Apple Portables: Battery may not show a full charge in Mac OS X – StumbleUpon. I have never had anyone ask this, but still its good to know. I wonder why the Intel platforms have a lower discharge threshold?

Squared 5 – MPEG Streamclip video converter for Mac OS X. This is some excellent information if you need to configure MPEG-2 in Lion. Thanks Squared5!

The Snow Leopard upgrade DVD released on August 28, 2009 may wipe the content of the /System/Library/QuickTime folder during the upgrade process, and delete your MPEG-2 Playback Component installed in that folder. To use MPEG-2 files with MPEG Streamclip you have to reinstall the MPEG-2 component or restore it from a backup copy. 

If you are going to upgrade to Snow Leopard

Open the /System/Library/QuickTime folder and drag the QuickTimeMPEG2.component file to your desktop to make a copy of it. Then upgrade to Snow Leopard. When the upgrade is complete, open the /System/Library/QuickTime folder again and move the QuickTimeMPEG2.component file from the desktop to the /System/Library/QuickTime folder (enter your administrator password if necessary).

If you already upgraded to Snow Leopard

You have to reinstall or restore your MPEG-2 Playback Component.

If you have a Time Machine backup of your System folder, then open the /System/Library/QuickTime folder, enter Time Machine and go back in time until you see the QuickTimeMPEG2.component file; select that file and then click Restore.

If you purchased the MPEG-2 Playback Component from the Apple Online Store, then you probably still have the DMG file that contains the installer. Use Spotlight to search for “QuickTimeMPEG2.dmg”: if you find a file with that name, double-click it and then in the disk image, double-click the installer package for Intel Macs.

If you purchased the MPEG-2 Playback Component from the Apple Online Store but you can’t find the QuickTimeMPEG2.dmg file, you can download the file again from the Apple Online Store if you remember the Apple ID used when you originally purchased it (if you forgot your Apple ID then go to Apple iforgot). Visit the Apple Online Store, click on “Account” in the store menu, then click “Downloadable Software Purchases,” enter your Apple ID and password, and click the link to the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component to download it again.

If you obtained the MPEG-2 Playback Component from the installation of Final Cut Studio, then you can reinstall it again from the Final Cut Studio DVD. Insert the DVD and use the Finder’s Go menu > Go To Folder… command to get to the /Volumes/Final Cut Studio/Installer/Packages/ folder inside the DVD. Locate the QuickTimeMPEG2.pkg or the QuickTimeMPEG2Pro.pkg installer: double-click it to reinstall the MPEG-2 component.

Coriolis Systems – StumbleUpon. Drobo have their own set of issues that make them unrealiable storage in my opinion. I wonder if they ever solved this issue? They didn’t follow up on this post. I will send them an email and ask.

This was the email text I sent to them.

At this URL: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7vS1ZK/www.coriolis-systems.com/

You have a post hosted that talks about the incompatibility of iPartition with Drobo. Is that still an issue and can you update that article? I have bought your software and want to use it to help a friend with a drobo.

I heard back from the company and according to them this is still an issue. I wonder why Drobo doesn't seem to care about fixing this?

Unable to get status of backup volume: Apple Support Communities. I got this message today. I caused it myself by unplugging an external USB device that TM thought was still mounted. So since that partition was identically named to another partition, it was confused which one I was referring to. Makes perfect sense.

This post at the Apple Discussion forums explains how to restore your iPhoto photos. Thanks laverne’s mom.

Your question had me wondering too and so I checked my Time Machine and couldn’t see where any photos were.  I then pulled out a book I got when I first got my mac ( Its called The Missing Manual.  I got it used from Amazon)   anyway, if you open iPhoto, go to File then Browse Backups.  It will show you the photos that have been backed up and are available for recovery.  I hadn’t paid much attention to that before and am glad I discovered it now, rather than when I am in a panic over a lost or misplaced photo.  Hope this helps you find what you are looking for.

laverne’s mom

Sometimes simple things work best.

I should add close all apps, shut down & unplug first, then replug-in & re-boot.

via Why is time Machine not backing up?: Apple Support Communities.

Pondini solves it. How exciting it is when things work correctly.

Timemachine is Backing up again. What i have done:

Started Festplattendienstprogram (Harddisk Repair Program) and performed the check. The result was ok = green. (Like Pondini proposed, thanx!)

I stopped Timemachine by performing a reboot.

I deaktivated Timemachine backup.

I ereased the “Backup-in-progress-file” in the Mac mini Servers backup.

I started an manual Backup and this went ok.

After that i restard automated backup again.

So im am fine now!

Thanxs to everyone.

via Timemachine keeps indexing my Backup: Apple Support Communities.

Migrate Time Machine backup to new Mac in Lion | Operating Systems | Macworld. This is a very thoughtful thing for Apple to do. Sometimes I am surprised by the thoughtfulness they put into their products. Other times I am surprised by the overt marketing that exists. I suppose it is a hard thing to balance the needs of the users against the needs of Apple.

Interesting that a permissions problem could cause this. This seems like something way worse than what is really is. Sort of like life sometimes I guess.

Lion is now installed on my machine. Two previous failed installations. After each failed installation I ran disk verify from the original sl disk in the cd drive. I had to erase and reformat the drive and restore from time machine.

The successful installation: I ran disk verify before the lion install and from the cd. No errors. But then I also ran permissions verify and repaired any issues. Then I re downloaded and installed Lion with success.

There had been no reported permissions issue previously but verify found issues. Don’t know if this is the issue on my machine but fixing it preceded the successful installation of Lion. Perhaps it will help some one else.

via.

Synology Disk Station DS1511+ NAS server – Serial ATA-300. I had a reader search for this today and I didn’t have any articles. The Synology Disk Stations are all Time Machine compatible. These are a great way to do network backups.

More experiences and reviews of this product here.

Linc Davis has figured it out. Makes sense with the suggestion he gives and the poster said it worked.

Connect the drive directly to a USB port on the MBP.

In the Energy Saver preference pane, uncheck “Put hard disks to sleep…” if checked.

If neither of the above helps, boot in safe mode and try again.

via Time Machine: “An error occurred while…: Apple Support Communities.

This is fantastic news. I found out from the developer that they are prepared for the next version of Mac OS X Lion. So that means that in the process of changing and cleaning house, people will be protected from their or Apple’s mistakes.

I have been using Disk Drill and it has worked great for me. I love the fact that it can protect programs from being undeleted. For example, many people accidentally drag and drop and delete the wrong application. Then they have to learn how to fix that problem and use unsupported third-party software. Rather than do that, they can just use DD to fix that problem. It is like having Time Machine but not having to buy an external drive. It has saved me time and money.

Download LaCie SilverKeeper for Mac – Automate external backups to LaCie drives. MacUpdate.com. I used to use SilverKeeper when I used a LaCie hard drive more than 7 years ago. The LaCie hard drives failed, but the software always worked. According to the reviews, it worked when SuperDuper and Time Machine wouldn’t backup data.

I have used SuperDuper and never had any problems. Time Machine has had issues especially when it has to share one partition with multiple computers. So my suggestion would be to try SuperDuper first $29, if Time Machine doesn’t work, then try SilverKeeper.

Update to 10.6.8 broke my optical audio…: Apple Support Communities. So it appears that using Time Machine and restoring an older system file fixes the issue. Jan helpfully explained how to fix this.

Hi shorafix, you can find appleHDA.kext in Macintosh HD/System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext

just select it, start timemachine a restore old kext from date when you have 10.6.7 installed..

 

Poster solves his own problem with Safari running slowly and taking excessive CPU’s. Interesting troubleshooting.

Videobox was the culprit! I must\’ve accidentally installed the plugin when I used it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I turned off the plugin and my Safari\’s cpus have dropped to about 10! Amazing. I also took your advice and rebuilt the 1password data file and things are getting faster. I\’m going to keep going through the logs to see what other problems I have and try and troubleshoot from there. The only other program that has gotten slow is iPhoto \’09. Think I should rebuild the library? Thanks again for your help. I will list your answer as the correct one.

via Time Machine Question: Apple Support Communities.

Recently, I came across this amazing article that shows you how to turn your Ubuntu desktop/server into a Mac File Server or Time Machine volume. Not only does it allow you to share files between the two computers, but it will also automatically mount your Time Machine volume and begin the backup process. I have followed this article and am currently using this setup on my home network. If you have any questions about this article or need help, p … Read More

via The Daily Byte

We shown you how to backup your Mac with Time Machine. Here is a quick video we made to show you how you can quickly restore a file you have deleted… and emptied from the Trash. NOTE: Probably best to watch in HD and Full Screen … Read More

via Click For Geek

Outlook 2011 for Mac: Using certificates for digital signing « vegardhw.net. This is a really good setup on how to accomplish this. I had one client who lost his data using this program so be sure to be using Time Machine or some kind of regular backup.

Talk about being lucky! This is an incredible value. I wonder what he used it for? He finally has to upgrade to a PowerMac 5200.

via After 20 Years, Maryland Man’s Mac IIci Finally Dies Cult of Mac.

Interesting that this third-party software does far more than iTunes does. Worth purchasing just for the ability to make backups separately from Apple utilities. Perfect to use if you don’t use Time Machine.

I happen to use a software tool called TouchCopy which allows me to directly transfer music, videos, pictures, and other files between my iPad/iPhone and my various laptops and desktops. Works great.

via Apple – Support – Discussions – Moving to a new computer ….

EvilGator shares with us the solution. Nice work!

I finally got on the phone with a Senior Advisor at Apple. We created another user account (System Preferences > Accounts). Time Machine worked for that user. So, the Time Machine problem was user-specific.

We went back to the original user and moved to trash the folder <home folder>Library/Caches. From there we went and moved to the desktop <user>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist.
We then restarted the mac. Upon restart, we entered Time Machine and it worked fine. The timeline had reappeared!

Apparently there was something in the Cache that was causing the problem.

Time Machine has had a few issues. The biggest one seems to be this.

via Apple – Support – Discussions – Timeline not appearing in Time Machine ….

Nice simple terminal command that might allow your NAS to be a Time Machine volume. This is super easy on Mac OS X 10.6 server.

open terminal and type in “sudo defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1″ (minus quotes) then through finder connect to the root of the drive you want to back up for time machine & BOOM. … Read More

via Edge IT

via luckyBackup – backup and sync utility.

Time Machine: About.  So according to this Apple KB article you really have to allow a new backup to be fixed.  Too bad there isn’t another fix.

Apple – Support – Discussions – Could Time Machine be filling up my ….  Some excellent troubleshooting here.

Pondini’s advice fixed it.  You should visit this link to do the steps he suggests.

via Apple – Support – Discussions – Time Machine Backup Error ….

Apple – Support – Discussions – Time Machine says.  Interesting.  Pondini has the solution below called “Full Reset” of Time Machine.”

1. In Time Machine Preferences, click the Options button.  Note anything in the exclusions box, and the settings of other option(s) on that panel.  Click Cancel, then turn Time Machine OFF, and quitSystem Preferences.

2. Eject, disconnect, and power-off the drive for a few moments, then reconnect it.

3. Delete the file /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist (in your top-level Library folder,     not your home folder).  This will not delete anything in your backups.  If you have a problem finding the file, see item #A7.

4. Go back to Time Machine Preferences, re-select the drive, re-enter any exclusions and other options.

5. A 120-second countdown to a backup should appear.  If you close the window, it should begin immediately.”

1.  Allan’s suggestion “Not 100% sure what did it, but my round Apple USB speakers are working again.

What I tried:
1) Trashed sound prefs
2) Repaired permissions (there were a couple errors)
3) Repaired Disk
4) Zapped PRAM

2.  Shawn’s suggestion.  ”I got the speakers working again by using Time Machine to restore the previous version of AppleUSBAudio.kext (version 2.6.8) from 10.6.3. The file resides at “/System/Library/Extensions/”

The one from 10.6.4 is version 2.7.3 ”

via Apple – Support – Discussions – No usb sound after installing Macosx ….

So you have a Mac and instead of backing up to an external hard-drive ($$$) you'd like to backup to an NTFS drive that is on the network (maybe to your Windows 7 desktop machine)?  Sweet cuz that's what this tutorial addresses! What you'll need: A Mac running OS 1.5 or higher with Time Machine Installed (I'm running 10.5.8) A separate computer w … Read More

via A Usability Blog

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. From the View menu, choose Time Machine.
3. Move the slider bar to “Off” to disable Time Machine backups.
4. Open Disk Utility located in /Applications/Utilities.
5. Open a Finder window and locate your Time Capsule in the “Shared” section of the sidebar.
6. Click on the Time Capsule. Enter your password if necessary.
7. Locate your Time Machine backup disk image (the disk image will contain the name of your computer in the filename).
8. Drag the disk image to the Disk Utility sidebar.
9. Select the disk image, then click Verify.
10. If Disk Utility reports “Error: File system verify or repair failed,” you need to start a new backup. Note: Do not repair the disk image with Disk Utility.

If that doesn’t help, the preferences file may be corrupted. Try a “full reset” per #A4 in the same article.”

To reinforce AxL’s always excellent advice, “defragging” a Mac running OS X is a waste of time. OS X“defrags” files of less than 20 MB on the fly.

Incidentally, restoring a system from a bootable clone (SuperDuper created, for instance) will do, more or less, what you describe.

One final thought – I suggest you get rid of whatever commercial “defragging” product you have been running. Those things can potentially cause problems.

TimeMachine recognized just attached drive and full backup is started. Hmm . . . next time I will read Troubleshooting more carefully. Thanks for your time!”

My fix ( make sure you turn off TM)
1) Remove all of my other files (ie. the ones other than the TM backup files) off of my external drive.
2) Use Disk utility to erase the external drive
3) Partition the disk into two partitions, one that I called ” backup” and the other that I called “stuff.”
4) I put all of my stuff back on the stuff partition.
5) I then resetup TM to do its backup on the “backup” partition.

After this, the items in the trash went away.”

It could be because a difference between the format of the Time Machine and your computer.  This is what iVincent discovered here. I have also seen this occur when usb drives are plugged into hubs that may be used for keyboards, scanners and printers.  Try to connect the backup device directly to the computer.