troubleshooting
Latest
Test your MacBook for random shutdowns
Some MacBook owners around the web are reporting a 'random shutdown' issue, where the machine will - as you might guess - seemingly shutdown at random; either during work or patiently idling for your next command. If you haven't experienced this issue yourself yet but are still concerned about it, The Apple Files has devised an unofficial test to see if you might be a victim. The test involves entering a few simple commands into the Terminal and testing a few things over roughly half an hour of your time. Just to be thorough, the author recommends running this test two or three times to be sure, but it's really up to how paranoid you're feeling. Again, this is an unofficial test, and we haven't seen any official reports or announcements from Apple on this issue, its cause or how widespread it might be, but it's simply nice to have options, hey?[via digg]
Everything you need to know about Repairing Permissions (and more)
The 'Repair Permissions' function of Disk Utility has been under quite a bit of speculation as of late. There are those in one camp, such as John Gruber of Daring Fireball, who believe repairing (restoring, resetting, etc.) permissions is not much more than voodoo, while others in the support end of the Mac OS X community swear by it as the first line of defense. So what's a confused Mac OS X user to do when trying to draw up a formidable troubleshooting game plan? Heading over to Dan Frakes' Repairing permissions: what you need to know article at Macworld is a great first step at trying to cut through all the confusion. Dan dissects virtually every aspect of the permissions repair process, from explaining what exactly 'permissions' are, to a few specific situations when it's a good idea to add the operation to your troubleshooting tool-belt. It's an informative read that helps demystify this much-debated aspect of Mac OS X.
iLounge releases The Free iPod Book 2.2
Those iPod-obsessed kids over at iLounge have updated their Free iPod Book to version 2.2 (yes, books can have version point updates too). Four all-new sections are included in this updated version: Nike + iPod Sport Kit Troubleshooting Your iPod U2 iPod + iPod Pack-Ins Backstage at iLounge You'll also find the typical kinds of updates to previous content you would expect. This 200+ page "free manual on getting the most from your iPod" is available from iLounge's update post, as well as from the iLounge Library. Enjoy.
"My Mac Won't Start!" pocket guide
For their 100th QuickTips email newsletter, Seattle area mac support agency CreativeTechs has published a handy little troubleshooting guide that fits neatly in your shirt pocket. The "My Mac Won't Start!" pocketmod tiny guide is available as a free PDF download, and covers basic troubleshooting steps such as starting up in safe mode, single user mode, booting from an external device, and attempting to view the machine using target disk mode. The QuickTips newsletter is something I've been subscribed to for a few months now, and it never fails to bring new insight into the way I use my Mac. Although aimed at creative professionals, the mailer has tips that are applicable to almost everybody, no matter their profession.
TechTool Pro 4.5 Announced
Micromat today announced an update to their top-of-the-line system diagnostic and repair software TechTool Pro, bringing the utility to Universal Binary status. As a repair technician, I use TechTool daily to repair corrupted drive volumes, detect failing disks, and stress-test hardware. Although version 4.5 of the program sports no new features aside from Intel support, Micromat is not releasing an updater for previous versions of TechTool. According to the company a large number of under-the-hood changes and tweaks to the program prevents such an update from being practical. Current owners of the software can download a public beta of the new version, and order a DVD update for $25 which will ship in July. Subscribers to Mircomat's TechTool Quarterly subscription program will automatically receive the update in the mail at no charge.
Apple drops plans for India support center
Apple has dropped its plans for bolstering off-shore support in India and other countries. MacNN is reporting that the company hasn't been very forthcoming with a reason, but they have laid off all 30 of the employees hired under the subsidiary which would run these Indian support operations, Apple Services India Pvt Ltd (fortunately, the employees received two month's severance pay).This is good news, as I've never heard wonderful things about a company's customer support ratings when they make a move like this. Dell's tanked when they tried it, and last I heard they shut the facility down and moved most of their support operations back to the US. Kudos to Apple for taking a hint from others' mistakes.
TUAW Tip: Mac OS X can verify itself now
Disk Utility is a great maintenance and troubleshooting tool for those times when your Mac starts acting up. Repairing permissions can sometimes be handy (even though its true validity is in question as of late), but using the Verify and Repair Disk operations is often a more useful tactic. However, until Mac OS X 10.4.3, you had use Disk Utility to verify or repair your Mac's drive from some sort of an external source. You either had to plug into another Mac in Target Disk mode, or reboot and use the install disks that came with your Mac - not the most friendly process to your workflow. But now, With 10.4.3 and later, you can start up Disk Utility right from within Mac OS X and chose the verify option to make sure system level elements like your file catalog are all in order. One warning though: it is completely normal for your Mac to temporarily freeze or 'seize up' at the beginning of running this operation (you should get the infamous beachball), as this Apple support document explains. After a little while, depending on your Mac's speed and all that jazz, it will come out of its daze and you can continue working/chatting/surfing while it finishes the disk verification process.This is a really handy tool, perhaps even more valuable than checking permissions, and should be a welcome addition to any Mac maintenance arsenal.
Maintenance 3.5 released
Maintenance, the Automator action that performs many system repair and clean-up tasks, has been updated to version 3.5. New features include: Ability to automatically restart after Maintenance has run Ability to automatically view the results file Time stamp added to results file Also, for a few versions now, Maintenance has included an AppleScript that I believe performs the same tasks for pre-Tiger 10.4 versions of Mac OS X. Included with the download is a ReadMe PDF that explains what each task is and when/why you should run them.Maintenance is free and available from Automator World.
iPod troubleshooting: Remember the five R's
I'd bet that many of us are familiar with the scenario that Don Foy describes at Macsimum News: You're listening to your iPod when it inexplicably freezes up. No amount of button pushing will get it to do anything. Or, you plug it into your Mac and nothing happens. It doesn't show up on the desktop and iTunes does not see it. How do you remedy the situation? As Don suggests, remember the five R's: Reset your iPod Find out how to reset your model here. Retry with a different port. Perhaps the iPod itself isn't to blame? Restart your computer Reinstall the iPod software and iTunes Restore your iPod Caution: This wipes everything! This should have your little friend happy and healthy again in no time. Now, wasn't that easy?
Maintenance 3.4
Maintenance, the beloved Automator action that can run a whole slew of maintenance tasks that command line geeks can only dream of (just kidding guys), has been updated to version 3.4. This time around, it has a shiny new icon, an expanded readme file (that explains every action it can perform) and yet another task to its tool belt: Rebuild LaunchServices Database.As always, Maintenance is donationware, as the author, Jesse Hogie, has a link on his blog.
Flip4Mac breaks QuickTime export?
Some users, myself included, are reporting that the 3rd party Flip4Mac plugin Microsoft recently purchased and offered for free seems to break QuickTime Pro's ability to export movie files. This morning I was trying to compress and export to H.264 some AVI files I shot with my Canon digicam over the weekend, but was met with relentless "error -2126" messages. Some research revealed a few articles and Apple Support threads, like this one, that have found this and various other buggy issues with the WMV plugin, but most of them pointed to this Flip4Mac support topic on the grubby process of uninstalling and/or Flip4Mac. A future release of the plugin promises a true, automated uninstaller option, but for now: if you're having QuickTime issues like this after installing Flip4Mac, try going through their uninstallation process to reclaim the software's abilities.
Xbox Live connection problems? Here's a tip
If you've been having problems connecting to your friends on Xbox Live for games or chat, here's a tip that'll help you determine the source of the problem--and hopefully fix it. Go to the System blade, select Network Settings and then Test Xbox Live Connection. You'll be able to see what sort of NAT your system is behind, and if it's set to Moderate or Strict then you will only be able to connect to certain other users. To fix this, set your NAT to Open by opening the following ports on your router: 88 (UDP), 3074 (UDP), and 3074 (TCP). [Thanks, silvernome]
Help Dori Smith get her System alerts back
Check out this post over at Backup Brain. Dori Smith is having a very odd problem where her System Alerts aren't playing, although every other sound on her computer sings like a charm. It's like a troubleshooter's puzzle for the holidays. She even posted a Flickr set of her settings to serve as clues. Checking in on the comments reveals a few helpful suggestions like playing with the MIDI settings and zapping the PRAM, but no word on whether any of that has helped yet or not.For those of you who are about to flame this post, asking, "Why is this on TUAW?" The answer: Because I needed to get a post up by 12:30, I like Dori's blog, and it actually stumped me and I thought the phrasing of the whole thing was very mind-bender puzzle-esque. :-b
Troubleshoot an iPod with a folder icon
From time to time I've seen an iPod stop operating and display nothing but a folder icon - definitely not a happy sign. With the holidays fast approaching, I thought it'd be a good idea to offer the iPod owners and soon-to-be-owners a refresher link to Apple's support document on this problem, in case this issue crops up with a shiny new iPod just snatched from under the tree.To summarize, the moral of the document is: make sure you install the proper and latest iPod software using orthodox tools and methods. Use either the CD that came with the iPod or download the latest iPod Updater software from Apple's Downloads site. Also, don't use other software or means of erasing the iPod or partitioning the drive unless you really know what you're doing - playing by the book does sometimes have its advantages.I'll go through more of Apple's support documents in the next day or so and post a roundup of links to the most common topics and problems so everyone has a good stock in their toolbelt for the gift-giving season.
