The Mac Observer Forums

Lion 10.7.4 Mac Pro /private/var/vm/SleepImage

2012-05-21T04:13:16-05:00

Does anyone know why my Mac Pro (2009) running 10.7.4 would have a sleepimage file ?

I thought SleepImage was a feature for portables.

I’m trying to track down a wake from sleep issue where my Mac Pro wakes it’s self up in the middle of the night (early AM) but freezes. Screens are dark/off and I have to do the 7 second power button trick to force a shutdown.

I recently switched from SL 10.6.8 to Lion by upgrading but got the sleep/freezes so I did a Clean Install of Lion but still haven’t isolated the sleep/freeze issue yet….

How to Open Read Extract View Recover or Restore Data from Time Machine Sparse Bundle File

2009-09-06T20:35:15-05:00

I have a MacBook that had to be restored to factory settings because I messed it up somehow trying to install Windows via boot camp. It was backing up to time machine for months before this happened. When it was all setup again, it began backing up to time machine but did not recognize the sparse bundle file that was created for this machine over the time before it was re-imaged. I thought that it would overwrite this existing sparse bundle file so I copied it down from the time machine device to my desktop. The only thing I want out of the sparse bundle file is my iTunes music. Here are my questions:

1. Is there a way to tell the machine to use use the existing sparse bundle file on my desktop, providing I move it back to the time machine device and delete the current (brand new) sparse bundle file that time machine has created? Then if this is possible would I then be able to restore my iTunes music folder?

2. Is there a way for me to manually open the sparse bundle file and locate just my iTunes music files and copy those out of the sparse file onto my HD into iTunes?

3. Do you have any other ideas or suggestions I should try to get my music back?

Thank you!
P.S. I’m a little new to this and I’m pretty sure that I have managed to post this to the wrong location… unfortunately I can’t figure out how to move it or where it should go if i new how. Sorry.

iPad mirroring for presentations?

2012-05-07T22:31:00-05:00

Hello,

Is there a way to mirror what is happening on one iPad on two or more other iPads in the same room? I want to conduct a presentation on iPad and I want others to follow along. Is there an app that will mirror one iPad to another? If there is more than one app that is good for this which app is the best? And most cost effective?

Adam

MacBook Air SSD Space

2012-04-03T09:09:03-05:00

My MacBook is coming up due for replacement and I’m waiting for the rumored 15” Macbook Air. My MacBook has a 500Gb drive but only about 150Gb is free. I have a lot of pictures and music and videos on there.

I was looking at the MacBook Air’s that are currently available and the largest drive in them is 256Gb.

My question is to those of you that have a MacBook Air. How do you deal with the small SSD’s? Do you carry an external USB drive for your pictures and video? Do you use your iPod as external storage for music? Do you keep a whole separate machine at home and then just synch what you want to take with you?

Just what do you do with all your stuff?

Java File Permissions Problems

2012-04-14T11:46:57-05:00

I want to know if others are seeing this

My machine (‘08 MacBook, 2Ghz, 4Gb RAM, OS 10.6.8) started acting weird. I just replaced the hard drive, installed a fresh copy of the OS and restored all my files and applications from TimeMachine a couple of weeks ago and it had been running fine for a week or so. Suddenly late this week I started having Apps hang, and spinning beachballs on a regular basis. I tried running Onyx but it hung on Permissions Repair. So did Disk Utility. I rebooted to the Snow Leopard install disk and ran Disk Utility Permissions Repair. It fixed a lot of permissions, mostly on JAVA related files. I ran a Repair Disk and it found no problems with the disk itself. I then booted the system and it was running much better but Onyx still would stall. I ran Disk Utility again and it repaired permissions on a few dozen more files, once again mostly JAVA related.

I run (ran) Onyx every couple of months to clean up the system and while it usually fixed permissions on a few files I don’t remember this many JAVA related errors at one time. I got to thinking, could this be related to the major JAVA patch that came out this week to fix Flashback?

I’d like others to run a Permissions repair and see if they’re seeing this same thing. Also if you’ve installed the big Flashback JAVA patch.

MobileMe users - which replacement for iDisk?

2012-04-09T17:08:49-05:00

I was a fairly heavy user of iDisk for a quick and easy place to drop files that I need to access from other computers. I basically use it as an online flash drive.

With iCloud some of iDisk’s functionality will be retained in the form of document syncing, but we won’t necessarily be able to connect in the finder and drag any old file type in and out of our storage space.

What are you using, or planning to use, as an iDisk substitute? I am aware of several options including Box, Dropbox, and more. Which one is your favorite and why?

I really liked being able to go to Connect to Server on any Mac, open documents, save, and eject when I’m done. I’m not sure any other services offer that, short of hosting my own AFP or WebDAV share on a server I control…

“Open File With” Problem

2012-03-31T10:17:23-05:00

I know this has been discussed in the past, but since I’ve never, EVER had a problem with it, I didn’t pay much attention.

My Mac is now opening all rtf and txt documents in Text Edit.
Long ago, when I switched over to Bean (and something else before that) for text documents, I did the Get Info > Open With trick on a document, changed it to Bean, then clicked “Change all…”

It’s worked fine for years, but now every time I log in or reboot, documents open in Text Edit. It’s not just Text Edit either. I also prefer to use Movist to watch videos rather than Quicktime, which has become buggy. Same deal; it lasts until I log out or reboot.

And another problem is when I open many of my apps, I get the warning: “You are opening the application “Bean.app” for the first time. Are you sure you want to open this application?” Sometimes I get, “Firefox was downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?”

These are applications I have been using for years.

I’ve Repaired Permissions and Rebuilt Launch Services repeatedly, but nothing works.

I hate Lion, nothing but trouble.

iCloud mail

2012-02-27T19:02:48-05:00

So I’m a MobileMe user. Time is running out so I’ve moved my web site to a new host. I’ve pulled my documents off of MobileMe, not that I stored much. So I’m ready to go to iCloud, right?

Well not so fast. iCloud requires Lion or iOS 5.x. My mobile devices meet the requirements but my computers are still on Snow Leopard. My question is about e-mail. I understand my me.com and mac.com addresses will continue to work after I convert (I won’t say upgrade) to iCloud. However I don’t want to only be able to access my mail with my iOS devices. Will I still be able to access my e-mail with the version of Mail that comes with Snow Leopard? Do I need to go to ThunderBird on Snow Leopard?

I’ve checked around the Apple site but have only found references to requiring Lion to use iCloud.

Stockouts: Mac Pro refresh imminent or will this not be a reliable indicator this time?

2012-01-11T23:19:22-05:00

Don’t want to alarm anyone, but I searched up Mac Pro on Amazon and a few other e-tailers and noticed VERY constrained stock. We’ve seen stockouts of the Pro lately but Amazon has consistently had plenty (or enough not to have an “N left, order soon!” message in place—all other Macs appear to be in plentiful stock). In general this has been the signal that we were a week or two out from a refresh. This time around, we’re not entirely sure the Mac Pro will continue, though. Any thoughts on which outcome this portends?

Dictation Apps for iPhone and iPad

2012-03-22T18:20:01-05:00

Hello all. Is anyone aware of a dictation app that transcribes client-side rather than on a remote server? Someting akin to Dragon Dictate or NaturallySpeaking on traditional computers. I’d like to do more dictating on my idevices, but I’m apprehensive about using an app that sends what I’ve dictated to a server, regardless of how stringent the privacy controls are.

Thanks.