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FaceTime causing some iPad cameras to freeze
According to a thread on Apple's support forum, there may be an issue going around with FaceTime on the iPad that freezes up the iPad 2's front camera. Users are saying that sometimes, when FaceTime loads up, the front camera will freeze on a frame and not send any more video. Fortunately, the fix seems to be simply restarting the iPad, but obviously, there's something weird going on -- the issue often pops up even after a restart. The FaceTime for Mac app was just updated yesterday with a few performance improvements, so there's likely an update pending for iPad as well. Hopefully, whenever that's released, it'll fix whatever issues users have been having. [via 9to5Mac]
TiVo Premiere is updated and expanded, but is it ready?
It's not streaking through downtown Dallas remaking Matt & Kim videos just yet but after an uneven start the TiVo Premiere continues to evolve, this time towards something with even more capacity and (hopefully) less lockups. ZatzNotFunny mentions a new software update to version 14.1c has gone live this weekend which is intended to fix lockups some customers are experiencing with more revisions promised over the coming weeks and months to address various performance and stability issues. Forum reactions are mixed, with some dropping back to the old UI for more stability and speed but if you're living the Premiere lifestyle let us know how things are going for you. Those still on the outside looking in who haven't been scared off by the growing pains can also consider a few new larger capacity options courtesy of longtime modder/reseller WeaKnees, now ready to deliver units with up to 2TB of storage internally or even externally for those who like it like that -- you know who you are.
Frozen in Time by Time Machine
There is more fallout from the current Leopard update to version 10.5.6. Many users are flocking to the Apple support forums to share their tales of woe about Time Machine failures after the update. (Ironically, Time Machine was on the list of items that received bug fixes). Upgraders are seeing Time Machine stall, fail to identify the target hard drive, lock up while Time Machine is 'preparing' to backup, and other assorted glitches. There is no guarantee that these issues were caused by the update to 10.5.6, but users are seeing a lot of problems in parallel to the software changes. MacFixit has quite a bit of guidance on the Time Machine issues. One of the most interesting observations is the long pause while 'preparing' to backup. It seems TM needs to do a deep traversal of the data because it sees a lot of file changes to copy, as would be expected with a major software update. The advice is to wait it out and and eventually TM is likely to get going. I had the same issue and eventually stopped the process, erased my TM drive and started again. That was after more than 2 hours of 'preparing'. It looks like I might have been better off to wait. I had hoped 10.5.6 would fix the occasional TM error I get telling me that the backup failed, but then when I try again, everything is fine. I spent a good hour on the phone with Apple support on this problem some months ago, but didn't get anywhere. Many others have seen this rather arcane message and reported it. Hopefully it will be fixed in the next OS update. It's good to keep in mind that most people updated without any dire consequences, but there are enough people grumbling that it merits a closer look by Apple.
New OS upgrade not so smooth for all
Apple support boards are filling up with reports from frustrated Mac OS X 10.5.6 upgraders. The most common complaint seems to be that the update stops in the middle and freezes. Here are some sample comments: I tried to upgrade to 10.5.6 yesterday and I left the computer on to do the upgrade while I went back to work. When I came back, it has the normal window up that says "configuring installation" and from there it just starts and hangs. I have just downloaded the latest update (10.5.6) and then rebooted my iMac, next the software Update box appeared on screen as usual, saying: Installing 1 item, configuring Installation. Then the Blue progress bar started to move to the right, went about 1/4 of an inch and stopped there, I left the iMac running for two hours and the progress blue bar had not moved. My Mac gets to preparing installation then nothing... Left it there all night in case I was being impatient but this morning still preparing install? My own experience was similar. My Mac Pro upgraded just fine. My mid-2007 MacBook Pro froze on the 'configuring installation' screen. I went back to the Apple site and downloaded the combo update (which many frontline Mac techs recommend as a best practice for all system upgrades, despite the 3x larger file size) and installed that after booting from a backup USB drive. After that, everything was fine. Many upgraders, however, may not know to try that approach, and those with problems will keep Apple support techs quite busy today.Some people noticed that the upgrade may not fully download [via MacInTouch] yet the installation proceeded anyway. If widespread, that would be a pretty serious problem, and Apple needs to do some diligent investigation. There was a smattering of other problems. Some people saw mail crashes, network issues, and a lot of the usual complaints that seem to afflict a handful of users. At this point, it is hard to tell if this update was better or worse than previous ones, but clearly a lot of people got stuck along the way.
