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Mac OSX Noob thread of OSX noobs

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Keep both. Time Machine is great for version control while SD/CCC are great for actual usable backups that can be booted from in a pinch. Keep them both.
 
Trying to do a new Time Machine backup on my computer and it is taking forever. It gets to like 1TB done and then goes to a crawl. Like minutes to write a few MB. Any idea what the hell is going on?

Tried restarting the backup or resuming it, but it still hits that same point and just stops or crawls.
 
Trying to do a new Time Machine backup on my computer and it is taking forever. It gets to like 1TB done and then goes to a crawl. Like minutes to write a few MB. Any idea what the hell is going on?

Tried restarting the backup or resuming it, but it still hits that same point and just stops or crawls.

What kind of drive are you backing up to? I back up to a NAS and it takes a lot of time, even to only back up like 800 mb.
 

X-Frame

Member
Using CCC to clone my HD to my new SSD results in an error where it can't backup a "private/var/log/system.log" file and recommends I delete and restore from another backup, but I looked in Time Machine and it isn't there. It seems to only exist in the present. I did some research and it seems okay to delete as OSX will recreate it instantly anyway.

I get this message:

This file or folder is sitting on a bad section of hard disk media and is unrecoverable. Delete this item (i.e. in the Finder) and restore it from a known good backup, then try the backup task again.
 
Using CCC to clone my HD to my new SSD results in an error where it can't backup a "private/var/log/system.log" file and recommends I delete and restore from another backup, but I looked in Time Machine and it isn't there. It seems to only exist in the present. I did some research and it seems okay to delete as OSX will recreate it instantly anyway.

I get this message:

You may be able to tell CCC to ignore /private/var/log/
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Using CCC to clone my HD to my new SSD results in an error where it can't backup a "private/var/log/system.log" file and recommends I delete and restore from another backup, but I looked in Time Machine and it isn't there. It seems to only exist in the present. I did some research and it seems okay to delete as OSX will recreate it instantly anyway.

I get this message:
Hopefully your backup drive isn't bad. That's a bad error. Check the disk with Disk Utility.
 
Crude, just wanted to say I appreciate all the help you've given me lately!

No problem! We all learn from somewhere.

Everything in that folder can be ignored without issue? I will check if I can omit that when I get home and try again if so.

Yes, it's just shit your Mac and its applications are recording in case anything goes awry and you want to read about it. All is not lost even if this fails, it just gets closer and closer to the Linux-based Happy Fun Disk Rescue Time™.

Your goal if this doesn't work is to get /Users backed up and not worry about everything else. Fresh install on the SSD, migrate to it from the /Users backup or Time Machine backup and you're done.

Hopefully your backup drive isn't bad. That's a bad error. Check the disk with Disk Utility.

Probably on the source disk since that's what all the other errors are about. The destination is the new SSD.
 

X-Frame

Member
No problem! We all learn from somewhere.

Yes, it's just shit your Mac and its applications are recording in case anything goes awry and you want to read about it. All is not lost even if this fails, it just gets closer and closer to the Linux-based Happy Fun Disk Rescue Time™.

Your goal if this doesn't work is to get /Users backed up and not worry about everything else. Fresh install on the SSD, migrate to it from the /Users backup or Time Machine backup and you're done.

Probably on the source disk since that's what all the other errors are about. The destination is the new SSD.

Just wanted to update you that I did manage to omit the entire /log folder and it successfully completed everything about 5 minutes later with no issues, I guess I was 99% backed up by the time I got the error.

I also booted from the SSD connected via USB just fine! I guess that is it! Time to physically swap the drives. I also am putting in 8 GB of RAM at the same time, very exciting. :)

Thank you!


EDIT: I am now typing this from my newly upgraded MBP with the SSD and 8 GB of RAM! Everything went well!


The only thing I noticed is when I opened the back, there was a noticeably amount of dust around the optical drive and in other places. I have a can of compressed air, but when I did some research to see if I should blow the dust away some people said it was a good idea and others said a terrible idea. I want to open my computer up again this weekend and get rid of all the dust -- what is the best way for me to do that?
 

deim0s

Member
@X-Frame
I think you should. Just hold the fan so it'll not spin. I think I need to do this myself too. Caking dust is a no no.




For backups and network storages, anyone have experience with the WD My Book Live drives? Are they any good, reliability - can replace a drive and whatnot?
 
I just updated my iMac to Mountain Lion. As I was setting up there was a button to click to see what applications wouldn't work on Mountain Lion that I didn't see until after I clicked the button to finish the install. Is there any way to get back to that page or to check what apps I have that aren't compatible?
 

Majine

Banned
Noticed that Skype doesn't give me notifications anymore for some reason despite all settings for it are on. This all results in me missing alot of messages. Anyone else experiencing this?
 

Haribo

Banned
I just updated my iMac to Mountain Lion. As I was setting up there was a button to click to see what applications wouldn't work on Mountain Lion that I didn't see until after I clicked the button to finish the install. Is there any way to get back to that page or to check what apps I have that aren't compatible?
Not that I know of, but you can use http://roaringapps.com/ to check compatibility.
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
anyone know of a good Sim city clone for Mac? It seems there is not a single sim city game available on the app store for my macbook air.
You can buy SimCity 2000 off GOG. It runs in a DOSBox environment but is seamless for OS X usability. But it is indeed the DOS version so there's no widescreen or native resolution. It's stuck at 800x600 I believe.

Or you can purchase the new SimCity off Origin if you like torture and delicious DRM flavored fun.
 

Gila

Member
Lost my iPhone yesterday, bought a replacement android phone for the time being. Now I can iMessage through my Mac but I'm not receiving SMS from the same friend who I'm chatting on iMessage with..

Ex) I'll SMS him with my phone, he replies back through iMessage and it goes straight to my Mac - I don't receive anything on the android phone.

Help!
 

cjkeats

Member
Lost my iPhone yesterday, bought a replacement android phone for the time being. Now I can iMessage through my Mac but I'm not receiving SMS from the same friend who I'm chatting on iMessage with..

Ex) I'll SMS him with my phone, he replies back through iMessage and it goes straight to my Mac - I don't receive anything on the android phone.

Help!

Can you disable your phone number from iMessage? Set iMessage to only work through email.
 

Rei_Toei

Fclvat sbe Pnanqn, ru?
Today is the 6th anniversary of my MacBook! Still runs like a champ. Am looking into replacing it later this year though, little fella is having a hard time running 1080p vids. Still, it just keeps on trucking. Crackbooked two times and had to replace fried memory once, but Apple fixed all that for free each time.
 

edgefusion

Member
Can anyone help me with this external display problem? I have a late 2008 MacBook pro connected to a Samsung S22B300HS via a VGA cable and VGA > Mini DisplayPort adaptor. Both the adaptor and VGA cable have been tested are fine.

As you can see from the picture the image is all squashed up in the middle, leaving black borders down the sides. The resolution is set at 1920x1080 (the monitors native res), but that's clearly not what I'm seeing.

displayprobs_zps43cd80d3.jpg
 
I have a late 2008 MacBook pro connected to a Samsung S22B300HS via a VGA cable and VGA > Mini DisplayPort adaptor. Both the adaptor and VGA cable have been tested are fine.

As you can see from the picture the image is all squashed up in the middle, leaving black borders down the sides. The resolution is set at 1920x1080 (the monitors native res), but that's clearly not what I'm seeing.

Is the Mac's UI squished, or does it look normal?
 

coldfoot

Banned
The UI is squished. The album art in iTunes is supposed to be square but if you look closely you can see they're all a bit squished. Adjusting the monitors controls don't go nearly far enough to fix the problem either.
VGA output from Macbooks are rubbish. Does your monitor accept DVI/HDMI?
 
If it's VGA, it's entirely possible that the display settings in the monitor could be to blame. Does the monitor have an 'Auto-Adjust' button or similar? That's always fixed my problems with VGA not aligning properly with screen edges.

VGA should do the job, and if you're happy with it then that's fine. HDMI/DVI will look much nicer though.
 

kennah

Member
I think I'm going to pick up a 2012 MacBook Pro (I know, new ones soon, but I need it for work more now than I do in July). Are there any hard numbers on the FCP performance difference between the 512mb and the 1gig 650M?
 

edgefusion

Member
If it's VGA, it's entirely possible that the display settings in the monitor could be to blame. Does the monitor have an 'Auto-Adjust' button or similar? That's always fixed my problems with VGA not aligning properly with screen edges.

VGA should do the job, and if you're happy with it then that's fine. HDMI/DVI will look much nicer though.

I've been playing around with the monitor settings for hours, using both the manual adjustment sliders and the auto-adjust. It doesn't seem like I'm getting anywhere with it, honestly I'm totally stumped. I know from previous experiences that no part of this hardware chain is faulty, so it should just work no problem.
 

coldfoot

Banned
It has HDMI. Do you recommend I ditch the VGA connection altogether then? It's not salvageable at all?
Yup, in my experience I have never been able to get a proper 1080p output from macbook pros over VGA, while you can get lower resolutions just fine. I just think Apple puts a shit RAMDAC on its laptops. If it has HDMI, might as well use that as the quality will be better and immune to signal degradation.
 

edgefusion

Member
Yup, in my experience I have never been able to get a proper 1080p output from macbook pros over VGA, while you can get lower resolutions just fine. I just think Apple puts a shit RAMDAC on its laptops. If it has HDMI, might as well use that as the quality will be better and immune to signal degradation.

It seems like it's my only option at this point anyway, I spent my whole evening yesterday trying to figure it out with no luck.

Thanks for the advice everyone!
 

Jake.

Member
i have looked around extensively but can't find an answer. i've had a MBA for about 2 months now, and my indicator lights are just dim grey rectangles. everyone else seems to have blue orbs (older versions of ML) or blue glowing rectangles (current version of ML). what's wrong?
 

Guess Who

Banned
i have looked around extensively but can't find an answer. i've had a MBA for about 2 months now, and my indicator lights are just dim grey rectangles. everyone else seems to have blue orbs (older versions of ML) or blue glowing rectangles (current version of ML). what's wrong?

The blue orbs are from 10.5/6/7. Possibly they appear grey because of issues with your screen near the very edge? Try taking a screenshot (cmd+shift+3) and see if they appear blue there.
 

Jake.

Member
The blue orbs are from 10.5/6/7. Possibly they appear grey because of issues with your screen near the very edge? Try taking a screenshot (cmd+shift+3) and see if they appear blue there.

that's crazy - despite not being very blue, they are definitely brighter in the screenshot. is there anything i can do?

edit: i think it might be due to the black gradient/bleeding at the bottom of the screen (apparently a fairly common issue with some MBA's)?
 

Futureman

Member
whenever I drag a file from the desktop to the the recycling bin, a dialogue comes up and says "This item will be deleted immediately. You can’t undo this action."

did I change some setting? Why can't I just have these files sit in the recycling bin?
 
First, it's 'Trash' and has been for nigh-thirty years.

Secondly, That's typically the behaviour on volumes with no Trash, such as network volumes.

You may wish to repair permissions in Disk Utility.
 

snacknuts

we all knew her
I was just reading this post at LifeHacker about pros and cons of PCs and Macs. There's a snippet wherein someone argues that OS X is more intuitive:

Personally, after about a decade of using both side by side, I find the user experience of OS X to be substantially more intuitive than that of Windows 7 and 8. There are some things that were confusing to me, but namely because I grew up on Windows. For example, if I wanted to change the name of a file I had open, I assumed I needed to Save As or close and rename in the file manager. Someone not familiar with this Windows-specific workflow might instead see the name of the file at the top of the window and double click on it to make it editable. That's how it works in OS X.

I have been using OS X for over five years and I had no idea you could do this. I guess it reinforces his point.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
I was just reading this post at LifeHacker about pros and cons of PCs and Macs. There's a snippet wherein someone argues that OS X is more intuitive:



I have been using OS X for over five years and I had no idea you could do this. I guess it reinforces his point.

It doesn't reinforce his point that OSX is more intuitive, if anything your experience contradicts that. On the other hand it does show that OSX is more coherent and better designed.
 
I have been using OS X for over five years and I had no idea you could do this. I guess it reinforces his point.

Double-clicking on a title-bar minimizes the window on my Macs, because I set it to match the behaviour I've become accustomed to (holy crap did it take forever for me to get over the lost of window-shade, going from 9 to X; only Exposé's arrival in 10.3 mollified me).

I think saying the Mac is more intuitive is incorrect — it's probably just as baffling to a new user as Windows is; iOS is intuitive. As Greyface said, it's more coherent; also more consistent: once you learn a few paradigms (e.g. drag-and-drop), you'll discover that they work everywhere. Applications that don't follow the paradigms you become used to feel un-Mac-like (Firefox! Motherfucker!).

I've had "The Moment" many times over the years, where I will just try something new because it or something similar worked on the Mac in a different context. It's amazing. Over in the Mountain Lion thread, people have discussed the cmd-tab & quitting ability. Discovered that by accident this way.
 

Genocyber

Member
Hi

Does anyone know why some icons are stretched like Firefox and Text Wrangler?

I would have thought that it is because these apps have been downloaded from the Internet however Chrome doesn't have this issue.

StretchedIcons_zps7567af05.png
 

saltycigar

Neo Member
Made the switch months ago - it's been brilliant so far.

Is it possible to add more voices to the text-to-speech function?

Anyone here experienced with MacTex and willing to let me bounce a through questions off them?
 

mrkgoo

Member
repaired permissions and it's still doing the same thing. Hmmm.

Maybe take a look at this: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html#Anchor-Files-46919
It details a few reasons why this might be happening.= (namely losing permissions to your hime folder or trash directory).



Hi

Does anyone know why some icons are stretched like Firefox and Text Wrangler?

I would have thought that it is because these apps have been downloaded from the Internet however Chrome doesn't have this issue.

StretchedIcons_zps7567af05.png

Maybe those apps just have lo-res icons?


And I agree with greyface and crudediatribe: Mac OS X is not really 'intuitive'. I don't think any desktop system is really, at least for complete computer illiterates. CLick, double-click, right-click...just these can be daunting.
 
Hi

Does anyone know why some icons are stretched like Firefox and Text Wrangler?

I would have thought that it is because these apps have been downloaded from the Internet however Chrome doesn't have this issue.

StretchedIcons_zps7567af05.png
Try changing your resolution to something else then change it back, from what I've read it can fix that bug. Another thing you can try is to drag those apps into the trash, then drag them back into the Applications folder, that might work. Lastly you can try resetting the Launchpad database. Seems to be a bug since Lion.
 

Genocyber

Member
Changing the resolution fixed the issue for Firefox and uTorrent but even after resetting the Launchpad database the icon for Wrangler is still stretched. It might be that Wrangler has a low res icon.
 

jts

...hate me...
Why are you using launchpad? I need to know!

Launchpad is great would be a reason. I just don't like that it's a dumb grid; need sorting options and organizing tools!

@Genocyber

TextWrangler doesn't have a low-res icon for me. Not that it helps, but at least you know that that is not the problem. Try to reinstall (after a full cleaning of the app and its residue).

RE3ia6K.png
 

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
I love Launch Pad. I dumped DragThing when it came out. The gesture to get to it is nice. The look is nice. I don't understand the hate. I love LP.
 

Skunkers

Member
Someone not familiar with this Windows-specific workflow might instead see the name of the file at the top of the window and double click on it to make it editable. That's how it works in OS X.

What? I've been using Macs for 20 years and I don't even know what this is talking about. Double-clicking the title bar minimizes the window...?
 
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