How-To - page 109

After all the eggnog is consumed and the gifts unwrapped, your new and old Macs may need a bit of holiday cheer themselves. Whether you’re trying to setup a new system or infuse energy into an old favorite, a few MacRx columns on such matters resonated with our readers this year.

Read on for refreshers about Fixing Startup Problems, Speeding up Slow Macs, Troubleshooting WiFi Issues, Making Hard Drive Clones, and Managing Your Safari Bookmarks. Some things to do over the holiday break!

Something new and unexpected happened to me today. I, like many others including other staffers at Cult of Mac, found ourselves unable to log into mobileme.com. If you attempt to log in the MobileMe log in screen is absolutely no help whatsoever. There is no error message. No warnings — you just cannot log in.

I found out why this was happening by accident. I was attempting to arrange for a tech support call with AppleCare using the Express Lane service that you can access at support.apple.com this morning.

I attempted to log in with my Apple ID only to discover that Apple had expired the password and that I needed to reset it. Surprise! I’m okay with that, but the fact that MobileMe didn’t tell me why I could not log on is typical of that service.  After all isn’t MobileMe generally rife with quality issues and just another hobby at Apple, Inc?

If you are in the same boat as the rest of us visit My Apple ID to reset your Apple ID password. I was able to log into mobileme.com after changing my password.

Update 12/10/2010 at 12:33 PM PST: According to some users via e-mail and other sources on the internet Apple has apparently rolled out new password rules starting with the fact that passwords for Apple IDs must be eight or more characters. Apple is also pushing users to use strong passwords that include a number and/or symbol. I don’t know about you folks, but all this is news to me and I’m a paying MobileMe member. I don’t recall receiving any notification from Apple about this. How completely lame is that? A simple warning or pop-up window on MobileMe’s website would have been enough to give me a heads up, but I got nothing. Just a mystery.

iPhoto is one of Apple’s most popular applications. Bundled with every new Mac since 2002, millions of people have imported and manipulated billions of photos with this useful software. Every time you plug your iPhone or another camera into your Mac, iPhoto leaps to the assistance (whether you want it to or not).

With success come challenges. One common thing I’m asked about as an Mac consultant is how to manage iPhoto libraries that have gotten out of hand – thousands of photos, lots of duplicate items, and sometimes multiple copies of libraries. How do you get all this under control?

Redsn0w by DevTeam allows you to jailbreak your iPhone 3G/3GS device, to get complete control over it (see why you should jailbreak here). Currently, redsn0w version 0.9.6b5 allows you to perform a tethered jailbreak to your device that has already been upgraded to firmware 4.2.1, which means you need to use redsn0w every time you boot the device, otherwise all your jailbreak data gets wiped.

In order to unlock, you must upgrade to an earlier iPad baseband, which would mean that you can update/restore using a custom firmware file only and not a stock firmware file, otherwise, the restore will simply fail. Also, it’s not reversible and by doing this, you will be voiding the device’ warranty.

Please note that this tool will NOT work if you older iPhone 3GS, unless you use the unofficial Pwnage bundle first. (On the older iPhone 3GS, serial number, fourth and fifth digit should be either 40 or less.)

Ultrasn0w is a full fledged software unlock solution for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS having baseband version 04.26.08, 05.11.07, 05.12.01, 05.13.04 or 06.15.00 and iPhone 4 having baseband version 01.59.00 (check Modem Firmware version under Settings –> General –> About). Unlocking the phone enables you to use it with any carrier in the world.

This means if you have older firmware, you can now upgrade to a stock 4.2.1, jailbreak using redsn0w or upgrade to a custom 4.2.1 using Pwnage Tool and still have the ability to remain unlocked.

Redsn0w by DevTeam allows you to jailbreak your iPhone 4 device, to get complete control over it (see why you should jailbreak here). Currently, redsn0w version 0.9.6b5 allows you to perform a tethered jailbreak to your device that has already been upgraded to firmware 4.2.1, which means you need to use redsn0w every time you boot the device, otherwise all your jailbreak data gets wiped. However, it will NOT unlock the device, enabling it to be used with different GSM carriers worldwide.

Apple’s iPad is the first generation of what I hope will be a long line of magical tablets. Unfortunately,  it has one minor problem that will be more evident now that iOS 4.2.1 has been released.

That problem will be the made evident by the over zealous use of multitasking on a device that only has 256MB of memory in which to run applications. The iPhone 4 twice that or 512MB.  Users won’t be able to help themselves because multitasking is just to valuable to ignore or give up.

So the problem of having less memory to run apps will be frequent warnings that “your device is running low on memory. ” I’ve seen it happen to others and the image above is my own personal encounter with the problem. Apple had given the iPhone 4 pretty liberal amounts of application RAM, so I was  a bit taken aback that the iPad didn’t have at least 512MB to 1GB of RAM when it was released.

Fortunately, the work around is easy.

No way would I ever plug in my Gibson SG Les Paul Custom into my iPhone 3G. Just no way. Now that I have the iPhone 4 and its increased processor speed, crystal clear pictures, and hardcore stage presence, I’ll reconsider.

Seriously though, playing an instrument through an iDevice is more of just a hobby or gimmick if you’re going to try and use it for modeling amps and effect pedals. What really convinced me to hook up a quarter inch jack to my phone was the Moog Filtatron App. Synthesizers are most certainly perfect for and acceptable to use in your music even if they’re coming from you Macbook or iPad. If they have the Moog name attatched to it then you’re just that much more legit.

If you have a box full of cables tucked away somewhere, you may have all that you need to construct your very own iRig. Even if you purchased all the cables from The Shack, you’ll probably come away with a cheaper version, and you’ll feel like MacGyver.

Here’s how I put together my own audio interface:

Here’s a secret: OS X has a password generator built-in, but many people will never even see it. Here’s how to make it easier to get to.

Neil Ferguson, developer of Virus Strike, explains how to become a successful iPhone game developer in 10 steps.

I believe that anyone can develop an iPhone game. I recently developed a physics-based puzzler for the iPhone, Virus Strike, on a zero budget despite having zero experience developing iPhone games. It wasn’t easy, but there are very few set-up costs if you have the right skills and approach.

Admittedly, I’m an experienced programmer – I started developing on a BBC Micro at the age of 8 and now work full-time for a software start-up in London. Obviously, my experience helped me when I was developing Virus Strike, but I don’t think you necessarily need to have any programming experience to develop a successful game. Just follow these 10 steps:

It’s natural to assume that iTunes is a monolithic one-window application, because there’s no obvious way to view your vast database of music, videos and apps in anything other than just that one window.

No obvious way, but it is there.

Now you have a Mac, what’s the easiest way to remember people’s birthdays? Apple thought of that, and built a useful tool right in.

On a Mac, the green “Maximise” button (found alongside the yellow “Minimise” button and the red “Close” button in the top-left corner of every window) doesn’t do what you’re used to its counterpart doing on a Windows PC.

In current versions of OS X, “Maximise” really means “display the contents of this window in the most efficient way possible,” – and different applications will interpret that in different ways, and in different circumstances. The results can be frustratingly unpredictable, especially for newcomers who aren’t used to a Mac.

Cult of Mac joined the mobile vanguard Friday with a dedicated mobile version of the site’s content at https://m.cultofmac.com/. An automatic redirect should take mobile users to the leaner, cleaner version optimized for mobile devices but if Internet caching prevents that at present for particular users, simply point your device’s browser to the mobile URL.

Once you’re there, follow the easy steps below to place a Cult of Mac site icon in the next empty space on your (in this illustrated case) iPhone’s home screen, from which you’ll be able to easily access all the great news and information posted here daily.

Here’s a simple how to that will lead you and your computer to an internet without Flash just like on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. I think most of you won’t miss it, but if you do you can reinstall it.

I’ll have to say that when I went cold turkey and kicked the Flash habit, that I’ve had for years, I didn’t suffer from withdrawals.  In fact, I found my browsing experience with Safari to be a whole lot better and definitely more stable than before. I don’t have any regrets about it so far.

Some people might recommend, ClickToFlash, which is a Safari plug-in that blocks flash content and doesn’t allow it to run unless you allow it or you add specific sites to a “white list. ” It’s a great plug-in, but I prefer to use fewer plug-ins and no Flash. You on the other hand might think otherwise so ClickToFlash might worth a look for you.

It’s happened to us all: You delete a file, folder or entire disk, then realize you’ve made a mistake.  You reach for your backup – and you don’t have a backup. What now?

There are several utilities available to help recover deleted files under Mac OS X.  Your chances of success depend on how the file was deleted and what you’ve done since then.  Unfortunately you will also lose your original filenames, though some reconstruction is possible.

This is one of those simple little things that’s so obvious, and so simple, that it’s easy for newcomers to miss.

How do you rename a file on a Mac? If you’re coming from Windows, you’ll be accustomed to right-clicking on it and choosing the “Rename” menu item, but it’s not there on OS X.

The Pwnage Tool by the DevTeam hacker group allows you to create custom iPhone firmwares for the purpose of jailbreaking, to get full control over your device (see why you should jailbreak here).

Currently, the Pwnage Tool version 4.1.2 allows you to jailbreak a device already on the latest firmware. However, it will NOT unlock the device, enabling it to be used with different GSM carriers worldwide.

You can also use greenpois0n by Chronic Dev to achieve the same. There’s practically no difference between the different tools, except for the fact that they come from different dev teams.

Chronic Dev has released its Mac version of greenpois0n, his 1-click jailbreak solution (see why you should jailbreak here). However, it will NOT unlock the device, enabling it to be used with different GSM carriers worldwide.

It is pretty easy to use and worked perfectly with my iPhone 4. Besides the tool, there’s a ‘Loader’ application that gets automatically installed on the iPhone after jailbreak, which gives you option to install Cydia.

You can also use Pwnage Tool by DevTeam to achieve the same. There’s practically no difference between the different tools, except for the fact that they come from different dev teams.

Here’s see how it works.

Apple’s App Store has a lot of great software — the problem is finding it. With more than 250,000 apps to choose from, it’s hard to find the genuinely good software among thousands of substandard and me-too efforts. The star-rating system doesn’t work, and it’s easy to miss recommendations on sites like this one.

We’re pleased to announce a major new feature of the site: an app discovery and recommendation service powered by Mplayit’s App Tapp platform.

CultofMac’s App Finder helps you to find, share and discuss great apps. But the real power comes from signing in with your Facebook account. This allows you to get app recommendations from friends and colleagues. You can get also follow app experts, get personalized app recommendations, and share the apps you like with friends.

Using our App Finder is pretty self-explanatory, but here’s a brief tutorial showing how it works:

Exposé is an OS X feature designed to help you move around many documents and applications quickly and easily.

All you have to do is push a button (or move your mouse in a particular way, or drag your fingers on the trackpad), and all your open windows, from all your open applications, will be displayed on screen at once, shrunk down so that you can see them all.

Today, I will show you how to add Flash playback to your jailbroken iPhone 4 in three easy steps using an app called Frash by Comex.

George Hotz a.k.a GeoHot has released the Mac version of limera1n, his 1-click jailbreak solution. However, it will NOT unlock the device, enabling it to be used with different GSM carriers worldwide.

It is pretty easy to use and worked perfectly with my iPhone 4. Besides the tool, there’s a limera1n application that gets automatically installed on the iPhone after jailbreak, which gives you option to install Cydia.

Here’s see how it works.

Ingredients:

• An iPhone (3G or later) / iPod Touch (G2 or later) / iPad
• iOS 4.0.2 or later / iOS 3.2.1 or later for iPad
• limera1n tool available at limera1n.com
• iTunes 10 or later
• A wireless internet connection (to install cydia)
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If you recently used Limera1n or GreenPois0n to jailbreak your iOS device, and want to make sure that iTunes doesn’t automatically update your device’s firmware whenever the next update is released by Apple, then here is a quick fix to prevent you from accidentally updating your iPhone/iPod/iPad.