March 2008
TIP: AD binding and login fix for 10.5.2
Peter Kloss offers a fix for Leopard Active Directory binding problems:
After my saga with Services for Unix which you kindly posted for me, we have spent a while trying to get the 'native' AD plug-in working in Leopard against our enterprise AD of 10 child domains and around 50 domain controllers. Therefore we have been following with interest the experiences and suggestions of your readers.
Having thought we might have to do most of the painful stuff with debugging Kerberos as described in your reports, we then discovered a blog that held the answers. We had already accidentally discovered that putting the DOMAIN we were trying to bind to into /etc/hosts, eg: an entry like Childdomain.rootdomain.com xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx allowed us to bind and login with a domain admin account. But normal user logons did not work for two out of three attempts to do this.
We followed suggestion (2) in the blog about turning off 'allow authentication from any domain' AND added the target AD domain to the search path - (click on the search path tab in the directory utility and the '+' at the bottom left - it then pops up a list of available domains) - I clicked on 'my' domain in the list, and then put it above 'All Domains' in the search order. Then applied and quit the Directory Utility. We can log in with ordinary user accounts, and quite speedily in most cases without having to turn off bonjour (as others have suggested).
If you've tried this fix
SyncMate, Mac-Win Mobile solution supports text messaging, music, photo syncing
Eltima Software has released SyncMate (US$40), software for syncing data between a Mac to Windows Mobile handheld devices. In addition to syncing documents, folders, contacts, calendar entries, SyncMate has several unique features not found with other syncing solutions. SyncMate is able to send, receive, create and delete SMS text messages when working at the Mac. Another unique feature is the synchronization of Stickies on Mac OS X with Notes on Pocket PC.
SyncMate can also sync Windows Mobile music with iTunes and photos with iPhoto, as well as documents, folders, and notes. Favorites are synced with Mac Bookmarks. SyncMate syncs contacts and calendar entries and events with the Mac Address Book and iCal. SyncMate currently does not support syncing to Entourage at this time. The company said it is working on Entourage support for a future release.
SyncMate enables Internet sharing between the Mac and the mobile device. The connection can be made via USB cable or Wi Fi.
SyncMate also comes in a free version, which doesn't include support of bookmarks, folders, music, folders, notes, or SMS text.
If you've used SyncMate
what you think of it.
Relative performance of Vista SP1 in BC and Leopard
Thomas Tiedt remarks that while the Leopard 10.5.2 update made OS X slower, the Vista SP1 update made Windows faster in Boot Camp. He also thinks that Vista in Boot Camp runs faster than Leopard:
I have always found that Windows in Boot Camp acts snappier than OS X on a Mac box. I'm referring to window opening and program starts. For example, Safari and Firefox take several seconds to open on my Mac Pro, a meticulously maintained computer with only essential programs ever installed, and never antivirus. Vista's SP1 exaggerated the relative snappiness of Vista [in Boot Camp] over Leopard on 13-month old Mac Pro. On a Mac Mini, matters are substantially worse for OS X vs. Vista/XP). Nevertheless, Leopard is better in snappiness than Tiger, and only since Leopard did OS X become my default OS on the Mac Pro.
The 10.5.2 update slowed things down for OS X, notably Office 2008. Office 2008 installed on a fresh Leopard 10.5.0 was faster to start Word than after subsequent Leopard updates. Now, the benefits of faster starts of Word 2008 over Word 2004 are gone.
First reports of Vista SP1 on Macs mixed
Several readers reported their experiences with the new Vista Service Pack 1 running on Macs with Boot Camp and with Parallels Desktop.
Jeff Julian runs Vista SPI in Boot Camp and is happy with it:
I have been running SP1 for a month now (Microsoft Developer Network subscription) on two different MacBook Pros (17-inch) and have had no issues at all. In fact, I believe it performs better than before, but I have no statistics...
TIP: Fix for Boot Camp loss of hard disk space during partitioning
Mike Goodfellow responded to our report of a reader who had hard disk space disappear when partitioning a drive for Boot Camp. Goodfellow sent us a fix:
I have seen this problem and know how to solve it. Startup the Macintosh in question from another volume, such as the Leopard DVD or startup external hard drive. Run Disk Repair. This will fix the problem and give you your missing hard drive space back.
If you've used this tip
Further reader problems with Boot Camp kernel panics with 10.5.2
Patrick Zirngast was having the problem of kernel panics with Leopard 10.5.2 while using Boot Camp Assistant to partition his drive. He tried two fixes listed on our Boot Camp Tips and Reports page. He no longer has kernel panics, but is still having problems:
I tried to fix the problem via the DVD Disk Utility; this solved the problem with hard disk, though Boot Camp would still not run the partitioning.
So I bought iDefrag and did a 5-hour defragmentation. I was then able to partition the disk; but when I tried to install Win XP SP2 my screen started to flicker on startup and the system stopped... That's the status so far.
As soon as I find some time, I will go back and reinstall everything from scratch.
AppleScript fix for Leopard 10.5.2 Cisco VPN problem
Eric Benfer sent us an AppleScript to fix the problems with Leopard 10.5.2 and the Cisco VPN client for Mac OS X:
I too have experienced the problem with Cisco VPN and 10.5.2. I am using the using vpnclient-darwin-4.9.01.0100-universal-k9.
I usually get the "Error 51: Unable to communicate with the VPN subsystem" when I switch network connections. Such as changing from wired to wireless. Running the CiscoVPN StartupItem fixes it for me. I wrote an AppleScript to automate the process for my users. Here is the code for the script for anyone who wants to build it themselves...
Another reader verifies fix for Vista and Mac servers
Derek Collie verified a fix for Windows Vista problems accessing a Mac server:
Mikael Fredriksson's solution of changing the Network Security: LAN Manager Authentication Level via secpol.msc worked for me. Thanks Mikael it was driving me insane! I am running Vista Business on a Sony Vaio TZ31 connecting to a Mac G4 running 10.2.2.
Mac’s Internet Sharing can cause bad DHCP behavior
Several readers responded to a report of a Mac usurping network's DHCP server with the same suggestion. Christoph Sahm:
Shon Hall probably has turned on Internet Sharing in the System Preferences. This causes Mac OS X's built-in DHCP Server to start handing out IP addresses...
CrossOver Games runs PC games on Mac at native speeds, without Windows
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Yesterday CodeWeavers debuted CrossOver Games (US $40), new software that runs Windows games natively in Mac OS X, but without using Windows. The company said that PC games will run faster in CrossOver Games than in virtual machine products such as Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. CodeWeavers also released a version for Linux.
CodeWeavers said that CrossOver Games will run Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, and most Steam-based games, including Team Fortress 2, Portal, Half Life 2, Civilization IV, Peggle...
Vista SP1 ships, but problems with some drivers exist
Last week Microsoft shipped Windows Vista Service Pack 1, the first major upgrade to its flagship OS. The company said that the update fixes some reliability and performance issues, added support for new hardware, and added support for emerging standards. Microsoft also said that it "addresses some management, deployment, and support challenges."
Starting in mid-April, Vista SP1 will begin downloading automatically on users' PCs that have automatic updating turned on. This would include Vista running on Macs in Boot Camp. Vista users can also download SP1 here, or from the Start Menu>All Programs>Windows Update.
For some Vista users, however, SP1 won't install. Microsoft's Windows Vista Blog describes some of these reasons, including an incompatibility with certain drivers. ZDnet reports that there are several Symantec drivers that are included on the list.
If you've tried to update Vista in Boot Camp, Parallels, or VMware
how it worked.
Reader's Mac usurping network's DHCP server
Shon Hall's Mac is handing out IP addresses to PCs, and the network admin is not happy:
Suddenly, my MacBook Pro is acting like it's the DHCP Server at my work's Windows network. All I do on my laptop here is access the network, mostly for E-mail and browsing. I've been connected fine to this network over wireless and Ethernet for over a year and a half with no issues.
Now, suddenly, the IT person is telling me I have to take my laptop off of the network, because it's handing out DHCP addresses when clients need to renew their lease, and his Server backs off thinking there's someone else doing it. Oddly, I can connect somewhat halfway via wireless, but that is not really connecting to their network, and cannot see their shares. I haven't changed any of my settings at all. MacBook Pro 17" 2.14 GHz Core Dou 2 GB RAM OS X 10.5.2 (with all current updates).
If you've seen this or can offer advice
Leopard Security Update disconnects mounted shares
After Anton Schep installed a security update in Leopard, mounted Windows shares disconnect after a few minutes:
I have been using "Connect to Server" to mount a SMB share from a Windows 2003 without a problem since I upgraded to Leopard (which resolved the digital signing issue). However as of Monday, which coincides with me having applied the latest Security Update, I can no longer keep the share mounted longer than about 5 minutes. Then it disconnects and I cannot reconnect at all. After a restart I can reconnect and it appears that after a couple of hours I can reconnect again, but in both cases I get kicked of after 5 minutes. Linux machines don't have a problem mounting the same share.
If you've seen this problem
Verification of Terminal restart command fix for OS X 10.5.2/Cisco VPN problem
Tyron Yamaguchi had the problem with the Leopard 10.5.2 update breaking the Cisco VPN client. He verified that a suggestion to use a Unix command to restart the client:
Just wanted to let you know the restart command did the trick for me with the Cisco VPN client 4.9.01 (0100).
Boot Camp partitioning losing hard disk space
Russell Vickery in New Zealand lost some hard disk space when partitioning his drive for Boot Camp:
I've installed Boot Camp on my Mac Book Pro with Windows XP Pro release 2. I partioned the drive using Boot Camp Assistant to have 30 GB for Windows and the Mac OS X to have 50 GB. The installation went smoothly and I thought I was up and running. Then I found that the PC drive has only 5 GB while the Mac Book had the full 50 GB. The Windows partition lost 25 GB.
I then reinstalled Boot Camp, creating a partition of under 30 GB and it appears to be working well, but now I've lost 20 GB from my Mac partition.
If you've seen this problem or have a suggestion
Boot Camp partitioning kernel panic: try small partitions
Srinivasan found that the Leopard 10.5.2 kernel panics with Boot Camp partitioning didn’t occur with smaller partition:
I ran into the same issue with kernel panics: I was trying to get a 15 GB FAT32 chunk. I was on the verge of giving up, but since an earlier attempt to partition the my 120 GB MacBook HD running Leopard to get a 12GB partition for Windows was successful, I gave it a shot again, and it worked. Maybe with smaller partition sizes, the kernel doesn't panic. It worked for me.
Another report of Office 12.0.1 file problems
Erik Akerblom responded to a report last week about the Office 2008 12.0.1 update having problems with Excel:
The Office 12.0.1 update seems to have broken a few random documents, or is correctly identifying some documents as being broken. I have the same error as your reported user "File Error: Data May Have Been Lost" on one particular document, which then opens up fine and appears to have all the data within that is expected. Other documents appear fine. The document in question was not created by me but sent to me from another Mac via email.
I am keeping my install "as is" for now. PowerBook G4, Leopard 10.5.2.
Safari 3.1 Mac problem with "open in new window"
A reader reports that the new Safari 3.1 for Mac has a problem that manifested itself over a virtual private network:
With Mac OS X 10.5.2 MacBook Pro, Cisco VPN client 4.9.01 (0100) was working reliably. Then I updated Safari to 3.1 (5525.13). The client connects, Safari connects to site, but it won't open the application any more. I'm able to open with FireFox 2.0.0.12
This appears NOT to be a VPN issue at all, however. On my system, Safari 3.1 has a broken "open in new window" setting. Any links clicked that are set to open in a new window don't work. No error, no nothing.
If you've seen this problem
FireFox maker slams Apple over Safari for Windows updater
Monday, March 24, 2008
Mozilla CEO John Lilly criticized Apple for using its Software Updater program to install Safari 3.1 on Windows PCs, saying that it “undermines the safety of users on the web.”
“What Apple is doing now with their Apple Software Update on Windows is wrong,” said Lilly. “It undermines the trust relationship great companies have with their customers, and that's bad - not just for Apple, but for the security of the whole Web.”
Mozilla makes the FireFox web browser, which has a 17.3 percent market share on the Windows platform, compared to 5.8 for Safari, according to the Market Share web site. Last week's release of Safari, however, was the first post-beta version for Windows.
The Safari update was made available through the Apple Software Updater program, which is installed with iTunes for Windows as well as with Safari for Windows. Lilly complained that the iTunes users who don't already have Safari installed are given the option to install Safari. Lilly said that because option to download Safari is checked by default, it could “endanger the security of the Web.”
Lilly posted his criticisms of Apple on his blog on Friday.
Apple released Safari 3.1 last week, calling it “the world's fastest web browser,” which some testers said was a valid claim.
Apple Safari for Windows gets out of Beta, delivers speed, includes HTML 5, but lacks some features
On Tuesday, Apple shipped Safari 3.1 for Windows XP and Vista, the first post-beta version of what it calls "the world's fastest Web browser." The new version includes several of the features of the future HTML 5, but lacks some feature found in other web browsers for Windows. Apple also release Safari 3.1 for Mac OS X. Both versions fix a number of security bugs.
Computerworld agreed with Apple's claim, saying that "Safari [for Windows] has become the fastest browser you can use." Computerworld tested it against Internet Explorer 7 and FireFox 2.0.12.
However, the FireFox 3.0 Beta 4 for Windows is about as fast as Safari 3.1, according to ZDnet.
Safari 3.1 includes some features of the future HTML 5 standard, including new tags for audio and video, CSS animations, and CSS web fonts, which allow web pages to specify fonts that are downloaded to the browser. However, Computerworld points out that Safari for Windows 3.1 does not have features found in other web browsers, such as Internet Explorer's Active X support, FireFox's Google Toolbar, or Opera's BitTorrent download support.
Safari 3.1 for Windows and Mac is available as a free download, but is also available from within Mac OS X --and Windows--from Apple's Software Updater. InformationWeek said that this was the use of Software Updater was "a move that reflects a more aggressive attempt to grab market share from Microsoft Internet Explorer."
Toast 9 adds HD video burning for Macs and video streaming to iPhone
This week, Sonic Solutions released Roxio Toast 9 Titanium, Roxio Toast Titanium 9 , a new version of the Mac OS X disc-burning application. Toast 9 adds the ability to record high-definition (HD) video to Blu-ray and DVD discs, and to edit the HD video. Toast 9 also adds the ability to remotely video streaming using an iPhone.
The previous version, Toast 8, was the first software to enable Macs to burn to Blu-ray discs, which hold 50 GB of data. Toast 9 adds support for HD video burning. No Mac yet has a built-in Blu-ray drive, but there are FireWire and USB 2 drives as well as internal replacement drives, which Toast 9 will work with. Toast 9 also adds the ability to record HD video to stardard DVDs. The source of the HD video can be HD camcoders and HD TV from TiVo DVRs and Elgato EyeTV. Toast 9 also includes the ability to edit video.
Toast 9 also includes a new application, Roxio Streamer, which can stream video from a Mac to a Wi-Fi connected iPhone or iPod Touch, as well as to another Mac or a Windows-based PC.
Toast 9 also adds the audio capture from Internet streaming. It can record in MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, and AIFF audio formats.
Toast sells for US$99, but the HD Blu-ray support will be an extra US$20 after April 13. (The HD plug-in is free until then.)
Reader says video driver crashes under Vista on iMac
David Humphrey is having a problem with a video driver in Windows Vista and Boot Camp:
I have a problem that happens in Vista Ultimate running on my 24" iMac, 2.4GHz, 4 GByte memory (purchased in November). When running Vista from Boot Camp, the video driver appears to crash on occasion. It can happen from as little as twice a week to three times a day (assuming my PC runs an average of 10 days per day). The screen goes blank, but the Mac doesn't shut off. To get out of the situation, I hold down the power switch for a long time (5-10 sec), which seems to shut off the machine. After that I switch power back on and get the screen that offers to start up Windows in safe mode, which I skip over.
Sometimes the screen goes blank, but the driver seems to catch itself and recover with a message like "The video driver just crashed but was able to restart".
Much more rarely I get a blue screen that doesn't stay displayed long. After that, Vista reboots by itself.
I have searched for an update to the driver in the device manager, but received a message saying that I already have the latest version.
If you've seen this problem
VPN Tracker 5.1 simplifies WatchGuard VPN connections
Equinux has released VPN Tracker 5.1, an update to the VPN client for Mac OS X, which supports over 300 VPN gateways, including Cisco and CheckPoint. The new version adds features to better integrate with WatchGuard VPN devices.
VPN Tracker 5.1 simplifies the configuration of VPN connection with WatchGuard gateways by supporting WatchGuard's client provisioning features. Equinux described it:
VPN Tracker 5.1 incorporates client provisioning for WatchGuard devices and lets administrators rollout VPN access for large numbers of users. VPN Tracker 5.1 now supports Watchguard's easy-to-configure Mobile User VPN. The client provisioning functionality in VPN Tracker 5.1 is completely compatible with the current Peak- and Core product lines of WatchGuard.
12.0.1 Office Update broke reader's Excel
Matthew Pinto reports that last week's Office 2008 12.0.1 update broke Excel, but Time Machine saved the day:
I did not witness the bugs listed prior to the 12.0.1 update but thinking it is good to stay up to date. I updated. Now I show a new fairly Fatal bug in Excel. When opening workbooks I now get an error every time stating "File error: data may have been lost."
My work around was to re-name Excel 12.0.1 application to "Excel 12.0.1 BROKEN" then I was able to restore just the app from Time Machine. This enables me to continue to work in Excel using 12.0 but all other Office apps appear to stay at 12.0.1 and all appear to interact OK. I would say this is a fairly fatal error re-installing from scratch from a CD did not help the matter for me. I'm running on an Intel machine.
if the 12.0.1 update fixed or caused any problems for you.
PDF2Office Personal v4.0 adds Word 2008, improved conversion
Recosoft has released PDF2Office Personal v4.0 for Mac OS X (US$59), a major new version of the file converter that turns PDF files into Word files. The company said that version 4.0 adds over 120 new features and enhancements and integrates with Word 2008 for the Macintosh platform.
PDF2Office Personal automatically re-creates the layout of the PDF document, including paragraphs, columns, styles, graphic elements and images, tables, and other layout features.
Other new features include
- The Retain Layout conversion has been enhanced for more exact layout retention. Text box/text frame generation has been dramatically reduced, and tables are formed during Retain Layout conversion.
- Enhanced font matching and font substitution: each font that could not be matched can be substituted with a specific font.
- A new PDF reconstruction engine (v4.1), which improves performance and conversion results. Enhancements have also been made to the layout reconstruction process.
Leopard connecting to Windows server and crashing the server
Chris Dodsworth reports the Leopard problem of being able to log onto Windows servers but with no read/write access. In his case, the copy crashes the server:
This is exactly the same issue I am having, well a few to be precise with 10.5.2 and Windows servers. It is driving me nuts trying to work it out.
A number of iMacs running 10.5.2 can see the Mac shares on the server running Windows SBS 2003 fine. The minute any files are copied you get the progress of the items being copied, seems to appear on the server and then just hangs. In most circumstances the copying crashes the whole server. Have tried binding the iMacs to AD, but no joy. SMB sharing (with AppleTalk turned off) doesn't help either.
The only workaround was to copy the data to a NAS unit and then have shortcuts for both PCs and Macs.
We have some previously reported suggestions here.
IPv6 didn't solve Leopard writing problem to Windows
Mark Prouty said turning off IPv6 doesn't fix Leopard's 0 k file copying problem:
I have a Mac Pro which I just bought, but it is a year old model. I could easily read files off a Windows machine, but not write. Authentication was not an issue on the Windows side, since I needed proper credentials to even read the file. The Mac reported the following: "The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items."
After turning off IPv6 on that interface solved this problem, I don't get the error dialog box anymore, but the file is still 0 bytes long. So this did not fix it.
I have the same problem whether I copy to server 2003 machine, or a Windows Vista machine, or a Windows XP machine. Same exact symptoms.
Verification of 10.5.2 Cisco VPN connected-but-not-really problem
Huub van Oosten in the Netherlands is having the same problem previously reported with the Leopard 10.5.2 update and the Cisco VPN Client for Mac:
The same problem that Vincent Philion has with his VPN connection has been preventing me from connecting to a Windows 2003 server. It is precisely the same. The client reports to be connected but is really is not. Pinging the server shows its there, but as soon as I connect with the Cisco VPN client pinging results in a 100 percent packet loss. Don't know if my report will help but it gets the word around that there is something wrong with the way Leopard functions regarding VPN.
I've done everything conceivable, including reinstalling the client. It doesn't help. I've read tens or hundreds of threads in all kinds of likely forums, but there seems to be no solution. Tried installing different software, using Leopards own Network pane, adjusting settings here and there, as suggested by people. No change.
I really think that this is a communications problem that Leopard creates reading all of these messages on the net. Especially when they say that Tiger didn't pose a problem. I'm just a 'normal' user and I don't have the intricate knowledge of VPN and how it works to solve this on a technical scale.
If you've seen this
Reader recommends alternative Win-app servers
Reed Blake recommended a couple of thin-client servers that can enable Mac clients to run Windows apps over a network:
I'd like to suggest the following be added to the Running Windows by Remote Control section of your Virtualization, Emulation, and Remote Control Solutions page.
I just evaluated the products for a client. I haven't used them extensively, just verified that they work well running on XP with Mac and Windows clients.
Elusiva Terminal Server PRO. This is a clone of Windows Terminal Server that runs on XP and Windows 2003 Small Business Server. Lots cheaper than Terminal Server, uses the same clients, including the Mac RDC client from Microsoft. This product lets you connect multiple clients to a Windows XP computer.
GO-Global for Windows I think this is similar to Citrix Systems ICA server, though I haven't used that product. GO-Global lets you run applications on Windows XP and Windows 2003 server remotely. Free clients are available for various systems, including Mac OS X. This package is very slick. It was easy to install, and the applications look like they are running locally (as opposed to remote desktop style, where it's obvious you are on another computer).
Office 2008 fixes bugs with Exchange, Word Win compatibility; Office 2004 update also released
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Yesterday Microsoft posted updates for its current and previous versions of Office: Office 2008 for Mac 12.0.1 Update and Office 2004 for Mac 11.4.1 Update. Both address security issues and stability, but the Office 2008 update is the more substantial, with two dozen bug fixes, including some that affect cross-platform abilities. The Office 2008 12.0.1 update also includes performance improvements and includes bug fixes for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
Office 2008 for Mac 12.0.1 also fixes several synching problems with Entourage synching calendars and contacts with Exchange Server. These include problems with duplicate and missing calendar events. Microsoft said that the update will provide "more consistency with changes to the calendar on the Exchange server." The update also fixes a problem with syncing contact lists between Entourage 2008 and Exchange.
Office 12.0.1 also fixes two bugs in Word opening documents created in Windows:
- Fixes an issue that prevents Word 2008 from opening documents created by Word 2007 for Windows that contain equations.
- Fixes an issue for PowerPC Macs that causes fonts in documents created by Word 2007 for Windows to display incorrectly when the document in Word 2008.
For the Office 2004 update, Microsoft said that the Office 11.4.0 must be installed before the 11.4.1 update.
If you've seen any of these problems with Entourage 2008 and Word 2008,
how well the update worked.
CodeWeavers to release a CrossOver Games version for PC games on Macs
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
CodeWeavers is working on version of its CrossOver product that will focus on games. CrossOver allows Macs to run Windows application in Mac OS X without the use of Windows or a virtualization environment. The tradeoff is that CrossOver runs a selected number of Windows applications, including several games.
CrossOver Games will focus on supporting and being optimized especially for PC games. A company spokesperson said:
CrossOver Games will allow many leading games, such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Team Fortress 2, Civilization 4, Counterstrike Source, Peggle, EVE online (all running under Steam) and many others, to be played on either Mac or Linux PCs without the need for a Windows OS license.
A private beta has been in testing for several weeks. CodeWeavers is getting ready to start testing Beta 2.
See our CodeWeavers CrossOver Reports page for more on CrossOver.
Rollback to 10.5.1 to solved Reader's Boot Camp kernel panic
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Luke Patrick confirmed a previous report that going back to Leopard 10.5.1 from 10.5.2 fixed the problem of Boot Camp kernel panics while partitioning. Patrick used a different method of back-grading to 10.5.1 than the previous report:
I also had success with repartitioning when I reverted to 10.5.1. I did this by reinstalling Leopard from the install disk rather than rolling back in Time Machine. The only problem was that after I loaded windows, something was preventing a startup in Mac OS. The Leopard partition was recognized, but wasn't coming up with the option key startup, or when set as the default in the windows bootcamp control panel. What I finally ended up doing was reinstalling Leopard a third time on the new, non-windows partition. My files and settings were saved, and now I can start up in Windows or Leopard as intended.
Will Tisdale has a theory as to where the bug is:
I have 4 drives in a Mac Pro. The disk that I was using for Boot Camp has 200GB remaining free space. However, the disk is in a fairly bad state of fragmentation due to all sorts of junk being put on and off it over the last 6 months or so.
I started the Boot Camp Assistant and within about 20 seconds of it attempting to partition, the machine had a kernel panic. So, I switched it off and booted off the install disk and verified all the hard drives, all came back with no errors. So, I then decided to try first partitioning it in Disk Utility, and then delete the partition, restore the drive to full capacity and THEN run the Boot Camp assistant.
Having set it to give me a partition of a modest 60GB in disk utility, it started, and then 30 seconds later came up with a "Not enough space left on device" error. I thought, odd, as there is 200GB free. So I tried a 10GB partition, and it gives the same error.
The conclusion I drew from this was that although there is space on the drive, there isn't any free space at the end of the drive where you are trying to create the new partition, and iDefrag confirmed that the free space on the drive was all in the middle. It is obviously a bug of some description in diskutil, which prevents the creation of new partitions when there isn't enough contiguous free space at the end of the volume.
Reader verifies tip for Vista authenticating to OS X Server
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Henrik Wiman in Sweden had luck with a previously reported fix for a problem with Windows Vista connecting to Mac OS X Server:
About the tip from Mikael Fredriksson; We run 10.5 server and this tip worked out just fine! Now we join our domain with Vista clients! Thanks!
iPhone, iPod Touch to become direct MS Exchange clients and a development platform
Yesterday, Apple announced the iPhone 2.0 software platform, its next-generation software for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The software will include built-in direct support of Microsoft Exchange Server for email, contacts, calendaring, and access to global address lists (GAL). Apple is also opening up the iPhone platform...
TIP: Solution to sharing Leopard on a Win AD Domain
A reader named Grant sent in a suggestion getting around problems with Windows PCs accessing Leopard shares. The main idea is to create a local user account on the Mac with file sharing already turned on:
For those of us using only domain accounts on our Macs within a Windows Active Directory Domain, we just get used to the idea that we can access the PCs from the Macs but not necessarily so the other way around.
Try this -- it worked for me and now all sharing on all Macs and PCs is working seamlessly:
- System Preferences > Sharing > Confirm File Sharing is enabled
- System Preferences > Accounts > Create yourself a local user account on your Mac with admin rights
- System Preferences > Sharing > File Sharing > Options > Confirm that you are sharing files using SMB
- Access your shared folders from a PC > Voila
It appears that by creating the local user account with file sharing already turned on you are initializing the Mac to show itself correctly. You can even now safely go ahead and remove the local account that you no longer need.
If you've tried this
Reader verifies turning off IPv6 for Leopard invisible file problem
Clement Shimizu reports that turning off IPv6 fixes the problem where files copied to a Windows server remain invisible:
I just wanted to let you know that I too had a Mac-to-Windows file copying problem (the Leopard invisible file problem) that got fixed using your suggestion of turning off IPv6.
TIP: Leopard 10.5.2 did not fix reader’s binding problem; but host file edit did
Although Apple said that the Leopard 10.5.2 update fixes issues with Active Directory, Lisa Madden said she still has problems. She fixed it by editing the hosts file:
I upgraded a cleanly installed 10.5.1 Mac with 10.5.2 and still could not bind to AD. Got stuck on the final step, not able to find the DC. There was no way to specify the domain in Directory Service either.
What finally did fix the problem was adding the IP of the DC and the domain into the /etc/hosts file, rebooting Mac, and trying to bind again. Bind went flawlessly then.
Not sure if this is a problem with how our DCs are configured, or with Leopard, but as long as it's working, that is all I care.
If you've tried this
TIP: fix for Virtual Box Linux networking in Mac OS X
Botond Orbán sent in the solution for a problem he was having with networking in Ubuntu Linux running in VirtualBox Beta3 in Mac OS X 10.5.x:
I figured out what happened. The DNS was set incorrectly by the Ubuntu guest on Virtual Box. I found this spread across on different Ubuntu and VB forums.
VirtualBox Beta3 is a prerelease version of an open source virtualization environment for running Windows and Linux on Mac OS X.
Two more workarounds for Boot Camp kernel panics
Readers have contributed two more suggestions for getting around kernel panics in Leopard 10.5.2 when using Boot Camp to partition a hard drive. A previous suggestion, defragmenting the hard drive, has been verified by several readers.
Timo Jääskeläinen suggests booting from the installer DVD to do the portioning:
I have had the same problem with partitioning for boot camp on 10.5.2 as you described on macwindows.com on Feb 18.
I was able to overcome this problem by booting from my Leopard installation DVD (which is 10.5.0), and doing partitioning from there and it went fine without kernel panics. No need to download/pay for additional software.
Shawn Hart suggested using Time Machine to roll back to 10.5.1:
I have experienced the problem with 10.5.2 and boot camp partitioning. I'm running a MacBook pro 15 inch on 2.2 GHz processor. I have not been able to be it to work. But a friend said he used Time Machine to go back to 10.5.1 and it worked.
If you've tried these suggestions
Reader says Apple nvidia drivers only partially fix Boot Camp problems with external projector
Responding to our article Reader reports success with Apple NVidia driver for Boot Camp, Geoff Armstrong said that issues still remain with his external projector:
These older drivers posted by Apple did partially fix my problem using an external projector. Previously, using the later drivers supplied with Leopard, the highest resolution I could get on the projector was 1024x768.
With the Apple posted drivers I can go right up to 1920x1080 (Full HD) Unfortunately there is nothing in between 1280x1024 and 1920x1080 available for the projector with this driver.
My projector's native resolution is actually 1400x1050. It seems absurd that I can send full HD to the projector or 1280x1024; but the drivers can do nothing in between.
If I use 1920x1080, obviously I get overscan and this is a pain to correct when watching movies.
If you've seen this problem or have a suggestion
VirtualBox Beta 3 networking problem in Leopard
Botond Orbán has a problem with the last version of the VirtualBox running Linux. Virtual Box is an open source virtualization environment. Orbán said:
I have tried Virtual Box 1.5.51 on Leopard. I struggled a lot to make the network working on an Ubuntu guest OS without any success.
If you have a suggestion
For more on this topic, see our VirtualBox Beta Tips and Reports page.
Reader problem: Mail.app won't sync with OS X Server, and a resolution
Jason Lisi reports that Mail.app on his Leopard MacBook Air doesn't sync with Mac OS X Server's IMAP server. Readers have reported some other Leopard problems with IMAP servers, but these had been with Exchange Server. Lisi also resolved the problem:
I have an IMAP server (XServe running OS X Server Tiger) for my mail, iMac at the office running Leopard, MacBook Air for the road running Leopard.
The iMac, connected at all times to the Internet, syncs with the IMAP server perfectly; changes made on the iMac are reflected on the IMAP server. When the MacBook Air is connected to the Internet, same result.
However, when I am on the road and not connected to the Internet and reading my mail, the changes I make (deleting spam, filing messages in subfolders) do not get synced with the server. When I connect the MacBook Air to the 'net, all the deleted messages repopulate my inbox and the filed messages become un-filed back into the inbox.
When I had used a PowerBook G4 running Tiger, offline changes to Mail would work just like it would if connected.
After a few hours' worth of testing on this issue, I believe it has resolved itself. I decided to download Thunderbird and set it up with the identical settings to Mail.app. After going through the IMAP sync and downloading my gsigs of email messages, I tested Thunderbird, finding it to work properly.
Oddly, then Mail began to behave. I have to assume that using another IMAP client must have affected a cache somewhere, but can't put my finger on the issue.
If you seen this or other issues with Mail.app and IMAP
Feedback on workarounds for Cisco VPN in Leopard
Several readers responded to Monday's report of two suggestions for dealing with Cisco VPN client problems with Mac OS X 10.5.2, or any OS X update. Most reported success, though one reader did not.
Dan Pearson has used both methods successfully:
The Cisco client is well known to be finicky (for all versions of OS X). I've used both these methods (re-install the client and use the terminal command to restart). In addition, if you get the error 51, you can frequently recover by just restarting the client, without the re-install.
So, while the client is easily tripped up by any change to the OS, it's also easily fixed.
Michael Wilmar had success with the terminal command:
David Graham's suggestion for the Cisco VPN Client Worked for me. The Graham suggestion I used was the Terminal command to restart the VPN Client. Using VPN Client 4.9.01 (0030)
Mark Polzin used the reinstall:
I was able to get the latest Cisco VPN client build working again by reinstalling the application after my upgrade to 10.5.2.
Vincent Philion still has the problem after reinstalling the Cisco client:
I completely removed the VPN client using the Cisco script (sudo / usr/local/bin/vpn_uninstall) and then reinstalled everything.
The problem remains the same. The VPN "link" is established, but I can't connect to Window shares or to VNC servers. From the VPN statistics, I can see that data is sent from my computer, but nothing is received from the VPN server.
Kevin Ledgister has a different experience:
In Leopard, the Cisco VPN works fine for me until I reboot, and then have to use the "sudo" command to restart it. I'm running the latest version of the VPN software. Cisco had this problem before with an earlier Mac OS X release (I don't remember) but later fixed it, only to be broken again after Leopard.
It may be because I upgraded to Leopard over an existing Tiger installation and had to reinstall the VPN client after the install. Those who are having no problems with it might want to clarify if your Leopard OS is an OEM install, clean install, or upgrade.
TIP: Suggestion for 10.5.2 Cisco VPN problems; more reports
A number of readers responded to last week's report about the Leopard 10.5.2 update breaking the Cisco VPN client. Some report seeing the problem, while other say 10.5.2 didn't cause a problem. David Graham believes that the Cisco VPN client tends to break with most OS X updates. (A belief that has some data to support it as documented on our archive of Cisco VPN client reports.) Graham also sent a couple of suggestions...
More on Leopard slow AD binding, Bonjour, and .local
A pair of readers commented on our reports of slow Active Directory logon with Leopard 10.5.2. Jeff Geerling, who has previously reported that turning of Bonjour fixed the problem, also notes the same potential cause in the .local suffix:
It's my hope that someone figures out a solution for everyone. I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem, but our AD server ends in ".local," which is the suffix that is also used by Bonjour.
Daniel Costello also confirmed the workaround:
I can also verify that turning off Bonjour solved the slow login problem. We are faced with figuring this out since some laptops being shipped today are quirky when Tiger is installed (they ship with Leopard). After disabling Bonjour, the 3-minute log ins went to 5 seconds. Also, the 5-minute binding duration dropped to less than 10 seconds.
Reader has AD admin rights problem in Tiger, but not Leopard
James Minerve in London has an Active Directory problem on all of his Macs running Tiger, but does not see it with Leopard:
We have Tiger running on Mac G5's and a few Macs Minis and whilst we can bind them all successfully onto our Windows Domain, there seems to be a consistent problem with every single one of the Macs. We have specified for Domain Users to have local admin rights when going through the binding process; this seems to be ignored and all domain users still do not have local admin rights. (Our users are web designers and need admin rights!) When we go into System Preferences/Users, the domain user does not have a tick to enable admin access; however we can change this manually. Having said this, we installed Leopard and binding along with domain users admin access worked perfectly.
If you've seen this problem
Firewall problem with AD, Tiger: "unknown error" at step 5; workaround doesn't work
Anthony Fappiano is seeing a previously reported problem with Tiger Mac binding to Active Directory through a firewall. However, the suggested fix isn't working:
The fix regarding UDP 464 doesn't work for me. I still get an unknown error issue after step 5 on the bind. This is with Tiger. It should be noted also that this works fine as soon as I take the firewall out of the equation. The issue seems to be that Tiger cannot set the computer account's password in AD through the firewall. It has no problem setting the password when there is no firewall in place. I've even taken it as far as opening ALL ports and it still fails through the firewall.
We've previously reported a fix for failures at Step 5 in general.
If you have a suggstion
More on Entourage 2008 and the Casablanca calendar shifts
Yaron Elad is seeing the problems with Entourage 2008 calendar events and the "Casablanca" time zone problem:
Me too! I thought I was going crazy. I have an iMac running Leopard 10.5.2 with iCal synced to Entourage 2008 which is connect to my Exchange Server at work. I am seeing the same behavior described by others. Any all-day events created in iCal wind up shifting to 24 hour long events spanning 5 PM to 5 PM from the day before to the day of the actual events. The time zone on Entourage says Casablanca, Monrovia. I have the time zones in iCal and Entourage set to Pacific Time where I am. The event looks OK on iCal.
The problem started with Entourage 11.2.3 about two years ago, and is now being reported in Entourage 2008.
If you have a suggstion
Safari crash under MS ISA proxy continues under 10.5.2
Dr. Duncan Lamont of Scotland says that the Leopard problem of Safari crashing with ISA Proxy continues in Mac OS X 10.5.2. One reader previously reported that the 10.5.2 update fixed the problem. Lamont reports otherwise:
Simply adding my support to the Safari crash problem. I have never been able to persuade Safari to run without crashing on our NHS intranet connection. A MS ISA proxy is used and I've tried numerous work-arounds including applications that set the mac as a proxy itself then connect using their own protocols to the ISA proxy. None have worked under any flavour of OS X at least for the last 3 years. I am using 10.5.2 currently, which was a clean erase and install version so I can't blame it on any inherited settings from Tiger. Firefox however is reliable and connects without issue when separately configuring its proxy.
The most annoying thing about this is it prevents me using the Citrix web client on my Mac since this uses Apples own proxy settings to connect through the ISA proxy. As such, it doesn't work either. When I need to use the Citrix client, I end up using a vodafone datacard to establish a separate connection. I am very surprised that such a long running problem that is so easily replicated could be left unfixed for so long.
February 2008
Verified: defrag hard drive to fix Boot Camp 10.5.2 kernel panics
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Gary Bartos has success with last week's suggestion to fix Leopard 10.5.2 Boot Camp kernel panics when attempting to create a partition. Bartos added some detail to last week's report:
After encountering the Boot Camp Assistant kernel panic problem described on your page Boot Camp in Leopard Tips and Reports, I followed the method described by Bob Estes:
- Download and pay for the full version of iDefrag from Coriolis ($35 and worth it).
- Create a bootable CD using Coriolis CDMaker.
- Reboot from CD, then click "Go" in iDefrag using default settings.
- Reboot from hard disk.
- Run Boot Camp Assistant again, this time successfully. Win XP also installed successfully for me.
Many, MANY thanks both to Bob Estes and to your site for posting his comments.
Gary Moran described the problem:
I had the same problem yesterday. I attempted to use Boot Camp to partition my hard drive, to create a 5 GB partition for Ubuntu Linux. When I re-started it, I had 5 GB less space but no second volume.
More on iTunes 7/Vista optical drive bug
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Larry Wheeler responded to our report about Apple's iTunes 7 in Windows Vista can disabling the optical drive. An Apple Tech article provided a Registry edit that returns functionality to most Windows applications, but iTunes will be unable to burn CDs. Wheeler reported additional problems:
I'm having the identical problem described. I've done the registry edit and got my DVD-ROM drive back, but iTunes gives me an error message every time it starts.
I don't really care about burning CDs with iTunes, but the error message is REALLY annoying.
I allowed iTunes to update itself to the latest version and guess what? My DVD drive is gone again (it's back thanks to the registry edit)! I hope Apple comes up with a fix for this soon.
If you've seen this
More problems with Entourage 2008 syncing, Casablanca time zones, dup events
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Kurt Waltenbaugh responded to last week's report of readers unhappy with Entourage 2008's abilities to sync with handheld devices. He is also seeing the Casablanca time zone problem r