Filed under: Desktops, Hardware, Multimedia, Hacks, How-tos, Tips and tricks, TUAW Tips, Mac Pro
TUAW Tip: How to enable Front Row on the Mac Pro
MacOSXHints reader posted a tip about how to enable Front Row on your Mac Pro. This trick will get around the problem of no Apple IR remote being detected, which causes Front Row to fail to launch. Front Row is already installed on Mac Pros - it just doesn't work. It just sits there, teasing you...All you have to do is edit a plist file and you'll be up and running. Which plist file to edit is dependant on which mouse you use, but if you don't use an Apple or Logitech mouse you might have to scramble a bit to get it working. For complete details, check out the tip on MacOSXHints. Of course you're still going to need some sort of remote to actually use Front Row, and there are a number of options available for that (a Salling Clicker-enabled cell phone, for example), but being able to activate it is a good first step.
I don't have a Mac Pro handy to test this with, so let us know if you get it working on yours!
UPDATE: We've added new instructions for users of the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse. See this post.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason Smith said 7:10PM on 11-13-2006
You CAN use Front Row without a remote. Just press Apple + Esc to activate Front Row and use the arrow keys and Return.
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Draiz said 8:26PM on 11-13-2006
I tried the hack on my macpro and it just won't work... I followed the procedure w/ mighty mouse, did everything I was supposed to but Frontrow won't launch when I press Apple+Esc.
I tried launching it from CoreServices but no luck. Plus the Frontrow icon is shown as a blank application!
If anyone has tried it successfully, I'd like to know if they had applied that brand new firmware Apple just released. I installed before doing this hack so maybe this has something to do with my being unable to make it work properly;
ah well, that was a long shot anyway
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Aaron Gyes said 9:39PM on 11-13-2006
Works fine on my Mac Pro with a Logitech mouse. Are you sure you deleted the cached files before rebooting?
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Jeff said 1:37AM on 11-14-2006
The Mac gods have finally answered my prayers. Thanks a lot for the info!
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Chris Martin said 2:18AM on 11-14-2006
It worked great on my Mac Pro ... I use a Kensington trackball mouse and so I figured out that if I just kept my Mighty Mouse plugged in behind my keyboard that it would work (if I unplug my Mighty Mouse it ceases to work)
I have not updated my firmware to the new version that was just posted and will wait to do so until I am sure it won't break my Front Row capabilities.
This is awesome ... finally!
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Draiz said 4:31AM on 11-14-2006
Alright now it's working!! Apparently, it won't work with a bt mighty mouse but as soon as I plug the regular mighty mouse, Frontrow shows up on my screen!
I checked the tip again to make sure that was written anywhere and it's not; so, if anybody tries that hack who has a bt mighty mouse, it won't work; just use a regular mouse and voila! Frontrow magic :)
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HamHead said 6:47PM on 11-14-2006
Hey,
The process here worked wonderfully for me but Front Row seems to be missing somthing. I can only play movies from iTunes that are .mov files. None of my .mp4 files that I have encoded even show up in front row as movies. Interestingly, I can play them as audio files from inside the artist tab of the music, but not as movies. In addition, my podcasts show up in the FrontRow list, but when I click on them it says that it is having trouble communicating with iTunes.
AM I ALONE????
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Michael said 7:50PM on 11-18-2006
No, you are not alone
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