Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW
Ask TUAW: Skype & webcams, TivoToGo, installing Leopard and more
In this Halloween round of Ask TUAW we have a a bunch of scary questions about USB webcams & Skype, Dashboard widgets, installing Leopard, Tivo & Mac, and more. Well okay, so the questions aren't scary, but the answers sure are.As always your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. And now onward!
elizabeth asks
How do I permanently delete a widget from my hard-drive?
All you have to do is invoke the Dashboard then hit the little plus sign at the bottom left of the screen. When the Dashboard dock comes up you'll see a little button just above the plus sign that says "Manage Widgets..." When you hit the widget below will open. Just select the widget you want, hit the red button, and it will be sent forthwith to the trash. If you're in a more manual mood, your user installed widgets are located at ~/Library/Widgets. (You can't delete the default widgets this way, but they live at /Library/Widgets).
olivegreen asks
i got a question concerning leopard and the system language. the only reason why i am not celebrating the leopard day with the "shiny" disc is my hand is basically because i can't get my hands on an english install disc- i live in the netherlands and am currently in germany, and while i do understand both of those languages there, i'd much rather have and english os (those apple terms just don't translate well). so the big questions: does it even matter what version i buy? is it possible to install a dutch os x and simply choose english as system language? does anyone know?
Well, obviously I've never seen a Dutch OS X disc, but it is the case with the American discs that the first question you're asked when installing OS X is what language you want to use. Since the American discs contain localizations for an enormous number of languages it's hard to imagine that your Dutch retail disc would not also have them.
In fact, once it's installed you can easily change the default system language just by going into the International Preference Pane.
I am wondering which WebCams work for other applications on 10.4.9+ such as Skype. Will the USB Video Class ones work for this usage as well? Or the X-Box one? How about using inbetween drivers like macam? Where do they come in?
Peter asks
Any USB cameras that have a microphone built in, like the iSight? And which work with iChat AV and Skype?
Yes, the USB Video Class cameras should work natively with all OS X applications after the 10.4.9 update. Keep in mind that the new built-in iSight cameras are actually USB themselves (look in the System Profiler). The macam driver is for USB cameras that are not Video Class. You both would probably be best served by looking though two links on the Skype forums: a list of compatible USB webcams and an Important notice for Skype video users and a USB webcams.
damon asks
I am looking for help with a TIVO solution. I am interested in getting a HD Tivo, but I want to know how well does it play with macs? I have a home theater downstairs with an OTA antenna. I was using a G5 with eyeTV, but I had nothing but problems with the program, it wouldn't record things I wanted. I would pause in the middle of a show, and go back to watch it, only to discover it wouldn't record. So will an HD Tivo let me watch shows on any Mac in the house? How about making them available to iTunes to upload to my iPhone?
All official Tivo support on the Mac is provided by Roxio's Toast and will allow both Multi-Room viewing and iPhone transfers, but not with the Series 3 HD boxes. So the short answer to you question is no, it won't work with a HD Tivo, but I'm pretty sure that HD TivoToGo has only just appeared on the PC, so if past precedent holds, it may be a while before it's on the Mac.
Kevin asks
A friend has 12" Power Book 1.5 GHZ 80 GB HD 768 MB RAM. He backed up using CCC in preparation for Leopard, however, when he restarts holding "Option" the external drive with his copy is not found. Why? Is there another way he can do it?
That's not really enough information. First of all, did he back up to a FireWire external hard drive (PPC Macs generally won't boot off of USB)? Second, where there any error messages from CCC; to become bootable the external drive must be "blessed" in a certain way. Check the log to make sure everything is kosher. If all of that doesn't work, I'd suggest trying a different FireWire hard drive.
Luc asks
I plan on buying a new iMac with 10.5 installed. My old iMac has 10.4 Will I be able to keep my files ?
Yes, that's exactly what the Migration Assistant is for. Just start the Migration Assistant on the new Mac, then put the old Mac in target FireWire mode (hold down the 'T' key and re-start). The Migration Assistant should see the other Mac and offer you the option to important any of the users. Just be sure you back up before you do anything else (in fact, if you make a bootable backup of your old Mac to an external hard drive, you can actually import from that hard drive with the Migration Assistant).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
mikel egurra said 7:56PM on 10-31-2007
i can confirm the language issue on a portuguese dvd.
you do get to choose system language, it's the first thing the installer asks.
you can further choose, if you'd like, the languages that will be installed, or left out (huge amount of disc space saving). head for a custom install if you wish to leave some out...
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Matt Galligan said 8:05PM on 10-31-2007
TiVoToGo is coming to the Series 3 devices, like TiVo HD
From your sibling blog:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/23/tivo-series3-and-hd-finally-get-tivotogo-mrv-esata-drive-othe/
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bpmarkowitz said 8:12PM on 10-31-2007
TivoDecode Manager
http://tdm.sourceforge.net/
I don't know what is worse:
That the initial guy could not find this, or that you all didn't.
Yes, it works with HD Tivo now as long as you get the 9.2 software update.
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Charlii said 8:43PM on 10-31-2007
I have a problem I would like a solution to:
I'm planning to use a mac with Front Row as a media center, and it would be great if I could play files my friends bring (on disc or USB memory) without having to quit FR or do some remote controlling. On a Windows machine, I would have solved this with a shortcut to the drive letters, but is there any way to make an alias to "any external mounts" in MacOS?
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Macroy said 9:23PM on 10-31-2007
I would absolutely love to know if there is some way to use my external FireWire camcorder in Photo Booth instead of my built-in iSight. (I'm on a MacBook Pro.) The Leopard Tech Specs page says it's supported, but I just can't figure out how to do it. :(
http://www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs/
"Photo Booth requires an iSight camera (built-in or external), USB video class (UVC) camera, or FireWire DV camcorder; and an Intel or PowerPC G5 processor. Backdrop effects require an Intel Core Duo or faster processor. Backdrop effects when using a DV camcorder require fixed focus, exposure, and white balance."
I would like to use it as an extremely cheap way of chromakeying...unless you also know of a free chromakeying plugin or something!
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mentalsticks said 9:24PM on 10-31-2007
Ja hoor, een Nederlandse installatie is geen probleem.
Wel een probleem is de af en toe gebrekkige vertaling.
(That was Dutch)
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SalizarMarxx said 9:31PM on 10-31-2007
Leopard : I tried to run Parallels with Leopard with some really bad results. The VM would run but after shutting it down Leopard would stop responding and was forced to reboot.
Any way, Parallels added several Windows Applications to my Open With Menu.
I've tried to following the Previous tips on cleaning this up ,however this isn't cutting it in Leopard.
So Could anyone shed some light on how to clean up the Open With Menu In Leopard...
Thank you
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Se7en said 9:31PM on 10-31-2007
Re: #3: "I don't know what is worse"
Uh gee, maybe because that site you linked says:
" It is not for Series 1 (ever), Series 3, or DirecTiVos (unhacked or hacked)."
And the "discussion forum" for that site is filled with spam.
I've heard great things about TiVoDecode in the past, but try not to be such an ass about no one knowing about it-based on that link you gave it looks like an abandoned project, and certainly not one that supports the Series 3, as the guy asked about.
(If the Series 3 works with 9.2, great! Your link does nothing to support that point)
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John Russell said 9:40PM on 10-31-2007
As for Kevin, I had a similar problem using CCC. It just wouldn't make the disk bootable. I wiped that backup and tried using SuperDuper! (even the free version works just fine) and it worked flawlessly. Assuming that CCC may not have made the backup bootable, this might be one thing to try.
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Bala said 10:19PM on 10-31-2007
I have an iMac that's running Tiger and Windows XP using BootCamp. I would like to install Leopard in the same machine but without upgrading the existing Tiger install. I'd like to have both Tiger and Leopard (so that I can test my applications on both the OSes). I'd also like to have Windows XP. I have downloaded the Leopard seed from the ADC developer website and have bought an external hard drive where I'd like to install the Leopard.
Could any of you suggest what's the best way to accomplish this?
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Zach G. said 10:28PM on 10-31-2007
I've upgraded to Leopard and I am pleasantly surprised with how snappy everything is even on my 1.42 GHz iBook G4. The only slow downs I'm experiencing are during a bit of heavy web-browsing. In short, I miss my Ad-Blocking. Are there any Safari Ad-Blocking solutions up and running for Leopard yet?
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Tetzel1517 said 10:43PM on 10-31-2007
"I've heard great things about TiVoDecode in the past, but try not to be such an ass about no one knowing about it-based on that link you gave it looks like an abandoned project, and certainly not one that supports the Series 3, as the guy asked about."
TDM works with the Series 3 just fine. I'm not sure if development on the project is stalled, but it works with the Series 3. The reason they said it didn't was because the TiVo didn't allow file transfers until recently.
I've been using a combination of TDM and Handbrake to get HD programs onto my iPod Classic. Works flawlessly.
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Peter Payne said 11:16PM on 10-31-2007
Question: how do I delete the new "required" folders in my home folder with Leopard? I mean, "Public" is now a required folder that I cannot delete? I *must* have a Movies folder on every Mac? Music is required? Downloads, even though I choose not to use that particular Apple paradigm? Hello???
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PowerLlama said 11:41PM on 10-31-2007
So far, my favorite leopard feature is that it automatically finds my NAS drive. The only problems I have with this is that I can't figure out how to put an icon for it on my desktop, and it seems like when it's mounted, it polls it every few minutes so the drives can never go to sleep.
Like normally they go to sleep after 5 minutes, but when it's mounted they'll sleep for 5 minutes, then come back on, then sleep for 5 minutes, and repeat.
Can TUAW help me?
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dvd said 2:52AM on 11-01-2007
@Zach G.: The MacRumors forum has a thread on how to get SafariBlock working again under Leopard, here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=375717
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Switcher said 4:28AM on 11-01-2007
QUESTION:
I have a 2GB flash drive that I carry on my keychain. How can I encypt its contents but still allow access to that data by either a Mac or a PC. Also, is there a good app on the mac that can sync changed files between the HDD on the computer and on my flash drive? Thanks.
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woot said 5:55AM on 11-01-2007
Question: I heard a friend of mine say that when you activate the iPhone and get the data plan and whatever that you can actually call AT&T later and cancel just the data plan and thus have an iPhone with no data plan. Is this true? Because I really would love to get an iPhone but the 60 dollars a month plan is a little more than I can afford. Thanks!
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hessi said 6:23AM on 11-01-2007
new question:
On Leopard, is there a way to put mounted shared volumes (smb, afp) into the Finder Sidebar directly, as it was on Tiger?
I don't like the workaround with connected server - always one more (double) click to get to a share. :-(
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Matt Young said 7:13AM on 11-01-2007
It should be noted here that currently Toast's TivoToGo functionality is broken and has been since the latest TiVo software update about four weeks ago. You can transfer programs to your Mac, but their metadata will be messed up and you will not be able to reencode the TiVo files for DVD or a portable device (except for some reason it will randomly work, no one seems to know why). Roxio is working on a fix, evidently to be rolled out with their forthcoming Leopard update. There have been ongoing threads on this issue at both Roxio and TiVo's forums.
I'd say good luck getting TiVoDecode Manager to work, it has not been supported for some time. I think it is hit or miss, it seems to install and work properly for some people, or not at all for others. Worked for me initially last year, but stopped with one of the TiVo updates & I haven't been able to get it going since.
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bpmarkowitz said 7:26AM on 11-01-2007
"(If the Series 3 works with 9.2, great! Your link does nothing to support that point)"
Maybe you missed the part where I said:
"Yes, it works with HD Tivo now as long as you get the 9.2 software update."
For the record, I am using TivoDecode Manager with my Series 3 HD Tivo and it is working just fine.
Basically, it was just enabled this month for Series 3 Tivos with the 9.2 update. The limitation of TivoDecode Manager was not that of the software, but a limitation imposed by Tivo that has since been removed.
Here is the link to the Tivo Community Forums thread on Macs and Series 3 TivoToGo:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=371298&highlight=mac
Here is the link to TivoDecode Manager:
http://tdm.sourceforge.net/
Hope that is enough to "support my point." I didn't know I needed footnotes and references.
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