Filed under: Features, Tips and tricks, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW
Ask TUAW: Slowing MBP, iSyncing Verizon, DIY .Mac and more
This week we've got a wide variety of questions in Ask TUAW. We go from choosing hard drives, syncing iCal with Exchange, and troubleshooting a slow MacBook Pro to rolling your own .mac, a keyboard recommendation, finding an iSyncing Verizon phone and much more. As always, please leave your questions for next week in the comments.Now on to the show!
Jamie asks
Anyone have recommendations for a portable external hard drive? I have in mind getting one to carry my iTunes library with me. So far I am considering the Seagate FreeAgent Go. Probably the 160GB flavor. Any other manufacturers drives I should be considering?
As I suggested last week, I'd check out Macworld's storage reviews for Mac specific suggestions. You might want to have a look at LaCie and OWC as companies that seem well-regarded in the Mac community.
Paul asks
Generally each new version of OSX runs a bit faster on PPC hardware than the last. Will this remain true of Leopard (I guess this will be more a prediction than factual now)? I'm sure on Intel hardware Leopard will be quicker than Tiger, but suspect the reverse will be true for PPC. A shame as there are increasingly sweet deals on second-user recon but good G4/G5 hardware out there.
At this point, I don't think anybody could say. Again, anybody who legitimately has Leopard would be under a NDA. But even more important is the fact that Apple will probably continue to optimize the OS until it ships. So even somebody who has the latest beta would not be able to tell you how the shipping product on PPC or Intel. It appears that the arrival of Leopard will finally mark the end of the line for the G3 processor. But if you consider that the last G3 was sold in 2003, that's a reasonably good record of supporting older hardware. I would guess that the next version of OS X might phase out G4 support, but that's going to be at least two years away I would expect.
Seth asks
Well I am looking for a solution much like all of the new iPhone users that are using exchange servers. I know through iTunes you can sync your address book and calendar. I was wondering if you knew of a program (preferably free) that would sync my Microsoft exchange server calendar and address book to the iCal and address book programs on my Mac, then each time I updated iTunes it would sync the newly pulled info that I sync from MES and iCal and the address book. It would be great if there was a program that would pull as well as push my data from the iCal and address book but if it can only pull that would be fine too.
Well the whole "preferably free" part is a problem, but I have found a possible solution for you (though I've never used it personally). Snerdware has two products that do exactly what you want. Groupcal 3 ($54.95 - demo ) syncs iCal and Exchange calendar, while AddressX ($19.95 - demo ) does the same for addresses. Fortunately, those demos are available, so you can check them out to see if they'll work in your particular circumstances. Incidentally, we've posted about a couple of iPhone to Exchange solutions you might want to check out as well.
Jonathan asks
I amd a 18 year veteran in the PC repair/upgrading/networkinf world who got tired of fixing machines and wanted to start using them. I've been very happy with the MacBook Pro i purchased in Feb. It was Speedy Gonzales back then but seems to have slowed down over the months. I started bootcamping to vista in the switching process, then I added the VMware solution to the mix, before removing vista altogether. I've removed the bootcamp partition and removed vmware form the machine since I'm MS free now, but it still isn't as quick as it was out of the box. In fact i put it side by side another identical MBP and did the boot time test. My machine wasa minute slower at booting as well as much slower working in applications like System preferences of all things. What gives? how can I figure out whats slowing things down?
Well, as you probably know from the PC side, sometimes it's almost like voodoo figuring out things like this. As one of my fellow TUAWers likes to say, OS X is not immune to cruft by any stretch of the imagination. I do have some suggestions though:
1) Check your Login Items for your user in the Accounts Preference Pane. Get rid of things you don't need.
2) Check the Activity Monitor in the Utilities sub-folder of the Applications folder (or alternately run ps and top in the terminal). Look for things out of the ordinary (you may want to compare this to what you see in new account you created).
3) Create a new account and play with that for a bit. This will tell you if your problem is in userland or deeper. Obviously, it'll be easier to fix if the problem is in your userland. If this new user works a lot better you might even consider migrating your data over to this new user account.
4) You can try your fellow reader's suggestion of booting in Verbose Mode, but that may not tell you that much if you don't know what should be there.
5) Scream, yell,* then backup your data and do an archive and (re-)install. Since Leopard is coming soon you'll probably want to do this then anyway, so if you can live with it for a while this might be your best option.
*-screaming and yelling optional, but I find it helps.
PaperQueen asks
As one of the tragic few who can't justify leaving Verizon for AT&T just to get an iPhone, I'm in serious need of guidance. Are there any Verizon phones out there that actually do sync with a MacBook Pro? I don't need music (that's what my iPod is for)-just the address book and calender. Help, please....?
Well I can't actually run down every Verizon phone, etc., but you should just check Apple's iSync Supported Devices page and see what's on there that is available from Verizon. The RAZR series, for instance, is supported.
sDawkins78 asks
Instead of getting a .mac account, I want to create my own ".mac" setup at home. What do we say I need? A server, Leopard Server...what else? What all do we think I need?
This is a non-trivial task. Basically you'll need to set up a WebDAV server and then "trick" OS X into calling your server rather than Apple's by changing your DNS settings with the hosts file. If you seriously want to do this, The Network People's Do It Yourself .Mac wiki will tell you everything you need to know. You may also like to check out the forums at the notMac Challenge.
mathmonkey asks
I'm still looking for a USB keyboard with the form factor of the MacBook. I've grown accustomed to the nice, shallow keys. Built in trackpad not necessary, but would definitely cool.
As one of your fellow readers pointed out, rumor has it that Apple may be about to grant your wish. If that doesn't pan out, however, the Macally IceKey ($49.95) features shallow travel scissor-action keys. I previously used one (before switching to an old-school buckling spring design) and I quite liked the IceKey.
UPDATE: Apple has indeed created a keyboard for you MacBook lovers, and it was announced yesterday. Avoid if you are nostalgic for the Open Apple key.
Richard asks
I have a MacBook Pro and was wondering if there was a way to configure the keyboard so that I can use the function keys for expose without having to use the "fn" key as well. I'm always using F1-5 for brightness and volume but i rarely use the ones for the keyboard backlight, and it would be useful to be able to set these keys to do expose as a default...
Fellow reader Jaime has your solution. Go to the Keyboard Tab of the Keyboard and Mouse Preference Pane and select the checkbox for "Use the F1-F12 keys to control software features."
David asks
Anyone know how to get the desktop picture in your external monitor to change when your computer is set to randomly cycle through the images in a folder? I connected an external LCD to my MBP, and the external monitor seems stuck on one desktop image, despite the fact that the main screen changes as usual. Not mission critical, I know, but still kind of annoying.
Desktop pictures are set independently for each screen. When you go to the Desktop tab of the Desktop & Screen Saver Preference Pane, you should get a window that pops up on each screen. Make sure that you have the the external monitor set to change at your desired interval.
Benny asks
I have a MacBook and an external networked hard drive with all my music and movies. I want to know if there is a way have my MacBook automatic connect to the hard drive while on the local network at home or on the road on any other network?
Your question is a little bit unclear, but I assume want you want is to mount a network share when you join a particular wifi network. If so, what you need is a location manager. My recommendation would probably be the free MarcoPolo, but there are plenty of others you might try as well.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
barry said 8:15AM on 8-08-2007
I think the best solution to mathmonkey's question would be the new Apple Keyboard. I'm sure this post was written before yesterday, but I think it fits the bill, well, perfectly.
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krisjones1963 said 8:38AM on 8-08-2007
For Jonathan and his slow machine: there are some maintenance utilities that will clear caches, logs and optimise your machine. Personally I use Onyx (http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html), because it is free, but there are others such as Cocktail, which do much the same. Running such utilities can boost the performance of a machine.
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Jamie Phelps said 9:29AM on 8-08-2007
I have a problem with XCode project files. Ever since my OS reinstall, all .xcodeproj look like directories, not bundles. Anyone know how to go about fixing this?
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Brandon Martinez said 8:44AM on 8-08-2007
In response to the comment about a slowing macbook, I bought an Intel iMac a few months ago and a short while after I experienced a MAJOR slowdown (from a few seconds to login to a few minutes). After digging through the system I found out why. I had a service installed that was for PPC. As soon as I turned that off, BOOM! Back up to speed. My computer was loading Rosetta every time I logged in, so it was just dragging it behind.
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Ski said 8:46AM on 8-08-2007
Jonathan, same issue here. The system gets slower and slower the
longer it's been running. After 4-8 days I need to restart to make
the systen usable. I forget but it was either 10.4.8 or 10.4.9 where
it started. Using Cocktail, fixing permissions, repairing disk, zapping PRAM all do nothing ( at least not more than restarting).
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bibi-pov said 8:48AM on 8-08-2007
I don't think you understood Richard question, at least I didn't understood it the same way you did. I think what he wants to know is a way to keep the functionality of the f1-f5 keys as brightness/volume controls, but be able to use the f9-f12 functions without hitting "fn" each time. The setting you referred to doesn't allow this mixed choice, it's either all or none. I too would be interested in such a setting.
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ACLetras said 8:57AM on 8-08-2007
About syncing iCal with Exchange....I'm fortunate enough to get to use my personal laptop at work, so I use Mail.app for my personal email accounts, and MS Entourage for my work email and calendars, to keep things separate.
Entourage plays quite nicely with Sync Services, and it syncs my Exchange calendar (through Entourage and Sync Services) to iCal, seemlessly in the background.
This also works for Address Book.
Entourage>Preferences>General Preferences>Sync Servics
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Mitch said 8:57AM on 8-08-2007
To answer PaperQueen's question: no, there isn't a regular, consumer-level phone from Verizon Wireless that will currently sync with your MBP. VZW (despicably) disables Bluetooth and USB functionality beyond a wireless headset on most of their phones.
These phones can be "hacked" to restore the manufacturer's original user interface as well as proper functionality, but the switch is difficult and you risk turning your phone into a brick in the process.
Some of VZW's Windows Mobile devices will sync with Mac content via third-party programs, but not through iSync.
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ACLetras said 9:00AM on 8-08-2007
Forgot one caveat: Your Exchange server must be configured to support SMTP, or you can't use Entourage.
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mathmonkey said 9:22AM on 8-08-2007
Thanks for the info on the IceKey. I really want one of the new keyboards but they're a bit pricey. I'm hoping for a third part clone in the future.
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Zeromaru said 9:26AM on 8-08-2007
I'm a Windows/Linux user, however I really like the new Apple Keyboard, especially the wireless version. My computer has Bluetooth, and I'd like to get the keyboard but I need to find out whether it'll be recognized as a standard HID keyboard (the alternate controls on the F keys are unnecessary) before I get one.
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Aaron Bennett said 9:33AM on 8-08-2007
For Benny's question:
I had the same problem... Coming from windows, I had a bevy of "mapped network drives" that would "reconnect at login." Essentially CIFS/SMB mounts that I wanted always-on. It is certainly do-able with OS X, but it takes a little bit of work; here's how:
Regardless if you are wired or wireless, you want to create an Automator workflow. Open Automator, create a new workflow, and from the Finder section add (in this order) "Get Specified Servers" and "Connect to Servers". In the Get Specified Servers section, add each share name you want to automate, for instance "smb://192.168.1.2/music" using the Plus button.
When you've added what you like, test the workflow to make sure it connects right. It would be useful to save the passwords to your keyring so you aren't prompted each time you connect or log in. Save the workflow as an App and put it somewhere you'll remember, in my case on the Desktop named "Connect to Shares."
Now, if you're fully wired you can go ahead an make it launch at startup (System Prefs > Accounts > Login Items). I would recommend that you only make it launch on startup if your machine is always connected to a wired network, such as a MacPro, iMac, or Mini...
If you're wireless like I usually am, I find it more convenient and less time consuming to have the Connect App on my desktop (or an Alias to the App on my desktop) and when I want to connect to the share, I give it a good ol' double clicky.
HTH,
Aaron
P.S., I've started using AFP over CIFS/SMB and one interesting point to note is I can't get Automator to connect to AFP shares; only SMB ones. I can Command-K otherwise fine, but automator just doesn't do the trick. Hopefully you're using SMB so this won't be an issue. Good Luck!
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Aaron Bennett said 9:53AM on 8-08-2007
To add to my previous comment to Benny: I may have misunderstood your question. This will do you no good when you are on the road, but only when you're at home (OK, or if you VPN to your home network). Point being, this only solves the 'automatic' part of your question, not the 'location' part.
Along the same subject, rather than use Automator, you can alternativly use Apple Script, if that's your bag. This scriptlet would do roughly the same thing (and it works with AFP usually!)
tell application "Finder"
mount volume ¬
"afp://192.168.1.2/music" as user name "your_username" with password "your_password"
end tell
Give that a test-whirl, save as an app, and set it to launch items as before. Personally, I like the "boing sound" that Automator plays when it finishes.
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Jacob said 10:32AM on 8-08-2007
Is there a way to install multiple versions of iMovie on the same MacBook Pro? I have tons of plug ins for iMovie that work with '06, but I'd like to install '08 as well.......any help or guidance would be awesome!
thanks!
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Kevin said 10:56AM on 8-08-2007
I'll second the IceKey. I've been using it with my Macbook for about 6 months now and I really like it.
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Angela said 11:05AM on 8-08-2007
Like Jonathan, my MBP began to slow to a crawl as well until last night I backed up with SuperDuper!, re-installed OSX then migrated the image back. It's just like new again!
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Luigi193 said 11:36AM on 8-08-2007
Yeah, If i feel ANY slow down, I do this voodoo rutene, which probebly doesn't help, but I makes it seeem like it does. I always run coctail ALWAYS. Rotates logs, clears cache ect. Speeds it up already. WHen it restarts after running coctail I zap the PRAM ( option p r) Don't know if that helps (probably doesn't) but I do it anyway. I also clean up my desktop cause if your desktops to cluttered, OS X sees them all as windows or something like that. If you HDD is almost filled delete needless stuff.
Thats what i do, most of it is valid, others not.
*Luigi cannot be responcible for any bricking of CPUs.*
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Luigi193 said 11:37AM on 8-08-2007
O and if its UNBARABLE archieve and install and click keep user folder check box (or something like that)
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Morgan Aldridge said 12:40PM on 8-08-2007
Mitch is entirely correct about Verizon locking down the Bluetooth on their phones to prevent syncing and such. However, if you don't mind going the wired route, most of their phones still support syncing over USB.
I've had various Motorola phones through Verizon and purchased a charge & sync cable for them and it works great. Just like the iPhone, I need to plug it in to charge, so might as well sync then too.
Still, Verizon, your lock-down tactics are lame.
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newsray said 2:46AM on 8-09-2007
Jamie Phelps,
You need to install the Developer Tools from Apple. They aren't part of the OS installation.
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