(4-11-2006)
JMU Wireless Networking with Intel Macs
Are you the lucky owner of a new MacBook Pro (or other Intel Mac)? I'm jealous! But you may have noticed that you're unable to use the JMU VPN client to connect to the campus wireless network--the version currently available doesn't work on Intel Macs. There *is* a compatible version that IT is testing, but it's not available for download yet. If you go to the Help Desk and ask for it, though, they should be able to get you a copy. I know of a few machines that have it installed and I haven't heard of any problems.

(1-11-2006)
Problem: Flash animations go silent in all applications, but their video still plays. (I've seen this happen only in Tiger, but it may happen in earlier versions of OS X.) Reinstalling Flash, repairing permissions, and resetting Open Firmware has no effect.

Solution: Step 1--Launch the GarageBand application. Step 2--There is no Step 2. I don't know why this works, but it invariably fixes whatever it is that had rendered Flash mute. Apple says that GarageBand checks a lot of audio-related things in the OS as it launches; apparently, it corrects or repairs whatever was making Flash unhappy.

(11-2-2005)
Issues with QuckTime 7 for the Mac

Recent versions of QuickTime--7.0.2 and 7.0.3--are known to cause problems with some applications and operations. Reverting to QuickTime 7.0.1 will solve the problem. Apple has provided free software to accomplish this:

To go from 7.0.2 to 7.0.1, use the "QuickTime 7.0.1 Reinstaller" --
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime701reinstaller.html

To go from 7.0.3 to 7.0.1, use the "QuickTime 7.0.1 Reinstaller for QuickTime 7.0.3" --
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime701reinstallerforquicktime703.html

Note: If you want to use QuickTime Player to easily export video in the format used by the new video iPod, you must have QuickTime 7.0.3 installed. All of the Macs in Harrison 0241 are so equipped.

(11-2-2005)
Issues with Microsoft e-mail programs on the Mac

Microsoft e-mail programs for the Mac (Outlook, Outlook Express, Entourage) have trouble sending attached files through the JMU mail server. Sometimes it works, but sometimes the files end up hopelessly garbled by the time they reach their recipient. What can you do about this?

1. Make sure that your file has the appropriate file extension (".doc" for Word files, ".jpg" for JPEG files, etc.). This is particularly important when you're trying to send a file to a PC user.

2. Compress your files before you attach them--this often, but not always, solves the problem (I'll spare you the nerdy reason behind this--feel free to stop by my office and ask, if you simply must know!). Be warned, though, that the JMU mail server automatically strips out any attached files that have a ".zip" extension.

3. Convert your file to PDF and attach that instead of the original file. Any native OS X program can create PDFs automatically--simply tell it to print the file, and then save it as a PDF instead of printing it. (This will leave your original file untouched.)

4. Use a non-Microsoft e-mail program to send your file. JMU webmail and OS X's Mail program seem to have few problems with file attachments.

(9-1-2005)
Subject: Resetting a Mac's Open Firmware
If you've got odd funkiness happening on your Mac, resetting the Open Firmware often helps. (It never hurts anything, either, so feel free to try this for any situation in which you think it might be of use):

1. Restart the Mac and then immediately hold down the Command, Option, O, and F keys.

2. In a few seconds, you should see a gray screen with black text. Let go of the keys you were holding down.

3. At the text prompt that's waiting for you, type in "reset-nvram" (without the quotes) and hit the Return key. A new text prompt will appear.

4. Type in "set-defaults" (without the quotes) and hit the Return key (make sure you've got that final "s" in there!). A new text prompt will appear.

5. Type in "reset-all" (without the quotes) and hit the Return key. The Mac will restart.

(8-29-2005)
Subject: Issues with Pen Drives (aka Thumb, Jump, Key Drives):
Pen drives come formatted for use on PCs. Macs can read and write to this format, but some Mac files (Illustrator files, for instance) will be corrupted if they are copied to a PC-formatted volume (and nothing can be done to fix files corrupted in this way). There are options for dealing with this issue:

1). If you do not plan to use a PC, you should use the Disk Utility program to format the pen drive for a Mac.

2). If, you want to use the pen drive with PCs, you can compress Mac files before copying them to the pen drive. One can compress any file or folder with OS X by holding down the Control key and then clicking on the file/folder. In the menu that appears, choose "Make archive of (file/folder name)...."; the Mac will create a file called "(file/folder name).zip" in the same directory as the item being compressed. Compressed files do not suffer from corruption issues when they are copied to pen drives.

(8-29-2005)
Subject: Issues with CDs Burned on Windows Machines:
Recent versions of Windows burn CDs in a nonstandard format that puts more data on a CD than it is supposed to hold. Macs will not read CDs burned in this way. If you have a disc that you can't read on your Mac, take it to a PC and see if it will work there. (This is one of the reasons we ask you to use pen drives instead).

(8-29-2005)
Subject: Issues with Email to Transfer Files:
Don't do this! It very frequently fails to work, either corrupting or eating the files one is trying to send. The JMU mailserver will automatically strip out any attachments ending in ".zip" (this is an antivirus security measure). You are strongly discouraged from trying to e-mail files to yourself or to me as a means of getting them from place to place. (This is another reason we ask you to use pen drives instead).