Filed under: Wireless, Features, Airport, iMac, iTunes, Ask TUAW, Snow Leopard
Ask TUAW: Arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows on a Mac, Airport networks and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we have questions about arranging icons on the iPhone, installing Windows via Boot Camp, AirPort networks, iMac rotation support, replacing the video card in an iMac, and more.As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Leave your questions for next week in the comments section at the end of this post. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
Leah asks:
Is there a better way to arrange icons on my iPhone than by trying to drag them around on the phone itself. I can't seem to get it to work very well and usually mess it up.Apple provided a better way of organizing iPhone icons in iTunes 9. In the past, I always tried to arrange my icons on the iPhone the same way you do, by dragging them around on the device itself. This isn't as easy as it sounds, especially if you have larger hands.
Now, with iTunes 9 or higher installed and your iPhone connected to your Mac or PC, launch iTunes, click on the Applications tab, and you will not only see the apps you have installed on your iPhone, but the iPhone screens and the placement of the icons as well.
Simply drag the icons around in iTunes and put them in the desired order. The next time you sync, the icons are arranged identically on your iPhone as well. It's so much easier.
Stubby asks:
Is it difficult to install Windows on a Mac using Boot Camp and running Snow Leopard? I'm a bit intimidated.
Well, anything can be difficult if you don't know how, but installing, configuring, and using Boot Camp on your Mac doesn't have to be one of those things. You're in luck, because TUAW's very own Josh Carr recently did a great article answering that very question.
In the post, he provides step by step instructions on how to install Boot Camp, and then configure it so you can run Windows on your Mac. In his example, Josh uses a Mac running Snow Leopard, and then installs Windows 7 Ultimate as his Microsoft OS of choice.
That bodes well for you, Stubby, if that's what you're planning to do. If you have the Apple wireless keyboard and mouse, be sure to grab the recent Bluetooth update on the Windows side to enable function key control for brightness and volume.
There are also other alternatives if you don't want to use Boot Camp, which requires you to reboot your Mac each time you want to run Windows. Virtualization applications such as Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, or Sun VirtualBox offer alternatives to Boot Camp that may be worth checking out. (Both Parallels and VMware have just released new versions of these apps.)
These programs run on your Mac and create a virtual environment for Windows to run in. When you want to run Windows applications, you launch the virtualization app in Mac OS X, and then Windows starts up in a window just like any other Mac program. You can then use Windows and Windows-only applications in that virtual environment.
This method is great for people who don't need extensive 3D support in Windows and just need to run specific Windows-only applications. I've tried both Boot Camp and VMware, and for almost every task I need, using a virtual Windows environment has proven to be more than sufficient.
Rono asks:
Can I use an Airport Express as a primary station to give an Internet connection to an AirPort Extreme wirelessly? I want to put an Airport Express with the modem and the Extreme in another room with a few peripherals attached to it through the Ethernet ports. Will the Extreme be able to share a WiFi connection from the Express? AND will it be able to share its connection through the Ethernet ports?Apple advocates setting this up the opposite way, using the AirPort Extreme as the primary station and the AirPort Express as the secondary. That being said, you should be able to set this up the way you want with no problems. The AirPort Utility software should work to set up the network the same way no matter which device is the main base station and which is the remote.
The main thing to remember is to have the remote base station, the AirPort Extreme in this case, in "Bridge Mode." That way, it will only serve to extend your wireless signal and provide hookups for your peripherals, leaving your AirPort Express to allocate IP addresses and serve as the de facto router for your setup.
One other thing to keep in mind is that the AirPort Express and the AirPort Extreme should both be of the same type. For example, they should both be the most recent version with 802.11n capability, such as this AirPort Express and this AirPort Extreme. Mixing types is a bad practice for this kind of setup and has caused me problems in the past. If you're buying two new devices, you should be set.
Joe R asks:
I'd like matching and elegant solution for turning my new 27" iMac. Something like a low-profile lazy-susan or something. Any ideas?Actually, this isn't the first time someone has asked me this question. Fortunately, I have an answer and it's this non-stick turntable currently available for US$5.49 at Amazon. I realize that it doesn't match the color of the iMac exactly but it is a heavy duty platform with non-stick surfaces, perfect for rotating your prize iMac. In addition, at this price you really can't go wrong. Heck, get two!
If you have a bigger wallet and want something that matches your iMac, take a look at the i360 iMac turntable from Rain Design. Prices for these turntables vary with the the model, but are currently all less than US$40.
Alex McKee asks:
I've got a 7300GT in my iMac 24" (late 2006) that's on its last legs. Apple says it isn't a known issue and they want $500 to fix it. I've sourced a 7600GT from the same year that will work for about $220, but I'd still rather find some cheaper solution. Any ideas on how to get either apple to fix my problem gratis/cheaper or some homebrewed solution?
I can't speak for Apple, but it sounds like they've made the decision that this isn't covered under any existing warranty or any extended repair program. If that's the case, your options with Apple are pretty much exhausted. The only other option is to try to find a friendly Apple Genius at your local Apple Store and plead your case to them.
In rare instances, Apple Geniuses have been able to fix things that previously were going to cost clients of mine a lot of money to fix. Granted, I've cultivated relationships with several Geniuses over the years and these occurrences were certainly not the norm. They also weren't following Apple policy, but it's worth a shot. All the Geniuses can do is say no, and all it costs is a bit of your time.
Otherwise, the solution of replacing the card with one you can obtain for US$220 seems to be your best bet in terms of actual hard cost. That being said, one big point to keep in mind is that replacing these cards is extremely difficult. If you do attempt the repair yourself, use all due care and proceed with caution. It is not something you want to undertake lightly.
I would advise you to go to Apple and have them do a repair of this type -- or find the independent Mac repair shop in your area. It may cost a bit more, but then the repair is under warranty. If they mess up your iMac during the repair, they have to fix it or replace it entirely.
For the extra US$280, you may be spared hours of aggravation. Perhaps you'll also be spared creating a dead Mac that will have to be repaired by Apple anyway. Carefully consider your skills before you take on any replacement or repair yourself.
Codi asks:
I've got a lot of Gmail accounts that I check frequently. Is there a good way to have them all in the same window or an app that I can use to keep track of them all?
There is. I recently started using an application called Mailplane (we've covered it before) that allows you to manage an unlimited number of Gmail accounts in a single app. It also has other useful features such as drag and drop for adding attachments and direct iPhoto import. Best of all, it's actually a Mac application, so your Gmail won't be confined to a web browser.
I was a big fan of Apple's Mail app, but I didn't like the way it handled Gmail accounts. Mailplane represents the best current option for power Gmail users. The developers offer a 30 day free demo, and if you decide to purchase the program, it only costs you US$24.95.
If you want to keep the browser interface for Gmail but still have separate accounts running in different windows, you might try Mozilla's Prism as a free solution. Prism is a small app or Firefox plugin that creates single-site browsers (SSBs) which run as independent applications.
Since each browser process created by Prism has its own set of cookies and credentials, you can access multiple Gmail accounts that way without affecting the logged-in account in your primary browser. (The Webkit-based SSB builder Fluid doesn't isolate cookies in the same way, so you can't log into multiple Gmail accounts using it as you can with Prism.)
It's not quite as slick as Mailplane and not quite as feature-rich, but it does work and it's free.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
William Hook said 12:28PM on 11-04-2009
For the email accounts, there's also Notify. It's more of a notifier than anything else, but it's quite useful: http://vibealicious.com/apps/notify/
The 2.0 version has support for multiple accounts other than Gmail, as well as reading the full message and basic replying within the app, but it's only available in a private beta at the moment.
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Claire said 1:55PM on 11-04-2009
Hello,
I have a 24" 2.93 GHz Intel iMac. I upgraded to Snow Leopard a few weeks ago via an erase & install to get rid of residual PowerPC files. (Thanks for your help with that.) I didn't install the printer drivers from the disc instead letting my iMac grab them when I plugged them in.
My Canon PIXMA MP470 is recognized & will print, but if I try to print a second document, the computer says its offline. Or if I turn the printer on before clicking print, it also says its offline. In particular, it shows:
"Error Number: 306 A communication error has occurred. Make sure that the printer is plugged in, powered-on, and properly connected to your computer. Then try printing again.
Printer offline."
Double-checking all those steps and trying again makes no difference. I end up having to turn the printer off and then on again after setting up a new print job.
I never had this problem with Leopard. Is this an OS issue or a printer driver issue? I went to Canon's site directly (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=116&modelid=15403#DownloadDetailAct) and tried the MP470 series CUPS Printer Driver Ver. 10.26.0.0 (Mac OS X 10.5/10.6) to no avail. I assume my old Leopard printer drivers won't work, right?
Also, for all-in-one printers, do they have separate scanner drivers that I need to install? Seems to look that way. There was also an ICA driver on Canon's site. What does ICA stand for/do?
Finally, and on a separate topic, where do I find the MAC address of my computer? I share a router for internet with a PC user, and if I want to use wireless then he needs to input my MAC address.
Thanks very much for your time,
Claire
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Max said 2:18PM on 11-04-2009
Ask TUAW
Hi there,
I was delighted to read your article "Why an Apple-bases Mac mini server has big possibilities" (20th October) since before reading it I wasn't sure why Apple made such a move: making a consumer product something for businesses! Why?
After having read the I not only understood the meaning of Apple's move for consumers but it also convinced me it was the solution I needed. Today I have an external hard drive linked (USB) to an Airport Extreme. I keep all my music, films, backups and rarely used files that I don't want to throw away on the hard drive and it all works perfectly and having Back to My Mac setup makes the whole thing even better.
I think having a Mac mini server will improve my setup but the fact that it comes with a Pro Application (OS X Server) is a little scary. So here's my question(s):
How is the integration of a Mac mini in an already existing network? From what I understand there is no need to have a screen connected (maybe just for initial setup) since one can simply use screen sharing. How true and save is that? How many of the features of OS X server will/can a consumer use in a home network? In a nutshell how consumer-friendly are the Mac mini and OS X server?
Basically, Apple is saying "here's the server for the rest of us" and yet there're using the same software there're giving to professionals (big businesses) and there're not (yet) marketing it as something consumers could use (besides the fact that it's in a consumer product).
Since I read the article I mentioned above I keep thinking how amazing this product could be for a family and the potential it has working as a home server. I really want to give it a try but at the same time I'm a little afraid I might be trying to do something much more complicated than I would like to believe.
What have you experiences been?
Cheers
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Rhett said 5:07PM on 11-04-2009
Know of any way to modify my Time Capsule's backup policy to *never* delete a backup? wether it be hourly, daily etc? I process a lot of files and I'd like to know I can literally go "back in time" to any hour's work to find a file
(So that TM won't delete hourly backups after a week etc)
Thanks
Rhett
Reply
Michael Rose said 7:34PM on 11-04-2009
Rhett, this isn't really what Time Machine is built to do. You might want to consider other version control systems like Subversion or Gridiron Flow.
Nathan said 6:53PM on 11-04-2009
Codi-
Depending on your needs, you may also want to try consolidating your inboxes. Gmail makes it incredibly easy to forward emails from inbox to another. All of my emails funnel from three different addresses into one inbox. And you can set up Gmail so you can SEND from anyone of those addresses from within a single account.
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Faye said 7:33PM on 11-04-2009
With the increase in Mac users (including recent switchers), is it paranoid or wise to install and maintain an antivirus application?
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Charli said 10:06PM on 11-04-2009
Macs are pretty malware resistant and at the moment not much is being created to try to hit them, HOWEVER they are not (despite what some might claim) 100% malware proof. And many cases, a lot of common sense is all you need. things like don't install software from unknown sources, and so on. but if you are not the only user, or the computer is being used for business then having an antivirus program can't hurt and could help. also make sure you are backing up your stuff faithfully. Macs do crash and it really sucks when you lose everything with no second copy.
Patrick said 7:52PM on 11-04-2009
I have one for next week.
Is there a way to stop Snow Leopard's expose from gathering all windows onto the primary display? I mainly keep mail.app & things open on my second display, but when I use expose they come over to the main display. It's an annoying "feature" (as I'm sure Apple would call it), and I'd much prefer to expose the windows on their respective displays.
Thanks,
-Patrick
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dux said 8:02PM on 11-04-2009
I have a 1.5GHz PowerPC G4 that with an 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive
running Leopard that hasn't gotten much use as of late. The hard drive
is full to the point where I can't even download and install the
necessary software updates. I would like to replace the hard drive
and put this thing back to use. What do you reccommend as the best
replacement drive with the most space? I want to do the work myself,
so what tips can you give me?
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Charli said 10:10PM on 11-04-2009
i can't imagine that it would be practical to invest any more time in such an old computer.
but that said, why can't you just offload some of the stuff to an external. probably a good idea anyway before you start swapping stuff out. and probably just as cost effective.
charly.miranda said 7:46AM on 11-05-2009
I have a problem that is bothering me since I switch to Mac (Tiger).
When I reply someone using Mail, it tries to fill information of the contacting my Address Book but does this thing wrong so I finally get duplicated surnames in my Address Book or unwanted surnames. For example: "Dad" becomes "Dad Smith" or "John Smith" becomes "John Smith Smith".
I think this is a "feature" (bug) of Mail.app and I want to disable it.
Is there any way to get rid of this behavior? Is frustration to edit all my misspelling contacts manually.
PS: I am not referring to "autocomplete", which helps me filling "TO:" forms when composing mails. I don't want to tour off that.
THANKS. AND SORRY FOR MY ENGLISH (I AM SPANISH)
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Joe R, said 8:20AM on 11-05-2009
The new iMac is sporting a 2560 by 1440 display. Where can I get some kind of video that's native 2560 by 1440 to properly show off that beauty?
I'm thinking I'll make my own time-laps with a still camera and crop it to 2560 by 1440 but can you think of anything in the mean-time ?
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ooglek said 3:38PM on 11-05-2009
Ask TUAW Question:
There were rumors in 2007 that Leopard would allow you to suspend OSX, boot Windows (or other OS) in Boot Camp, then exit the Boot Camp OS and resume OSX. Either this never happened, or I can't find out how to do so. Is this possible, either in Leopard or Snow Leopard, either with or without third party software or boot loaders?
I'm using 10.6.1 currently, but would love to know if it also/did work on Leopard for those that haven't upgraded.
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Colin ZeteBOy said 8:59PM on 11-05-2009
May I suggest a better way to manage all your Gmail accounts. I have several too and here is what I do:
I create a gmail account called colinredirect@gmail.com and forward all the messages from the other accounts to that one.
Works wonders on my iPod Touch and my Blackberry where all the messages from all the different accounts now congregate in one account for me to read and reply from.
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davelevy said 3:00PM on 11-06-2009
Colin,
How do you manage the sending address. When I send from my consolidated account it uses that email address on the touch and blackberry. Then I have people emailing the aggregator directly instead of the original account.
Colin ZeteBOy said 2:26PM on 11-07-2009
Yeah, that is a downside, however not the end of the world. I still get all my mail anyway even though some still send to the aggregator address. If they pay attention, they know what the correct address is to send.
Tacoman said 3:48PM on 11-06-2009
QUESTION FOR NEXT TIME-
I have a late 2008 unibody MacBook with Snow Leopard. I want to run Windows 7 using Parallels 5. I was wondering if I could use an external drive via USB instead of partitioning my MacBook's HD. Would that be easily done. I have never used Parallels so I am not sure if it lets you pick a drive. That way in order to run Windows 7 I would have to have my HD connected.
Also on a side note has this http://img689.yfrog.com/i/a6j.jpg/ happened on anyone else's iPod Touch/iPhone since 3.0? I have album art for every song, it does not even show the generic music symbol.
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Unknown said 8:24PM on 11-08-2009
I'm looking for some software that would go through a folder of mp3 files (unhelpfully named Track0001.mp3, Track0002.mp3, etc.), listen to them and identify them à la Shazam, and then rename the files and insert the appropriate metadata. Is there anything like this available? I'm running Snow Leopard on an Intel iMac. thanks!
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dvconnell said 2:12PM on 11-09-2009
Last month AT & T finally allowed voip iPhone apps to run over the 3G network. Do you know if there are any voip apps in the app store that have been updated to operate over 3G? I have the Skype app but it has not been updated and still restricts calls to wifi. After some poking around on my own it appears that this is the case with other popular voip apps as well.
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