nVidia Geforce GTX Titan GK110 works on Hackintosh with Mac OSX 10.8.4 and official Drivers, including CUDA support!
This is big news from the hackintosh front: since you are limited to using single GPU graphic cards on hackintosh (Mac OS X only supports single GPU systems) the best possible card up to now was the Geforce GTX 680 (see our previous article).
Not anymore, since the Nvidia Geforce GTX Titan (GK110 chipset) is working on OSX 10.8.4 with official Nvidia drivers. There are already some awesome hackintosh case mods and builds out there.
Netkas reported the card working on April 2nd. Furthermore, there is a possible ROM-hack to get the card working on Mac Pro machines, making it the fastest video card you can possibly put into your Apple Mac Pro.
The current discussions and experiences from the hackintosh community are promising, though we might see several driver updates in the coming weeks. CUDA is supported, also OpenCL is reported working, though strangely not with all different vendor models.
If you want to stay on the bleeding edge, here are recommended cards that people reported working with hackintosh:
ASUS GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card GTXTITAN-6GD5
If you want to be on the safe side, get the EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2048MB GDDR5, DVI, DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort, 4-way SLI Ready Graphics Card Graphics Cards 02G-P4-2680-KR which is working flawlessly and costs only half of the current Titan price...
Sapphire Launches Radeon HD 7950 Mac Graphics Card: Upgrade your Mac Pro or your Hackintosh!
Sapphire recently announced the Radeon HD 7950 Graphics Card that is an "Exclusive Mac Edition with AMD GCN architecture". The Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition is compatible with Apple Mac Pro models from 2010 and later with an available PCI-Express x16 slot. Two six-pin power cables required are supplied with the card.
The card is said to boost GPU performance of existing Mac Pro models by up to 200%, which is especially interesting for people doing video and photography work on Apple Mac Pro machines.
The Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition is currently available for $479,00 in the US.
Exclusive to SAPPHIRE, the HD 7950 Mac Edition is based on AMD’s latest Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. This highly acclaimed architecture delivers a significant graphics performance boost for Mac Pro users in a wide range of applications including gaming, audio or video editing and content creation. For example, gaming frame rates are increased by over 200%, general benchmark performance increased by around 30% and graphics intensive benchmarks increased by as much as 300% compared with the NV 8800GT commonly used in these machines (SAPPHIRE internal data).
The SAPPHIRE HD 7950 Mac Edition is equipped with 3GB of the latest GDDR5 memory, and its Dual Asynchronous Compute Engines (ACE) deliver up to 2.87 TFLOPS Single Precision compute power. It provides hardware support for Open GL 4.2 and Open CL 1.2 as well as AMD HD3D technology and APP acceleration.
While this is not so big news for Hackintosh owners, it is for people that have to work on an original Apple Mac Pro from 2010. For Hackintosh still the EVGA GeForce GTX 680 Classified, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort is the fastest card to get, featuring a chip clock of 1111MHz, shader clock of 1006MHz and RAM clock of 1502MHz.
Apple Mac OSX 10.8.3 brings AMD Radeon 7xxx: 7750, 7870, 7950, 7970 to Hackintosh!
Apple's recent update of Mac OS X 10.8.3 finally brings AMD Radeon drivers (kext) to hackintoshers around the globe.
Here is some other update news of the recent ML update by Apple: About the OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.3 Update, which also contains various security fixes:
New Kexts:
ATI7000Controller.kext
AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle
nVida kexts (ver. 8.10.18 304.10.65a13) included.
As of March 24, 2013, the AMD Radeon HD 7970, 7950, 7870, 7770, and 7750 have been confirmed to work "out of the box" (without the need for additional drivers), while the AMD Radeon HD 7850 only works with specially edited kext files.
The fastest AMD Radeon (that is confirmed to work) is the the Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7970 OC 3GB GDDR5 DVI-I/HDMI/2x Mini-Displayport PCI-E 3.0 Graphics Card GV-R797OC-3GD
Apple Mac OSX 10.5 Leopard is worth more than old Apple hardware
Ok, here is a business idea for all you people that want to make money fast: no, seriously ;)
Fact 1: Apple OSX 10.5 Leopard currently sells for up to $249.99 on amazon.
Fact 2: Apple OSX 10.5 Leopard sells between $50 and $70 on ebay.
So either you have an old installation DVD lying around somewhere, then sell it (on amazon, obviously) or you could just buy from ebay and sell on amazon. I am too lazy to do it, just wanted to provide a quick heads-up.
Creating an Apple Mac OS X 10.8 ML Mountain Lion USB Stick to Boot your Hackintosh
ScottishDuck posted a guide on MacRumors: How to create a bootable USB Stick with Apple Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion GM (Golden Master). The process is quite easy:
* Show Package Contents -> mount InstallESD.dmg
* "restore" BaseSystem.dmg to your USB drive
* System -> Installation -> Delete the link called "Packages" and then create a new folder with the same name
* Copy all the Packages to the USB Disk
* cp /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/mach_kernel /Volumes/lionUSBinstaller/.
Done!
Intel ThunderBolt Support on Linux: not quite yet, but soon
I posted the question on askubuntu.com about what's the current status of ThunderBolt in the Linux Kernel and on Ubuntu in particular. The response was quite interesting: partial support exists, while hotplugging does not work yet. We can hope for a better support in the upcoming Ubuntu 12.10 Release, which will be ready in october 2012.
As of May 2012, support in the Linux kernel was still buggy and being worked on. For example, hot-plugging did not work, while cold-plugging did, etc.
Considering that the new Linux kernel will only appear in Ubuntu 12.10 (October 2012), I think that's the earliest you can hope to expect partial Thunderbolt support in Ubuntu.
(via izx)
Apple MacBook Pro Retina graphics performance is very slow: 18FPS
According to Anandtech the 2880 x 1800 Pixel HiDPI Display of the new MacBook Pro Retina has to deal with so much pixels, the GPU cannot deal with that amount of information anymore. This results in slow performance and a jumpy interface (scrolling and zooming is very slow). Previous models of the MacBook Pro could display between 46-60 frames per second, while the MacBook Pro Retina is only capable of displaying 18-24fps. Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion should improve this a little - but still under 30fps. According to Anand, the solution will be the upcoming Haswell and Broadwell chipsets from Intel, that will be released in 2013.
To quantify exactly what I was seeing I measured frame rate while scrolling as quickly as possible through my Facebook news feed in Safari on the rMBP as well as my 2011 15-inch High Res MacBook Pro. While last year’s MBP delivered anywhere from 46 - 60 fps during this test, the rMBP hovered around 20 fps (18 - 24 fps was the typical range). Remember at 2880 x 1800 there are simply more pixels to push and more work to be done by both the CPU and the GPU. It’s even worse in those applications that have higher quality assets: the CPU now has to decode images at 4x the resolution of what it’s used to. Future CPUs will take this added workload into account, but it’ll take time to get there.
For early adopters and for posers, the new MacBook Pro Retina might be a fit. For serious people using their computers to actually get work done, it might be better to get a MacBook Pro from the previous Generation, since the price drops are significant: the Apple MacBook Air MC968LL/A 11.6-Inch currently sells for $829 new (refurbished from $789), the Apple MacBook Pro MC700LL/A 13.3-Inch sells for $1050 new ($900 refurbished).
The Apple MacBook Pro MC975LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop with Retina Display (NEWEST VERSION)
Live from the WWDC: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Retina, Ivy Bridge and USB 3.0 (RETINA CONFIRMED)
Here are the current updates from the live tickers of the WWDC Apple Conference 2012:
current updates so far:
Apple MacBook Pro: 3rd gen Core, Ivy Bridge CPU up to 2.7Ghz, 8GB 1600Mhz memory, and 60% faster graphics, GeForce GT 650M, 1GB, - no RETINA!
Apple MacBook Air: 3rd gen Ivy Bridge CPU, USB3, 512GB of flash storage, 8GB of memory (1600Mhz), up to 2.0ghz i7, 11" and 13" sizes, 720p camera - no RETINA!
BUT...
Apple shows off a new Notebook Line that is "Radically thin and light" - even thinner than a finger (0.71 inches), about as thin as a MacBook Air, with 4.46lbs (the lightest pro notebook Apple has ever made). The new MacBook Pro is absolutely stunning with 15.4" across, pixel density is 2880x1800. 15.4" across, pixel density is 2880x1800. - this is actually world's highest resolution notebook display!
New MacBook Air Leaks: Upgrades rumored to include 8 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD, Ivy Bridge
According to MacRumors, new specs for the upcoming Apple MacBook Air Models leaked already, mainly confirming what we already thought: Intel Ivy Bridge, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD stock. Unconfirmed is still the Retina Display on the MacBook Air and USB 3.0 Ports, among other rumored extensions. Let's see what the next few hours will bring!
Here are the leaked specs:
11-inch
Base Model: MD223LL/A - MBA 11.6/1.7/4/64FLASH-USA
Better: MD224LL/A - MBA 11.6/1.7/4/128FLASH-USA
High End: MD845LL/A - MBA 11.6/2.0/8/256FLASH-USA
13-inch
MD231LL/A - MBAIR 13.3/1.8/4/128FLASH-USA
MD232LL/A - MBAIR 13.3/1.8/4/256FLASH-USA
MD846LL/A - MBAIR 13.3/2.0/8/512FLASH-USA
Update from WWDC 2012: Retina MacBook Pro with up to 16 GB RAM, 768 GB SSD (Retina!)
Great stuff folks - MacBook Pro Specs leaked short before they will be actually presented on the WWDC 2012: 15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display!
This is epic, I am wondering how much people will get a new MacBook Pro soon, expect the prices of the previous models to drop dramatically: there is already a Apple MacBook Pro MD313LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop selling (new) for $934, expect prices to drop even more...
here are the leaked specs and model numbers (thanks to 9to5mac)
MC975LL/A – MBP 15.4/2.3/8GB/256GB FLASH-USA
MC976LL/A – MBP 15.4/2.6/8GB/512GB FLASH-USA
MD831LL/A – MBP 15.4/2.7/16GB/768GB FLASH-USA
Optibay Replica for $14 for a second HDD or SSD in your Apple MacBook or MacBook Pro, including external case for your optical drive
A lot of readers and friends keep asking me about the Optibay and the modding possibilities of their MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Here is a current and up-to-date information on what you can do to tweak your Mac Notebooks to the extent:
First of all, you might want to max your RAM: read our article "Confirmed: 16GB RAM Upgrade for Unibody MacBook Pros" to see how to obtain the cheapest RAM upgrades possible. Second, you might want to consider an SSD replacement for your internal drive. Intel and OCZ are currently the best brands to look out for, you can read our article "OCZ Vertex 3 vs. Intel 520 SSD Benchmarks on OSX (Hackintosh)" for details.
The best way to mod your Apple MacBook or MacBook Pro is the Optibay still: for around $14 you can get the full shebang, including the Optibay (replica) as well as an USB casing for your optical drive, should you need it ever (i don't).
Optibay Replica for as low as $6.99
External Case for your optical drive: if you ever need it again, you can use your SuperDrive or ComboDrive via USB 2.0 on your MacBook or MacBook Pro
If you don't like the white color, the external drive is also available in black and there is even a slim version (slot-in) in silver. Don't worry about the replicas, they are not really different to the original Optibay - anyway you are mounting them inside your MacBook Pro and you won't see them any time soon.
Also take a look at our previous post "2011 Macbook Pro and SATA III 6Gbps, Optibay: two HD drives – setup explained". There, we recommended saving the few bucks for the external casing and getting a bluray drive instead, a recommendation i can still emphasize.
Apple Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion RC3 Released with some updates, 10.7.4 around the corner
Apple's Mountain Lion Developer Preview was updated to version 12A193i (from 12A178q) weighing 1.45GB.
"With the Developer Preview, you can explore Game Center, Notification Center, Documents in the Cloud, new sharing capabilities, advanced security features, and much more"
Apple Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion includes lots of features from iOS, such as Reminders, Messages and Game Center. One noted update from the previous version of the Developer Preview is a Do Not Disturb setting to Mountain Lion's Notifications Center, as outlined by 9to5mac, which allows users to block incoming alerts and banners.
Furthermore Mac OSX 10.7.4 Lion Update is around the corner: 11E53 is the current build that was seeded to developers. The previous release was numbered 11E52 - so a final public update is imminent. Apple notes that there are no known issues with this build but asks developers to focus their testing on graphics, iCal, Mail, Printing, and Time Machine.
If there are updated kexts is not known at the time of writing - it looks like we have to wait for the final release of 10.8 ML to get new graphics drivers, such as support for the 7xxx AMD Radeon GPUs with the Codenames Cedar, Caicos, Turks, Cape Verde, Pitcairn, Tahiti and New Zealand.
iPhone 5 might have new in-cell technology for updated multi touch display
via macrumors: Apple might be planning to use new "in-cell" display technology from Japanese manufacturers in the next-generation iPhone. "Compared with on-cell technology, touch panels that use in-cell technology can be made thinner because the touch sensors are actually placed inside the color filters rather than on top of them"
This would mean we can expect the new iPhone 5 to be much thinner than the previous iPhone 4S Model.
Apple Store Down for Maintenance: New Products Imminent? [Updated]
Apple's Store Page is currently "down for maintenance". While this often means new products are about to be introduced, it could also only mean a general site maintenance or redesign.
New MacBook Pros as well as new Mac Pros are on the horizon, including the possibility of the upcoming iPhone 5. Personally, I would favor a new Mac Pro line the most - giving us updated GPU drivers (kexts) as well as more hardware support. Let's see what the day brings.
[Update 2012-04-11 9:35 CET] Site is back online and NOTHING NEW. Apple really teases us too much these days. As if there were nothing to update. Still waiting for decent GPU support on the outdated Mac Pros.
New Apple Macbook Pros on the horizon? Retina Displays, USB3.0, Quad-Core Ivy Bridge
New Apple Macbook Pro Models are on the horizon? Intel Ivy Bridge for the 13, 15, 17 inch and MacBook Air models are most likely, with quad core and possibly USB3 ports. There might be a "slim form factor" that would mean MacBook Air-like MacBook Pro Models, with USB3 ports along other features such as dual Thunderbolt ports and Retina Displays (treat this information as rumors!). As macrumors notes, Reseller Shortages Hint at Forthcoming Update for 15-Inch MacBook Pro: "Apple has been said to be ramping up production of new 15-inch MacBook Pro models carrying a thinner form factor, with Intel's rumored April 29 debut of quad-core mobile Ivy Bridge processors undoubtedly driving that timeline."
The 13" MBP still goes for around $1,115.00, the 15" Quad Core i7 15-inch version is still at $1,679.88. Prices for the upcoming models are obviously not known yet.
Mac Java Trojan: over 600.000 Macs affected – how to secure your Mac [Update]
Update: F-Secure offers a FlashbackRemoval Tool, the Flashback Checker app tells you if your machine is infected.
The Flashback Trojan for Apple's Mac OSX already infected over 600.000 Machines, according to @hexminer on twitter. There is an existing Java Security Update from Apple, all users should update immediately.
Apple is too slow in releasing security fixes - the last known security holes in Mac OSX Java took Apple over 6 months to fix.
F-Secure shows how to secure your Mac by disabling Java. Lion does not come with Java by default, although most of the times it is installed afterwards (running Java applets or Java applications, the Systems asks to install the Java package).
The Flashback Trojan hides as Adobe Flash Player, so the most secure thing to do is to remove Java and Flash from your system. Adobe Flash still does not completely work with Mac OSX Lion, bugs that were reported by Nanofunk over 6 months ago are still open.
Gizmodo posted a simple way how to test if you are infected:
Run the following command in Terminal:
defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment
Take note of the value, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES
The expected output should be:
"The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist"
Then, run this command:
defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES
"The domain/default pair of (/Users/joe/.MacOSX/environment, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES) does not exist"
"does not exist" means you've got a healthy rig. If there is any other message, keep following F-Secure's instructions to vanquish the intruder.
iPhone 5 coming in June 2012, according to Foxconn leak
Foxconn is supposedly searching for 18.000 workers to support the production of the upcoming iPhone 5, to be released in June 2012. Although Kotaku commented "the interview was conducted from a distance, and it doesn't look like the recruiter knew he was on camera and his reply is hardly rock solid." - it still might be a valid assumption, since Apple released almost all iPhones in summer, with the iPhone 4S being the only exception (release in autumn). Insiders are discussing a possible higher resolution display and "real" LTE support (e.g. Europe) as new features. Since the release of the iPhone 4S was not long ago, design changes of the upcoming iPhone 5 are most likely, to make a stronger distinction between the 4S and the upcoming Version 5 of the smartphone from Apple.
Adobe Releases Flash Player 11.2 and Air 3.2 – still kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
Adobe released Flash Player version 11.2 and Adobe Air 3.2 but still did not fix the kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero issues.
Nanofunk reported on this on Jul 28, 2011 and again on Dec 22, 2011. Furthermore the issue was reported in the Adobe Bug Tracker and reproduced by many other users.
It is 8 months after we reported to the Adobe Forums and there was not even a single response from Adobe yet. I will start to boycott Flash Player from now on (currently removing it from my system). Here is a link to the Uninstall Flash Player Howto. Bye Bye, Adobe.
Apple OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2 released
Apple released a new Developer Preview after recently releasing DP1 to Developers. The change log shows that there are still a lot of unfinished edges in the OS, from Game Center to AirPlay to the Notes app.
Mountain Lion is said to run on the following machines:
Mac (mid 2007 or later)
MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, 2.4/2.2 GHz), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
Xserve (Early 2009)
Here is the full NDA information of Apple OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2
(thanks to TheVerge for posting this
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE IS UNDER NON-DISCLOSURE
OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2 Seed Note
OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2 is prerelease software. Do not use this prerelease software in a commercial operating environment or with important data. You should back up all of your data before installing this software and regularly back up data while using the software. You will not be able to upgrade from the OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview to the final release.
If an installation of OS X Developer Preview 2 fails, try using Disk Utility from a Recovery HD to repair the disk.
Architecture Requirements
The OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview supports the following Macs:
• iMac (Mid 2007 or later)
• MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
• Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
Known Issues
• Installing OS X 10.8 over 10.7.2 or earlier with FileVault turned on may fail
• Upgrades over Lion Server will offer to migrate data again in Setup Assistant even though an in place migration has already succeeded.
• Entering your Apple ID in the Setup Assistant does not sign into iCloud
• Migration does not migrate RADIUS configurations
• Creating an iCloud account using a non-me.com address in the Setup Assistant requires verification before it can be used in Mail, Contacts, and Calendars.
• Some Apple menu items such as Restart may not work when a sandboxed app is in the foreground
• Twitter accounts added in Developer Preview 1 will need to be re-added after installing Developer Preview 2
• The first time an unsigned or unidentified app is launched when "Mac App Store" or "Mac App Store and identified developers" is selected in the Security & Privacy pref pane, the exception mechanism may fail. Subsequent attempts to run the application with an exception will work as expected.
• iTunes no longer syncs Notes
• Notes shared via Messages may not include note content
• After quitting and reopening Messages, the message window is blank. Continuing a conversation will bring the data back.
• TextEdit may hang after enabling Documents & Data in iCloud preferences
• Screen Sharing in Messages does not work
• Screen Sharing sometimes fails when no users are logged in
• Mail's photo browser cannot access the iPhoto library
• VoiceOver cannot access the Notification Center on some machines
• Documents stored in iCloud cannot be renamed in the open panel by setting an insertion point and typing. The document can be renamed only by overwriting the entire name.
• Back to My Mac doesn't work for the first 5 minutes after rebooting
• Find My Mac is not enabled if checked in Setup Assistant iCloud setup
• To enable Find My Mac, turn on Find My Mac in iCloud preferences and then close and reopen the preference panel.
• DVD Player may not launch after inserting a DVD on some systems
• Some Nvidia GPUs limit the resolution on an external HD display to 1280x800
• Some AppleScript applets may not run when Gatekeeper is set to Mac App Store or Mac App Store and identified developers
• Selecting Open PDF from the Print Dialog displays the message "Error while printing"
• Network scanning does not work in Developer Preview 2
• The system may hang after several hours when an external drive is connected
• After entering your redemption code, the Mac App Store may not show download progress on the Purchases tab. Quitting and re-launching the Mac App Store will show download progress as expected.
•
Game Center
• In this seed, Game Center applications may only access the Sandbox environment. In the Sandbox environment:
◦ Game & Friend Recommendations are not supported
◦ Friends can view games in common but not friends' other games
◦ Photos are not supported
◦ Email addresses are not verified during sandbox account creation, allowing multiple test accounts to be created
◦ Out-of-network friend requests are not supported
◦ Game matchmaking versioning restrictions are more relaxed
• If you've never set up a Game Center Sandbox account, you will need to create one. You may continue to use a previously set up Sandbox account. Note that when using Setup Assistant to create a GameCenter account, the account will be created in the Sandbox environment.
• To use Game Center in your game on OS X:
◦ You must include the "com.apple.developer.game-center" entitlement in your Xcode project.
◦ The app must be signed, in order for the entitlement to take effect.
◦ You must install a provisioning profile that enables Game Center for your app.
• Code signing, entitlements, and provisioning profiles are all described in detail in Tools Workflow Guide for Mac.
• Multiplayer gaming with Game Center between iOS and OS X is not available in this seed.
• In the Game Center app, game detail information such as game provider, pricing, etc. is not displayed.
• In the Game Center app, search is not functional
• The local peer-to-peer GameKit API (GKSession, GKPeerPickerController, and related classes) is not supported
• APIs related to in-game UI (GKAchievementPanel, GKLeaderboardPanel, etc) have changed
◦ The new API is not compatible with the previous seed
◦ Games in development must be updated and recompiled
Bug Reporting
This build is being provided to you for testing and development purposes. Should you encounter any problems, please submit a bug report using the online Bug Reporter at <http://bugreporter.apple.com/>. Please make sure to include "10.8 (12A154q)" in the bug title and description. This information will ensure that your bug is processed quickly.
When submitting a bug report, please make sure to include a Summary, Steps to Reproduce, Actual Results, Expected Results, the System Profile Report, and any other relevant information that is necessary to process the report.
IMPORTANT: Engineering requires additional information for crashing bugs, kernel panics, and hangs.
Crashing Bugs: Crash logs are required for crashing bugs. Crash logs can be located in ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter and /Library/Logs/CrashReporter
Kernel Panics: Backtraces, which contain vital information for investigating kernel panics, are required for kernel panic issues. Backtraces can be saved to NVRAM on restart/shutdown, then copied to a panic log file on restart. This log file will be located at /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReportsThe
Hangs: When an application is hung, a sample should be provided. This can be done using the Activity Monitor (/Applications/Utilities/). To generate a sample using this utility, click on the hung application's name, then from the View menu select "Sample Process".
For complete instructions on submitting bug reports, please visit the Bug Reporting page at <http://developer.apple.com/bugreporter/>.
Thank you for your support.
Apple World wide Developer Relations
Auto-Submission of Diagnostic and Usage Data
By default, OS X 10.8 Developer Preview builds automatically send anonymous diagnostic and usage data back to Apple. This includes information about crashes, freezes, kernel panics, and information about how you use Apple and third-party software, hardware, and services. This information is used to help Apple improve the quality and performance of its products and services. If necessary, this setting can be disabled in the Privacy tab in the Security & Privacy preference pane.
Legal Notices
The pre-release software identified above is Apple Confidential Information and your use of such software is subject to your Registered Apple Developer Agreement and Mac Developer Program License Agreement. Distributing such pre-release software to anyone other than another Registered Apple Developer who is working for the same entity as you is considered a violation of your agreement with Apple and is damaging to both Apple and those who develop for the Apple platform. We sincerely appreciate your efforts to keep this pre-release software Confidential.
You agree that you will not export or reexport any of the software or Confidential Information received from Apple (a) into (or to a national or resident of) any U.S. embargoed countries (currently, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria) without first obtaining proper authorization from the U.S. Government; or (b) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Department of Commerce Denied Person's List or Entity List. You also agree that you will not use said software for any purposes where prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missile, chemical or biological weapons.
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE IS UNDER NON-DISCLOSURE)
Mupromo Apple OSX App Bundle: $49 for VMware Fusion, Drive Genius, PDFpen, Phone to Mac and more
mupromo is currently offerin a Software Bundle with 11 applications for Apple Mac OS X at an extreme discounte. VMware Fusion would cost normally 49$ alone, here are 10 other apps included for free. For twittering about the discount promo, Aurora Alarm Clock can be received free of charge.
Included Apps in the Software Bundle
VMware Fusion 4
VMware Fusion 4 is the easiest, fastest and most reliable way to run Windows applications and other operating systems on a Mac without rebooting.
DriveGenius 3
Drive Genius 3 is the industry's leading disk utility and the best way to optimize your drive's performance.
PDFpen 5
PDFPen 5 is a PDF toolkit that lets you add text, images and signatures to PDFs -- and much more.
ForkLift 2.5
ForkLift 2.5 is arguably the most versatile utility ever made for the Mac. Originally conceived as a robust FTP client for file transfers, ForkLift has evolved to the point that it can be used as full-blown Finder replacement.
Typinator 5
boosts your typing productivity by automatically inserting frequently used text, graphics, and more
DesktopShelves 2
will organize your chaotic Desktop in no time
Snapheal
new photo retouching tool that's easy enough for beginners to use
Boom
convenient volume booster and system-wide equalizer that lets you boost the volume of your Mac and your music files
Phone to Mac
Phone to Mac transfers files from your iPhone, iPod or iPad to your Mac with ease.
Star Wars TFU (Game)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed invites you back into the Star Wars universe for another high-energy, intergalactic adventure.
Worms Special Edition
Worms Special Edition is a modern reprise of the classic comic strategy game.
The mupromo bundle sells for $49.99 and is delivered digitally via download. Payment is done via paypal.
98X6AC5GQV8R
Think Different: How to Build Your Own Hackintosh eBook for $1 on Amazon shows how to build a customac
A new eBook on amazon describes in detail how to build and configure your hackintosh: Think Different: How to Build Your Own Hackintosh. Another book, the Ultimate Guide: Making Hackintosh sells for $4, but actually features almost the same content.
Here is direct link to "LOOK INSIDE" where some of the book contents can be read for free.
Want to try out the Mac operating system, but don't want to purchase Apple hardware? Check out "Think Different: How to Build Your Own Hackintosh", the latest guide from MakeUseOf. By author Stefan Neagu, this guide outlines what you need to do in order to build a Hackintosh. Whether you want to try using a computer you already have or buy a pre-built computer for the job, this guide shows you the way.
Mozilla Firefox 11 was released for Mac, Windows and Linux
Mozilla released Firefox Version 11 today, with some updates and news to is previous version 10. Features include new tools for developers such as the Tilt tool for inspecting elements, 3D rendering support for WebGL-capable systems, a new style editor, and as usual a lot of bugfixes. Check out the complete changelog here.
MultiBeast 4.3 Update for booting Hackintosh systems: Chimera 1.8, OpenCL for GeForce and more
tonymacx86 released Multibeast 4.3 today - the bootloader that powers alternative hardware to boot up Mac OSX. It includes the upgrade 10.8 of Chimera, to also support Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Furthermore, lots of other updates and changes were made (read about them below).
Today MultiBeast was updated to version 4.3 for Lion. We've added a new Combo OpenCL Enabler, which when combined with Chimera 1.8 will enable full QE/CI and OpenCL for all NVIDIA GeForce 4xx and 5xx graphics cards. Two more big additions are the flAked SpeedStepper for UEFI power management fixes, and maolj's Atheros ethernet driver. The latest version of MultiBeast is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads.
Full changelog inside.
Confirmed: 16GB RAM Upgrade for Unibody MacBook Pros
I just confirmed that 16GB RAM modules will work in the early 2011 Macbook Pro Models - and in the other Sandy Bridge Models as well, including
* Macbook Pro Early 2011 (13", 15", 17")
* Macbook Pro Late 2011 (13", 15", 17")
Corsair RAM SO-DIMM DDR3 16GB / 1333Mhz [2x8GB] KIT CL9 Apple
EUR 123,13 in Europe, $116.98 in the USA.
Theoretically, other RAM Modules with the same specs should work as well, but I can definitely suggest and confirm the Corsair Modules to work, as they show "Mac Memory" on the German Amazon page and reviewers are reporting successful installs.
Please tell us in the comments section if other RAM modules worked for you. 16GB is currently the largest supported Memory Upgrade for the Unibody Macbook Pro. OWC still sells the same KIT for $239.99.
Booting and Installing Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion on Hackintosh (and 10.7 as well)
Besides running hackintosh on Intel Sandy Bridge-E, there are more good news from the front:
Chimera, the bootloader that powers standard PC hardware to boot up Mac OS X, received an update allowing it to support OS X Mountain Lion. To obtain OS X Mountain Lion you need an Apple Developer Account that'll cost you $99 per year, but of course your might already know where to find Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion by yourself.
Today MacMan updated Chimera to version 1.8. For Mac OS X developers, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion support has been added. This version will be included in the next MultiBeast release. (via tonymacx86)
AMD Cayman 6950 and 6970 support for Mac OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion (Hackintosh)
The Cayman GPU works fine with the kexts from OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion, as reported by netkas. This means, the AMD Radeon 6970 and AMD Radeon 6950 work with Hackintosh - making the 6970 the fastest card currently supported by Hackintosh systems. Netkas further posted a patched x3000.kext that will solve the existing problems. Can't wait to try this out myself. Will post updates here.
[Update 2012-3-11] netkas writes about Geforce gtx580 support out of the box. The netkas forum thread 6950 working NATIVELY in 10.8 !!! is currently 18 pages long and there are people getting it to run, some people are still having issues. The 6950 and 6970 running natively with the Mac Pro, as reported in the macrumors forums.
The death of Firefox, really?
Sebastian Anthony posted on extremetech, that the death of firefox will happen soon, as it lost ground to IE, chrome and Safari. Between 2010 and today Firefox has lost a third of its market share, from a worldwide peak of around 30% down to 20%.
Chrome is breathlessly decimating Firefox’s userbase at a breakneck rate. It took Firefox more than four years to prise 20% of the market from Internet Explorer; Chrome did it in almost half that, and is fast approaching 30% in just over three years. Internet Explorer’s graph is a little harder to interpret, but it looks like it might have finally turned the corner and stopped hemorrhaging market share.
The question is, if a better (and this means smaller memory footprint) firefox will surface soon. If not, the userbase might shrink further. The "only" actual advantage from firefox over Safari, IE and Chrome is: it is not run by an evil company. Google, Apple and Microsoft are out there, wanting your data (cf. the EFF talking about disabling google web search history before google's new privacy policy takes effect).
Firefox will survive, but it has to reposition itself to be seen as the "rebel" once again. After all, Mozilla Firefox it is the only browser that is not run by a commercially driven entity. The Mozilla Foundation is "a non-profit organization that promotes openness, innovation and participation on the Internet.". Users should value that fact.
Sandy Bridge-E Intel 2011 Socket confirmed working with Hackintosh
[Update] Intel Socket 2011 does not only support Sandy Bridge-E, but also the upcoming Ivy Bridge-E Chipset, as outlined by one of our commenters. That makes the Socket-2011 Mainboards a perfect choice for a hackintosh system.
Many of us are waiting for an update to the Sandy Bridge (E) Chipset to the upcoming Intel Ivy Bridge (along with the release of new Apple Hardware), that would allow running the new Intel Chipset with Hackintoshed customac systems.
But what about Sandy Bridge-E?
Ivy Bridge will be Quad-Core. If you want more threads and cores, go for SB-E. Sandy Bridge-E as well as Ivy Bridge will have PCIe 3.0. SB-E has 40 PCIe lanes (compared to 16 lanes in Sandy Bridge) as well as 1600MHz memory speed (quad-channel memory) which should be around 33% faster in theory.
There are confirmed builds that can run Mac OSX 10.7 (Lion) as well as 10.6 (Snow Leopard) with the Intel Sandy Bridge-E (SB-E) X79 Chipset. Integrated Graphics are not supported, but who needs them anyway, since the AMD 6990 GPU or the upcoming 7990
Here is a list of the confirmed mainboards:
Asus P9X79 Deluxe (user: vonmolk)
$370 in the US, €299 in Europe
Pro: good build quality (compared to other versions of that board)
Cons: none. The Asus Rampage IV has even better build quality.
Gigabyte GA-X79-UD7 (user: machacks)
€297 in Europe, ??? in the USA
Pro: Awesome board! (nanofunk recommendation). Gigabyte has a longer history of hackintosh-capable boards, so get one of those.
Cons: none, really. Overclocking features could be better.
ASUS RAMPAGE IV EXTREME - LGA2011 - X79 - 8x DIMM - PCIe 3.0 Motherboards Hackintosh chimera
* ASUS Rampage IV Extreme (user: nfsking2)
$415 in the US, €369 in Europe
Pro: awesome build quality, extreme overclocking support.
Cons: expensive.
The MSI X79 Big Bang XPower II is suspected to work as well (once it becomes available). Theoretically, most of the X79 boards should work, we just have to wait and see what early birds (early adopters) are coming up with. Keep up the great work, ppl! (and don't forget to share your experiences in the comments below)
AMD Radeon HD 7970 still not accelerated in 10.7.3 but usable on Hackintosh
The new ATI Graphics Cards from the 7970 series are super-fast, while being single GPU systems (the upcoming 7990 will be a dual-GPU 6GB Graphics Card). Besides being quite "cheap" (around 500€ in Europe, $589 in the US, they are said to be supported in OSX soon (see also a discovery by netkas) - until then, there is a current way how to use them (although not accelerated) with chimera. Props go to Shrapnl from the tonymac86 forum:
I was able to force my 7970 into a higher res (still unaccelerated of course) via the org.chameleon.boot.plist with the following:
<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>2560x1440x32</string></pre>
Of course, you can overclock the 7900 Series just fine. There are "Waterblocks" from Aquacomputer for the 7900 series, as outlined by Geeks3D.
Of course, the GPU runs quite fast without overclocking, still you could go faster. Below: Shamino has overclocked a Radeon HD 7970 under LN2 with the following clock speeds: 1650MHz for the GPU and 1800MHz real speed (7200MHz effective) for the memory. (Source: geeks3d)
[Update] the best way to cool your AMD Radeon 7970 is the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 7970 which will cool down your GPU for additional 10degrees celsius (at least). Overclocking, here we go!
Computer Displays (Monitors) for editing 2K, 3K and 4K Video Footage (above 1920×1080) “Retina”
The sensor sizes and resolution for digital video and film increase, but what displays for editing can be used when exceeding the full HD (1920x1080) resolution? Here are some opinions and examples.
1920x1080 Full HD (comparable to 2K)
Dell UltraSharp U2711 27-inch.
For the penny saver: you could use a Full-HD LCD Television (LED) with HDMI to monitor your edits. You can get them starting at $600 via Amazon US (starting at around 500€ in Europe). Since you might produce for TV or youtube anyway, this might be the best way to go, since it is also a cheap solution.
If you need to have a higher resolution (~2.5K 2560 x 1440) the Dell UltraSharp U2711 27-inch might be the Monitor you are searching for.
3K Footage (e.g. from the RED Scarlet-X)
IBM T221 22-inch QUXGA-W LCD Monitor
There is a 22.2" LCD Monitor with the resolution of 3480 x 2400 pixels - the Viewsonic VP2290B-2 22.2" and it's twin: the IBM T221. That's 9.2 Megapixels (!). The Viewsonic VP2290B-2 is available as Refurbished for $3.500 on Amazon, the IBM T221 is available used for $1.675.
You might still be lucky and get a bargain via eBay, though:
a) $1500 (€1.140) IBM T221 IPS, including a LFH-60 to DL-DVI Adapter
b) $600 for a Viewsonic VP2290b (!) with free shipping. Plus there are some more of that IBM monitors available from that seller.
4K Footage (e.g. from RED Scarlet, RED Epic, Arri Alexa, etc.)
Sony VW1000ES 4K Projector for $28.000. You might get second hand 4K Projectors starting at $2.000 already.
The EIZO DuraVision FDH3601 with a 4096 x 2160 resolution (2160p) sells for around 36.000$. You might be cheaper off with a 4K Beamer (Projector).
While the Sony VW1000ES 4K Beamer sells for around 28.000USD, the Christie Mirage S+4K 3D DLP Projector with 5000 Lumen sells used for $5,980.00 on Amazon. Still, the question is if you care about a second hand beamer: if you own 4K production equipment, you most likely have the moolah to get yourself a brand spanking new 4K projector as well.
5K Footage and above, up to 8K (e.g. from 5K RED Epic or 2x RED Epic)
If you want to go all way up to next-level 8K, you can get the recently announced 85 inch 8K Monitor. Make sure to already start saving some bucks, though.
Strangely, the trend of the past years seems to be in decreasing the pixel resolution on the displays (since there are mostly mobile screens deployed). We can expect a pixel bump in 2012 though, since the upcoming iPad 3 (and it is said also MacBook Air and MacBook Pro) will most possibly have Retina Screens with 2880x1800 pixel resolution (source: ArsTechnica).
Recommended Reading: make sure to read "The Truth About 2K, 4K and The Future of Pixels" for some background information on pixels and sensors.
Thunderbolt (Intel Lightpeak) Coming to PCs in April 2012: finally, Thunderbolt on Hackintosh!
DigiTimes reports that Intel has notified partners that the company will "fully release" its Thunderbolt technology (previously known as "Lightpeak") in April 2012. Intel is reportedly preparing to launch Thunderbolt-supported motherboards, notebooks and desktop PCs at that time, other mainboard suppliers such as Gigabyte and Asus will follow.
Intel and Apple originally partnered on the new technology which has become standard across Apple's MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and iMac. Digitimes reports that the cost of Thunderbolt technology is expected to drop in the second half of 2012, allowing more widespread adoption. While this sure is great for Windows users, that also means Thunderbolt will be available for hackintosh users!
While Apple does offer Thunderbolt across most of its product line, the first Thunderbolt products have been limited to relatively high end devices, such as the Blackmagic Ultrastudio 3D, the Magma Expressbox 3T or the Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID. More widespread adoption should help drive adoption by accessory makers that will benefit both Mac and PC users that use the Thunderbolt technology.
Thunderbolt is not competing against USB3 (Intel said they see both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt as complementary technologies) - furthermore there will be USB3 support for Apple devices, since there will be breakout boxes that offer USB3 connectivity.
Rumors of Apple iPad 3 to be released on February 24 2012
FocusTaiwan reports (via 9to5Mac) that Apple pushing its manufacturing partners to meet deadlines that would allow the company to launch the iPad on Steve Jobs' birthday, February 24th.
According to the report, workers at several iPad component suppliers as well as manufacturing partner Foxconn will have limited time off during the usual Lunar New Year holiday. The Lunar New Year holiday itself falls on January 23rd next year, with workers generally receiving a number of other days off from work around that date.
Sources have been reporting a variety of rumored dates for an iPad 3 introduction, with some claiming a debut in the March-April timeframe while others have pointed to a February launch being in the works.
Apple last year launched new MacBook Pro models on Jobs' birthday, although that unusual Thursday introduction was likely a convenient coincidence driven by the debut taking place during the Presidents Day holiday week.
[original via macrumors.com]
kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero – A never-ending story about Adobe failing to get their Flash Player and Adobe Air Plugin to work on Mac OSX in a “normal” way.
kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
With Mac OSX Lion 10.7.0, a message was repeatedly showing up in the Console.app, so the logfiles would grow in size - sometimes around 100 MB per minute. This is especially bad for SSD owners. While the issue was reported over 6 Months ago, and Flash Player 11 solved the amount of errors in the console, still the message appears and slows down OSX 10.7 systems.
At least the release of Adobe's Flash Player 11 solved the system freezes - but the Log message still is filling the kernel.log, so any debugging or search for errors is quite hard with that amount of data to read through.
If you are experiencing the same issues, please write your concerns to the Adobe Forums in the existing thread and alternatively also in the Apple Discussion Thread.
Nanofunk reported about this issue in july 2011, and we got over 60.000 unique visits to this post - so this is not a rare case, this is a serious bug with Adobe Flash and Adobe Air. We will post any updates to the situation to this blog, make sure to bookmark our feed.
See also:
* macrumors forum about kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
* nanofunk: Mac OSX Lion 10.7 System Freezes: kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero (console message)
[Update] I posted to the Adobe Bugbase with a bug description. Hope they will respond now.
Caution with Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID 6x3TB (18TB) or 6x4TB (24TB) modification. 6x5TB (30TB) possible as of January 2012?
Nanofunk reported on a possible modification of the Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID to host 6x3TB Hard Drives for a total of 18TB storage back in July 2011. While we did not have any issues with Hitachi Deskstar 3 0F12450 and Western Digital 3 TB SATA II Intellipower 64 MB Drives, other people repeatedly reported issues and even failures when the drives hold more than 11TB of data.
Currently, with the announcement of the Hitachi Deskstar 7K4000 4000GB, SATA 6Gb/s (0F14681) and the 4TB Deskstar 5K4000 as well as the 4TB Seagate Barracuda XT 7200RPM a total of 24TB could be reached when modding the Promise Pegasus just replacing the 2TB drives it comes with.
Tomshardware even reported on 5TB HDDs arriving in January 2012, so a modification to fit 30TB into the Promise Pegasus would be possible theoretically.
While all the drives are not available at the current time of writing of this article, please do consult the Promise Support if you are planning to do modifications or already did! Judging from the current feedback on modifications, updating the Promise Pegasus before an official answer or statement from Promise Technology is NOT RECOMMENDED!
Please send emails to Promise directly and ask them to react on the current limitations. I already did so - still waiting for response.
Mac OS X Software Application Essentials 2011/2012: recommended tools for a fresh OSX install
Since I had to reinstall my MacBook Pro after an SSD Drive fail, I stumbled upon a list I made, containing software essentials and basic application that everyone needs when reinstalling the OS. I compiled an up to date list: which applications are the essential apps in 2011/2012 when reinstalling Mac OS X.
The Uninstaller
This handy little app is a free un-packer, replacing Archive Utility that comes with Mac OSX. The Uninstaller does not only support .sit and .zip files, but also .rar, .7z and many other archive formats. This app is essential when working with archives and downloads.
mPlayerX
A replacement for Quicktime and also for VLC. It has a nicer interface than VLC and supports the same file types (codecs) that quicktime does not: .h264, DivX, XVid, MVK, etc. mPlayerX recently became my favorite Media Player.
Sparrow
An awesome Mail.app replacement with great interface and actually improving the mail reading-experience: Sparrow has many features, such as perfect GMail integration, multiple accounts, avatar syncing from facebook, and many more. Recommended!
Wunderlist
The best To-Do application out there. Best of all: Wunderlist is not only free, but it also synchronizes automatically via the web and your ToDo-Lists are available via web-interface as well as on any operating system (iOs, Android, Windows, etc.)
CleanMyMac
Best way to keep your Mac de-cluttered at all times: Clean My Mac from MacPaw deletes cache files as well as leftovers (junk from previously installed apps, etc.), Language files and so on. A perfect tool to keep the OS snappy at all times.
VoodooPad
VoodooPad (former VoodooPad Pro) is an awesome offline desktop Wiki. I am using VoodooPad to store and interlink my ideas, texts and written content. It can hold RTF data: text as well as files from your hard disk can be directly linked. Images can be embedded or referenced. Highly recommended!
XCODE
Apple Xcode is a free download via the appstore. It is not only needed for creating iOS and Mac OS Applications, but also to compile unix applications and to get other developer applications, such as Quartz Composer installed on your system.
Creating your own Mac OSX Lion 10.7 Thumb Drive in 4 easy steps (How-to)
Apple is selling Mac OSX on a Thumb Drive, but you can save some bucks and roll your own as simple as this:
1. Preparation: USB Stick
Insert an USB Stick that is big enough to fit the whole Mac OSX Lion installer. I can recommend the SanDisk Cruzer Blade 8GB, which you can get for less than $5.
2. Mac OSX Lion 10.7
get Mac OSX Lion from the App Store and download it.
3. Extracting the Install Data
Right click (option-click) on the just downloaded file and select "Show Package Contents". Get the file Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg and copy it to your Desktop.
4. Disk Utility
Open "Disk Utility" and drag InstallESD.dmg from the desktop to the left sidebar. Select the attached USB from left side and click on “Partition” tab. Select "1 Partion" and from choose “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” as partition type. Click on “Option” at the bottom, select “GUID Partition Table” and press OK -> Apply.
After formatting is done, select "Restore" and choose the USB Drive as destination and InstallESD.dmg as source. Click on "Restore" to have your Mac OSX Lion Boot drive created.
OSX Lion: “Can’t download the additional components needed to install Mac OS X” SOLUTION
Since I had this problem several times when installing Mac OSX Lion 10.7.2, here is the simple solution: remove any RAM over 4GB. Keeping only 4GB RAM in the Mac (in my case a MacBook Pro) made the installer run flawlessly. It's as simple as that.
Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro (Late 2011) is slower in every category than the early 2011 model
The early 2011 MacBook Pro is Apple's masterpiece, no doubt: besides the overheating problems that many of us reported (but which seem to be solved as of now). Core i7 MPBs are super-fast with a Geekbench score of over 10.000 points for the i7 quad-core version - this was and still is an awesome performance for a notebook.
If you are planning on buying a new MacBook Pro 15", keep in mind that newer does not necessarily mean better: the early 2011 MacBook Pro is currently the best deal you can get ($1,549.99 for a new, $1,499.99 for refurbished MC721LL/A 15.4-Inch quad Core on Amazon) especially since they fixed all the flaws people reported about. I was complaining about issues a lot, but after Apple replaced the two notebooks we had, the run smootly ever since.
So a clear winner for buying a new MacBook Pro in 2011/2012 is the Apple MacBook Pro MC721LL/A 15.4-Inch early 2011 model
iPhone 5 Prototype Hands-On: Fake or Real?
(via macrumors) Business Insider now reports that it has received word from a source who has claimed to have had access to an iPhone 5 prototype and offered some details on the device. We've been told this by an industry source who has been right about future Apple products in the past.
It has not been verified yet, but there are some leaked details, which are of course just rumors:
- 4-inch screen
- Aluminum back
- Capacitive home button
- "Flatter" form factor
- Much faster than current hardware, but poor battery life
- 10-megapixel rear camera
- Siri prototype known as "Assistant", which had been the rumored name for the feature until its introduction
There are quite some good deals on the Apple iPhone 4S on ebay, an introduction of the iPhone 5 would let the price of the "older" models drop significantly (talking about the Osborne Effect)
Apple MacBook Pro Firmware Update to Fix Unexpected Shutdown Issue
Apple has released MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.5: it fixes an issue where the machine would shut off unexpectedly under heavy processor load, even when plugged in. As I actually had some issues before, this update is very welcome.
Affected Models: Macbook Pro models 8,1, 8,2, and 8,3. These include both MacBook Pro (Early 2011) and Macbook Pro
(Late 2011).
This update resolves an issue where a MacBook Pro being used with a power adapter may unexpectedly shut down under heavy workload if the battery charge level is near empty.
Your computer's power cord must be connected and plugged into a working power source, or your battery must be at least 25% charged.
When your computer restarts a gray screen will appear with a status bar to indicate the progress of the update.
Your computer's fans will run at full speed during the update but will return to normal speed once the update completes.
Do not disturb or shut off the power on your computer during this update.
The MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.5 can be downloaded from Apple's support website.
Installing Mac OSX Lion 10.7 on any Core 2 or Core i based PC (Hackintosh) with xMove or HOTiSO
Tonymacx86 showed how to Install OS X 10.7 Lion on any Supported Intel Core 2 or Core i based PC with xMove + MultiBeast. Furthermore, there is a Mac OSX Lion v10.7.2-HOTiSO that should also boot from any PC. Don't forget that you need to buy Apple Mac OS X Lion from the App Store to legally use it.
OS X Lion is the next major release of OS X, the world’s most advanced desktop operating system. It includes over 250 new features that will transform how you interact with your Mac. Built on a rock-solid UNIX foundation, OS X is engineered to take full advantage of the technologies in every new Mac. And to deliver the most intuitive and integrated computer experience. Brought to us by HOTiSO group. Mac OS X 10.7 was first shown to the public in October 2010. The presentation was understated, especially compared to the bold rhetoric that accompanied the launches of the iPhone (”Apple reinvents the phone”) and the iPad (”a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price”). Instead, Steve Jobs simply called the new operating system “a sneak peek at where we’re going with Mac OS X.”
New Apple Macintosh Trojan Disables Your Mac’s Auto-Updates
via gizmodo: a new trojan that addresses Apple's OSX operating system disables your auto-update. Is there a new generation of Apple malware coming?
F-Secure offers removal instructions
"The original iteration of the Flashback Trojan was a nasty little bugger, quietly shipping your Mac's details off to a remote server. This newly discovered variant is even worse.
The new version, dubbed Flashback.C, also disables the your Apple's security definition update service by wiping files necessary to run future updates. Both Snow Leopard and Lion are vulnerable, though the Trojan seems to delete itself on any system running Little Snitch. The Trojan itself comes disguised as a Flash package installer."
iPhone 4S / Canon 5d MKII Side by Side Comparison
***You can download the full 1080p version of this video for a more accurate presentation.
Here's a "fair" test between the iPhone 4S and the Canon 5D MK II. I made a little rig that allowed me to shoot both cameras at the same time side by side. All scenes are perfectly synced together so you can pause and scrutinize the frames! See photo of the makeshift rig in the photo area.
Exposure, shutter speed, frame rate and picture style were matched as close as possible between the two cameras. (I used the Zacuto Z-finder to help me adjust exposure for both iPhone and 5D)
This test shows that the tiny F2.4 lens and sensor on the iPhone are pretty nice. It even got a little depth of field!
I did not overlay the exact ISO and Stops 5D settings per shot. It was too much to keep track for this simple test. To be fair I matched 5D exposure to the iPhone so no "Cinestyle" / 24p here.
Here are the settings:
iPhone 4S
- AE.AF locked. That's all you have!
Canon 5D MKII
- Canon 50mm 1.4
- ISO 160 ~ 640 (varied per shot to match the iPhone)
- F 7~22 (varied per shot to match the iPhone)
- Shutter 1/60th
- Auto WB
- Standard Picture Style
- 1080p 30
(Source: vimeo.com)
Are you still there? Apple GLaDOSiri on iPhone 4S
This comes out if you mix the two most popular conteporary AIs: GlaDOS and Siri.
Apple iCloud is for iOS devices only, sorry OSX Lion users, you need Dropbox still.
Apple's latest hot shit, iCloud is in everyone's mouth, since it comes right with the 10.7.2 OSX Lion Update. But what does it actually bring for OSX-only users? Nada.
First of all the bad news: currently there is no way to store any files directly in iCloud. That makes Apple iCloud not a competitor for Dropbox at all. But why do they state "you can access your content on all your devices" when they actually don't mean your MacBook or Macbook Pro? Well, they currently mean "all your iOS devices". While Apple could offer such a service (Backups from your Computer to iCloud) in the near future, currently it really doesn't make any sense to use iCloud if you are not using any iOS 5 Device - and if you also care about backing up other things besides your address book and photographs, let's say your 3D-models or local databases. In this context I can totally recommend iBackup, a free tool for OSX users that need point-and-click backups. In this case, you can backup right to FTP or your Dropbox, which gives you cloud-power as well.
Apple Wild West UI Design (HaHa)
hahaha: gizmodo is totally right when stating "Yeee-haw, Apple buckaroos! Whooz ready for some good timin', multitaskin'? Who wants their iPhone served up with a hot bucket'a grits? HOOOOOOOOOOO BOY. Jonny Ive's deep in the hooch pan again? Saddle up, grab yer partner, and let's make some truck-ugly apps!"
What happened to the GUI design guidelines of Apple? Why do we have to use western-style user interfaces - and why can't we change the looks to something uhm less contemporary?
Intel teases Thunderbolt I/O port for Windows PCs … and for Hackintosh
Intel will bring Thunderbolt to the PC, which means you can use your devices such as the Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID or the Lacie Little Big Disk
, but also products such as the black magic intensity extreme Thunderbolt video capture cards on your Windows PCs - and on your hackintosh machines as well.
During Intel’s Developer Forum, the chip maker showed off some Ultrabook prototypes running on its Haswell-based processor and sporting the high-speed Thunderbolt port. The technology was developed in collaboration with Apple and has so far remained exclusive to Macs. That may change soon as Intel teases that Thunderbolt will be heading to Windows PCs as well.
(via slashgear)
hunderbolt was originally code-named Light Peak and was installed on the update to the Mac Book Pro earlier this year. Rights to the Thunderbolt technology were originally registered under Apple, but were transferred over to Intel which is why you'll see it's name popping up a bit more. We already know Acer and Asus are planning Thunderbolt integration, but we're unsure how the port will look. Currently, the Thunderbolt port on Apple products is identical to the mini-display port, but PC users would rather it be more like USB for increased compatibility. Not to many people are aware of this, but Sony released their VAIO Z with a hybrid USB 3.0/Light Peak port, so it's kind of up in the air as to how things will shape-up.
Expected timeframe: anywhere in 2012.
RIP Steve Jobs, ex-CEO of Apple. I heard it via the Google Search front page
Steve Jobs died and I heard it via the Google Front page. To my mind, this is the first time somebody made it to the google search page (alexa rank #1), post-mortem. I am wondering how long the message will stay there - I am assuming until the end of the week at a maximum. Interestingly, the tribute page on the Apple website is showing the same picture of Steve Jobs as the cover of the the soon to be released Steve Jobs Biography by Walter Isaacson
"Steve Jobs, 1955-2011" read the simple button which appeared within minutes on Google, linking to the front page of Apple's website which itself had a picture of Jobs anouncing his death at the age of 56.
New Apple iPhone 4S – mainly lens improvements, but: great optics indeed! (plus: Siri A.I.)
Everyone's talking about the new iPhone 4S that was announced by Apple recently. But is there more to it than improved optics? Even if not, the camera is a huge improvement over the previous model: 1080p video recording, 8 Megapixel photo sensor, f/2.4 aperture.
Behind all the updates, the most interesting is HSDPA support. In countries such as Austria or Japan, where HSDPA is widespread, this is a very welcome hardware upgrade. Still, why is there no HSPA+ support? In cities with a weak broadband coverage (everything above a few MB upstream) - such as Vienna, this is really akward. We still have to fall back to the Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100, which offers HSPA+ among other great features. So the "only" killer feature of the Apple iPhone 4S remains the greatly improved Camera - which is to question, concerning the price of such a gadget. An Amazon Search for the iPhone 4S
Our recommendations: wait for the iPhone 5 and get some real gear instead.
1) Get a Canon PowerShot S100
2) Get a SONIM XP5300 3G FORCE
Ableton Live 8.2.5 fixes Apple Mac OSX 10.7 Lion compatibility
Live 8.2.5, the latest version of Live 8, is currently available. This update includes full compatibility with Max OS X 10.7 Lion, improved synchronization with external MIDI devices, and other improvements and fixes. The update is free to all users of Ableton Live Lite 8, Live Intro, Live 8, and Suite 8.
Currently, Ableton Live 8 is $499.00 (new) and $425.00 (used).
Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple
Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of the company effective immediately. Tim Cook will be the new CEO - but the question remains if Apple stocks as well as the general direction of the company will stay the same. To be honest: Apple's policy of moving towards the consumer market and leaving the pro sector, was criticized by lots of producers around the world - on the example of recent Final Cut Pro X debacle (many professional editors see Final Cut Pro X as an improved version of iMovie, not an improved version of Final Cut Pro) or the discontinuing of professional server products such as XSAN. I hope that Apple will not continue provoking the pro audience - but speaking from a pessimistic perspective, Logic Audio X could be the next Garage Band Pro.
Earlier this month, Apple became the largest publicly-traded company in the world, surpassing Exxon-Mobil for the position.
RAW Video for DSLR with Magic Lantern and Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle (vs. Atomos Ninja): 5D MKII, 550D, Rebels
[Update] Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle 2 as well as the Atomos Ninja 2 Recorder are already out. We are reviewing them shortly, as we have used both already in production. Both are capable of DNxHD as well as Apple ProRes.
SLR Film making got even more exciting: with the availability of HDMI recorders, RAW Video footage can be recorded to get the maximum out of your Canon 5D MKII or other camera compatible with Magic Lantern. Standard Firmware does not output a "clean" HDMI signal, at least not for Canon cameras; the Panasonic GH2 produces a clean HDMI output, as noted by Philip Bloom (!).
What are currently recommended HDMI field recorders?
1. Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle (RAW Video)
* Product information page/ manufacturer: Black Magic Design
* Discussion on the Magic Lantern User Group: hyperdeck shuttle
Pro:
Cons:
)2. Atomos Ninja - Portable HDMI Recorder
(ProRes)
Pro:
Cons:
Conclusion:
Unless you are super-rich and have tons of money to spend for Solid State Drives and a RAID Array, you should get the Atomos Ninja. Besides the actual device, you also get a monitoring solution and have a true portable device, that creates files usable with normal hard drives. Overall cost is much lower and there should not be a really visible difference from ProRes to RAW footage. If you are into Bokeh Porn, you might want to spend your money in the Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle.
Keep in mind, there are currently some issues with HDMI out an Magic Lantern: there is a video on the 5D MKII's 1080i out and also some discussions going on in the Magic Lantern Forums, because some processing needs to be done to get actual usable files. Actual resolutionis 12-19% less (depending how you do it) but still the results are awesome - especially in low light situations. Maybe we will get real clean HDMI out with the Canon EOS 5D MKIII.
Apple Releases OS X 10.7.1 with Fixes for Video in Safari, Audio Out, Wi-Fi and More
Apple released Mac OSX Lion 10.7.1 updates today, with the following release notes:
The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:
- Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
- Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
- Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
- Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion
For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4764.
There is not much fixed, at least not for the reported issues such as SSD TRIM support for non-apple SSDs and the well known flash issues.
Still, Seems more stable. There is a seperate update for 10.7.1 Server and another update specific to the latest MacBook Air and Mac mini models, adding a few additional fixes. (via macrumors)
Should I use Trim Enabler on Lion for the OCZ Vertex (3)? No! (Benchmarks inside)
We recently blogged, after purchasing two OCZ Vertex SATA3 Drives
We also blogged that enabling TRIM is a good thing, although it seems that it seems to be not necessary on Sandforce based chipsets.
Since we still were experiencing freezes and Sandballs on our Mac OSX Lion 10.7 SSD Setup that were actually not related to TRIM, also the system did not feel as snappy anymore.
Conclusion: don't use TRIM on OSX Lion 10.7, if you are using a Sandforce based SSD. Revert to the original driver and not only the Beachballs will go away, but also the system feels snappy again. See the below Benchmarks for real-life results (since AJA System Test does not work on internal drives, we can recommend using XBENCH to verify the figures for you).
XBENCH Screenshot with TRIM Enabled (using TRIM Enabler for OSX 10.7 Lion)
Screenshot of XBENCH without TRIM Enabler (Restored to original setting)
UPDATE: Grant Pannell (digitaldj.net) reports on how to restore to the original settings.
Excessive Logging on Mac OSX 10.7 Lion: Repair the Keychain to solve the issues. ( deny file-read-data )
Lots of people complain about slow Mac OSX Lion performance, mostly caused by thousands of Log-Messages being written to the system log files. As Chief Tarun points out at the Apple Support Forums
I opened up the console app, and there were hundreds, if not thousands of logs just in the past 2 hours. And when I say 'get info' on Macintosh HD the used disk space is increasing every 5 to 10 seconds. This is the only concerning bug/glitch of noticed in Lion since upgrading.
I had exactly the same issue, checking my Console.app messages that told
"WebProcess(225) deny file-read-data /Users/foobert/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/com.adobe.amp.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8CE.1/ PrivateEncryptedDatak"
While one would think that uninstalling Adobe AIR would fix the issue, the problem resides at another point.
Solution:
1) Open "Keychain.app"
2) Go To "Keychain Access -> Keychain First Aid" to repair your Keychain.
Now the console messages disappeared and the system runs in "silent mode" again.
[Update] you console Messages might also be due to a bug in Adobe Flash and AiR, causing the messages "kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero" to appear in Console.app. You can read all about it in the nanofunk archives.
Mac OSX Lion 10.7 System Freezes: kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero (console message)
Some people experience system freezes on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, but also on Snow Leopard: kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero.
The Error is visible with Console.app ("All Messages" respectively "kernel.log")
To reproduce the issue:
1) click on "Clear Display" in Console.app
2) go to http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ and the error will show up in the console.
The error must be Flash related. Sometimes, the whole System is unresponsive, freezing everything but the mouse. There is no official response from Adobe or from Apple, so we can only hope and wait. Please check your Console.app for this error and respond to any of the existing discussions.
[Update] the error message also seems to have surfaced in 10.6.4 already, as visible in the Apple Discussion Forums
[Update] installing the Adobe Flash Player 11.0 from Adobe Labs seems to at least minimize the freezes, but still the console messages appear.
[Update] i posted a poll on insanelymac to see which browsers and systems are affected. please also post your results there!
[Update] the new Beta 2 11.0.d1.98 of the flash player is out (thanks JP Hansen)
[Update] The Flash Player 11 is officially released. It seems though, that not all issues are resolved with Mac OSX Lion compatibility.
[Update 23.12.2011] more than 6 months after the issue was reported, (and we have Apple Mac OS X 10.7.2 and 10.7.3 in beta) there is still no update on this issue from Adobe. Please write your concerns to the Adobe Forums in the existing thread to have them fix the issues! Especially for SSD owners this is unacceptable!
Existing Discussions:
* Nanofunk.net discussion thread in the Adobe Flash Player Forums
* Thread in the Apple Support Communities Forum
* Thread on MacRumors Forums regarding Lion Freezes with kernel: IOSurface
[Update] I posted to the Adobe Bugbase with a bug description. Hope they will respond now. Please, support our effort by filing another report at the Adobe Bugbase!
[Update 2012-2-22] still, the ticket in Adobe Bugbase is open, although there were several patches and bugfixes to Adobe Flash Player 11.1 (11.1.102.62 as of today).
[Update] Adobe recently closed the bug report. This is very bad news, since lots of people are experiencing this issue. I cannot believe how bad the Adobe support and bugfixing guidlines are.
Install OS X 10.7 Lion on any Supported Intel Core 2 or Core i based PC & Make an OSX Lion Boot Disc
TonyMac recently described how to install Apple OS X 10.7 Lion on any Supported Intel Core 2 or Core i based PC. Here is the short version:
1. Get Mac OSX 10.7 Lion
A Retail Version has already been spotted in the german amazon store
* MacRumors Forums: Make an OS X Lion Boot Disc
* Download the Lion Boot Disc via Torrent (of course, only if you already legally own Mac OSX 10.7 Lion)
2. Get a Cheap USB Stick that works with OSX
3. Boot the Chimera Installer
4. Install Multibeast
Of course, you can also try the method outlined by tonymac: Installation of 10.7 Lion with Snow Leopard and Boot Partition. Please post any success or fail information in the comments section.
Mac OSX 10.7 Lion updating annoyances: Scolling, Versioning and no TRIM!
While Apple's 10.7 Lion OS looks much more like GNOME like any other previous version of OSX, is comes with lots of annoyances. People using an SSD drive might have to update, since it finally supports the TRIM command, there are also lots of annoying features you might want to get rid of:
1) No TRIM support out of the box if you are using your own SSD (not Apple's)
This is ridicolous: TRIM only seems to work for Apple buit-in SSDs. There is a tool by groths.org that will do the trick: TRIM Enabler, which works for Lion and for Snow Leopard as well. You might want to consider enabling this feature, since TRIM will make your Solid State Drive last longer, due to less writes to the cells.
2) Mouse scrolling direction got reversed: how to revert
Apple decided to reverse the mouse scolling on 10.7 Lion, meaning you have to scroll your mousewheel up to actually move the on-screen content down. Here is a screenshot from System Preferences, where you can change that "feature" to the way it was before: simply uncheck the box left to "Move content in the direction of finger movement when scrolling or navigating".
3) Disabling the "Resume" feature
The "Resume" Feature in Mac OS X Lion restores the state of the application windows, when re-opening an application. Since I definitely do not need this feature, here is a way to turn it off: just uncheck the left box next to "Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps" in System Preferences -> General
4) Disabling "Versions" feature in Mac OSX 10.7 Lion
Versions should't be a problem unless you are using Time Machine. MacRumors has a forum post on disabling that features.
5) Other (small) annoyances
Google Chrome does not get moved with an update ( Chrome vanishes with Lion 10.7 Update)
This is also very strange: the Google Chrome Browser did not get moved on my Lion update. I had to re-download Google Chrome.app. At least the Application Support files got moved, so I did not lose any browsing history or bookmarks.
Dropbox needs to be reinstalled: special Lion build
The dropbox right-click features dissappear when updating to Lion. Download the Latest Forum Build of Dropbox that is Lion compatible (1.2.16 at the time of writing this entry)
Other interesting reviews about Mac OSX 10.7 Lion can be found here:
* Time Magazine on OSX Lion: "With OS X Lion, Apple's Macs Enter the iPad Era"
* Engadget: "Apple OS X Lion (10.7) review"
Apple to Release Updated MacBook Air and Mac Pro & Mac OSX Lion 10.7 on July, 14th
According to 9 to 5 Mac and Macrumors, the "reliable tipster 'Mr. X'" has revealed that Apple will be releasing new MacBook Air and Mac Pro models this week alongside OS X Lion. While Mr. X has not offered a specific release date, it appears that Apple may be targeting this Thursday, July 14th for the hardware launch alongside OS X Lion.
New hardware also means new kexts for the hackintosh community and possibly also price drops on refurbished Mac Pro systems
Install Mac OS X Lion 10.7 on PC Hackintosh
Its now possible to Install Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on your PC with the standard Hackintosh techniques. That means, everything stays the same to get your hackintosh up and running, no worries. More information on the geeknizer blog entry or alternatively, watch the video below:
Steps to install OSX Lion:
1. Get the "GM" (Golden Master) of Lion via torrent
2. Get an EFI Boot Loader
3. Get a decent 8GB USB thumb drive
4. Install using iBoot.
You can get detailed information on installing Mac OSX Lion 10.7 by reading the geeknizer blog howto.
[UPDATE] tonymacx86 showed how to Install OS X 10.7 Lion on any Supported Intel Core 2 or Core i based PC with xMove + MultiBeast. Furthermore, there is a Mac OSX Lion v10.7.2-HOTiSO that should also boot from any PC. Don't forget that you need to buy Apple Mac OS X Lion from the App Store to legally use it.
Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID system for high-speed data demands: 6x3TB for a total of 18TB (mod)
[Edit 23.12.2011] CAUTION! People trying the below mentioned modification of the Promise Thunderbolt reported issues and data loss. Please consult the Promise Support if you are planning to do modifications or already did!
[UPDATE] with the announced Hitachi Deskstar 7K4000 4000GB(4TB), 5K4000 as well as the 4TB Seagate Barracuda XT a total of 24TB could be reached when modding the Promise Pegasus just replacing the 2TB drives it comes with. 5TB HDDs are reported arriving in January 2012. Read our updated Article: Caution with Promise Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID 6x3TB (18TB) or 6x4TB (24TB) modification. 6x5TB (30TB) possible as of January 2012?
The Promise Pegasus is the most "promising" hardware for enthusiasts and pro users, since it offers really fast transfer speeds, even topping the OCZ Vertex 3 SATA 6Gbps internal SSD on Macbook Pro computers.
Delivering over 800MB/s of disk performance, Pegasus is compatible with Mac systems with Thunderbolt
Compare the Promise Pegasus R4 (4x 2TB) and the Promise Pegasus R6 (8x 2TB). Of course, if you want to pimp your pegasus, you can replace the internal drives with different ones.
Internally Promise uses a PMC Sierra PM8011 8-port SAS-2 RAID controller. This is an 8-lane PCIe Gen 2 controller with eight SAS/SATA 6Gbps ports. On the R6 obviously only six of those ports are functional. The PM8011 has an embedded 600MHz MIPS processor and is paired with 512MB of DDR2-533. (via Anandtech)
Possible replacements and hacks for the Promise Pegasus:
* replace the internal hard drives with SSD drives: at the current date this still has stability issues. We are waiting for updated drivers or a response from Pegasus about the current freezes and issues with SSD drives. If you really have to test it out, make sure you get 6Gbps SSD drives. 2.5inch drives will also fit in the caddy.
* replacing the internal drives with 3TB drives: this is a confirmed and stable way of pimping your pegasus drives. Pegasus comes with 2TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 drives, so make sure you are getting 3TB drives from the same brand. We can recommend the Hitachi 3TB 7200RPM drive, but also we can confirm the Pegasus runs with the Western Digital 3 TB SATA II Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive and the SEAGATE Barracuda XT 3 TB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 64 MB Cache. Just keep in mind, not to mix up brands: you should get 6 times the same hard disk for the most stable system.
* replacing the internal drives with SAS 6Gbps Hard Disks: while this would render the promise pegasus a real pro system that is rock stable, drives should be used, that offer a compatible SAS-connector. Since SAS-drives are generally compatible to SATA-connectors, we can generally recommend the Seagate Constellation ES.2 3 TB Internal Hard Drive SAS 600 7200rpm 64MB
Conclusio: The Promise Pegasus is a fast solution for great read/write speed plus the extra feature of having the possibility to daisy-chain more Pegasus devices together, to increase the space when needed. Compared to the Data Robotics DROBO PRO System, it only offers 1-drive fail (1 drive can get corrupted, if 2 fail your data is lost) while the DROBO offers dual drive redundancy. Also, the DROBO PRO supports different sized drives, while you can only put drives of the same size (and it is recommended to also only use the exact same drive models) in the Promise Pegasus.
Overall, nanofunk is recommending the Pegasus R4 and R6, because of its faster speed and possibilty to enhance the system. Since we had our DROBO PRO replaced twice (the unit itself was faulty) we are currently fully in favor of the Promise Pegasus.
Free To Play: Apple Mac Games that are free in Steam
The Apple Macintosh (MAC OSX) Platform is catching up with Windows regarding gaming - while this for sure is attributable to the Steam platform by Valve (which are responsible for great Games such as Portal 2), the latest (and cheapest) way to play quality games on Macintosh are to make use of the "free to play" feature of Steam:
Those games are free to download and free to play. Valve makes money if you are ordering additional items such as weapons, mods and so on. On the example of Team Fortress 2: if you ever spent a dime on the game (or would buy it now) you would get premium features: more Items, full "trading" (sell and exchange virtual goods), gifting, etc.
While this is a new approach to capitalizing games, this can be seen as a positive path, the gaming industry is taking. Why? Because the games have to be maintained longer and the communities around the games can emerge. This means: addons, mods, hacks and whatnot, resulting in "ludic artefacts" (as outlined in the german book "Gaming 2.0"). Also, the ludic artefacts of Team Fortress 2 on eBay are increasing daily.
Currently, the only two Mac compatible games are Team Fortress 2 and Spiral Knights. On Windows, there are much more titles available: Global Agenda, Spiral Knights, Alliance of Valiant Arms, Champions Online, Forsaken World, Team Fortress 2.
To play those Windows-only games on your Macintosh, you currently have two choices: either use Apple Bootcamp or use Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac. I can totally recomment Parallels Desktop, since the Version 6 has a very fast GPU and game performace (cf. Arstechnica about Parallels Desktop 6 Gaming Performance).
Happy gaming!
MacBook Pro Early 2011 freezes and kernel panics: revert to 32bit to have a stable system
As we already blogged some time ago, we had severe overheating issues and frequent kernel panics with our early 2011 models of the MacBook Pro Core-i7 quad. Still, after the updates there are crashes from time to time - the early 2011 models are far away from being stable machines to use for serious work.
After days of trying to figure out what is really the issue, we found that most of the times device drivers or other third party apps are mostly causing the crashes - but also CPU-intensive apps such as games sometimes bring the system down. Solution? Yes, there is one: change your system to a 32bit Kernel.
1) The bootup way (temporary solution, great for testing)
If you just want to test if changing to 32bit changes anything, you can reboot your mac and hold down the "3" and "2" keys as soon as you hit the power button. This boots up your Apple in 32bit mode temporarily. If the system
2) The Terminal Way (see the Apple Support Document for more information)
sudo systemsetup -setkernelbootarchitecture i386
if you need to change your system back to normal for any case, you can enter the following command into Terminal.app:
sudo systemsetup -setkernelbootarchitecture x86_64
Just to make it clear: your applications will still run in 64bit mode, you can make sure this is the case by hitting cmd+i on the application icon and see if "Open in 32-bit mode" is checked. See this article from simplehelp with details and images on 32-bit mode. So why should I care then, you might ask: since drivers and 3rd party apps and extensions that are loaded on startup are most of the time the issue with system freezes and hangs, changing to a 32bit kernel did the trick for us and now we have a stable 2011 MBP quad-core system.
[UPDATE] 10.6.8 seems to work with 64bit kernel much more stable than 10.6.7. Still, to be on the safe side we are using the 32bit kernel and had no freezes yet.
2011 Macbook Pro and SATA III 6Gbps, Optibay: two HD drives – setup explained
Since we recently purchased two 2011 MacBook Pros (with lots of issues, as previously reported) we were wondering if SATA III 6Gbps drives would be supported. The short answer is YES, the longer answer is: only on the original Hard Drive port. Here are recommendations on which drive setup is best suited for getting the maximum out of the 2011 Apple machines.
Which type are you?
- the collector: two 750GB SATAII Drives
- fast, but not furious: 256GB SSD SATAIII drive + 750GB HDD in the optical drive slot
- the caretaker: 256GB SSD SATAIII drive + 500GB SATAII hybrid drive in the optical drive slot
- speed enthusiast: 256GB SSD SATAIII drive + 256GB SSD SATAII drive in the optical drive slot
- humongous and rich: 512GB SSD SATAIII drive + 512GB SSD SATAII drive in the optical drive slot
The recommended steps are to select your setup, get an OptiBay, choose an external casing for your optical drive and get your hands dirty. Read our recommendations and tell us which type you are!
The new MCE OptiBay was created for users who want as much hard drive capacity as possible inside their MacBook Pro, MacBook, PowerBook G4, iMac, or Mac mini. Period
Save Money with replica Apple Hardware: the good and the bad.
Apple original Hardware is very pricy. There are some items which can be bought as replica and are (almost) the same as their original counterparts. But which items should be bought as rebuilt?Good idea: Replica Apple Power Adapters (for MacBook, MacBook Pro, iPhone, iPad). Bad idea: Lithium-ion polymer battery packs.
We recently had bad experiences with non-Apple battery packs, so we can definitely not recommend getting them from another vendor. Good news: if your Battery is less than 300 cycles and lower than 80% of the battery health, they will replace it for you (if you have Apple Care or are within your 1 Year warranty). If not, stay tuned, we will post a guide on this very soon.
Apple replica/ rebuilt Hardware that actually makes sense to buy
1. Apple Magsafe Power Adapters (and G4/G3 Adapters as well)
The cheapest versions are EUR 27,98 for a AC Power Adapter für Apple MacBook Pro MagSafe 85W( even cheaper in the USA: $25.56!) and EUR 21,99 for a 60W Power adapter for Apple MacBook ( only $19.27 in the US!)
2. Apple USB Power Adapters for iPhone and iPod
The Apple original USB Adapter sells for $29 on the Apple Store, while a Multicharger Set (Car, Wall and USB) sells for €4.50 in Europe and $5.47 in the USA. Be careful! I selected items that we already ordered and tested before, there are "bad" replicas as well out there (see this example and read the comments on Amazon
Apple Replica Keyboard. WTF is that a windows key?
I will post my experiences with Apple replicas here if I have any news. Currenty, we can NOT recommend the following list of items as replicas:
- Apple Replica Batteries. They mostly died on us too fast. (we will post a specific Apple Batteries Guide in some days)
- Apple Replica Keyboard (not tested) - is this really available somewhere? WTF is this windows key? Although the Macally USB Slim Keyboard - ICEKEY
has some good reviews, i like my keyboard to be an original. [UPDATE] the Macally Keyboard has severe driver issues. Not Recommended!
- Apple Mouse Replicas: we ended up going hi-tech with the Apple Magic Mouse
which is $67.99 - or just using the Logitech Value Optical Mouse
which is $4.99, but can not be really considered a "replica", since the Apple Magic Mouse has soo much more features (wireless, swipe, better optical resolution).
Best Cases and Casemods for your Hackintosh
Having a hackintosh can be a good experience, once you get it up and running. According to the geekbench result browser, there are some fast ass-kicking machines out there. Unfortunately, one thing not benchmarked by geekbench still sucks big time: the case. How to find the perfect case for hackintosh computers?
1. Get an original Apple Mac Pro Case (Enclosure/ Chassis) or alternatively: an Apple Power Mac G5 Case to tinker with
You can find Apple Mac Pro Cases (case only) via ebay, although they might be quite pricy. Another option is to search for Apple Power Mac G5 Cases
instead, which are sometimes selling for a few bucks (most of the people interested are searching for "Mac Pro" and not for "Power Macintosh"). So while there might be some tinkering required, still the Apple Power Macintosh G5 Case is a very fine piece of casing. (see a howto for G5 Casemodding on Youtube)
2. Almost as good as the "original": Lian Li PC-V1000 computer case
You might get lucky and find the Lian Li PC-V1000 computer case on ebay - unfortunately I did not find any other ways of ordering this awesome case somewhere else.
3. DIY your own.
There are some impressive CaseMods out in the wild (e.g. the Hackintosh Jr. Case Mod). While this might be a lot of work, you will earn lots of (digital) street creds for your "almost impossible mod". Enter hardforum.com if you are brave.
Apple MacBook Pro Quad Core (early 2011) i7: fast powerhorse with design flaws and hardware issues
While the new Apple MacBook Pro Machines are really fast desktop-like speed packed monsters, it seems like they also have severe hardware design faults as outlined by zdnet and ifixit. With a geekbench score over 10.000 the new MacBook Pro (early 2011)
- too much thermal paste seems to raise the CPU temperature
- fans running at 6000rpm+ constantly
- frequent kernel panics or freezes that are maybe related to the new GPU
- heating issues with the whole MBP early 2011 series
Come on Apple, wake up and fix those machine fast, as lots of us could benefit from a stable quad-core laptop solution (talking audio plugs and realtime audio performance).
We can recommend to tell apple to send the replacements before they pick up the faulty machines, so it is easier to transfer the data already on it. (apple care even suggested it this way)
[UPDATE] Gregg Keizer from Computerworld also writes about quality concerns regarding the new Apple Notebooks and there is also a discussion about actual "Overheating" going on in the Apple Forums. Well, I can confirm the issue exists and the current MacBook Pro Models freeze a lot. If it is a hardware, software or firmware issue remains unclear.
[UPDATE] There is a macrumors forum thread discussing that there were issues with the 2010 MBPs as well when they came out. Another thread at macrumors forum tries to sort out if it is a hardware or software issue.
Some people suspect it is related to internal graphics switching, but there really seems to be something going on since also reports on the apple discussion forums are increasing.
[UPDATE] as of 2011/03/14 macrumors suggest in their forum to "go 2010 or wait for ivy bridge". The early 2011 version of the MacBook Pro das 45W TDP vs. last generation's 35w. That's a big increase which automatically makes the whole series go louder and more hot than the 2010 model.
[UPDATE] 2011/03/21: Macrumors posted a story: "2011 MacBook Pros Crashing Under Load?"
[UPDATE] 2011/03/21: Mac OSX 10.6.7 Update was just announced by Apple. Unfortunately, on the two machines we have here, the update does not fix anything related to CPU temperature. Still there are frequent freezes as well.
[UPDATE] 2011/03/22: dailytech confirms that New MacBook Pros Freezing When Stressed, Update Adds More Problems
[UPDATE] 2011/03/28: we received our two replacement MacBook Pros. They don't seem to have any issues and also still did not freeze on us! Also the fans are not spinning like crazy anymore! For all people affected by any of the issues reported above: get your Notebooks replaced! Apple is aware of the issues and replaces faulty hardware (we had to wait for two weeks though).
[UPDATE] 2011/04/23: the current Systems freeze 2-3 times a day. Not all the issues seem to be solved! You should definitely get a late 2010 model, if you need a highly stable system!
[UPDATE] 2011/11/01: Apple replaced one of our 15-inch MBP MC721LL/A machine and the freezes are not appearing anymore. Reports from other users that bought an early 2011 model are positive, so currently the advice would be to get a refurbished Apple MacBook Pro MC721LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop even before getting a MD318LL/A 15.4-Inch (late 2011) version, not only because of saving some bucks, but also since the Apple MacBook Pro early 2011 performs better in most of the situations compared to the late 2011 version.
Besides the heating issues, there are also reported "intermittent flickering, brief blackouts and other periodic but noticeable flaws" reported in the Apple Discussion Forums. We are getting replacement Machines - let's see if there is any improvement after the first round of shipping!
hackintosh: XPC Bootloader Can Boot Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
[Update 2012]: using Multibeast is the preferred way to install 10.7 Lion or 10.8 Mountain Lion
see the Nanofunk Post: Booting and Installing Mac OSX 10.7 and 10.8 Mountain Lion on Hackintosh
"lion is booting with some old xpc version" ~ Netkas
Some people are claiming to boot the recent Mac OSX 10.7 Lion with the XPC Bootloader project. More and more voices are popping up, so I am just pointing in the right direction, since "Any and all information about downloading and installing Lion, as well as any details are under Non-Disclosure Agreement from Apple.". You probably find updates on Netkas' Blog as well.
UPDATE: see a posting/ short guide on a popular board as well: Mac OS X 10.7 Lion [Beta/HowTo]
8Bitone and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 for iPhone
via wiretotheear: going 8bit with yudo iphone apps
8Bitone is a combination of a nonlinear audio editor and a chiptunes synthesizer. Vocoder SV-5
8Bitone (iTunes link) and Vocoder Synthesizer SV-5 (iTunes link) look like very nice and compact audio tools for the go. There so many other junk iPhone apps out there that actually something retro-fresh like those two apps really make my day. Together with the Nintendo DS I can build a minimal space sound studio soon ;)
see also:
* 8bitone on myspace
* creativeapplications.net - a closer look
* matrixsynth: behind the mask
* 8bitone review on macworld.co.uk
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