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[Inferno313]

Speaking of partitions, what's the easiest and safest way to change the size of my bootcamp partition, I mainly use it for gaming, and I stupidly thought 80 gigs would be enough. Now I know I want about double that. How can I make that change?

 

[Jasoco]

Only problem is that is you have files that are too spread out and are in use by the OS, it will still warn you that you can't do it.

So do it from your install CD! Then no files are in use. Non-destructive resize away!

Not in my experience. When you have a HD that has enough space, it will work. If the files are fragmented across the drive (And YES, HD's on OS X DO get fragmented, despite what people say. It DOES happen. I've SEEN it.) Disk Utility will move all the files up to the front of the partition until there is enough free contiguous space at the end of it. It will take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on how much you have past the line. And yes, I suppose doing it from the DVD will be more recommended since although it's not as likely, you might have files in use at the far end of the partition. So booting from the OS DVD will be much safer. Muuuuch safer. Either way, if you don't have much at the end of the drive anyway, it'll have no problem adding the new partition.

 

[AlexMogil]

Not in my experience. When you have a HD that has enough space, it will work. If the files are fragmented across the drive (And YES, HD's on OS X DO get fragmented, despite what people say. It DOES happen. I've SEEN it.) Disk Utility will move all the files up to the front of the partition until there is enough free contiguous space at the end of it. It will take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on how much you have past the line. And yes, I suppose doing it from the DVD will be more recommended since although it's not as likely, you might have files in use at the far end of the partition. So booting from the OS DVD will be much safer. Muuuuch safer. Either way, if you don't have much at the end of the drive anyway, it'll have no problem adding the new partition.

Seriously that's how I had to do it once. I just wanted a 40gb bootcamp partition and it wouldn't do it in the live environment. I had some pretty big files on there including a 40gb Fusion disk that wasn't loaded but the damned thing would NOT let me create anything.

Enh, who knows.

 

[Jasoco]

I think BootCamp requires more control so I guess it needed you to be in a more protected environment. Makes sense actually. Seeing as it's very sensitive.

 

[AlexMogil]

Speaking of partitions, what's the easiest and safest way to change the size of my bootcamp partition, I mainly use it for gaming, and I stupidly thought 80 gigs would be enough. Now I know I want about double that. How can I make that change?

Bonk:

I've done this too. Once you've done it you might need to extend the partition in Windows which is very easy. If the GUI in Windows doesn't work, I end up using DISKPART from a command prompt.

 

[Jasoco]

Thing I hate is how if you have two partitions and you want to make it one, if you want to keep the data in the higher partition (bottom of the list) you can't assimilate the empty space above. i.e. Delete A and keep B and you're stuck. Delete B and keep A and you can resize onto the newly empty B space.

Seems if it can move files when adding, why can't it let you drag the wall up to reclaim the A section without formatting

Moral: Keep important stuff on lower partitions just in case.

 

[Blackhead]

How can I turn off Ctrl+Click==Secondary Tap?

 

[Jasoco]

How can I turn off Ctrl+Click==Secondary Tap?

I don't know if you can. Why do you need to?

 

[Blackhead]

I don't know if you can. Why do you need to?

I'm trying to use/remap ctrl+click to another shortcut.

 

[Ashhong]

Only problem is that is you have files that are too spread out and are in use by the OS, it will still warn you that you can't do it.

So do it from your install CD! Then no files are in use. Non-destructive resize away!

For those big files, you can use some kind of defragmenter program to fix that. I had that issue when trying to install Bootcamp. Photoshop was too spread out and prevented it until I defragged.

How can I turn off Ctrl+Click==Secondary Tap?

Maybe BetterTouchTool?

 

[MCX]

10.6.5 update has made my laptop a lot snappier. It also added inertial scrolling. Score!

 

[aparisi2274]

Hey All, I have a question not so much about OSX but about good cases for the 13" macbook pro.

My parents just got one and they picked up the incase neoprene sleeve and while its a nice case, it has no handles, and I can definitely see one of them dropping it on the floor. So I was curious what you gaffers use...

Thanks a lot!!!

Current case:

New Case:

????

 

[jts]

Welp, I use that one :lol

Fucking love it.

To carry it around on my shoulder if needed I use an old Compaq laptop case I still have around from my first laptop evar. 10 years and counting.

 

[Blackhead]

Maybe BetterTouchTool?

That was my first thought as well but I can't figure out how. I have another function attached to ctrl-click in Firefox but the OS X behavior overrides it almost every time. MacOSX hints doesn't offer any solutions :/

 

[lunarworks]

OSX's memory management is driving me absolutely nuts.

I have 4 GB of RAM.

I have 3 apps open: Firefox 1.2 GB, Mail 48 MB, iPhoto 168 MB.

2.25 GB is Active, and Wired (System) is 600 MB.

I have 300 MB Free, about 1 GB Inactive.

Yet, with all that "Free" and "Inactive", it still insists on using 750 MB of disk swap.

This is insane.

 

[pj]

OSX's memory management is driving me absolutely nuts.

I have 4 GB of RAM.

I have 3 apps open: Firefox 1.2 GB, Mail 48 MB, iPhoto 168 MB.

2.25 GB is Active, and Wired (System) is 600 MB.

I have 300 MB Free, about 1 GB Inactive.

Yet, with all that "Free" and "Inactive", it still insists on using 750 MB of disk swap.

This is insane.

So it says "Swap used: 750MB" in the activity monitor? What does it say under Page Ins and Page Outs?

 

[forknknife]

My parents just gifted me a 13inch macbook air

Really happy with it except for the noise the fan makes sometimes. Other than that is pure magic. The trackpad, specially, is the most amazing thing ever. You barely need to use the keyboard to navigate, it's perfect.

Anyway, I'm a complete OSX noob, so I will start reading the thread now but probably will have some questions for you later on, I'm sure.

 

[mrkgoo]

OSX's memory management is driving me absolutely nuts.

I have 4 GB of RAM.

I have 3 apps open: Firefox 1.2 GB, Mail 48 MB, iPhoto 168 MB.

2.25 GB is Active, and Wired (System) is 600 MB.

I have 300 MB Free, about 1 GB Inactive.

Yet, with all that "Free" and "Inactive", it still insists on using 750 MB of disk swap.

This is insane.

What I don't get is why this would actually bother anyone. They're just numbers. Is it actively swapping from the disk swap space? Is your machine showing signs of being slow? How do ou know that disk space isn't just some default cache?

 

[Macho Madness]

OSX's memory management is driving me absolutely nuts.

I have 4 GB of RAM.

I have 3 apps open: Firefox 1.2 GB, Mail 48 MB, iPhoto 168 MB.

2.25 GB is Active, and Wired (System) is 600 MB.

I have 300 MB Free, about 1 GB Inactive.

Yet, with all that "Free" and "Inactive", it still insists on using 750 MB of disk swap.

This is insane.

Unless it's affecting performance, I don't think you should worry so much.

 

[LCfiner]

OSX's memory management is driving me absolutely nuts.

I have 4 GB of RAM.

I have 3 apps open: Firefox 1.2 GB, Mail 48 MB, iPhoto 168 MB.

2.25 GB is Active, and Wired (System) is 600 MB.

I have 300 MB Free, about 1 GB Inactive.

Yet, with all that "Free" and "Inactive", it still insists on using 750 MB of disk swap.

This is insane.

if you want to know if this is actively slowing down your system, check the amount of page outs in MB in the system memory tab in activity monitor.

also, read this

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/lackofram.html

as an example. I have 8 GB of RAM. I haven't restarted this machine in around a week. my page outs are at 10 MB.

my itunes is using 600 MB of ram, mail is using around 200, chrome has had, at one point today, around 2 GB used with all the multiple processes for all the tabs.

yet the page outs for my entire week was only 10 MB.

if you see that jump much higher - like in the GBs, then you're swapping and things are slowing down as items in RAM are moved to the hard drive

 

[H_Prestige]

My parents just gifted me a 13inch macbook air

Really happy with it except for the noise the fan makes sometimes. Other than that is pure magic. The trackpad, specially, is the most amazing thing ever. You barely need to use the keyboard to navigate, it's perfect.

Anyway, I'm a complete OSX noob, so I will start reading the thread now but probably will have some questions for you later on, I'm sure.

This is the best part about macbooks for me. The large trackpad and the multitouch gestures. Not only does it completely shit on every other laptop trackpad, it's so good I've never felt the need to use a mouse. In fact, I think I'd be slower with a mouse. Really genius engineering from Apple.

 

[Jasoco]

This is the best part about macbooks for me. The large trackpad and the multitouch gestures. Not only does it completely shit on every other laptop trackpad, it's so good I've never felt the need to use a mouse. In fact, I think I'd be slower with a mouse. Really genius engineering from Apple.

I have a mouse. I don't even use it. I can't bring myself to. The trackpad is just so awesome. Especially with BetterTouchTool. Weird thing is I am left handed and use a mouse with my right hand, but I use my trackpad with my left. So I guess I could use both if I needed to. :lol

I'm getting a Mac mini in a few months for a HTPC, and I am considering getting a small Apple keyboard and Magic Trackpad and making one of those holders for them. I could get a third party keyboard/trackpad combo that does the same thing, but it won't be as awesome as if I get a Magic Trackpad. I have to decide if it's worth it to spend the $70 each. Especially with the gestures I'd be able to do on it.

 

[cooljeanius]

So my parents are thinking of getting me an external hard drive for backups for my birthday in a few months, any recommendations? My current hard drive is 250 GB, so I'd want something bigger than that, but my parents also want to get something inexpensive so they can have enough money to buy me other presents, too...

 

[Bboy AJ]

I bought a Magic Trackpad for my iMac asap. I didn't want to bother with a mouse. The multitouch gestures are ridiculously efficient for web browsing, which is what I'm mostly doing.

I snagged one with an OEM box on Craigslist for $40.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Hey All, I have a question not so much about OSX but about good cases for the 13" macbook pro.

My parents just got one and they picked up the incase neoprene sleeve and while its a nice case, it has no handles, and I can definitely see one of them dropping it on the floor. So I was curious what you gaffers use...

Thanks a lot!!!

Current case:

New Case:

????

That's actually the one I use with my macbook pro. I was lazy and really liked a sleeve after my eee pc that came with one. Has been really good at protecting it thus far.

Edit: How much do you want to spend? There are tons of nice thin leather cases with handles.

 

[jts]

I have a mouse. I don't even use it. I can't bring myself to. The trackpad is just so awesome. Especially with BetterTouchTool. Weird thing is I am left handed and use a mouse with my right hand, but I use my trackpad with my left. So I guess I could use both if I needed to. :lol

I'm getting a Mac mini in a few months for a HTPC, and I am considering getting a small Apple keyboard and Magic Trackpad and making one of those holders for them. I could get a third party keyboard/trackpad combo that does the same thing, but it won't be as awesome as if I get a Magic Trackpad. I have to decide if it's worth it to spend the $70 each. Especially with the gestures I'd be able to do on it.

Better to spend that cash on a fucking Harmony remote. If you set your Mac up good you can do almost anything with the remote alone.

On the rare occasion that you'll need to mess around on the Mac mini, just use your Macbook and screen sharing.

 

[caramac]

GAF, I'm really chomping at the bit to go out and buy a 27" imac to replace my aging windows desktop, my problem is with space being limited my current display caters for PC/360/Wii......is there any hope for me?....either now or in the not to distant future.

 

[Juice]

I've got a good one. I just bought NeatReceipts, and I notice that when the app isn't running, if I press scan on the scanner, it just opens Image Capture instead of the NeatWorks app.

Normally in Image Capture you can define what you'd like to do when a camera is connected (and select an arbitrary app), but there's no such menu there for scanner devices. How do you do this?

 

[weekend_warrior]

GAF, I'm really chomping at the bit to go out and buy a 27" imac to replace my aging windows desktop, my problem is with space being limited my current display caters for PC/360/Wii......is there any hope for me?....either now or in the not to distant future.

Are you asking if the iMac display can be used for you PC/360/Wii? Well I know the 27" iMacs mini-display port can be used for input, but the adapters are expensive and you'd need some sort of hub to connect more then 1 input.

 

[LCfiner]

GAF, I'm really chomping at the bit to go out and buy a 27" imac to replace my aging windows desktop, my problem is with space being limited my current display caters for PC/360/Wii......is there any hope for me?....either now or in the not to distant future.

you'd need to buy a relatively pricey 150 converter to use those devices with the MDP input on the iMac.

I do not know if lag becomes an issue with that converter.

 

[caramac]

Are you asking if the iMac display can be used for you PC/360/Wii? Well I know the 27" iMacs mini-display port can be used for input, but the adapters are expensive and you'd need some sort of hub to connect more then 1 input.

Yes sorry .... l suppose l could live without the wii, or find some other place for it. Cheers for the replies.

 

[GodfatherX]

is it common to have to fix disk permissions every month?

didn't have to do it for a year, then osx became nearly unusable and that fixed it, now i check every 3 or so weeks and it finds a laundry list of permission errors

i know seagate drives are horrible, used to work at a data recovery center and seagate outnumbered every other brand of drives combined 3 to 1, so it wouldn't surprise me that its my HDD going bad

 

[Firestorm]

you'd need to buy a relatively pricey 150 converter to use those devices with the MDP input on the iMac.

I do not know if lag becomes an issue with that converter.

Wouldn't this work fine for the 360?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10246&cs_id=1024603&p_id=5996&seq=1&format=2

 

[LCfiner]

Wouldn't this work fine for the 360?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10246&cs_id=1024603&p_id=5996&seq=1&format=2

nope. it's a one way street with displayport.

note the text: "connecting your Mac to your HDMI equiped HDTV"

If you want to go from HDMI to displayport, you need one of THESE suckahs.

 

[Firestorm]

gah ._.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

is it common to have to fix disk permissions every month?

didn't have to do it for a year, then osx became nearly unusable and that fixed it, now i check every 3 or so weeks and it finds a laundry list of permission errors

i know seagate drives are horrible, used to work at a data recovery center and seagate outnumbered every other brand of drives combined 3 to 1, so it wouldn't surprise me that its my HDD going bad

Do you think teenage girls all over the US are doing this every month?

 

[aparisi2274]

Edit: How much do you want to spend? There are tons of nice thin leather cases with handles.

I dont know... somewhere around $40-$60

 

[Ninja Kn1ght]

I think I need a new battery. I've had this 15" MBP for 21 months and the battery barely lasts an hour now.

 

[ant_]

NeoGAF, why is my Macbook running so hot? All I'm doing is running Google Chrome, and watching a video on Vimeo, and my Macbook is reaching temperatures of 200 degrees (Fahrenheit). This is outrageously high & scary. It's a 2009 Macbook Pro 13''

 

[Animal]

So I got a 4 year old MBP.

2.16GHz Core 2 Duo Merom processor
ATI X1600 Mobility gpu with 128MB of Video Ram
4GB (2 x 2GB) of Ram @ 667MHz - Though the logic board can only address 3.2GB of the 4GB available.
500GB @ 5400rpm Western Digital Hard drive (WDC WD5000BEVT)

I've replaced the thermal paste on all chips a couple months back and I clean it regularly.

I've only did a clean install when I first got the machine 4 years ago. All following installs were either a straight-up upgrade or an archive and install (Snow Leopard).

I have no UI modifications to my OS and no scripts running in background constantly.

I usually have Mail, Adium, Safari, Calendar and ITunes open.

Question: I am getting what I perceive to be an unusually high number of page-outs over a week or two of uptime. My page outs will always lie between 10 to 35% of my page-ins. Is this normal behaviour for my machine?

EDIT BONUS: At least 99% of page-outs belong to a process called _windowserver. This process is part of OS X and is the Controller process of all the window drawing and UI while in OS X. It seems when the GPU is not good enough for a particular drawing function, it sends the task to the processor and its RAM. Am I simply suffering from an inadequate gpu?

 

[mercboyz]

I've been having a problem with Faces in iPhoto '11. Every time I click on the Faces button, iPhoto crashes. Clicking on Places, Albums, Events or Photo's works fine. But Faces crashes the whole program. Any thoughts?

I have a 2009 unibody macbook Pro 17" core 2 duo 2.93, 500 gb seagate drive, 8gb gskill memory kit.

 

[LCfiner]

NeoGAF, why is my Macbook running so hot? All I'm doing is running Google Chrome, and watching a video on Vimeo, and my Macbook is reaching temperatures of 200 degrees (Fahrenheit). This is outrageously high & scary. It's a 2009 Macbook Pro 13''

before trying anything else, have you switched to the HTML5 player for Vimeo? it replaces the flash player.

there should be a link on the lower right hand side of the page to do this.

 

[ant_]

before trying anything else, have you switched to the HTML5 player for Vimeo? it replaces the flash player.

there should be a link on the lower right hand side of the page to do this.

I think this was the problem. As soon as I left Vimeo, my computer went back to manageable temps (~130 degrees or so)

 

[Jasoco]

Better to spend that cash on a fucking Harmony remote. If you set your Mac up good you can do almost anything with the remote alone.

On the rare occasion that you'll need to mess around on the Mac mini, just use your Macbook and screen sharing.

Yeah, that's an option too, but if I was going to get a Harmony, I might as well get one of them expensive pad-style ones with the touch screen. But then I might as well buy an iPad for that much. Plex has an app for the iPad/iPod/iPhone that I would get too. I already have plenty of computer controlling iPod remotes.

 

[Neuromancer]

HALP!!!

All of a sudden on my MacBook Pro, my computer has started announcing what it's doing and I now have to hit fn and F1 and F2 to toggle screen dimming and lighting. I must have gone into some kind of accessibility mode or something, maybe I hit a key or two by accident. Does anyone know how to get out of it? Thanks!

Edit: Never mind I figured it out, weird though

 

[jts]

Yeah, that's an option too, but if I was going to get a Harmony, I might as well get one of them expensive pad-style ones with the touch screen. But then I might as well buy an iPad for that much. Plex has an app for the iPad/iPod/iPhone that I would get too. I already have plenty of computer controlling iPod remotes.

TBH I don't have Plex nine, still on eight, so I haven't bought the official iPhone Plex app yet, however I tried Controllr and XBMC Remote, and I really didn't like the controls, too laggy.

Also, believe me. As "always on" as the iPhone and iPad can be, it's not the same thing to simply pick up a remote and pause a show (with tactile feedback btw) or to pick up an iDevice, press the home button, unlock the screen, enter the app (this one is optional), waiting a few seconds to connect to the wi-fi network and then press a pause button while having to look at it.
Repeat for every ocasional action you want to do - it would be best to simply use the Apple wireless keyboard if you end up getting it.

I have an Harmony One, it has a touchscreen but also a fuckload of buttons. The touchscreen is nice and sensitive (though nowhere as good as an iDevice touchscreen), but the buttons is where the meat is at. I want to keep my eyes on the TV while I watch it.

It's nice to have a multitude of controlling devices and options (redundancy and all that), but in the end a Mac mini as an HTPC is an high-end product and you will only get the most of it with a dedicated and programmable remote like an Harmony - with what you can also control your TV, consoles and other media devices, for a convergence and ease that just can't be beaten with an iDevice

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Jasoco]

TBH I don't have Plex nine, still on eight, so I haven't bought the official iPhone Plex app yet, however I tried Controllr and XBMC Remote, and I really didn't like the controls, too laggy.

Also, believe me. As "always on" as the iPhone and iPad can be, it's not the same thing to simply pick up a remote and pause a show (with tactile feedback btw) or to pick up an iDevice, press the home button, unlock the screen, enter the app (this one is optional), waiting a few seconds to connect to the wi-fi network and then press a pause button while having to look at it.
Repeat for every ocasional action you want to do - it would be best to simply use the Apple wireless keyboard if you end up getting it.

I have an Harmony One, it has a touchscreen but also a fuckload of buttons. The touchscreen is nice and sensitive (though nowhere as good as an iDevice touchscreen), but the buttons is where the meat is at. I want to keep my eyes on the TV while I watch it.

It's nice to have a multitude of controlling devices and options (redundancy and all that), but in the end a Mac mini as an HTPC is an high-end product and you will only get the most of it with a dedicated and programmable remote like an Harmony - with what you can also control your TV, consoles and other media devices, for a convergence and ease that just can't be beaten with an iDevice

Just my 2 cents.

The Plex app is amazing. You can actually watch the shows on the iPod/iPad as well as control it. Also, switch to Nine. It has the best scraper (Now called scanner) ever. It's really really nice.

Do any of the Harmony's have keyboards? That's what I'd really want. The best of everything. Would be neat if a Harmony had a keyboard as well. Since I won't ALWAYS be in Plex. Which is why I wanted a keyboard/trackpad combo.

The way I see it. I have a MacBook, so I wouldn't be using the mini for browsing or stuff most of the time. Just for watching video. Both ripped DVD's as well as the occasional web video. Which is where the problem comes in. All flash video players are different. Hulu is finicky in that if the mouse is in the bottom corner, the damn progress bar never goes away. TeamCoCo is finicky in that you need to press Fullscreen EVERY FUCKING TIME A COMMERCIAL COMES ON. GOD DAMMIT TBS! Everyone's different. It's not like I can just have them all go right to fullscreen nor can I browse them like a library. Sure, Plex has some plugins to do this easy, but they don't always work, and due to a bug in 10.1, they don't work at all anymore. So I'd still need to control the computer with a mouse.

Now right now I just use the amazing Teleport, which lets me control the other Mac like it was the one I'm sitting at. BUT as I mentioned, e.g. Hulu above, Teleport places the cursor in the bottom left corner when you leave the other Mac. So Hulu becomes a PITA. BUT, Hulu is an exception since I can just use the much better Hulu App for Hulu video.

Logitech keeps releasing new remotes all the time, I never know which one would be the best to get. Is the setup with a Mac mini as easy as it should be? I had heard they had problems with Macs at first. Have they been sorted out? Also, my "surround" system is a cheapo Venturer system... does it work with them? Nothing else does. And my TV is Polaroid. I don't have many good name brand devices.

 

[jts]

The Plex app is amazing. You can actually watch the shows on the iPod/iPad as well as control it. Also, switch to Nine. It has the best scraper (Now called scanner) ever. It's really really nice.

Do any of the Harmony's have keyboards? That's what I'd really want. The best of everything. Would be neat if a Harmony had a keyboard as well. Since I won't ALWAYS be in Plex. Which is why I wanted a keyboard/trackpad combo.

The way I see it. I have a MacBook, so I wouldn't be using the mini for browsing or stuff most of the time. Just for watching video. Both ripped DVD's as well as the occasional web video. Which is where the problem comes in. All flash video players are different. Hulu is finicky in that if the mouse is in the bottom corner, the damn progress bar never goes away. TeamCoCo is finicky in that you need to press Fullscreen EVERY FUCKING TIME A COMMERCIAL COMES ON. GOD DAMMIT TBS! Everyone's different. It's not like I can just have them all go right to fullscreen nor can I browse them like a library. Sure, Plex has some plugins to do this easy, but they don't always work, and due to a bug in 10.1, they don't work at all anymore. So I'd still need to control the computer with a mouse.

Now right now I just use the amazing Teleport, which lets me control the other Mac like it was the one I'm sitting at. BUT as I mentioned, e.g. Hulu above, Teleport places the cursor in the bottom left corner when you leave the other Mac. So Hulu becomes a PITA. BUT, Hulu is an exception since I can just use the much better Hulu App for Hulu video.

Logitech keeps releasing new remotes all the time, I never know which one would be the best to get. Is the setup with a Mac mini as easy as it should be? I had heard they had problems with Macs at first. Have they been sorted out? Also, my "surround" system is a cheapo Venturer system... does it work with them? Nothing else does. And my TV is Polaroid. I don't have many good name brand devices.

Thanks for the advice. I've been meaning to switch but I'll wait until I have a little more free time and also I do fear the change, because I love my current setup and I don't want to break it.

On the peripherals subject you do have a good reasoning there I reckon. I don't think there are Harmony controllers with keyboards, although you could program a keyboard on the touchscreen, character by character, but that would be cumbersome and not very effective, since text input is not an ideal thing to do over infrared.

As for the Harmonies, well most of them share the same awesome features, though some have regular AA batteries, some have rechargeable and a charging dock, more buttons, touchscreen or not, a smaller or larger screen, etc. The ONE is fantastic. It was released 2 years ago and it's still the top of the Harmony controllers that aren't crazy expensive with RF features, etc.

To set it up with a Mac mini is easy as pie. Logitech has a huuuuuuge online database of devices that you can automatically set up on your remote, and the Mac mini is obviously there. What is best is that even if you have a device that isn't on that database, your Harmony can actually learn any command from any controller, so it can pretty much control anything that has an IR port.

And the level of customization possible of all the actions, activities, macros, etc, is crazy. It is truly an open remote to anyone to program it to do whatever.

I say that even if you go for the kb/trackpad combo, which also has a lot of perks, in the long run consider an Harmony, even the cheapest one you find.

In fact, in the long run I also want some sort of wireless kb/m auxiliary, I'll keep on waiting for the fabled Apple wireless keyboard/magic trackpad all-in-one

 

[Jasoco]

Thanks for the advice. I've been meaning to switch but I'll wait until I have a little more free time and also I do fear the change, because I love my current setup and I don't want to break it.

If and when you upgrade to Nine, keep a backup of your current Plex/Eight library just in case you run into problems. Do you have any ISO's? I think ISO was broken for a while if not still. So you might want to wait if that is the case. As long as your videos are all named right (TV shows with the episodes in a folder with the show name (And in some cases, year for stuff like The Office US vs. UK. : /The Office (2005)/Season 1/S01E01.mkv) and the S00E00 format (Title optional since it only needs the season and episode) and for movies the name and year. I had problems with a small amount of movies when I installed Nine, all of which were so much easier corrected than with Eight and others that were fixed in hotfixes.

Seriously, Plex/Nine's new OS X GUI for the library is AMAZING. Eight uses an in-app UI for its manager which is clunky and horrible. The GUI is really nice. So much nicer. AND NOW you can sort movie series like you can in iTunes. For instance, the Batman movies can now be put together. Whether it's the 90's movies or the new ones, you can now have The Dark Knight right after Batman Begins, where it SHOULD be. Or all the Star Trek movies in order of date instead of in alphabetical order. It's nice. And it's a new recent update.

On the peripherals subject you do have a good reasoning there I reckon. I don't think there are Harmony controllers with keyboards, although you could program a keyboard on the touchscreen, character by character, but that would be cumbersome and not very effective, since text input is not an ideal thing to do over infrared.

As for the Harmonies, well most of them share the same awesome features, though some have regular AA batteries, some have rechargeable and a charging dock, more buttons, touchscreen or not, a smaller or larger screen, etc. The ONE is fantastic. It was released 2 years ago and it's still the top of the Harmony controllers that aren't crazy expensive with RF features, etc.

To set it up with a Mac mini is easy as pie. Logitech has a huuuuuuge online database of devices that you can automatically set up on your remote, and the Mac mini is obviously there. What is best is that even if you have a device that isn't on that database, your Harmony can actually learn any command from any controller, so it can pretty much control anything that has an IR port.

And the level of customization possible of all the actions, activities, macros, etc, is crazy. It is truly an open remote to anyone to program it to do whatever.

I say that even if you go for the kb/trackpad combo, which also has a lot of perks, in the long run consider an Harmony, even the cheapest one you find.

In fact, in the long run I also want some sort of wireless kb/m auxiliary, I'll keep on waiting for the fabled Apple wireless keyboard/magic trackpad all-in-one

I'd much rather have both actually. A remote for video watching, a keyboard for everything else. Including games and browsing if I choose so.

Does Harmony work well with Plex? Like can I set certain buttons to go to certain sections in the app? (i.e. press certain hotkeys when Plex is active.)

I also would love an Apple made combo. But I'd need one with the trackpad on the left since I can't use it on the right. Which is why I was thinking of getting both and making a holder like they sell online (But cheaper since I'd make it myself.) where I could put them on whatever side I want. Teleport has worked amazingly thus far with no delay whatsoever over the network. I assume Bluetooth would work well as well. A combo would be nice in that it would probably only need one set of batteries. And I already have a charger. But I won't buy a thing until the mini comes home. Which will happen when Apple either updates them or I just give in since I assume the next update will probably just be a speed bump. But I'm willing to hold out until MacWorld at least.

I'm just looking forward to being able to untether my laptop again. Ever since I retired my noisy 2007 MacBook with the dying motherboard and the G4 mini before it, I've been mainly stuck to one place for backing up and media watching. (4 external HD's containing 6TB total is a lot to keep tethered to.)

 

[weekend_warrior]

Is my Macbook on it's last legs?

It's a 2.1ghz whitebook I bought off Criagslist about 3 or 4 years ago, and while it's been a great little computer, the grim reaper seems to be taking it over. Multitasking is getting increasing hard, even having multiple tabs open in firefox causes serious slow down. Opening picture heavy threads, or god forbid, the GIF of the year thread is causing crashing.

Is there anything I can try to do? I don't have any recovery disks.