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Ask TUAW: iTunes libraries, Mac data recovery, Snow Leopard on older Macs and more

by Chris Ullrich Jul 1st 2009 at 8:00PM

We're back with another edition of Ask TUAW. This time around we've answering questions about iTunes libraries, Mac data recovery, Snow Leopard on older Macs 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.

Daneel asks:

I'm running OS X 10.5.7 and Windows Vista (via Bootcamp) on my iMac 24". I was wondering if there was any way in which I could make the iTunes apps in both Windows and Mac use the same iTunes library. File access is not a problem as I've got the ntfs-3g driver on the mac side and mac drive on the PC side.

I have my iTunes library on an external hard drive. To make iTunes use this particular folder, I create an alias of the folder on the external drive and replace my iTunes folder located in Users> "User Name" > Music with the alias. iTunes has no problem with this setup.

You should be able to do the same thing in both the Mac and Windows versions of iTunes. Just set an alias of the iTunes folder you want to use in Windows pointing to your Mac iTunes library and you should be good to go.


Friko asks:

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?

Sadly, you are probably at a point where data recovery software needs to be used. Fortunately, you didn't do what's called a "low level" format of the drive which would have pretty much ruined your chances of recovering any data. In your case, the data may still be on the drive but the formatting just won't let OSX see it.

Data recovery is not an exact science and there are several programs you could try including Data Rescue from Prosoft, Stellar Phoenix from Stellar Info Systems, Boomerang, Kernel from Nucleus Software and Virtual Lab from Binary Biz. Plus, I'm sure you will get many more suggestions from our commenters about what software to try. Good luck.

Faye asks:

I have a fairly-new (purchased Fall '08) iMac 20" - 2.66GHz and a not-quite-as-new MacBook (purchased Jan '08). As a relatively recent convert, I'm trying to understand this: If Snow Leopard is more sparing of system resources than Leopard, why is it said that I won't get the full benefit of Snow Leopard with my pre-2009 Mac's?

Snow Leopard accomplishes its "spare resources" magic by dumping as much of the workload onto the Mac's graphics card as it can. Unfortunately, you need a very modern graphics card to do this and your Macs simply don't have one that's new enough. Therefore, you won't get the full benefit from Snow Leopard's most advanced features such as support for OpenCL.

Ricardo asks:

I like to play some FPS's and use Photoshop so I need a precision mouse. Any good gaming mouse for Mac (and with support for PC) besides the Razer DeathAdder?

Mice have come a long way over the years and several companies make some very good ones. Even though this is an Apple and Mac-centric site, I'm going to recommend a Microsoft product to you: The Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0. I use it for gaming on the Mac and it works quite well. It also works for Windows.

Of course, it doesn't offer all the bells and whistles of the Razer, but its also a bit less expensive. Plus, it works very well with Photoshop. However, if you really want the ultimate gaming mouse for the Mac, you should just stick to the Razer. Plus, its got a much cooler name.

Bryan asks:

In the network settings of the iPhone, you can switch 3G on and off. i live in an area that lacks 3G but 30 minutes in all directions are towns that support it. Am I better off leaving 3G switched off when i am at home, and then switching on when i get into a 3G zone? i didn't know if leaving it switched on meant that it was constantly searching for a 3G signal, and thus draining the battery more than normal.

According to Apple iPhone customer support, having 3G on or off does have an impact on battery life but not a significant one. The iPhone is designed to be in 3G mode all the time and the battery figures are based on that fact. That said, there's no harm at all in turning it off when you are not in a 3G area and then turning it on when you are.

Personally, I've found having 3G on does tend to drain the battery a bit faster, but it was not significant enough for me to be too concerned about it. Plus, I keep an iPhone charger in my car just in case I run low on juice. You might want to do the same thing.

A.J. Wiese asks:

I got the new 2.53GHz 13" Macbook Pro. I'm looking at getting 2 external monitors is there an adapter to give the mini display port dual monitor capability? (preferably DVI). if so how much would said adapter cost?

Pretty much the only way I know of to make this work, at least at the moment, is the Matrox DualHead2Go. However, it only supports two external monitors at 1024x768 resolution, so I'm not sure if that would be good enough for your purposes. Plus, it will run you around $225.00.

Instead, you might want to consider getting one big monitor such as the Apple 30" Cinema HD Display. It works out of the box and this way you can still get all the screen real estate you want.

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DeltaNick

Another "Snow Leopard on older Macs" question ...

TUAW's answer to Faye's question (14 July) only partially answered my question, which I'm sure is on the minds of many others.

I have a late-2006 iMac with 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and am running OS X 10.5.7. Since my Mac won't be able to take FULL advantage of Snow Leopard's features, will there be any advantages besides its smaller size? Without a recent graphics card, will Snow Leopard run quicker, or slower than Leopard?

Nicholas Aleshin
Ellicott City, MD

July 14 2009 at 3:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
For Next Time

Question: Is there an good diagnostic tool for Macs that I could run to evaluate a trusty old Macbook that I'd like to revive, but which is showing signs of senility?

Looking for something that goes beyond disk repair/defrag stuff, and runs a diagnostic on the internals to give me an idea of what problems (if any) lurk in the hardware. Does such a thing even exist?

Full explanation: It's a 1st-gen black Macbook that's starting to hiccup -- sometimes won't recognize USB disks or the batteries, takes a loooong time to boot, and some Finder weirdness suggests possible corruption somewhere. I'd like to do a clean Leopard install and give the machine a new life as a basic home server, but first would like to have a clear idea of whether it can be made trustworthy again, or whether it has big issues and should be junked.





July 13 2009 at 3:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jonathan

i have a macbook pro (early 2008) purchased in sept 08. running leopard 10.5.7

i'm so used to the microsoft office version of a keyboard shortcut to send an email message of, command+enter, that i'd like to program Mail to do the same function (instead of the default command+D).

however, if i go to the keyboard shortcuts menu in system preferences, it allows me to change it, but if i restart the mail program, it has no reference to any shortcut for the send function and forces me to use the mouse (e-gads! i know) to click the send button.

i've tried multiple times, including (since im on a macbook) fn+command+enter, and while it shows up correctly in the keyboard shortcuts window, it doesnt work in mail.

any help???
thanks

July 13 2009 at 12:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ricky

Hi,

I am using the 1st Gen MBP with 2.16 GHZ 256MB VM (ATI X1600), 2GB Ram and running Leopard 10.5.5

When i tried playing a 1080P blue ray video file which was converted to .MKV with VLC, I got the following error

"ffmpeg: more than 5 seconds of late video -> dropping frame (computer too slow ?)"

The movie starts playing but after 15 seconds or so this error pops up. I dont have this issue when im playing a 720P file.

Is is that my 3 yr old MBP is really too slow to play an HD video file, or is there a way to work out this problem?

Thanks,
Ricky.

July 11 2009 at 7:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jsterry

I'm trying to find an application on the Mac that works like Tweetie except for Facebook. I want to click an icon in the menubar, get a window, type my status, say post, and then be done. I DO NOT WANT to have my tweets posted to Facebook, I've read all about that. Most of the time the things I want to say take more than 140 characters. I just want to post directly to Facebook.

July 10 2009 at 4:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jdechko

Windows doesn't have aliases. It has shortcuts which are completely different, so your idea that you can create an alias in Windows to your library on an external drive will not work.

July 10 2009 at 12:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
For Next Time

question for the future: i'd like to set up two simple wifi cameras that (1) record and save video when they detect motion, and (2) email me when motion is detected. i don't want to sign up for a monthly service, would rather do this using a mac mini as a server on my home network if possible.

so ... i guess i'm looking for suggestions on what software and wireless cameras would make this as simple as possible to set up. my wireless network is airport extreme/mac only. thanks!

July 09 2009 at 11:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alex

Question for next week!

Next year (January 2010) I am travelling from the UK down to Ghana on a Charity drive (donating Land Rovers to various charities in Ghana) Will be gone for about a month and I want to keep a blog of everything that happens each day, with photos (and if possible, videos) for the people who are sponsoring us.

I have a Macbook (Unibody 2.4Ghz) and an iPhone 3GS. I know it would be easier to blog with the Macbook, but I would prefer not to take it and do all my blogging directly from the iPhone 3GS. (Some places we will go to might not be the safest in Africa!)

What would you recommend? The Macbook or the iPhone? What's the best blog site to use that I can update directly to? Is it possible to use my own webpage and update the blog from the iPhone? Do any blog sites let you add photos as well as videos directly from the 3GS?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Alex

July 07 2009 at 4:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Peter

The Matrox DualHead2Go doesn't just support 1024x768 on two screens. Read the chart on the page you linked to. The Analog version supports two @ 1280x1024, but the DVI and DisplayPort models support two @ 1920x1200.

July 06 2009 at 7:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jak Logan

I have a question for next time.
I'm running Leopard, but plan on upgrading to Snow Leopard as soon as it becomes available. I have a number of customized keyboard shortcut keys I made through the Mouse & Keyboard System Preferences panel. I really want to do a clean install of Snow Leopard, but is there any way to retain these keyboard shortcut settings?

July 06 2009 at 6:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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