Dan Knight
- 2006.08.03
Mac OS X 10.5: Which Macs Should Make the
Cut?
After reading Mac OS X 10.5
'Leopard': Which Macs Should Make the Cut?, Ken Watanabe
comments:
Dan,
I agree with you. But there is one other reason why Apple may
define "artificial" hardware cutoffs: to "encourage" users to
upgrade their hardware to new Mac systems. Apple is still a
computer hardware company. I suspect that was the reason for
the Firewire requirement to install Tiger.
...there is no technical reason why Tiger
cannot run on those older systems.
As you state, there is no technical reason why Tiger cannot run
on those older systems. I have an old first gen iMac (with a 466
MHz G4 upgrade). Tiger would not install on it. However, as a test,
I installed Tiger on its hard drive by temporarily connecting it to
my wife's Power Mac G5 via a Firewire enclosure. Mounting that
drive back into the iMac, it started up and ran just fine. I did
not notice any obvious performance difference between 10.4 and
10.3. The iMac is back on 10.3.9, mainly because I like using an
officially supported config (and I didn't have a license to use the
G5's Tiger on another Mac). 10.3.9 is a very solid release of Mac
OS X.
Fortunately, with the exceptional numbers being reported today
(market share numbers in particular), I think Apple will be less
inclined to put up fake barriers to the Leopard upgrade. If some
users (like me) are content to keep using their old Macs "passed
their prime," why not at least encourage them to fork over $129 for
the latest OS. I predict that the hardware (cutoff) requirements
will be the same for Leopard (as Tiger).
- Ken Watanabe
What you say makes sense, Ken. The more people who
can run Leopard, the more copies Apple will sell, the larger the
installed base for new apps. In short, everybody wins.
Support for Apple's New OS X
JR Zeigler says:
Hello Dan,
I am sure my Pismo will not be
supported . . . they may keep the G3's with built in 900
MHz but will say no upgrade card units are offically supported by
Apple.
While my 20 inch G5 iMac will be fully supported, Apple will
lose my sale . . . because I prefer my computers to be on
the same version of operating system (if they are using
OS X).
My older 5400 Power Mac stayed at
OS 8.1
But, Steve Jobs is smart or at least savy . . . he
needs to get us to upgrade away from computers that still use
OS 9 software . . . so that in a few years the
iapplications, quicktime, and the itunes store will all require
OS X 10.5 or higher to work.
Well, I guest I will be a hold out at least for a few more
years.
Currently, I only have OS 9.2.2 on my Pismo and my imac G5 runs
OS X 10.3.9
Take care,
JR
JR, Apple has never officially supported any
third-party CPU upgrades, but G3 and G4 upgrades tend to be
completely transparent to the operating system. If Apple continues
to support Pismo, the presence of a G4 or a faster G3 should make
no difference at all to getting it installed and running.
Like you, I prefer to keep all of my OS X Macs at
the same OS version, and I'm glad they all support Tiger
nicely.
Dan
eSATA, FireWire 800, and Dedicated
Graphics
In response to The Case for a
Macintel Minitower, Tom Babb writes:
If they would put SATA out & FW 800 into the Intel mini and
gave it a dedicated graphics card we would be in business.....
Tom Babb
I can't imagine Apple putting FireWire 800 on an
entry-level Mac, but an external SATA port would be brilliant. As
for dedicated graphics, I have a feeling Apple isn't going to do
that on entry-level models in the future.
Dan
The Case for a Macintel Minitower
Mel writes:
I totally agree that Apple should come out with a midline
mini-tower for us mortals who are not considered high-end power
user.
I have a Quicksilver G4 Power
Mac that I have been using as my primary machine since I bought
it brand new in August of 2001. When I bought the G4, I knew I
would take advantage of the expansion opportunities. I have added
the following:
- 2nd internal hard drive: This is really nice, because the main
drive runs OS 9.2 and the 2nd is OS X. Both are partioned into
smaller segments for different document types.
- SCSI PCI card: Bought this at the same time as the Mac, since I
had and still have older SCSI devices that I use.
- Upgraded RAM: Twice I upgraded the RAM from the standard 128 MB
to the present 1.128 GB. (2 additional 512 MB modules)
- USB 2.0 PCI card: This was the most recent hardware upgrade.
Very nice to have USB 2.0, since it allows me to load my iPod
shuffle and digital photo files faster than the built-in USB
1.1.
An Intel Macintosh minitower would be a blessing, because it
would allow me to piecemeal a better computer together over time as
need arises. For sure I would love to have a 2nd hard drive bay,
and it is there (if it is possible) where I would do an install of
Windows or other PC type operating system while keeping the primary
drive for nothing but OS X.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences,
Mel. I'd pretty much forgotten that I put a USB 2.0 card in my
Power Mac G4/1 GHz dual, which also
came with Apple's SCSI card when I bought it used. Having room for
a second hard drive and whatever new may come along (such as USB
2.0, SATA, tuner cards, etc.) just lets us keep our Macs
longer.
Dan
Macintel Minitower
Bill Doty writes:
Hi Dan,
You're right on target with your specs for the mini tower. I
would suggest 4 USB 2.0 ports and conventional audio ports. No
Intel video. I want video on a board.
I've got the box figured.
How about a G4 Quicksilver tower at 4/5 scale? (I figure it
would be about the same size as an 8600.) Organize the inside the same as the
G4. Nobody has ever made an easier to upgrade box. The design will
be contemporary for years.
Bye
Bill Doty
I like your suggestion, Bill. Putting the
motherboard on a hinged door was a brilliant idea when the blue & white G3 came out in 1999, and it
could be perfect for a smaller tower today.
Dan
AIFF and Metadata
Alan Zisman writes:
I think I know what the problem is . . . AIFF files
don't include so-called metadata - song name, artist, album, etc,
within the actual file the way MP3 files do . . . while a
user's iTunes library may list the AIFF file with that information,
when it's converted to an MP3 file, the data is lost.
Instead, an MP3 file with all that information empty is created,
and listed at the very end of the iTunes library - with no
information in the various fields.
If the user scrolls to the bottom of their iTunes library, he or
she will probably find a bunch of songs with unknown information
. . . listen to each to figure out what it is, and
manually enter the proper information.
- AZ
Thanks for the info, Alan. I'll pass it along to
Jim Brunswick.
The Post-Classic Web Page Editor Paradox
Peter Tyler writes:
Dan,
I sympathize with having to leave Claris Home Page behind when
moving to an Intel Mac. Even though I haven't done a lot of
editing, I found the software immensely useful when I was learning
a little HTML and Web page scripting a few months back.
The idea I've been bouncing around lately goes like this - find
an Open Source Web page editor that everyone likes, then port it to
OS X and customize it to look/feel/behave like Claris Home
Page.
If I were only a C programmer, I'd dive into this. Maybe some
other enterprising soul will want to mull it over.
- Pete
P.S. For some hardy folks, an older copy of the Windows version
loaded into XP/Boot Camp might be a consolation.
Thanks for your thoughts, Pete.
Apple has an unfortunate habit of letting great
software fall by the wayside: Hypercard, Claris Emailer, Claris
Home Page, and AppleWorks among them. Like iTunes and iPhoto, they
were just very easy to pick up and use - the complete opposite of
most Microsoft apps.
Nvu has
a good start on offering much of what Home Page does, but it's not
very Mac-like, and it's pretty slow (even on my dual 1 GHz G4) and
a bit buggy. On the plus side, it supports modern Web standards and
works with Cascading Style Sheets. It's part of my HTML arsenal,
but not my primary tool.
Nvu is open source. If someone wanted to work on
making it more Mac-like, less buggy, and perhaps a fair bit faster
(use Apple's WebCore instead of Mozilla's Gecko), I'd happily give
it a try.
Dan
Frequent Lithium Battery Replacement
Mary Stratton writes:
Hello!
I have a Power Mac G4/500. It has
lived with us for about 5 years and was not happy its first
year. During that time, the hard drive, logic board, and CD-ROM
went down and had to be replaced. (What's left - the LED light?
Good old extended warranty!) I think ours was built at 4:45 on a
Friday afternoon after they came in from a break in the
parking lot!
For the last year and a 1/2, we've had to replace the "long
life" lithium battery every 4 months or so. These batteries were
purchased at a battery store where their charge was verified. What
would cause this, outside of demonic possession?
Any thoughts or ideas short of a hammer or an excorsim would be
appreciated.
Thank you.
Sincerely Stumped,
Mary Stratton
Mary, I've never heard of batteries draining that
quickly. Are they all from the same production batch? If it's not a
bad batch of batteries, I suspect a short somewhere on the logic
board. It's not uncommon for these batteries to least 3-5
years.
Dan
Booting WallStreet from Compact Flash
Bill Becker writes:
Hi Dan:
Can I really boot my Powerbook Wall Street G3 233 mhz from a CF
or SD card?
Your article of 2002.11.14 says that it's possible.
Should I just get any PCMCIA adapter, plus a CF or SD card, and
start trying?
Can you confirm which cards, adapters, and, otherwise,
solutions, have really worked on a Wall Street? I'm looking to use
OS 9. Can you recommend the best and fastest card/adapter
combination?
Thanks,
Bill Becker
Bill, I don't own a WallStreet, so I haven't been
able to try it. I have done it dozens of times on my PowerBook
1400s, and I see no reason that you wouldn't be able to do so on a
WallStreet.
Dan
Problem with 2.5" Drive in External Case
John Skadberg writes:
My iBook 800 died. When trying to start up, the drive spins, I
get a monotone tone and then a second or so of flashing sleep light
and nothing. Tried to boot from CD - same thing. I need to put the
drive in an external case to transfer data to newer g4
PowerBook.
I purchased a 2.5" USB case online and moved the drive from my
iBook. The drive was spinning up in 'puter, but in the external
case hooked to a newer G4 powerbook the light comes on but the
drive doesn't spin.
I read the MacDaniels article of
2005.02.07 on "How do I move everything from the old hard
drive." Does he have a recomendation for a 2.5" USB/FireWire
case?
Thanks, John
John, the problem is that USB doesn't provide as
much power as FireWire, so some 2.5" drives simply won't spin up.
Your options are an external power supply for your current
enclosure or going to an enclosure with FireWire.
Dan
FireWire Disk Mode OS X Installs
Oh please, don't identify me. Thanks for that!
I know others are concerned with Target Disk Mode installations.
My experience reflects yours, or perhaps goes a bit further.
I wanted to see what Tiger would look like on my Pismo. So I thought I'd just install from
the disk that came with my iMac
G5/2.1 GHz. Of course the installer identified the Pismo as
unsupported by that disk. So I rebooted the Pismo in Target Disk
Mode, plugged it into the iMac, reformatted the laptop's hard
drive, and installed Tiger. I did a custom install, leaving out
foreign languages and any applications with requirements higher
than G3/500.
The Pismo boots perfectly. The Buffalo Wireless card is seen as
AirPort Extreme. Everything works. The Pismo is much quicker than
it was with OS X 10.1, and it boots quicker as well.
Machine specs:
- processor speed - 500 MHz
- memory - 512 megs
- hard drive - 60 gig, 7200 rpm
Higher Screen Resolution in Clamshell
iBook?
Dear Mr. Knight,
I'm currently using a 466 MHz
clamshell iBook. It's upgraded to 576 MB RAM and 40 GB hard
drive (5400 rpm), which means it runs OS 9 really fast and
handles Tiger pretty well. So far so good. But the low screen (800
x 600) resolution is often annoying.
Is there any way to increase the resolution? I'm hoping for a
firmware hack, changing hard drive was work enough. I've searched
Google, but I only get tips on making G4 iBooks display an extended
desktop.
I might just get a non-working 12" G3 iBook that has a working
1024 x 768 display and try a transplant. They even have the same
video card so it might just work.
Any ideas?
Best regards,
Per Grenerfors
Sweden
Thanks for writing. The only way to increase the
iBook's resolution would be with a new screen' the standard display
is fixed at 800 x 600.
I haven't heard of anyone modifying a clamshell
iBook with a 1024 x 768 display. As you note, the case can be a
really troublesome one to work with. I'd lean toward just picking
up a 12" dual USB iBook instead of trying to upgrade the old
clamshell model.
If you do manage to get it working with a higher
resolution screen, let me know.
Dan
Relationships
Alvin writes:
Hi, I remembered that time [back when I was going through
separation and divorce - ed] the site seemed not right. I knew
there were personal problems, but it's much clearer as I click back
on the links that answered them. I remember my own crosses due to
lack of trust and faith in the God who willed them and wonder what
the future ones would be. My pride thought that I can do it by
myself, and looking back, it looks like I've nothing to do with its
resolve. After the storm is the calm of the ocean. It just makes us
stronger for the next cross, which we promptly pray avoids us; that
we'd rather do for Him many times more good than face the test of
another kind of cross.
It is assumed that everybody has the fruits of the hurt that can
never be forgotten. A hurt is a kind of thing that defines a better
man, should he choose to understand its value. Mother Angelica of
EWTN network mentioned that these have values. It doesn't mean that
we forget to be ourselves, our smiles, activities and take away
other people's chance to be themselves around us.
It is but natural, although I haven't married that one true love
of a lifetime yet - married for keeps with the understanding of
when the emotional side is gone, it would then become the love
based on action - the love of agape. It is also true that to
forgive is to forget, and its always too late to truly forgive
someone when they are not there any longer. Life is too short to
not forgive those who've offended us. We, of course, have offended
others too and should pray that they forgive us, so that come time
why we do all these things and for Whom, we ourselves would be
forgiven.
I feel the one emotion that's always there for somone who really
loves someone and have bore the gift of children through this love,
is the feeling of . . . hope. Hopeful for that surprise
that we desire would come very soon when we least expect, a gift of
healed relationships that will be even be more embedded deeper into
the foundation. It is sometimes by sacrifices (be it food or
pleasurable things, rosary (for us Catholics), deep prayers that
says Your Will Be Done not mine and the unceasing inquiry of what
will is it you want me to do next? To free ourselves from ourselves
and begin each moment with unquestioning Faith. Nothing happens if
it is not His will even with our best efforts. Our prayers are with
you and the tests that will come.
God bless,
Alvin
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Alvin.
Yes, it was a tough time for me. Looking back, I
came to see that I had let my marriage define who I was. Without
that relationship, I didn't know who I was. In some ways, I had
allowed my wife to become my god.
I survived those hard times, learning to stop
controlling my life and place it in God's hands. Now I know who I
am, and I can build healthy relationships. I do hope to find the
love of a lifetime, and this time it won't displace God, who should
be at the center of my life.
One of the best things to come from my trials is
the empathy I have for others. In many ways, I feel like I have
been born a second time.
Dan Knight
Redeemed and remade
Dan Knight has been publishing Low
End Mac since April 1997. Mailbag columns come from email responses to his Mac Musings, Mac Daniel, Online Tech Journal, and other columns on the site.
