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The most recent news starts first, older news below.
July 2008
Sun hopes to take VirtualBox mainstream
Sun's xVM VirtualBox isn't found on as many Macs as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion, but Sun has ambitious aspirations for its free desktop virtualization software.
"We want to be the FireFox of virtualization," said Andy Holl, Sun's senior product manager for xVM VirtualBox.
Giving away VirtualBox away as open source software is one way to do it. In May, Sun was claiming 10,000 downloads a day for the Windows, Mac OS X, Lixux, and Solaris versions...
Reader says Parallels work just fine with dual 30" displays
Gary Stahara responded to previous reports that Parallels desktop didn't support enough graphics RAM to support two 30" displays. It works just fine for him:
I've got two Apple 30" displays and can run Parallels (Windows XP Pro SP2) in Coherence mode with both screens working just fine on my Mac Pro with nVidia 8800GT. Maybe the people having problems with this haven't updated Boot camp to 2.1 or have the most current video drivers. Everything works great for me.
If you can verify this
Reader says 10.5.4 didn't fix Adobe file saving issues with Win Server
Tony Sterckx in Belgium is having problems with saving Adobe files to Windows Servers. He is running Leopard 10.5.4, which Apple reported as having fixed the problem. Sterckx reports:
We work on a daily basis with Adobe and Windows Server 2003. Since Leopard came along, we noticed Adobe failing to save InDesign, Illustrator or Photoshop files on our server. Various problems like:
- Opening in read-only
- File not found upon saving
- Error saving
I don't know how many of these things have been fixed by previous updates, but I work on 10.5.4 and some still occur on my Mac, and even more with some of my colleagues.
If you've seen this problem in Mac OS X 10.5.4 or know of a fix
Reader question about Macs and MS Index Server
Thomas Lüthi in Zürich, Switzerland asks:
We have a share (Windows 2003 Server). We do also have Windows and Mac clients and would like to search for files on the server via the MS Index Server on it. Is it possible with Windows and Mac clients to access to MS Index Server on the Windows server to search for and find files on this share?
If you know the answer
Reader verifies AD fix for 0-kb file problem
Matt Wheeler verified that adjusting Active Directory fixed Leopard's 0-kb file copy problem.
Neither 10.5.3 nor the 10.5.4 update fixed this issue, but the tweak explained at MacWindows fixed it. Windows Server 2003 + User accounts in Active Directory security groups = Unhappy Mac. Used to work fine in 10.3.X and 10.4.X. Upgrading to 10.5.X broke it for us. Thanks for this fix!
Neither 10.5.3 nor the 10.5.4 update fixed this issue, but the tweak explained here fixed it. Windows Server 2003 + User accounts in Active Directory security groups = Unhappy Mac. Used to work fine in 10.3.X and 10.4.X. Upgrading to 10.5.X broke it for us. Thanks for this fix!
Reader verifies hostconfig fix for Leopard AD login problem
Tim P verified a previously reported fix for a Leopard problem logging into Active Directory after one user has logged in. The fix involved editing the hostconfig file. Tim P also offered a correction:
I tried the fix posted by Stuart Sims regarding "Problem and fix for Leopard AD: First user okay, subsequent users can't login" posted on www.macwindows.com/LeopardAD.html...
Cisco VPN Client and Verizon EVDO USB Modem
Greg Stasko had problems getting a Cisco VPN connection through a Verizon EVDO USB Modem. He had better luck with Apple drivers instead of using the Verizon software:
I'd like to report success note to include in your Cisco discussions. For quite a while, I could not get my USB EVDO Modem from Verizon to work with the Cisco VPN client, 4.9.01 (0100)...
RAM may cause VMware Fusion crashing Leopard
John Adams think a bad RAM module was causing VMware Fusion to crash Leopard:
I wanted to reiterate Greg Kyle's post from November 19, 2007. Since installing Fusion on my MacBook Pro, my OS X was crashing and restarting every 8-10 minutes.
I think it was actually a faulty memory card that I had installed. Since removing the new 1G that I had installed, I haven't had the problem. I bought a new 1 gig memory card from the Apple Store 2 weeks ago and since I installed it everything has been running smoothly. I have to believe that was the problem.
Today we also reported that VMWare said that problem in Mac OS X is causing VMware to freeze Mac OS X when a certain preference setting is made.
Click here for our VMware Tips and Reports page.
TIP: Workaround for AutoCAD, Parallels file locking issue
Larry Martin sent an update to his previous report AutoCAD in Parallels Desktop and a file locking problem. He said that using Bridged Networking instead of Shared Networking gets around the problem:
I have an update on this issue. If you use Parallels Shared Networking and share your Mac shares with Win XP, the file locking does not function as expected with other Parallels users using the same networking configuration. You MUST use native Windows file sharing on all installations and not use the Mac shares...
Parallels VRAM limitations on 30" display an Coherence mode
A reader reports that the 64 MB of video RAM is not enough to run Parallels coherence mode on a 30" display:
With only one 30" monitor, I am unable to run Parallels in Coherence mode. It appears that on my system, 64MB of VRAM is insufficient for only one 30" monitor. I've reverted to Single Window mode and have had no additional problems.
System: Mac Pro (early 2008) Leopard 10.5.4 - 10GB RAM, Parallels 5608, Win XP Pro SP2 w/ 2GB RAM allocation and 64MB VRAM.
64 MB of VRAM is the most that Parallels Desktop will support. Earlier this week, another reader reported that Parallels Desktop doesn't have enough video RAM support to run two 30" Apple displays.
If you can verify this
Click here for our Parallels Tips and Reports page.
(Related story: tip for using 30-inch display in Boot Camp.)
Nividia video drivers fix fuzzy Boot Camp problem
Ben Staveley reported a blurred screen in Boot Camp, but drivers fixed it:
I recently installed Windows XP on my Mac Pro. When I was in Windows, all the text is half blurred and hard to read. I played around with the resolution settings but it didn't solve the problem. When I go back to the Mac side, it's all fine.
I sorted out the problem: installing the Nvidia drivers made it work.
If you've seen this
MacDrive 7.2 gets 64-bit Vista compatibility
Mediafour has released MacDrive 7.2, an update to the software that enables Windows to read and write to Mac-formatted HFS+ and HFS drives. MacDrive 7.2 adds compatibility with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. MacDrive has been compatible with the 32-bit Vista since version MacDrive 7.0 shipped last year. Mediafour also said that version 7.2 includes ?minor improvements and revisions."
MacDrive 7 supports a variety of media types, including hard drives, CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, iPods, flash drives, DMG virtual disk files and more. It can also enable Windows running in Boot Camp to recognize the Mac partition. MacDrive 7 supports USB, FireWire, IDE, SATA, parallel port, and other interfaces supported by Windows.
The update is a free download for owners of MacDrive 7 and is US $20 for owners a earlier versions. A new copy of MacDrive 7 is US $50.
Apple sues Mac clone maker Psystar for tradmark, copyright infringement
Apple has filed suit against Florida-based Psystar for selling computers preinstalled with Mac OS X Leopard and Mac OS X Server. Apple filed the 16-page suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on July 3, alleging copyright and trademark infringements, and other wrongs to Apple. Florida-based Psystar began selling a $400 tower in April, and added a rack-mounted server...
Reader suggestion for printing from Parallels
Kyle Anderson adds to our reports about printing from Parallels Desktop with a suggestion for people printing from Windows in Parallels Desktop:
I was also having problems printing on both the Mac and through Parallels. I thought I needed to have the printers set up through Windows since that was where I used them the most. I was terribly wrong. For some reason, it just didn't seem to be stable enough. It hardly worked. I then deleted all of the printers from the PC side and installed them on the Mac side. I made sure I had the latest version of Parallels and I downloaded Bonjour to run on Windows. I have not had a single problem since, even through the networked computers.
For more on Parallels, see our Parallels Tips and Reports page.
Parallels VRAM limitations and dual 30" displays
Robert James points out that Parallels Desktop doesn't have enough video RAM support for two big monitors:
What build 5608 does NOT fix: Because Parallels only provides 64MB of video RAM we are unable to run Vista 64 and Leopard in coherence mode on two Apple Cinema 30" monitors. The problem arises when attempting to stretch a Vista window onto the second monitor: apparently the number of pixels needed exceeds the video memory's limit.
If you can add anything useful to this
Clarification on Cisco VPN AppleScript tip
A reader pointed out an issue with an AppleScript we posted as a fix for a Leopard problem with the Cisco VPN client for Mac OS X. He said that the script appears to be self-referential, calling to run itself in the script.
We asked the script author, Eric Benfer, for a clarification about the script, which is called VPNClient First Aid when compiled. He said that the purpose of the self reference is to bring VPNClient First Aid to the forground after attempting to reset the Cisco VPN Client. Benfer said:
I believe he is talking about this line:
tell application "VPNClient First Aid"
activate
set didItStart to display dialog "Did the Cisco VPNClient start successfully?" buttons {"Yes", "No"} default button {"Yes"} with icon 2 with title "Alert!"
Once the VPN subsystem has been reset the script starts the Cisco VPN Client. After it starts it brings the AppleScript back into the foreground to display a dialog box asking if the VPN client actually started. If it started all is good. If it did not start the script recommends a reboot.
The "activate" command is being used to make sure the user sees the dialog box that the AppleScript is displaying.
If you've tried Benfer's Applescript
Update in using USB in Virtual PC with XP SP3
Fred Horva updated his report about USB problems with Virtual PC 7 and Windows XP SP3:
There was something obvious I forgot to mention in my 05-19-08 response to Etienne Mathieu. That is in the Virtual Machine Settings USB needs to turned on. Plus sometimes you need to actually check the box for each device for Windows that you wish to use. This may or may not be Etienne Mathieu's issue but sometimes each individual USB device needs to be activated besides just USB.
Snow Leopard’s Exchange support won’t deliver Outlook parity
July 15, 2008
Snow Leopard's "out-of-the-box support" for Microsoft Exchange 2007 is the only new user-level feature listed at Apple’s Snow Leopard preview page. The rest are under-the-hood enhancements. But for those longing for Entourage alternatives, Snow Leopard’s Exchange client won’t be the Mac equivalent of Outlook in terms of functionality. It might not even be an Entourage...
MacWindows Leopard VPN Tips and Reports reorganized
We've reorganized our reports on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard's problems with virtual private networks on a new Leopard VPN Tips and Reports page. The reports are now organized into categories for easier browsing.
Update to tip on enabling Windows to see Leopard file sharing
Arvid Tomayko-Peters sent a revisal to his June 16 tip for enabling Windows to see Leopard file sharing. He adds one more setting change to his previous suggestion:
Actually, what seems to have done the trick (in OS X 10.5.4) is to set not only the workgroup in the Network settings > Advanced > WINS tab, but also to enter a custom name for the Mac...
Printing error ("access_denied") with Leopard 10.5.4
Xavier Hernandez reports seeing a printing problem the yields an error "NT_STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED" for printers attached to Windows PCs. We had a lot of reports about this for Tiger, as well as a number of suggested fixes. Hernandez is seeing this on Leopard, and has some ideas, but no fix:
From Leopard, I can see an HP Printer (Color LaserJet 2600N) hooked to a Windows XP computer on the company network (we are on the same subnet, workgroup,etc). I can see it and add to my printers. But when I try to print, I see the job sent to the printer, but stays there and a message that says NT_STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED...
TIP: Using a pre-SP2 Win XP installer in Boot Camp
Cathal Gallagher responded to a report about what to do if you accidentally install Windows XP without Service Pack 2 in Boot Camp. Gallagher has a suggestion on how to use a pre-SP2 XP installer: 070908c
If you want to install an older version of XP on you Mac (such as might be the case if your site license does not recognize Windows boot discs with SP2/SP3 preinstalled), you can create a version that "slipstreams" the service pack during the installation using a program such as nLite.
If you've tried this approach
Suggestions for Vista update problem in Boot Camp
A couple of readers responded to our report about interrupting an update of Windows Vista in Boot Camp, and then being unable to boot.
Michael Sneider offered an explanation:
This was a bug in either the first version of the Windows Vista SP1 release or one of the updates right before the SP1 release. I don't recall all the specifics, but I do distinctly remember reading about the endless Stage 3 boot recycle. The solution, I think, was to reinstall Vista all over again. The broken MS updates have since been replaced with corrected versions.
Mike Vidal suggested doing a "repair install" of Windows Vista and then trying the upgrade again. However Vista does not have XP's Recovery Console, and does not have a repair install. But Vista does have a "repair your computer option." We found some info on Windows Vista repair here. There's some info here about reinstalling Vista.
If you reinstall Windows in Boot Camp, you'll need to reinstall the Apple drivers.
Updates for Citrix GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar are Mac compatible with free VoIP
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Yesterday, Citrix launched updated versions of its GoToMeeting 4.0 and GoToWebinar 4.0 conferencing software/service that are now fully Mac compatible. Mac users can now conduct meetings and webinars. Previously, Macs could only join meetings and conferences, and did not have access to all of the features of Windows...
Read entire story here
Citrix GoToMeeting: Free Trial + $10 Off. 
Now, completely cross-platform: Mac users can conduct and attend planned or impromptu online events just as easily as PC users.
Free VoIP and audio conferencing for both Mac and PC.
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CrossOver 7.0.2 fixes Office for Windows and printing bugs
On Monday, CodeWeavers released CrossOver 7.0.2, a maintenance update for the software that enables a Mac to run Windows applications without Windows itself. The update fixes a problem running Office 2000 and Office XP on some 64-bit Macs. It also fixes a problem with saving Word 2003 and Excel 2003 files and problem printing with copies of CrossOver that were upgraded.
If you've tried CrossOver 7
For more on CrossOver, see our CrossOver Tips and Reports page.
TIP: For Parallels printing get the 32-bit version of Bonjour for Windows
Mike Pasquale suggested a fix for a reader's problem printing from Windows with Bonjour in Parallels Desktop on a Mac:
From the error message Tamara received in attempting to run Bonjour, it appears she downloaded the Bonjour setup for 64-Bit Windows instead of the version for 32-bit Windows. On the Apple Bonjour for Windows page, she should click on the link next to "File Size" for the 32-bit version.
If this helps you
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Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac Run Mac, Windows programs without switching between Windows and Mac OS X! Launch a Windows app by clicking on a Mac file. Hide the Windows desktop. 3D Graphics hardware acceleration. The best of both worlds. |
Fixing Boot Camp Win XP without SP2
Although Boot Camp requires Windows XP SP2 or greater, Ashley Cheng mistakenly installed Windows XP without SP2 into Boot Camp. She corrected the problem using a MacWindows tip for SP3:
I was not installing SP3 but the tip "How to install Windows XP SP3 in Boot Camp" worked for me in a related way. I mistakenly installed, what I thought was a copy of Windows XP SP2 but actually was, a copy of Windows XP on my Mac mini. It booted fine but when I tried to install boot camp drivers it failed because the Windows XP was not actually an SP2.
Instead of reinstalling with an SP2 installation disc, I tried to upgrade the installed XP to SP2. I then encountered the "insufficient disk space" problem that was described when people trying to upgrade from SP2 to SP3. I tried Jim's tip and the problem was solved. The upgrade to SP2 was successful and I could then install Boot camp drivers v2.0 and subsequently v2.1.
If you've tried this
Reader interrupted Vista update in Boot Camp, now won't boot
Brian Johnson interrupted an update of Windows Vista in Boot Camp, and now can't get it to boot:
I was running Vista (32-bit) via Boot Camp on my Mac Pro 2.66 w/5GB ram, 10.5.4. Everything on the Mac side is up-to-date.
I thought I had completed all of the Vista updates a couple of weeks ago. The last thing I remembered was the PC side telling me to restart -- and I recall letting OS X boot up instead.
After two weeks, I decided this morning to visit the Dark Side to play World-in-Conflict, and I received a message that said in essence "Vista is configuring your update, Stage 3 of 3. Do not turn off your computer." After about 5 or 6 seconds, I received a new message that "Windows is shutting down." I must have gone through this sequence about 5 times before it dawned on me that something was very, very wrong.
I do Windows mainly for the games, but it had been two weeks, so I'm not a fanatic or a system tweaker. I rarely use the internet on the PC side, and I use the latest Norton anti-virus SW. In so many words, Vista ran w/o any incidents.
If you have a suggestion
Boingo ships Mac client for logon to its WiFi hotspot logon
Yesterday, Boingo Wireless, Inc. introduced a Mac version of its GoBoingo WiFi client for accessing the company's commercial public WiFi hotspots. Previously available only for Windows 2000/XP/Vista, the GoBoingo client simplifies logon to over 100,000 hotspots, including airports and hotels. Boingo offers a monthly plan and a "pay as you go" option.
The GoBoingo authentication tool determines whether a hotspot belongs to a Boingo roaming partner and helps users log on to the Internet with their Boingo account in a single click.
Why Windows in Boot Camp doesn't see more than 2 GB RAM; plus, a 3 GB hack
With Mac Pros holding up to 32 GB of RAM, Mac users are wondering why they're only seeing Windows XP and Vista use 2 GB of RAM. Reports of plots by Microsoft or Apple to keep Windows off of Mac hardware aside, there does seem to be a logical explanation...
TIP: Making Spotlight search SMB shares
Jim Downward responded to last week's report about Spotlight's inability to search network shares. He sent a Unix shell script that enables spotlight to do this. His report:
If indexing is not occurring, the volume enable indexing bit is not being set. At least in 10.4.x, Spotlight does not automatically search served volumes, which can be dismounted. Not being able to search these volumes was really annoying. After some research, I discovered that to get newly mounted servers to be indexed. I had to force indexing to be turned on every time the server was mounted...
Reader has printing problem with Leopard, Parallels
Although several readers have reported that the Leopard Mac OS X 10.5.3 update cleared up printing problems, Tamara Apgar is having problems printing with Parallels Desktop:
I am running OS X 10.5.4 and Parallels Build 5608 and can either print on my HP PSC 1315 from Mac or from virtual Windows programs such as Quicken Home and Business, Franklin Covey, etc. but cannot print from both Mac and Windows. When I get one application to print, the other will not. Even if I shut down Windows, Mac will not print.
I downloaded Bonjour from Apple as a way to address the problem, but then I get this message when trying to run Bonjour "< \\.PSF.\.Mac\Users\Tamara\Dpwnloads\Bonjour64Setup.exe is not a valid Win32 application.>
I have spent hours reading various entries and instructions on how to resolve this, tried out several fixes, and also emailed the Parallels support people, all to no avail.
I then bought a newer HP printer, but still cannot print from all my Windows applications. Now I can print from Mac, but not from most of my Windows applications.
If you've seen this problem or have a suggestion
Another report of Entourage 2008 Inbox not updating
Mark Richman reports having the problem of Entourage not syncing the Inbox:
I've had this same problem with Entourage 2008. The only solution I've found is to create a whole new Entourage identity. This has happened to me twice and is quite annoying. When you create a new identity you lose things like categories set on emails.
I opened up a ticket with MS on this issue. They told me that since this is with an Exchange server it must be an exchange issue and closed the ticket. Sigh.
If you have a suggestion
Tales of Entourage woe with v.2008 and Leopard 10.5.4
Brad Schrick reports having Inbox syncing problems with the latest versions of Entourage 2008 and Mac OS X, as well as several other problems:
There have always been issues with Entourage (and less so with Outlook also, bear in mind), but this has been very painful.
After the Office 12.1.1 update and the Leopard 10.5.4 update, two Macs have had mailbox sync issues that required hours of troubleshooting and recovery. Also, prior to the update another machine simply stopped updating its Inbox (meaning Entourage 2008 on each machine)...
TIP: Fix for Boot Camp claiming insufficient drive space
Alex Maurer sent in a suggestion for fixing the problem of Boot Camp reporting insufficient drive space during partitioning, even when there is plenty of free space. Maurer suggest defragmenting the drive:
I too have come across the error message that reports about not having enough disk space to partition, even though there is. This is due to some files being in the area that boot camp assistant is trying to use to partition and can be solved by defragmenting the disk with programs such as iDefrag ($30).
Since Mac OS X doesn't have its own defragment-program, it's only possible to do such operations with third party programs as I have mentioned above.
Interestingly, running iDefrag fixes another Boot Camp partitioning problem, that of kernel panics. We've only had reports of the problem (and the fix) with Mac OS X 10.5.2. If you've seen the problem with 10.5.3 or 10.5.4
Apple Leopard 10.5.4 fixes Adobe server issue, improves VPN
This week Apple released the Mac OS X 10.5.4 and Mac OS X Server 10.5.4 updates. Although a relatively minor update, 10.5.4 fixes a problem with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 files on a file server, according to Apple. We've previously reported that the issue can lead to corruption of the Adobe file.
Apple also said that the update improves reliability of the built-in L2TP VPN client and that 10.5.4 "addresses an issue that may result in a partially installed X11 application."
Apple also released Mac OS X Server 10.5.4 update. It improves the reliability of Directory Services, according to Apple.
If you've tried the Mac OS X 10.5.4
how it affects these and other Leopard problems.
Entourage syncing problem requires flushing cache
Steve Fevold reports having the problem of Entourage not syncing the inbox at all unless the cache is flushed before the sync:
I've have a client who has two Macs with Entourage 2008 that won't keep the inbox sync'd with the Exchange 2003 server. If he empties the cache for the inbox, it will update but it won't continue to update. He's convinced it's a problem with the server but I'm leaning more toward Entourage or maybe the size of his mailbox. What's odd is the other folders that he's created along with the Sent Items sync fine. The Sent Items folder has more that 22,000 items in it, that take awhile to sync up from scratch. Everything works fine using OWA or Outlook 2003.
I saw the suggestion by Tim Levin on January 2nd regarding two fixes for Entourage\Exchange 2007. I've been prompted to rebuild the database once, so I've been forced to try Tim's first suggestion. I haven't asked the user to try Tim's "best solution" of deleting the local database. I was a little reluctant for two reasons: This wasn't Exchange 2007 and it's going to take forever to sync those folders again. I'll give it a try, though, since I have no other choice right now.
If you've seen this problem
Reader says Leopard Spotlight can't search shares mounted with DAVE
Tommy Birchett reports that Leopard's Spotlight can't search mounted SMB/CIFS shares using Thursby's DAVE 7:
Spotlight searching does not work on Thursby's DAVE mounted CIFS volumes with OS X 10.5.x. Steps to Reproduce:
- Install OS X 10.5.x on any hardware
- Install Thursby DAVE 7.x
- Connect to CIFS share (on NetApp) via DAVE.
- Use the Finder/Spotlight to search any mounted DAVE volume--no results displayed.
This problem does not appear in OS X 10.4.x or earlier with any version of DAVE installed. This problem does not occur with AFP Volumes. This problem does not occur when CIFS volumes are mounted via OS X native CIFS.
Thursby recommends filing a bug report with Apple if you are having this problem.
If you've seen this problem
For more on DAVE see our DAVE Reports page.
Leopard 10.5.3 update causing file sharing login problems
Jørgen Kold in Denmark reports that Leopard 10.5.3/10.5.4 can't log into a Solaris SMB file server:
My colleague is having problems logging in to a Solaris server from his newly updated MacBook running Leopard 10.5.3.
We are running a Sun Solaris server acting as samba server. We use samba version 3.0.11. On our samba server we use nonencrypted passwords, plaintext.
The problem occurs when our Macs update to 10.5.3. We do not get any error message, but it reacts like if the password is wrong. I think it checks the password as though it were encrypted even though it is not.
I found other people with similar problem at one of Apple's forums. We have tried the new 10.5.4 update but the problem is still there.
If you've seen this problem
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