos into iPhoto (or, if you prefer, launch Image Capture) from there.

The D5460’s gorgeous prints are thanks to a new 5-ink system, which means the standard lineup of Vivera ink cartridges includes two blacks, plus magenta, cyan, and yellow. We printed several dozen 4-by-6-inch shots without hearing a peep about low ink levels. The cartridges cost $9.99 each (approximately 250 pages) or $14.99 for an extra-large size (around 750 pages).

HP Photosmart Pro B8850

Arthur Bleich — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:21:00 -0500

It handles a variety of paper types, but you’ll have to play musical media trays.

Things that go bump in the night: ghosts, ghouls, and the new HP Photosmart Pro B8850. If this printer sits idle for more than a day, it powers on, wakes up, and checks each of its 4,884 ink nozzles to make sure they’re unclogged so it can be ready to go when you are. Then it powers down and goes back to sleep.

Unlike most of its competitors that use gobs of ink to clear just a few clogged nozzles, the B8850 detects exactly which nozzles need clearing and uses only a miniscule amount of ink to do it. The printer even assigns spare nozzles as stand-ins if some become clogged during printing, so your image won’t be ruined. Very smart.

Setup went without a hitch, including a calibration routine that fine-tunes the printer’s color accuracy. Pigment-based HP Vivera ink cartridges are supplied for eight inkwells: Photo Black, Light Gray, Matte Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Magenta, and Light Cyan. When coupled with HP papers, their fade-resistance is impressive: up to 200 years according to the manufacturer. Although replacement cartridges are costly ($34), they hold almost twice as much ink (27ml) as those for competing printers, saving you both time and money.

Output was superb—as good or better than professional lab-made prints. Using the B8850’s Best setting (2400 x 1200 dpi) we printed over two hundred 13-by-19-inch photos without a paper jam and, for an encore, rolled out several 13-by-39-inch panoramas (maximum paper length is 44 inches). We also output more than 50 black-and-white photos with rich blacks and a beautiful range of gray midtones—the Grayscale option allows printing with black and gray inks only or with a composite of blacks and subtle colors.

The HP driver’s paper settings were sometimes confusing. For example, is Advanced Photo Paper glossy, luster, matte, or something else? (It’s glossy.) Third-party papers such as premium Hahnemühle and modestly priced Red River yielded excellent prints using either the B8850’s driver or with Photoshop in command. If you want to use ICC paper profiles for precise color control, there are more than 60 available for different paper brands at HP’s website (www.hp.com), along with screenshots and detailed instructions on how to use them.

Light- and medium-weight papers are loaded face down into a front main tray, drawn into the printer, curved 180 degrees, printed, and then rolled out onto a heavy output tray directly above it. The output tray partially blocks access to the main tray, making loading large single sheets difficult. HP suggests removing and replacing the output tray each time, but that became a hassle; we eventually replaced it with an easier-to-use piece of foam core.

Media heavier than 220gsm (grams per square meter), such as some watercolor, canvas, and photo rag papers, feed straight through a specialty media tray that swings out from the front of the printer. But enough space is needed behind the printer to allow for nearly the full length of the paper, as it’s first pulled in and then fed back out onto the same tray. We had to move the printer almost 2 feet from the wall when making 13-by-19-inch prints. If you regularly use long, heavy papers, you’ll need a 3-foot-deep clearance or you’ll have to turn the printer sideways.