Mac Fangirl

Two things to say about doing a clean install of Snow Leopard.

It is time consuming. Back up your data.

1. Make a list of all your non-native apps for which you will need installation disks, .dmg files or download links and have all these sources handy. One way to get a list of your apps is to just open a Finder window and go to ‘Applications’ folder and do a SHFT-CMD-4 to take a screenshot of your apps. Likewise you can open ‘Terminal.app’ from Applications/Utilities and type in ls  /Applications/   >>  myapps.txt. This will place an alphabetized text list in your home folder. Very handy. Thanks for the tip from LifeHacker.com.   http://lifehacker.com/5345690/prep-your-mac-for-snow-leopard.

2. For each app in #1 make sure you have necessary license and key numbers, serial numbers, whatever is necessary to make your version a legal copy. You will need this when your Snow Leopard is installed and it comes time to install your software.

a. Note: for Adobe CS3 you will need to Deactivate your suite so that you will be allowed to use it on your new OS. Once you install in Snow Leopard, you can reactivate. I assume the same goes for CS4.

3. For each app in #1 make sure it is compatible with Snow Leopard. Same goes for peripherals. For instance, my Palm Z22 can no longer sync with Snow Leopard because Palm does not make the Palm Desktop software for Snow Leopard. It pays to take extra time to check hardware and software compatibility prior to upgrading. In this case, I can do without Palm. Why? Because I have an iPhone.

4. Jot down your router login information as you will be prompted for this if you access the internet via ethernet or wi-fi. For the latter, you will need your pass phrase for your wireless security mode, i.e. WEP, WAP, or WAP2.

5. Back up your application data to an external hard drive or ftp to offsite storage. The list below is obviously not exhaustive. Each person’s data will vary according to the programs on their hard drive. Make sure you know how to restore your data to its software. For instance, with Bento, just go to ‘File’ and ‘Restore from Bento backup’. Please tell me you have your Bento data backed up.

a. Safari bookmarks - File / Export Bookmarks  save as html. To retrieve in Snow Leopard: File / Import Bookmarks then get your Safari bookmarks.html file

b. Mac Mail - Copy the Mail folder (from your user/Library) to an external storage device. Once in Snow Leopard, open your Mac Mail, then the File / Import Mailboxes, browse to your stored Mail folder and do the import.

c. Address Book contacts - File / Export / Address Book Archive. To retrieve contacts in Snow Leopard, File / Import and locate your .abbu file.

d. iCal calendar entries - Select name of Calendar in Calendars list. File / Export. These will be saved as .ics files. To import into Snow Leopard, File / Import and select the calendar (.ics) or simply drag the .ics files to your iCal. Another option is to do a File / Back up iCal.

e. iPhoto library - Select your album(s) and File / Export. I just copied all the contents of my user/Pictures folder and then plopped them into the same folder in Snow Leopard.

f. iTunes library - Your iTunes Library should already be stored on an external hard drive. So once in Snow Leopard, all you have to do is go to Preferences in iTunes and select the ‘Advanced’ icon. In the window underneath “iTunes Media folder location”, place the path to your external storage device by clicking the ‘change’ button and browsing the folder that will hold your music files. Go here for step-by-step instructions on how to handle your iTunes library. http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-12519_7-10000883-1.html?s=0&o=10000883&tag=mncol;page.

g. FTP app shortcuts - varies by program.

6. Insert Snow Leopard installation DVD into Mac and restart. Hold down the C key while it reboots. This will force it to boot from Optical drive.

7. After a while the Snow Leopard install screen will appear and prompt you to select your language. Select your language and click to continue.

8. Click on ‘Utilities’ and then select ‘Disk Utility’.

9. Here you will be presented with choices to Erase a volume, Format, or Partition. Remember, you must have already backed up your data before you proceed. Once any of these processes begin, it is unlikely that you’ll be able to retrieve any of your data, by ordinary methods, anyway. Back up all your data before clicking on any of the options presented to you. This means, create a copy of your documents, contacts, photos, music, bookmarks, etc. on an external source from which you can later retrieve and place on your new OS. Each program treats its data differently. Some programs have an export option, while others have a backup option. For your documents and worksheets you will need to manually copy from old location and paste to a new location.

10. You’ve been warned.

11. I erased my entire volume with no partitions so that leaves me with my entire hard drive dedicated to Snow Leopard. Prior to this I had used bootcamp to create a partition for Windows XP, but since I will no longer be using Windows, my hard drive will not need to be partitioned. You may want to examine some of the security options available to you for erasing your hard drive. Click here to familiarize yourself with the 3 erase options offered by Disk Utility. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3680

12. Once your hard drive is wiped clean you can continue with Snow Leopard Installation. It takes about 45 minutes to install.

13. After your Snow Leopard is installed, take a deep breath and behold the latest incarnation from Cupertino.

14. Now get to work setting up your shiny new system. First you’ll need internet access, so perform whatever configuration is necessary to get online first. This is especially helpful since you will need online access to run updates, activate software you’re re-installing, and to test your incoming and outgoing e-mail. Plus, you will need to re-download some of your software if you purchased it online and do not have the physical installation disk.

15. Go down your list of apps and install each one.

16. Restore your data for each app.

17. For iTunes, if you have a MobileMe account that syncs with your computer, you will probably want to select the ‘Merge’ option when prompted. I failed to do this, and I got duplicate Address Book and iCal entries (on my iPhone).

You may need to go to iTunes / Preferences and enter the path to your external hard drive to the folder where you store your music.

18. You’re done.

I purchased the Apple AirPort Express Base Station along with a brand new HP Officejet 6500 USB printer. The whole idea was to connect the printer’s USB cable from the printer to the Airport and have my MacBook Pro detect the printer to enable wireless printing.

Well, my enthusiasm has waned considerably. AppleCare sent me a new AirPort Express and it still did not work. So they sent me another AirPort Express and it still does not print wirelessly. So, this is the third unit I’ve had, all new, and none of them detect my printer unless it’s directly connected.

I’ve downloaded and installed the latest AirPort utility. The printer works fine as long as it’s connected via USB cable to my MacBook Pro. However, that really defeats the whole purpose of getting the base station.

So, if 3 brand new AirPorts haven’t worked for wireless printing, then maybe there’s something wrong with

A. The HP printer driver for Mac OS X

B. Some other wave interference

C. MacBook Pro configuration - but what, I do not know.

I’ve been looking forward to the latest and greatest Mac OS and now that it’s been on store shelves for a few weeks I’m doing whatever I can to prepare for a smooth transition.

Apple's latest OS X 10.6 features Snow Leopard on box cover

Here’s my very preliminary list of things to do before I actually place the disk in the drive and over write Leopard.

There are two options when going from Leopard to Snow Leopard: Upgrade by installing over current Leopard OS or wiping your hard drive clean and doing a fresh install of Snow Leopard. I will be doing the latter. I like a fresh clean install because it makes everything “brand new”.

0. Make sure my Mac meets the minimum system requirements for Mac OS 10.6 and that my peripherals such as my printer are supported by this latest OS’s drivers.

1. Perform a complete backup of my hard drive using an external hard drive with FireWire and Carbon Copy Cloner. I will also need to make sure that this external hd is bootable in case I need to revert to the old OS.

2. Perform a “spring cleaning” of all my files and directories, getting rid of duplicate files, stuff I don’t need, and offloading rarely used large files to an external storage drive.

3. Assess what software I have installed and collect the necessary installation disks and license keys for programs like iLife, iWork, Adobe Creative Suite, Bento, Circus Ponies Notebook, and so on. If I don’t have the physical disk, then I need the appropriate download info and the license keys for those programs I purchased online. Note: I believe the jury is still out on whether Adobe CS3 and CS4 are fully supported. But here’s a faq on Adobe CS3 and CS4

4. Get the Snow Leopard disk and begin the installation.

5. Plug in my peripherals and make sure they’re configured properly.

6. Install my software / programs.

I’m sure this list will undergo several revisions before I actually do a clean install, but I think I’m off to a good start.

As posted earlier, the black screen was a real problem after making changes in Code view and switching back to Design view to see the results.

Turns out that by toggling the Visual Aids (Hiding/unHiding) the elements re-appear. But why they disappeared in the first place still eludes me.

I tested the same files in Dreamweaver CS4 on an iMac running Tiger with only 1 GB DRAM and there was no problem whatsoever. So either this is a bug in  DW CS3 or there is something wrong in my DW CS3 settings and configuration. Perhaps, too, the OS makes a difference. I’m using Leopard.

Is it really possible that 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM is not sufficient for running and working in Adobe CS3. Dreamweaver page with Flash header in design mode goes black every time I make a change in Code. I keep having to close it and re-open it. I’ve got 44 GB of free space on my hard drive, so scratch disk space is not even an issue. I’m going to get to the bottom of this…stay tuned.

Go to Apple Menu - - > About This Mac –> More Info.

On the left pane under the Contents list click Graphics / Displays

On the right pane you should see “Quartz Extreme” for each display you have.

It will say “supported” if this graphics card is installed in your computer. Then you’ll need either an ATI Radeon GPU or an NVIDIA GeForce2 MX or later, either with 16 MB of Video RAM or better.

What Quartz Extreme does is speed up window resizing and scrolling. But in Safari 4, it ensures that the Top Sites and Cover Flow features work smoothly.

Now, once you’ve established that you do have the hardware support for Safari 4’s Top Sites, then you can go ahead and use Top Sites in similar fashion to Opera’s “Speed Dial” and the Google Chrome interface, which I have not used.

I’m still playing around with what comes up after clicking the Edit button in Top Sites. Use the X to remove a site and use the push-pin to pin a site to a particular thumbnail position. If you want to move a thumbnail to a different position in the grid, just drag and drop the thumbnail in whatever position you wish. Notice that all the other thumbnails in the grid spaces will sway aside to accommodate the move.

The “Small”, “Medium” and “Large” buttons on the lower right allow you to increase or decrease the number of thumbnails and accordingly, the size of the thumbnails.

And to see webpage “album art” check out the Cover Flow view by clicking the bookmarks button next to the Top Sites button on the Safari 4 Toolbar.

Now, the other day I was checking out the Cover Flow, but the web page “album art” previews didn’t automatically appear. In fact, there were many black slates staring back at me.

This window drops down after clicking the bookmarks button, so of course I click on Add Previews Now. But still, black space. Why? Because it takes a while, at least on my machine - MacBook Pro, 2 GB RAM, 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - for the Cover Flow images to appear.

Patience, grasshopper.

Issue sixty nine of iCreate: The creative magazine for Mac users has a feature section, Detox your Mac (and get it ready for Snow Leopard), starting on page 82. One of the tips mentioned is to prevent items from opening automatically at login (page 85). By removing these items from the Login Items list, you can reduce the time it takes to load your desktop. We all want speedier boots, and this is one sure-fire way to get there.

First, back up your computer using Time Machine or whatever your preferred backup method might be. After your backup is complete you can tweak your settings.

Just go to System Preferences - - > Accounts - - > your account - - > Login Items. Highlight the items you don’t want to start at login, and then click the minus sign.

Right now the price for a US subscription to this zine from across the pond is $119 for 13 issues. Pricy, yes. But these magazines come with CDs that are chock-full of nifty programs and useful stuff like fonts, stock images, ringtones, music tracks. The content is unbeatable. The tutorials are very nicely laid out, very easy to follow and just plain useful.

I have to say, that in my issue sixty nine, page 25 has the most ungodly font, it’s barely readable. It must’ve been an error because the facing and subsequent pages have a sans serif font that is much easier to read.

Let’s hope their desktop publishers don’t let too many of these font no-no’s pass on to the presses.

By the way, iCreate is published in the UK, so most pricing mentioned will be in pounds sterling. To get a dollar price, simply go to an online pounds sterling to USD converter.

Steve Jobs is back at work after having undergone a liver transplant a couple of months ago. May he have a speedy recovery and enjoy the best of health.

Congress examines iPhone exclusivity.

I’m still trying to sort out the different types of user accounts available to Mac OS X Leopard users. So many choices, so little time.

The new Parental Controls offer new variations. And the new Guest account comes in handy for a temp user, like Aunt Charlotte who comes to visit from Santa Fe and wants to use your Mac to edit her photos.

From what I understand:

1. Mac is a multiuser system, so in order to begin using the Mac OS, every user needs to log in to an account (unless the Mac is set to automatically start up into a given account).

2. Each user’s account is separated from that of other users, such that each person’s stuff is hidden from other people who log in with different accounts (except for shared or public folders).

3. Accounts are set up by going to System Preferences - - > Accounts and unlocking the Accounts panel (you will need to provide an Administrator password for this function)

Now these are the different types of accounts that you can create according to what privileges you wish to extend to your lowly subjects, I mean, your fellow Mac users.

1. Administrator - know it all, do it all

2. Standard - limited to making changes that affect only their account but not the system or hard drive

3. Managed account with Parental Controls - like a standard account with more limits, like hours of use.

4. Sharing Only - on a network people can log in and make use of file sharing and screen sharing

5. Group - a virtual container of user accounts that will all have the same privileges, like your kids, or boyfriends

6. Guest - for temporary or transient guests who just use your computer for a while, say thank you ma’m, and then move on.