Filed under: Features, Ask TUAW
Ask TUAW: Taking apart a MacBook Pro, installing Leopard on a Mirror Door G4, streaming movies and more
Once again, it's time for another edition of Ask TUAW: the place where we try to answer all of your Mac and Apple-related questions. This week we're answering questions about taking apart a MacBook Pro, installing Leopard on a Mirror Door G4, watching movies streamed from a Mac media server and more.As always, we welcome your suggestions for this week and questions for next time. Please leave your contributions in the comments for this post. When asking questions, please include which Mac and which version of OS X you're running. If you don't specify, we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac.
Jim asks:
Hey guys, Jim here. I am running OS X 10.5.6 on an Intel 2.4Ghz MacBook Pro (2007 model). Lately, this thing has been getting really, really hot. I've tried a lot of things, fresh OS X installs, laptop cooling pads, but none of it seems to work. A quick Google search told me that my laptop's innards might be clogged with dust, blocking its airflow. I'm thinking of opening it up and using some compressed air to clear out some of the dust. What do you guys think?
Opening up any computer can be sometimes lead to difficulty; opening up an Apple laptop even more so. Apple packs their computers into as small a casing as possible. Consequently, they are sometimes difficult to work on and may require a trained Apple tech.
That said, you can take the MacBook Pro apart successfully if you are very, very careful and make sure to keep good track of all the parts and pay close attention to what you are doing. Of course, Apple always recommends you seek help from an authorized repair facility but if you decide to take the plunge, the guides provided by iFixit are especially useful. Check out their MacBook Pro guides here to find your specific model.
Liam asks:
I have an old G4 Power Mac (mirrored drive door) and it's running Tiger -- is it worth upgrading to Leopard or would it be so sluggish as to be unusable?
According to Apple, if your G4 is at least 867 Mhz, has 512 MB of memory, a DVD drive for installation and 9GB of available disk space, you can install Leopard on the computer. So, assuming you meet those specs, you could use Leopard on your Mac.
If you do decide to install it, keep a few things in mind. First, you will want to max out the amount of RAM in the machine, which in this case tops out at 2GB. Also, if you still rely on any OS9 applications, utilities or whatever, Classic mode does not work in Leopard. Also, make sure to update your machine to the latest firmware version pre-upgrade
Do you want Leopard? You can install it and it will probably work. However, the performance will not be anything spectacular. If you are relying on the machine for basic email, web browsing and other "lite" use, it should be adequate. Just don't expect much more from it than that.
Matthew asks:
I watch a lot of movies on my Mac (which is hooked up to my TV) and I primarily use Boxee to watch movies, but I've noticed that programs like iChat, iTunes and others like to steal the focus and put pop-ups on top of the movie when there is an alert. How do I stop them from stealing focus when I'm in full screen mode?
At the moment, this is a problem for many users. Sadly, the best way to prevent background applications like iChat and iTunes from stealing focus is to quit them while you are watching a movie. You could turn off all iChat's alerts in the preferences for the app, but then you'll likely forget to turn them back on again
Obviously, this isn't ideal but if the idea is to watch and enjoy a movie, removing these distractions while doing so seems like a small price to pay. Perhaps one day soon Apple will offer this option in System Prefs or one of our TUAW readers may know of a Terminal hack. Until then, quitting these applications is your best option.
Besides, all your AIM friends and your music will be there when you open those programs again, so don't worry.
Olivier asks:
I want to set up a home network that will include a media server to feed music and images to a flat screen TV using a mac Mini and I'm planning on acquiring a 24" iMac as my main computer. The house will feature network plugs in all the rooms. What do I need to make all those computers work together seamlessly?
If I understand your question correctly, you have pretty much all you need to make these computers work together seamlessly. They are all Macs which means they will be able to share files and media very easily.
The simplest way I've done this is to enable iTunes sharing on the iMac that's going to be your media server. Next, on the Mac Mini attached to your TV, use Front Row to play music or media files shared from your iMac on your TV.
In the past, I've had some issues with Front Row playing shared media over an Airport network but as you are going to be using Ethernet, these issues shouldn't be a problem for you.
David D. asks:
I have a question about my iPhone battery. Sometimes it will lose all charge (down to 10%) two hours after I leave my house and its charger. What could be causing this "battery diarrhea" and how can I fix it?
Unfortunately, while the iPhone is a remarkable piece of technological innovation, it still has some issues -- the battery being one of the biggest. There are many things that could be causing your battery to drain. Some of these include the use of location services, 3G data usage, moving in and out of coverage areas, and other gotchas.
The simplest thing I've found to help prolong my battery life is to let it drain completely until the phone turns off and then recharge fully -- at least once a month. Also, even if the phone is running fine, I do a complete restart by holding down the "Home" and the "Power" buttons at the same time until the slider appears asking you "Slide to power off." Once the phone is off I press the "Power" button again to turn it on.
Though somewhat radical, these two steps have enabled me to prolong the battery life in my iPhone 3G and seem to prevent, or at least minimize, most battery-related issues. Most issues except, of course, the issue of the battery not lasting very long no matter what steps you take. Maybe that will be fixed in iPhone 3.0?
I have an old G4 Power Mac (mirrored drive door) and it's running Tiger -- is it worth upgrading to Leopard or would it be so sluggish as to be unusable?
According to Apple, if your G4 is at least 867 Mhz, has 512 MB of memory, a DVD drive for installation and 9GB of available disk space, you can install Leopard on the computer. So, assuming you meet those specs, you could use Leopard on your Mac.
If you do decide to install it, keep a few things in mind. First, you will want to max out the amount of RAM in the machine, which in this case tops out at 2GB. Also, if you still rely on any OS9 applications, utilities or whatever, Classic mode does not work in Leopard. Also, make sure to update your machine to the latest firmware version pre-upgrade
Do you want Leopard? You can install it and it will probably work. However, the performance will not be anything spectacular. If you are relying on the machine for basic email, web browsing and other "lite" use, it should be adequate. Just don't expect much more from it than that.
Matthew asks:
I watch a lot of movies on my Mac (which is hooked up to my TV) and I primarily use Boxee to watch movies, but I've noticed that programs like iChat, iTunes and others like to steal the focus and put pop-ups on top of the movie when there is an alert. How do I stop them from stealing focus when I'm in full screen mode?
At the moment, this is a problem for many users. Sadly, the best way to prevent background applications like iChat and iTunes from stealing focus is to quit them while you are watching a movie. You could turn off all iChat's alerts in the preferences for the app, but then you'll likely forget to turn them back on again
Obviously, this isn't ideal but if the idea is to watch and enjoy a movie, removing these distractions while doing so seems like a small price to pay. Perhaps one day soon Apple will offer this option in System Prefs or one of our TUAW readers may know of a Terminal hack. Until then, quitting these applications is your best option.
Besides, all your AIM friends and your music will be there when you open those programs again, so don't worry.
Olivier asks:
I want to set up a home network that will include a media server to feed music and images to a flat screen TV using a mac Mini and I'm planning on acquiring a 24" iMac as my main computer. The house will feature network plugs in all the rooms. What do I need to make all those computers work together seamlessly?
If I understand your question correctly, you have pretty much all you need to make these computers work together seamlessly. They are all Macs which means they will be able to share files and media very easily.
The simplest way I've done this is to enable iTunes sharing on the iMac that's going to be your media server. Next, on the Mac Mini attached to your TV, use Front Row to play music or media files shared from your iMac on your TV.
In the past, I've had some issues with Front Row playing shared media over an Airport network but as you are going to be using Ethernet, these issues shouldn't be a problem for you.
David D. asks:
I have a question about my iPhone battery. Sometimes it will lose all charge (down to 10%) two hours after I leave my house and its charger. What could be causing this "battery diarrhea" and how can I fix it?
Unfortunately, while the iPhone is a remarkable piece of technological innovation, it still has some issues -- the battery being one of the biggest. There are many things that could be causing your battery to drain. Some of these include the use of location services, 3G data usage, moving in and out of coverage areas, and other gotchas.
The simplest thing I've found to help prolong my battery life is to let it drain completely until the phone turns off and then recharge fully -- at least once a month. Also, even if the phone is running fine, I do a complete restart by holding down the "Home" and the "Power" buttons at the same time until the slider appears asking you "Slide to power off." Once the phone is off I press the "Power" button again to turn it on.
Though somewhat radical, these two steps have enabled me to prolong the battery life in my iPhone 3G and seem to prevent, or at least minimize, most battery-related issues. Most issues except, of course, the issue of the battery not lasting very long no matter what steps you take. Maybe that will be fixed in iPhone 3.0?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Davey said 10:53AM on 5-06-2009
Holding down the power and home buttons on the iphone is to make it reboot, not to give you the slider to power off (though it will show the slider after 3secs if you phone isn't frozen). You just hold down the power button to get the slider to turn it off, hence the name.
- Davey
Reply
Drew said 1:32PM on 5-06-2009
Yeah, holding down both buttons is the equivalent of just turning off your computer without shutting down. Hold down the power button and slide the little red bar...don't do a hard reboot unless it's completely frozen.
Arlo said 11:06AM on 5-06-2009
My wife's Mirror Drive Door PowerMac G4 is a 1GHz with maxed-out RAM and a recently installed 320GB hard drive (speedy with an 8MB cache). It runs Leopard incredibly well. She's using Adobe CS2, and while Photoshop might be a wee bit on the slower side than she would like, it's still a production machine for her, and it gets the job done admirably. The only reason we are seriously considering an upgrade for her is because her office is moving to CS4, which requires at least a G5. Other than that, we haven't seen a major need for her to upgrade.
So go ahead and install Leopard; you'll be very happy with it. That machine is still capable of much more than "basic email, web browsing and other 'lite' use."
Reply
tvscifi said 12:28PM on 5-07-2009
I too am running Leopard on a Mirror door G4 with 2GB of ram. I saw a performance boost from Leopard over Tiger. I think it manages memory better, or something. Also, Sheepshaver will let you run your OS9 apps.
alfriede said 11:08AM on 5-06-2009
@ Liam
i not only have leopard installed on my dual 1.42ghz mirrored door g4, but i have leopard SERVER on it! it's zippy as hell with a 1tb raid 1 setup via a sonnet sata raid card with 4 drives total - 2 on the raid and 2 on ide/ata with the max 2gb ram. i also have two g5 dual 2.5ghz/2gb g5's that run the same thing, and i don't really see a huge performance difference between the g4 and g5's.
buy leopard, install it on your mirrored g4, and enjoy without fear!
cheers,
-a
Reply
The Echidna said 10:22AM on 9-19-2009
@arlo / liam
What do you guys use for Wifi (or do you)?
I currently have a dual 867 MDD with a 'generic' 802.11g card in it using the OrangeWare driver, which doesn't work with Leopard
I desperately want to upgrade to Leopard, I have done it before and know it works... but I also need the Wifi functionality of G which isn't offered in the supported Airport card
Reply
Arlo said 1:28PM on 5-06-2009
I bought a Buffalo PCI 802.11g card a few years ago. It uses a Broadcom chipset that the Mac treats like a standard AirPort card. It doesn't seem like that product is available anymore, but you should be able to find something similar.
iGO said 12:21PM on 5-06-2009
Is it possible to make a "contact sheet" on my iMac 10.5.6?
I want like an 8x10 sheet with say 30 to 35 little 1x1.5 inch thumbnails. Like a photo proof sheet for allowing users to pick the pictures they would like printed.
Thanks
Reply
Arlo said 1:31PM on 5-06-2009
There is a Contact Sheet action in Automator: http://homepage.mac.com/cjrtools/automator-apps/files/pdf-contact-sheet.html
Brian McClure said 12:49PM on 5-06-2009
As for the person asking about notifications interrupting movie / TV playback...
If the Mac is attached to your TV and you have the TV as a secondary display, then you can view all of your videos in Full Screen on the secondary display without having issues.
I am not sure if your setup permits this, but that is what I do with my 24" iMac... I play all videos as full screen on my secondary display (24")
Reply
vandil said 1:48PM on 5-06-2009
If your G4 MDD doesn't come with a DVD drive and your Leopard install media is a DVD, do not despair: If you have access to another Mac that does have a DVD drive and a FireWire port, you can simply start up your G4 in FireWire Target Disk Mode connect it to your other "host" Mac, reboot the "host" with the installation disk and install Leopard to the "FireWire" hard disk the installer will see.
Once the installation finishes and wants to reboot, shut down the "host" computer instead, disconnect the FireWire cable, and restart the G4. All set!
Reply
SIP said 8:04PM on 5-06-2009
I did it the other way around -- start-up the G4/MDD as normal and the Mac with the DVD a Target mode. This way, you get all the right bits installed, unless of course both Macs you're using are G4/MDD...
jax sedrin said 2:03PM on 5-06-2009
Question...
I have my 37" HDTV hooked up to my iMac (24" intel, brand new, OS X 10.5.6) as a second monitor, and I'm using Plex as a media center on my HDTV. The problem is, with the iMac in the same room as the HDTV, the screen is very bright and distracting during movies. Is there any way to turn off the display of *just* the iMac (and not also kill the video to the HDTV)? Or is there a simple program I can run that will "black" out the iMac screen?
Thanks
Reply
vandil said 3:22PM on 5-06-2009
If your HDTV is set up as a "secondary monitor", as opposed to a mirrored monitor, then simply go into the Displays section of System Preferences and drag your menu bar to the HDTV screen. You will then notice both your menu bar and dock are now on the HDTV -- this puts the HDTV into "focus" as the primary monitor.
If you then play anything in Full Screen, your iMac monitor should turn off, since it is now the "secondary monitor". Not sure about Roxy, but FrontRow, iTunes, and QuickTime, when played in Full Screen, turns off the "secondary monitor".
Afterward, you don't have to drag the menu bar back, either. Simply shutdown your iMac, disconnect the cable to the HDTV, and turn it back on, and your iMac will be the same as it always way, and it will now remember to automatically move the menu bar and dock to your HDTV when it is connected.
Eug said 5:26PM on 5-06-2009
Question for next round of Ask TUAW - back when i used IE in windows xp, and clicked a URL that links to a document (doc/xls/ppt), it would ask me to save or open. in OSX these just download by default. only PDF is opened within Safari. is there any way to have the option to save or open the file, rather than just have it save?
Reply
Unregistered said 11:19PM on 5-06-2009
How do I clean up my iTunes?
I currently have a lot of free apps that I grab during their giveaways or heavy discount periods. While I don't use them all there are quite a number that I would like to keep for future use.
Can I burn the whole Mobile Installation folder to DVD and then delete those that I don't need for the time being? Will the backed up apps work by simplying dragging back from the DVD?
Thanks!
Reply
Marcelo said 11:46PM on 5-06-2009
I have Leopard running on my Dual 1GHz G4 Quicksilver (that's PRE mirrored drive door!) with 1.5 GB of RAM (the max) and it is super snappy and totally usable. It's amazing how well it works actually. Quicklook, coverflow, all of it. Apple really covered their bases with Leopard.
Reply
danny said 12:17AM on 5-07-2009
@TUAW and Liam
@TUAW - How do you do firmware upgrades for a G4 MDD??
@ Liam - I got the top of the line dual 1.42GHz, 2GB, multiple HDs in software RAID0 about 6 years ago and it runs Lepoard very well. I do a lot of video work as well as all the 'lite' stuff. One suggestion: I used iPhoto '05 a lot and an upgrade to '08 was a HUGE speed improvement!
Reply
Liam said 3:01AM on 5-07-2009
Thanks everyone for the votes of confidence re: installing Leopard. I think I will give it a shot - my other machine (a macbook) runs Leopard so Screen Sharing and other Leopard-centric features will be open to me then also.
Not certain about specs without checking but fairly sure it was the 1ghz model, and I recall installing RAM at some point, so from what you're saying I might see a speed increase rather than a dramatic decrease.
@tuaw I don't use any legacy OS9 appas anymore, so safe there. In fact most things I have are now for Leopard because of the MacBook.
Again I would have said the G4 has a dvd reader in but you've made me question it now without looking. Have MacBook on hand to use in Target Disk mode as some mentioned though.
Thanks again everyone!
Reply
Maddin said 5:23AM on 5-07-2009
I agree. Very basic steps. Very easy to understand, and not to fast.
Reply