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Mac OSX Noob thread of OSX noobs

Ugh, iTunes videos fucking suck. I can't believe I wasted $25 on this shit. It gives me an error saying my tv isn't hdcp compliant when it is and I try to output to my monitor instead and it won't make the picture correctly. It keeps putting black bars on the left and right for some reason. What a fucking headache.
 

mrkgoo

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Ugh, iTunes videos fucking suck. I can't believe I wasted $25 on this shit. It gives me an error saying my tv isn't hdcp compliant when it is and I try to output to my monitor instead and it won't make the picture correctly. It keeps putting black bars on the left and right for some reason. What a fucking headache.

HDCP? ARe you going via DVI to HDMI or something? You might need an HDCP compliant cable? Not sure.

Is House broadcast in 16:9? If it is, and the iTunes videos are only 4:3, that's crazy stupid.

I've only ever downloaded Up in HD from iTunes - partially as an experiment to see what 1) iTunes movies were like, 2) HD was like, 3) iTunes extras were like. It was all pretty good, and I had a free $10 voucher to use so it didn't cost me too much.
 
mrkgoo said:
HDCP? ARe you going via DVI to HDMI or something? You might need an HDCP compliant cable? Not sure.

Is House broadcast in 16:9? If it is, and the iTunes videos are only 4:3, that's crazy stupid.

I've only ever downloaded Up in HD from iTunes - partially as an experiment to see what 1) iTunes movies were like, 2) HD was like, 3) iTunes extras were like. It was all pretty good, and I had a free $10 voucher to use so it didn't cost me too much.

Dunno it's one of the older seasons. It's not the video though, my whole desktop has the bars that's why it's pissing me off. It doesn't do that on my tv. I'm using mini display port to dvi on my tv. The whole reason I only did one was to test it but now that it's a failure, imo, I wish I picked a show I didn't already own. :/
 

mrkgoo

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Dunno it's one of the older seasons. It's not the video though, my whole desktop has the bars that's why it's pissing me off. It doesn't do that on my tv. I'm using mini display port to dvi on my tv. The whole reason I only did one was to test it but now that it's a failure, imo, I wish I picked a show I didn't already own. :/

TVs and computer monitors aren't eh same aspect ratio (normally).

It's also possible your TV is cropping the top and bottom of the image.

edit: I did some research on House MD season 1 DVD - it was initially released as non anamorphic, and had an issue with viewing. Maybe the iTunes files have a similar issue? These are HD though, so probably not.
 
mrkgoo said:
TVs and computer monitors aren't eh same aspect ratio (normally).

It's also possible your TV is cropping the top and bottom of the image.

My tv can't be since it would fuck up the dock then. It's a goddamn desktop, you should be able to choose any resolution for it.
 

mrkgoo

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
My tv can't be since it would fuck up the dock then. It's a goddamn desktop, you should be able to choose any resolution for it.


Ah, so you're using your TV from your computer. Make sure you're using the native resolution. Check the file resolution, and also check out how it looks in QuickTime.

Sounds bizarre anyway. Doesn't bode well for iTunes TV shows!
 
mrkgoo said:
Ah, so you're using your TV from your computer. Make sure you're using the native resolution. Check the file resolution, and also check out how it looks in QuickTime.

Sounds bizarre anyway. Doesn't bode well for iTunes TV shows!

Nope, it's the native resolution of my tv and monitor. No matter what resolution I pick it's not changing anything for whatever reason anymore. I've given up for tonight and emailed them about a refund. I don't even want these shitty videos, I can't even watch them.
 

mrkgoo

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Nope, it's the native resolution of my tv and monitor. No matter what resolution I pick it's not changing anything for whatever reason anymore. I've given up for tonight and emailed them about a refund. I don't even want these shitty videos, I can't even watch them.

Fair enough.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
I'm giving up waiting for Apple to incorporate blurays. Are there decent external bluray players (+ burners/ripper) to connect with MacBooks?
 

Jasoco

Banned
Video from iTunes is shitty no matter what kind it is. SD or so-called HD alike. Their HD videos are 720 but the PQ is horrible. I downloaded the free copy of The Dark Knight it spplied with my Blu-Ray and it's nowhere near the quality of a real BRD even at 720. It's horribly compressed and therefore blurry. And their SD videos are smaller than a DVD would have been and lower quality. You could get a better rip of any movie from BitTorrent than what Apple gives you.
 
So eh.... this is really fucking stupid, but I figure it's as good as place as any to ask.


I got this 13 inch macbook pro and it has an SD card reader slot, and I tried experimenting with it a little. I inserted a memory card from my old phone (a Nokia N70), the card is the size of a sim card and it fit perfectly. Except the mac doesn't read it, should have known that since it's not an SD card, and the goddamn card is now jammed in there. I can't get it back out.

Has anyone here been as stupid as me or know anyone who tried something similarly retarded? How do I get it back out? I tried some little tweezers, but I can't get a good enough purchase on it.


/edit: Never mind, I found a really brilliant solution which involved a narrow slice of business card and a piece of tape on the end.
 

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
Jasoco said:
Video from iTunes is shitty no matter what kind it is. SD or so-called HD alike. Their HD videos are 720 but the PQ is horrible. I downloaded the free copy of The Dark Knight it spplied with my Blu-Ray and it's nowhere near the quality of a real BRD even at 720. It's horribly compressed and therefore blurry. And their SD videos are smaller than a DVD would have been and lower quality. You could get a better rip of any movie from BitTorrent than what Apple gives you.
No digital copies are in HD, so your TDK digital copy certainly isn't (mine isn't).

Their HD offerings are very good, though. I've bought every season of LOST from iTunes and it looks as good or better than original broadcasting in HD. Same with 30 Rock. HD Movies that I've purchased have also looked good, but not as good as the BluRays.

iTunes HD isn't anywhere near BluRay levels of quality, but it's nowhere near as bad as you're stating.
 

mrkgoo

Member
RubxQub said:
No digital copies are in HD, so your TDK digital copy certainly isn't (mine isn't).

Their HD offerings are very good, though. I've bought every season of LOST from iTunes and it looks as good or better than original broadcasting in HD. Same with 30 Rock. HD Movies that I've purchased have also looked good, but not as good as the BluRays.

iTunes HD isn't anywhere near BluRay levels of quality, but it's nowhere near as bad as you're stating.


I was going to say the same. I didn't think the digital copies were HD, even those that came with Blu-rays. The digital copy is intended to be used for a portable device such as iPod.

I've found the SD iTunes stuff to be better than rips I would make off a DVD for the same file size - I used to wonder why, but it was obvious that it was because Apple no doubt get files that are transfers off a master as opposed to a final dvd :)

And not to be rude, but seriously shaking my head at sticking a mini/micro SD/MS into a standard SD slot. There's adaptors for that if it's a mini/micro SD.
 
so with a mini DVI to HDMI cable I was able to connect my 13" macbook pro to my 50" Panasonic Plasma (720p)

I am kinda surprised that the macbook pro can send a 1080p signal to the TV if you select the option

my TV is only 720p so when I play a DVD from my macbook is that really 720p being displayed? (I'm not sure how these things work)

I'm getting sound using the macbook's headphone jack using an RCA cable the audio is pretty sweet on this TV beats the small speaker shit on this macbook by miles

I've been reading that some people add a wireless mouse and keyboard that just leave the macbook closed. I tried closing the macbook but the image on the TV does not stay...

do I need to get the wireless keyboard and mouse before I can use this feature?
 
Smiles and Cries said:
so with a mini DVI to HDMI cable I was able to connect my 13" macbook pro to my 50" Panasonic Plasma (720p)

I am kinda surprised that the macbook pro can send a 1080p signal to the TV if you select the option

my TV is only 720p so when I play a DVD from my macbook is that really 720p being displayed? (I'm not sure how these things work)

I'm getting sound using the macbook's headphone jack using an RCA cable the audio is pretty sweet on this TV beats the small speaker shit on this macbook by miles

I've been reading that some people add a wireless mouse and keyboard that just leave the macbook closed. I tried closing the macbook but the image on the TV does not stay...

do I need to get the wireless keyboard and mouse before I can use this feature?
Yes.
 

Particle Physicist

between a quark and a baryon
Smiles and Cries said:
I've been reading that some people add a wireless mouse and keyboard that just leave the macbook closed. I tried closing the macbook but the image on the TV does not stay...

do I need to get the wireless keyboard and mouse before I can use this feature?



it doesn't have to be wireless. you can also close the lid, then slightly open it and i think click on the keyboard, or the track pad to wake up the computer without turning on it's screen (only works if already connected to tv).

do you have an apple remote? also works well with it
 
What kind of voodoo is this... I finally get home before 9:00 so I can call apple support to fix my hdcp problem and I try it again to write down the error specifically and it works perfectly... Why does my macbook pro hate me?
 

pj

Banned
Man, I love that update that stops the DWEE OO WEEEOOO WAAHHHH sound my optical drive used to make every time it woke up from sleep. It always puzzled me how they'd let something like that happen on a $2000 laptop
 

hirokazu

Member
pj325is said:
Man, I love that update that stops the DWEE OO WEEEOOO WAAHHHH sound my optical drive used to make every time it woke up from sleep. It always puzzled me how they'd let something like that happen on a $2000 laptop
Wait, which update is this? I don't think I have this update!
 
I've been having quite a bit of problems with my MBP lately. At random, the book will seize up and give me that beach ball. At first, I thought it was an issue with the latest Flash client, but earlier today my computer didn't want to do ANYTHING. It practically froze, and after a few restarts, nothing happened. I turned it off for a few minutes, and it seems to finally be working now. I try not to keep very many extra programs running. I just have Firefox, Echofon, and Adium. Is there anything like Task Manager in OSX that I can see if there are any other processes running?
 
Jet Grind Radio! said:
I've been having quite a bit of problems with my MBP lately. At random, the book will seize up and give me that beach ball. At first, I thought it was an issue with the latest Flash client, but earlier today my computer didn't want to do ANYTHING. It practically froze, and after a few restarts, nothing happened. I turned it off for a few minutes, and it seems to finally be working now. I try not to keep very many extra programs running. I just have Firefox, Echofon, and Adium. Is there anything like Task Manager in OSX that I can see if there are any other processes running?
Applications
utilities
resource monitor


I love my new iMac though flash catalyst hates it
 

elohel

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
What kind of voodoo is this... I finally get home before 9:00 so I can call apple support to fix my hdcp problem and I try it again to write down the error specifically and it works perfectly... Why does my macbook pro hate me?



dont call them anymore just go to the apple store site, look up a macbook or something and hit the chat button to talk to someone

i ask them whatever the fuck i want all the time LOL

its supposed to be used for like, purchasing help but i use it to get help with everything all the time, they'll at least point you in the right direction if they dont have a straight answer
 

Primetime21

Neo Member
GAF I need your help to determine if I found a good deal or not.

$800 on craigslist for:
Macbook 13.3 400gb hard drive with 4gb of ram.
Windows 7,Adobe Photoshop CS4, Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8, iLife 09, iWorks 09 and the Windows side comes with Microsoft Office 2007.
APPLE CARE UNTIL JUNE 2010

3ke3pb3lf5O75R05Sa9cbcee04d6222691e16.jpg


3nb3k33of5V55Td5S89cb802f176d977114d6.jpg


I am super indecisive and dont know the most about macs but this looks like a great deal for me and if I dont pull the trigger here I will probably hold off till like June.

WWGD(What would GAF do)
 
Is there a way to save imported iPhoto to a different format? Whatever the default at it's smaller than the original file. Is there a way to keep the file unchanged? I looked around in preferences and other places and can't find it.
 

Primetime21

Neo Member
Primetime21 said:
GAF I need your help to determine if I found a good deal or not.

$800 on craigslist for:
Macbook 13.3 400gb hard drive with 4gb of ram.
Windows 7,Adobe Photoshop CS4, Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8, iLife 09, iWorks 09 and the Windows side comes with Microsoft Office 2007.
APPLE CARE UNTIL JUNE 2010

3ke3pb3lf5O75R05Sa9cbcee04d6222691e16.jpg


3nb3k33of5V55Td5S89cb802f176d977114d6.jpg


I am super indecisive and dont know the most about macs but this looks like a great deal for me and if I dont pull the trigger here I will probably hold off till like June.

WWGD(What would GAF do)

Dont fail me now GAF I need to know that this is a good deal and that I would become a bad ass hipster with the purchase of this product.
 

Jasoco

Banned
The discs for that software won't be included most likely so don't expect them.

Other than that, YES, if it is a Core2Duo. Does the auction specify?

What is the speed? What is the year? Is it a first generation or a second one? Does it have cracks in the palmrest yet? (Not that it matters if you have the warranty)


Thinking about it, if it has AppleCare until June, then it is 2.5 years old, as is mine. So it is probably a C2D 2GHz. I'd say it's pretty good deal, but if you have just a measly $200 more, you can get a brand new better model from Apple. I'd say save $200 more and just get a new unibody plastic model with the new case. Or at least a refurbished one from Apple that will be guaranteed to be new.

So final answer, on the fence. You can, but you can do better from Apple for a small amount more.

Don't buy it based on the software since it won't have discs.
 

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
Jasoco said:
The discs for that software won't be included most likely so don't expect them.

Other than that, YES, if it is a Core2Duo. Does the auction specify?

What is the speed? What is the year? Is it a first generation or a second one? Does it have cracks in the palmrest yet? (Not that it matters if you have the warranty)


Thinking about it, if it has AppleCare until June, then it is 2.5 years old, as is mine. So it is probably a C2D 2GHz. I'd say it's pretty good deal, but if you have just a measly $200 more, you can get a brand new better model from Apple. I'd say save $200 more and just get a new unibody plastic model with the new case. Or at least a refurbished one from Apple that will be guaranteed to be new.

So final answer, on the fence. You can, but you can do better from Apple for a small amount more.

Don't buy it based on the software since it won't have discs.

Better off getting a refurbished 13" aluminum MacBook for $900 with student discount:

http://store.apple.com/us_edu_254774/product/FB466LL/A?mco=MTA4MzIyODg

13.3-inch 1280-by-800 pixel LED-backlit display
2GB memory
160GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Standard keyboard
 

Primetime21

Neo Member
Thanks for the replys and I agree that most of the stuff is pirated. He specifically said in the post do not expect the cds.

Buying a clean(refurbished) Macbook might be worth more to me than a heavily pirated and proned out used Macbook but I still might pull the trigger.

Only thing really stopping me is Black Friday hurt my wallet and I can wait till June till I need to upgrade obsolete laptop. But I use an iMac everyday and it hurts me to go home to my gateway laptop that has a 22 min battery. Will decide soon and if I get bamboozled by craigslist will tell GAF.
 

Jasoco

Banned
Yes, exactly. The aluminum one will be way ahead of the one on Craigslist. It may not have all that pirated stuff (It may be legal, they just won't be giving you the discs so it is still pirated) but it will be a better deal still. Never base your decision on the software you're getting for free with it.

Edit: Just wait. Save up the money. Buy one from Apple. At that price, get it from Apple. Unless it were $600, get it from Apple. Just do it. Any trigger you pull should be for Apple.
 

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
Primetime21 said:
Thanks for the replys and I agree that most of the stuff is pirated. He specifically said in the post do not expect the cds.

Buying a clean(refurbished) Macbook might be worth more to me than a heavily pirated and proned out used Macbook but I still might pull the trigger.

Only thing really stopping me is Black Friday hurt my wallet and I can wait till June till I need to upgrade obsolete laptop. But I use an iMac everyday and it hurts me to go home to my gateway laptop that has a 22 min battery. Will decide soon and if I get bamboozled by craigslist will tell GAF.

If you can wait, just wait. No sense in breaking the bank for something you, yourself, can wait for. Even though the MBs were updated just two months ago, I'm sure they'll be tweaked again in six months.
 

Primetime21

Neo Member
So thanks to Phobophile I am even more on the fence. I really like the newer models of the Macbook and the idea of having it fresh is an advantage. Only big positive of the craigslist Macbook is the upgraded RAM and hardrive.

How much would it cost me to upgrade the refurbished Macbook to 4gb Ram/ 400gb HD?
 

Jasoco

Banned
There is no fence. Go refurbished. RAM is cheap. HD's are cheap. And both are user serviceable. Do not buy the Craigslist model. Just hold out for a refurb from Apple or a new one from Apple.

A 500GB HD is $100 or less.

And RAM, 4GB is $100.
 
So yesterday I did the 'Erase free disk space' from disk utility. Today, I've got some weird problems...

Whenever I drag something to the trash or press command + backspace, I'm asked if I want to delete the item immediately. The trash does not fill up and I haven't changed any options, knowingly at least.

Spotlight seems to be a bit funky too. Usually just typing in "Di", "Disk Utility" would come up straight away, but it doesn't show under any spotlight searches now.

Any idea what the problems are?
 

mrkgoo

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
Is there a way to save imported iPhoto to a different format? Whatever the default at it's smaller than the original file. Is there a way to keep the file unchanged? I looked around in preferences and other places and can't find it.

Not sure what you mean - you mean exporting from iPhoto or importing to it?

iPhoto gives you options for export, but shouldn't change a file during import.
 

Particle Physicist

between a quark and a baryon
liquid_gears said:
So yesterday I did the 'Erase free disk space' from disk utility. Today, I've got some weird problems...

Whenever I drag something to the trash or press command + backspace, I'm asked if I want to delete the item immediately. The trash does not fill up and I haven't changed any options, knowingly at least.

Spotlight seems to be a bit funky too. Usually just typing in "Di", "Disk Utility" would come up straight away, but it doesn't show under any spotlight searches now.

Any idea what the problems are?


go to disk utility and verify disk. if it finds an issue, you will have to pop in your OS X disk, restart from it, and repair the disk using disk utility on it.

i also had a strange issue once after doing the erase free disk space, but it fixed it up pretty nicely.

afterwords you can also download Onyx and do all the maintenance stuff.. http://www.titanium.free.fr/index_us.html
 

mrkgoo

Member
liquid_gears said:
So yesterday I did the 'Erase free disk space' from disk utility. Today, I've got some weird problems...

Whenever I drag something to the trash or press command + backspace, I'm asked if I want to delete the item immediately. The trash does not fill up and I haven't changed any options, knowingly at least.

Spotlight seems to be a bit funky too. Usually just typing in "Di", "Disk Utility" would come up straight away, but it doesn't show under any spotlight searches now.

Any idea what the problems are?

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html#Anchor-Files-46919

If you are not dragging files from removable media to the Trash and are informed that files dragged to the Trash "will be deleted immediately," there are three possible causes:

You are either no longer the Owner of your Home folder, do not have Access of Read & Write to such, or both.
Your account's Trash, i.e. your ~/.Trash directory, has been deleted.
You no longer are the owner of your account's Trash.
To resolve this problem, proceed as follows:
 

btkadams

Member
Jasoco said:
Video from iTunes is shitty no matter what kind it is. SD or so-called HD alike. Their HD videos are 720 but the PQ is horrible. I downloaded the free copy of The Dark Knight it spplied with my Blu-Ray and it's nowhere near the quality of a real BRD even at 720. It's horribly compressed and therefore blurry. And their SD videos are smaller than a DVD would have been and lower quality. You could get a better rip of any movie from BitTorrent than what Apple gives you.
the free copy of dark knight you get with the blu ray is 480... that's why it doesn't look 720.
 

NeoForte

Member
So it being Christmas time, I might have the option of replacing my old 4 year desktop. I was thinking of getting a Mac Pro instead of just building my own Desktop. Since I got my MacBook Pro over a year ago I just love Mac. So I'm thinking of eventually getting a Mac Pro, just need a few questions answered. Though I should let you know I shall be using the PC mainly for 3D work, animation with Maya, maybe some rendering down the line and just general use. I will also be using Boot camp to use Win7 for games (hopefully playing some of the newer games at smooth or good speeds).

Should I go for the 8 core or just stay with he Quad core? Is the 3.3 Quad Core worth getting?

Which video card which is better, the ATI Radeon HD 4870 or EVGA GeForce GTX 285?

Though not a big deal breaker but how well would most recent games run on Win7 Bootcamp with either one of those cards? Would really appreciate the help~
 

scorcho

testicles on a cold fall morning
at this point the performance difference between the quadcore iMac w/4850 and a MacPro isn't worth the massive price difference. If anything, you can use the difference to build a separate gaming PC with an even better graphics card(s) while using the iMac's gorgeous 27" screen as its monitor.
 

fireside

Member
NeoForte said:
Wow seriously? I never knew the iMacs where that powerful now.
You can get a 27" iMac Core i7 for 300 dollars less than the cheapest Mac Pro, which has less hard drive space, less memory, and a worse graphics card. And then you'll have to buy a display.
 
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