Filed under: Hardware, OS, Software Update, Ask TUAW, Macbook Pro, MacBook, Leopard, Snow Leopard
Ask TUAW: Taming unruly windows, updating OS X, booting from an SD card, and more.
We're back with another edition of Ask TUAW. This time around we've answering questions about how to resize windows too big for the screen, "compulsive" updating, booting from an SD card, Open GL in Snow Leopard, and more.As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
Steph asks:
I recently switched from an iMac to a MacBook Pro and now many of my windows are sized to big for the screen of my laptop. I can't reach the corner to resize them and clicking the "Plus" sign in the corner doesn't help. What can I do?
Fortunately, this is very easy to fix. Instead of clicking on the "Plus" sign (the green button) in the top left corner of the window you are trying to resize, Option-click it and the window will fill your new screen size instead.
John asks:
I realize there's a method for updating Mac OSX all the time and sometimes I get the window popping up saying I have updates. Should I always update immedietly when it tells me I have some?
That's a good question and an important one to keep in mind as a user of Mac or Windows. In most cases, updating the computer is an important step and the updates will provide added features, security or other improvements or various enhancements that will benefit the user.
However (and this is more frequently the case with Windows than Mac OS X in my experience), the patches or updates can actually cause other issues on your computer while they are trying to fix something. That's not to say updates on the Mac to the operating system never have problems or cause issues. For some users they do.
In the majority of cases, however, Mac users can feel pretty confident that when an update is released it has been pretty-well tested and will fix problems instead of causing others. Still, caution is not a bad thing and nobody wants to be, nor should be, an inadvertent beta tester for a software company -- be it Microsoft or Apple.
So even when updates become available, I always advise users to wait at least a week or two before downloading and installing them. That way, if there are issues with the update, you will hopefully hear about it before you update your computer and run into trouble. Really, if your computer is working fine, waiting a week or two to update won't hurt.
I also advise users, especially with updates to OS X itself, to download and install the "Combo" updater instead of simply updating the OS via Software Update; these packages include all the intervening updates from the 10.5.0 release up to the current patch level. Sure, these updates are far larger and require a bit more effort, but they are often much better at preventing any problems associated with upgrading your OS. These updates can be found over at Apple's download site.
Nathan asks:
I have an iMac. I put the Mac to sleep and plug in my iPhone to sync and charge. Unfortunately, as soon as I plug in the phone, the iMac wakes up and that big, bright screen turns on. Not the best lighting for sleeping. Is there a way to make it so that the screen doesn't turn back on when the iPhone is plugged in?
Unfortunately, just like when moving the mouse or clicking a key on the keyboard, the Mac is designed to wake up and be ready when you do other things like plug in an iPhone. You can turn down your screen brightness to the minimum but that may still be too much light for comfort. You could also set your screensaver to a black screen, and activate it via a hot corner as soon as you plug in the phone.
My other suggestion would be to simply plug the iPhone into the wall via the charger at night instead of plugging it into your iMac. That way, the iPhone can charge at night and your iMac can rest in peace.
Alex asks:
I'll soon be getting a 17", but the SD card sounds nice, particularly the ability to boot from it. What I'd like to know is: if I got an x-in-one card reader for the express card slot and used an SD card with it (or any card), could I boot off of that?
From what we've seen and heard about the new MacBook Pros... probably. At the moment, Apple only supports SD booting from the internal card slot, but you've long been able to boot from USB media, so a properly-formatted and configured SD card in a USB or ExpressCard reader may work. Check out this Apple Tech Document for all the details on the SD card slots.
Huxley asks:
I've got a 17" MacBook Pro with Intel Core2Duo running at 2.33GHz, and an ATI Radeon x1600 graphics card with 256MB of VRAM. Will the OpenGL features of Snow Leopard will work with the ATI chip in my MacBook Pro?
According to Apple's Tech Specs page for Snow Leopard, the following graphics cards are required for full OpenGL support: NVIDIA Geforce 8600M GT, GeForce 8800 GT, GeForce 8800 GTS, Geforce 9400M, GeForce 9600M GT, GeForce GT 120, GeForce GT 130, ATI Radeon 4850 and ATI Radeon 4870.
So, it doesn't look like your card is supported and you won't be able to take full advantage of OpenGL.
Ralph asks:
Any specific recommendations for a VESA arm for Apple's 24" LED Cinema Display? I'd need something that clamped to a desk, not a wall, and full compatibility with the ACD 24 is, obviously, a must.
In order to make this happen you'll need some things. First, and most obvious, is you'll need an Apple 24" Cinema Display. Second, you will need to get the VESA Mounting Adaptor for the display from Apple. Finally, you will need a mounting arm to secure the monitor to your desk. This is the one I've used most often.
It features tilt and pivot function, fingertip tilt and swivel for viewing at any angle, self-adjusts to securely hold monitor, built-in cable management and comes in silver of black.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Rafe H. said 11:56AM on 6-17-2009
When an update is available in Software Update, then update your computer.
Reply
oliver hart said 5:43PM on 6-22-2009
Dear TUAW-
I was curious to know if there is any possible way that the iPhone 3GS's video recording functionality/YouTube uploading feature could be unlocked/ported to the iPhone 3G? Everyone knows that video recording is possible via jailbreak apps such as Cycorder and Video Recorder for 3G, so if the camera can handle at least some video action (def not 720p), you'd think that the software inside of 3.0 (for 3GS) could be used in the 3G 3.0 somehow. I know that when the dev betas were floating around people found inside the software the video stuff and were speculating.
I'd like to point out that if developers/hackers can get unsigned, unauthorized applications written without X-Code onto the iPhone, then one would think that using something already written for a variation of the iPhone could be tweaked to run on a different version of the hardware/software.
Thank You (and sorry for replying to your comment with something unrelated Rafe)
john.mcswankypants said 12:12PM on 6-17-2009
For Nathan's question about the screen turning on, you can also press control+shift+eject and it puts the screen to sleep (I use it all the time). No need for fancy hot corners or screensavers.
Reply
dagamer43 said 12:24PM on 6-17-2009
Awesome!
Tom said 12:14PM on 6-17-2009
@Nathan: Plug in your iPhone first, then put the iMac to sleep. The phone should continue to charge with the machine asleep.
Removing the iPhone will wake the machine, however this tends to work well for me, as I tend to wake up, grab my iPhone, and check news on the computer before heading to work.
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atothej said 12:16PM on 6-17-2009
I think you mean to say OpenCL, when referring to Snow Leopard...
@ Nathan: why don't you just plugin your iPhone before you send your iMac to sleep. That won't wake it up and it'll still charge (I think... it does when hooked up to the USB hub in my monitor)?
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Ferhan Siddiqi said 2:21AM on 6-28-2009
solution for Nathan,
"I have an iMac. I put the Mac to sleep and plug in my iPhone to sync and charge. Unfortunately, as soon as I plug in the phone, the iMac wakes up and that big, bright screen turns on. Not the best lighting for sleeping. Is there a way to make it so that the screen doesn't turn back on when the iPhone is plugged in? "
First off, macs can't charge anything connected via USB when in sleep mode. (correct me if i'm wrong)
but there are workarounds. download "caffeine" for mac.
caffeine basically leaves the display on no matter what your display shut off setting. turn it on so that the display won't sleep, and set the brightness to ZERO.
works for my macbook.
just sharing.
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nogreenworld said 12:29PM on 6-17-2009
i'm running one of the brand new macbookpro's (the 13), 2.5GHz. I have an airport extreme base station at home hooked up to my pc desktop (win xpsp2).
can i set up an automator task to connect to the pc and import the newest photos from the pc to iphoto? (my photos all get imported to the pc currently first).
Reply
Joshua Ochs said 12:31PM on 6-17-2009
For Alex's question, I just had occasion to do this (boot from SD in a USB card reader) and it worked just fine. However, everyone should know that SD cards are SLOW - it will take a few hours to install Mac OS X even on the fastest Class-6 cards, and will take a few minutes to boot what would otherwise be done in tens of seconds. Most people would be much better off with a fast USB key than an SD card.
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SB said 12:44PM on 6-17-2009
So I am finally ready to pull the trigger on a new MBP. I am a little torn between the 2.53GHz vs. the 2.66Ghz. I probably don't "NEED" the GeForce 9600M GT, but with the OpenCL in Snow Leopard will it take advantage of the higher power graphics card?
Reply
sjshaw said 12:46PM on 6-17-2009
I have an old PowerBook 5300cs with a broken display. It was running OS9 (I think... maybe 8). I have a lot of data on the hard drive I would like to transfer to my iMac. Because the 5300cs has no USB port or network interface other than a modem port and an old 24-pin SCSI port, I can't connect it to a storage device to transfer the files, and even if I could, the display doesn't work. I have a 2.5" external drive enclosure I can put the HD in, assuming I can easily remove it.
This presents several problems.
1. How do I remove the drive?
2. How do I transfer the files to my iMac? I can't just plug the 5300cs' hard drive into my iMac and expect it to mount and be readable, can I?
3. I have tons of files like PageMaker 5 files, WriteNow 3 files, etc. Any way to update/convert them so I can read them? How about text snippets (that makes me think it was running OS9, because I don't think those were available until 9)?
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Sean said 2:49PM on 6-17-2009
1. Unscrew enough screws and you'll eventually see how the HD comes out. I doubt it will be too difficult to remove.
2. If you have an external enclosure that actually fits the drive then it should show up on the desktop just like any other Mac formatted external drive.
Paulwh80 said 4:01PM on 6-26-2009
You could take a look at www.ifixit.com.
Adam S said 12:51PM on 6-17-2009
OpenGL != OpenCL.
I think the question was misunderstood.
Reply
James said 1:01PM on 6-17-2009
Question for next week's "Ask TUAW":
External multi-touch trackpad for iMac?
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Is there a good external multi-touch trackpad for my early 2008 24" aluminum iMac? I already have one of the basic Cirque/Adesso models that don't have multi-touch and more importantly lack the Mac drivers needed to configure tracking speed, acceleration, and the like. Fingerworks stopped making the iGesture Pad after being acquired by Apple. And I believe the SmartTrack Neo only supports Windows.
Reply
nogreenworld said 1:01PM on 6-17-2009
i (very) recently purchased a macbookpro 13" and am making the switch back to mac from PC. my query is twofold (one is more of a gripe, but it sets up the main question)
1(the gripe): i don't like that iphoto doesn't let me rename the files when i import them. i have a fairly nice way of renaming and filing the photos on my pc using the date (my camera filenames are all just dcim001, dcim002), and it's logical and i've been doing it for four years now. i like it, it makes sense, and i have a hard time trusting a program (iphoto) to keep track of all the photos and keep them organized. i feel if something goes horribly wrong with the program, then i'll have all these photos named DCIM#### with no way of reconstructing what goes where. what can i say, i've become a pc user, i have ot worry about these things. any thoughts on renaming/this issue? my solution so far is to import them to the pc first and then to the macbook. but when the desktop dies, i want to replace it with a mac, then i'm screwed, methinks.
2 (the real question) i have an extensive photo library on my pc (win xp) currently, and i'd like to migrate that to the mac. that i can handle with import alright, but my question is going forward. i'd like to keep downloading my pictures to the pc first for now i think (see above), but i'd like the mac to import them as well. it creates a backup as well as lets me rename them first. i can't seem to figure out how to get automator to connect to my pc over my airport extreme and then import the pictures it hasn't yet downloaded.
your help is appreciated!
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Tom said 2:22PM on 6-17-2009
I think your really overcomplicating the situation. Just use iPhoto and trust it, and make backups using Time Machine.
I've had an iPhoto library now since version 1.0, and never had any issues with it. It contains tons of photos, taken on many various cameras of mine and others. And I honestly have no idea what filenames are for any of them, because I don't worry about it. If I want to find a photo, I don't have to think about the date, find some folder, then browse. I just zip to the photo via events, albums, faces, maps, or keywords.
OS X, and the iLife apps are all very centered around distancing the user from the mundane. Metadata, and great organization tools work better then having to manually organize everything. If I ever decide to leave iPhoto, I'd take the library, grab all the images out, and import them into Picassa or something similar. All digital camera images have metadata called EXIF tags, and this includes the date/time. Assuming your camera had this set properly, there is no need to put this info in the file again, as part of the name. Plenty of utilities out there know how to read EXIF, so that data is safe.
To help reassure you, iPhoto always keeps your photos in a stock state. So if somehow something goes horribly wrong (via an editing accident, or something else), you can always get back to the starting point.
nutela said 4:26AM on 6-26-2009
iPhoto puts your photos into a directory structure like this; YYYY/date it seems to preserve the naming, you can rename it I think
friko said 2:34PM on 6-17-2009
I know it's a bit off-topic but...:
My iMac failed and didn't let me do an archive and install, so I had to make a clean install.
Is there any way to transfer to the new install not only the music, but the contacts and calendar info that's in my computer?
Thanks
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NoAndThen said 10:30PM on 6-27-2009
Your only option at this point is disk recovery software; assuming you didn't allow osx to wipe the disk prior to install, but I've never known someone in your situation. Good luck!