I Found This Useful

Apple Aiport Extreme stops working

2009-07-03T10:41:00.000+01:00

Got myself a second hand Apple Aiport Extreme and during configuration it stopped working. After A LOT of trial and error, discovered it was due to a setting, which is not properly explained.

On the back of the device are 4 ethernet ports, clearly marked differently. 3 with the usual <--> for ethernet and one with a kind O, which is for the internet, if you have a cable modem, or maybe a half bridge DSL router.

So we have a very clear paradigm of internet and LAN.

Right, here's the INTERNET tab of the Airport Utility. So I'm thinking this is where you configure INTERNET access. Right? Wrong! In fact this configures the LAN. So, turn off the ethernet WAN port at your peril, because if you do you'll fall off the LAN and you'll have to do a reset.

Grrrrr!

Nokia Maps part IV - downloading maps through Bluetooth

2009-06-30T18:30:00.002+01:00

Previously I've had fun with no getting on with the Nokia Maps downloader and bluetooth. After a re-install of Maps on both laptop and Nokia N73, I tried to download a mapset by Bluetooth.

I ensured PC Suite said connected by Bluetooth, launched Maps and it soon said "Updating drive Information for drive E:".

Then I got an error: "Unable to read all the information required for licence purchase from your phone using the current information. Try another connection type (USB or Bluetooth).

Uhhh well I am using Bluetooth, and nothing bad happens if I just click and ignore. Then I'm through to the main interface and off I go. So much easier!

Update on the licence issue: well I still don't know why I get it, ut I now know its to do with the new Services Nokia offer eg City Guides

Parallels Dekstop - upgrade from version 3 to 4 never finishes

2009-06-28T12:45:00.003+01:00

If you have upgraded Parallels Dekstop from version 3 to 4, there is a mandatory upgrade f your virtual machines.

If your VM is Windows XP and you have Zone Alarm installed, it will never finish.

You need to click the 'lock' icon to go into manual mode, make your Zone Alarm selections, and the upgrade will finish.

OSX SSH / Remote Login - prevent brute force password attacks with a Key and Passphrase

2009-06-24T12:08:00.001+01:00

If you have a machine on the internet that you can connect to via SSH, then you should consider disabling password access and use only key / passphrase.

First you need to create a key on the client machine

$ ssh-keygen -t dsa -f ~/.ssh/id_dsa username@domain.com
(Enter passphrase)

The username@domain.com can be of the form fred@google.com, or just fred. For example, to get to my machine at home from the Internet I login as

$ ssh name@server.domain.com

so thats what I put in for the key. However, when I am at home, I don't need FQDN or a different account name, so

$ ssh server

will do. Either is good.

next you need to copy the key to the remote server
$ scp ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub remoteserver:
user@server's password:

Then you need to login to the remote server:

$ ssh user@remoteserver:
user@server's password:

then you need to copy the key into the authorized keys file:
$ cat id_dsa_something.pub >> .ssh/authorized_keys2
$ chmod 600 .ssh/authorized_keys2

if you get an error about "authorized_keys2" not being available, its likely because the account on remote machine has never SSH'd to anywhere else. So SSH to somewhere and try again.

now, when you do

$ ssh remoteserver

you should get the SSH-AGENT dialog box

When this is working, you can then turn off password authentication. On the remote machine opne the sshd_config file

$ nano /private/etc/sshd_config

and locate the lines below, removing the #

PasswordAuthentication no
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no

restart SSH and you are good to go

on the client you can manage your SSH identities for example:

to list the identities
$ ssh-add -l

to delete all identities, which you might want to do if you are doing a key re-fresh

$ ssh-add -D
All identities removed.

more at the man page developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/ssh-add.1.html

OSX Server and AFP "No matching key:"

2009-06-21T19:45:00.002+01:00

After a restart of the server, no users could log in. They got authenticated, but then after a loooong delay their Finder said 'disconnected'.

Checking the AFP log on the server I see lots and lots of

IP 192.168.1.21 - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:00 0000] "Login bob" 0 0 0

**** - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:02 0000] "Mounted Volume XServer" 0 0 0

**** - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:02 0000] "Mounted Volume Data" 1 0 0

**** - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:02 0000] "Mounted Volume Disk1" 2 0 0

**** - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:02 0000] "DiskArbStart -" 0 6403 0

IP 192.168.1.21 - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:11 0000] "Login bob" 0 0 0

IP 192.168.1.21 - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:11 0000] "No matching key: bob" 1247645341 1243892782 92

**** - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:12 0000] "Mounted Volume XServer" 0 0 0

**** - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:12 0000] "Mounted Volume Disk2" 1 0 0

**** - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:12 0000] "Mounted Volume Disk1" 2 0 0

**** - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:12 0000] "DiskArbStart -" 0 6403 0

IP 192.168.1.21 - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:21 0000] "Login bob" 0 0 0

IP 192.168.1.21 - - [21/Jun/2009:18:50:21 0000] "No matching key: bob" 1247645341 1243892782 92

A restart didn't fix it, so decided to re-install the latest patch from the combo, in this case 10.4.11. Now everything is back to normal.

Geo-tagging photos on OSX with Picasa

2009-05-26T14:41:00.001+01:00

Previously, quite a few times now, I've blogged about my woes with geo-tagging photos and getting them uploaded to Picasaweb with geo data in tact.

Well with Picasa 3.05 on OSX, importing recognises the geo-tag, and, sound of trumpets blowing... uploads intact to Picasaweb!

It looks to me like the little cross-hairs symbol in the lower right of a thumbnail indicates geo-tag. Click on the thumbnail in Picasa, then do apple-I (get info) and you see the geo-tag:

In Picasaweb after the photo is uploaded

Connect to hotspots using iPass on iPod Touch

2009-05-24T16:17:00.002+01:00

Now that I have an iPass account, and I got it working on my MacBook, next challenge was getting it going on the iPod, then I can listen to music and catch up on the news.

The basic process is the same as for using iPass on OSX, except that for the iPod client there's no domain field. So this time the fields look like

UserName: domain.com/username

Password: what the IT guys gave you

Some times you get your credentials in the form of an email address and password so this forms the basis of what you do.

After you've put in your credentials in iPass, save them.

Then go to the wireless control preference and connect to the hotspot

Go back to iPass, press 'Login' and after a few seconds you should be good to go. You'll know you're in if it says 'synchronising data'.

Connect to hotspots using iPass on OSX

2009-05-22T19:07:00.008+01:00

Well finally I've got connecting to hotspots using iPass on OSX working. We have a corporate account with iPass, and I installed the software. After much much trial and error, I got some settings that work. Hurray! Now I can use the Internet while mobile and it doesn't cost as much as 3G, especially abroad.

Whe you install the sofware put in your credentials as shown, or, if you get it wrong or need to check something, you can see them from System Preferences.

UserName: domain.com/username

Password: what the ITs guys gave you

Domain: domain.com

Some times you get your credentials in the form of an email address and password eg

user@domain.com

so use those bits as your credentials. Sample screenshot above.

Now, click on the fan symbol on the menu bar, and select a hotspot. In the example below I use MOBILE which is Swisscom.

What should happen is that the iPass client should kick on and log you on. Sometimes this doesn't happen, so if it doesn't, go back to the airport fan, turn airport off, count to ten, and turn back on again.

UPDATE: Sometimes iPass doesn't connect at all and just seems to go to sleep. If this happens, you may need to quit the iPass application, and relaunch it. It doesn't have a 'quit' button, so what you can do is use Activity Monitor, click on iPass and press 'Quit Process'.

Then go to System Preferences, click on iPassConnect and it should re-launch.

Enable root on Android including Cupcake using OSX

2009-05-19T15:43:00.003+01:00

Howto enable root on Android including Cupcake.

You need a tool called ADB - Android Debug Bridge

get the SDK from Google from here
expand the zip and copy it someone handy. I chose /Applications/Android/SDK/sdk_1.5r1
turn on USB Debugging - go to settings>applications>development

Connect your Android by USB to your Mac and type the following:

/applications/android/sdk_1.5r1/tools/adb shell

gets you a command prompt '#'

# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system

# cd /system/bin

# cat sh > su

# chmod 4755 su

# exit

and unplug the USB.

Airport Express - changing the channel

2009-04-26T11:41:00.000+01:00

I needed to change the channel on my Airport Express because the automatic setting had it on the same channel as my neighbours wireless.

To change the channel open the Airport Utility which is in Applications > Utilities on OSX and if it doesn't find your network, scan. Then make sure your device is selected on the left hand pane.

Click Airport, and then wireless, and in the drop down list select a different channel. Try to use one that is 3 or 4 away from any other wireless.

Click update and allow the device to restart.

You can use APGrapher to scan for all the local wireless networks and checks which channel they use.

OSX Server - "the items path may have changed"

2009-04-24T08:04:00.001+01:00

I got "the items path may have changed" on an OSX Server while using Workgroup Manager the other day when trying to change the sharing on a folder. I never found out why, but I fixed it by manually removing the share manually in NetInfo Manager, and adding it back using Workgroup Manager.

OSX Server - manually removing Shares

2009-04-20T10:52:00.000+01:00

On OSX Server you can manually remove Shares by using NetInfo Manager. Go to Applications > Utilities and launch NetInfo Manager. First Authenticate yourself by going to Security > Authenticate
and put in your credentials

Then click through the directories to locate the share. The path is SharePoints > fileshare

find the one you want to remove ie unshare and click Delete. Go back to Workgroup Manager and it'll be gone.

OSX - convert DMG to ISO

2009-04-18T17:11:00.005+01:00

If you have OSX Leopard 10.5 then converting from DMG to ISO is very easy, using Disk Utility.

Go to Applications>Utilities and double click Disk Utilty. When it opens you can either drag the DMG into Disk Utility

or, you can click on Convert
and select your image. Then in the Image Format at the bottom select 'DVD/CD Master'

Allow the file to be named .cdr, and when its finished you need to rename the image to .iso

Safari uses CPU 100% - corrupt SafeBrowsing.db

2009-04-12T23:21:00.007+01:00

On 2 of my OSX (10.4 and 10.5) machines, Safari started consuming 100% CPU. After a bit of research it seemed that it was the new Safe Browsing feature introduced in 3.2(?). Basically with the feature "Warn when visiting a fraudulent website" after 2 minutes Safari would ramp the CPU to 100% and it would stay there, for ever if you left it. Then when you tried to quit it would crash.

I tried a different account, and found that other accounts on the same machine didn't have this problem.

Then I used Activity Monitor while Safari ramped to 100% to see what Safari was doing. In Activity Monitor, click on Safari, then get-info, click on 'Open Files and Ports'

and copy and paste into a text file. Reading through I see

/Users/name/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/SafeBrowsing.db

so the next step was to force quit Safari, and rename this file

cd /Users/name/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari

mv SafeBrowsing.db SafeBrowsing.db.old

restart Safari, and this file gets recreated. Safari does ramp the CPU but after a minute or so its back to normal.

BTW this file is created by Safari downloading from safebrowsing.clients.google.com, so you should ensure access to that hostname.

Geo-tag photos with OSX

2009-04-06T21:30:00.004+01:00

Previously I've blogged how to geo-tag photos using an Android as the GPS logger with the ActiveGPS Lite application, and GPSPhotoLinker.

The author of ActiveGPS Lite has removed it from the Market, so we need another logging application.

Step forward Google's own MyTracks. It too records tracks and can export as GPSX files. You can also consider HoudahGeo. It imports GPSX files
but also does some cool things like

iPhoto, Aperture & Lightroom integration
Writes to iPhoto '09 Places

and very handily doesn't change the file date, so you don't need to use jhead.

Probably well worth the $30.

Google - manually changing search language

2009-04-02T12:11:00.004+01:00

Google use some fancy IP - based tools to present you with a local language interface.

But what if say you are visiting another country and you still want your own language? What you do is start with a different URL:

http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en

searching on say Zurich gives you
while

http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=de (German)

gives you
Nice!

Geo-tagging photos - fixing the file date and time

2009-03-31T08:21:00.001+01:00

I've now got a reasonable work flow. Ensure the GPS Logger is running, export the file to GPSX format, import the log and the photos into GPSPhotoLinker, apply the lat/long location data.

There is one thing that remains, and its bugged me in a more general sense for a while. If you do anything to the file eg adjust / change / update the EXIF data, rotate the image etc, you change the file and the file date & time now show when you changed the file, not when you took the photo.

One answer is to use 'jhead' to apply the EXIF date to the file date. Download the binary and put it someone handy. I usually create a folder for it, so its path becomes

/applications/jhead/jhead

Then ensure it is executable:

chmod +x jhead

then switch to where the photos are that need adjusting:

cd ~/pictures/GPS_logged

and then run the command

/applications/jhead/jhead -ft *.jpg

and

/applications/jhead/jhead -ft *.JPG

curiously I found that on single files it is not case sensitive, while doing '*' it is:

Error : No such file

in file '*.jpg'

It could be pointed out that using Apple Preview to rotate my photos is lossy... well if this proves a problem with a particular file I can always use the lossless rotation in GraphicConverter or go back to the raw file (the .NEF).

Geo-tagging photos with OSX and Android

2009-03-26T08:33:00.001Z

Maybe you've read my previous adventures in geo-tagging photos. Previously I've focussed on how to geo-tag the photo using the Android's built in camera.

But what if you want to geo-tag your photos taken with a regular camera ie one that doesn't have GPS?

First you need a GPS data logger. These capture the GPS location at regular, typically 1 minute, intervals. Then you take the data, and import it into an application, along with your photos. And then apply the GPS data to your photos.

You can use your Android as your data logger. In Market look for an application called 'Active GPS Lite'. Run this, (don't forget to press Menu>Tracking>Start!) and do your activity. Then at the end go to Menu>Tracking>Stop, and export the track. This exports the track as a GPSX file. These are just text files with a standard structure XML type structure.

Transfer the GPSX file to your Mac, eg by USB.

Then you need a way to automatically apply the location data to your photos.

There are two applications to do this: HoudahGeo $25 and GPSPhotoLinker which is free. Both are fairly easy to use.

To use GPSPhotoLinker, start the application, and select Tracks>Load Tracks from File.

Load the GPSX file you copied over previously. The load your photos by going Photos>Load Photos.

make sure the 'Batch' button is selected

and press 'Batch save to photos' and the GPS data is added to your photos

You can then import the photo into iPhoto, upload into Picasa and have the location show automatically.

Picasa - geo-tagging photographs

2009-03-24T07:34:00.001Z

For quite some time, and after much trial and error, I thought there wasn't a way to get your geo-tagged photos uploaded into Picasaweb Albums with the geo data intact. Well now I have a way.

Import the photo into iPhoto, and if you do Get Info (Apple-I), you see the geo-data. Part 1 complete!Next, use the Picasa uploader by exporting (File>Export).

and hey presto!

Android - Geo-tagging photos part 2

2009-03-22T09:22:00.001Z

Previously I'd written about the challenges of having the geo-tagged photos taken with your Android uploaded to Picasa with the geo EXIF data. Basically they weren't.

But how do you know if at the time you taken the photo that the GPS has got you a location? Even if you select the option, there is nothing in the display to indicate it.

What you can do as a workaround is to use another GPS application, typically I use cardiotrainer or Google's own MyTracks. When they go into the background they keep the GPS up. So you can switch to the camera and be sure that the location will go into the EXIF data.

But a visual indication would be better.

Share Ethernet Internet Connection in OSX

2009-03-19T09:42:00.000Z

In theory its quite easy to share an internet connection in OSX. In reality it doesn't work like Apple say.

Go into Preferences>Sharing, and click on Internet Sharing. You can share from any network connection to your choice.

The default is to share _from_ ethernet, but click in the drop box and you see all the options

Select where to want to share to, in this care Airport, and then click the Airport Options box

You need to call your ad-hoc wireless network something, and then unless you have a really good reason, enable encryption. Don't select 40-bit you may as well leave uencrypted for all the security you get. Give it a password, and click OK.

Back in the Internet Sharing panel click the box to the left of the words 'Internet Sharing' and you get the standard 'are you sure box'. Click start.

If its worked OK the usual Airport icon change from

to
However! This doesn't work for me. For some reason I have to create a wireless network first.

To do this click on the Airport fan and select 'Create Network'

In the dialog box, put in some details
and the click OK. The Airport fan changes to
then go back to the sharing panel and click to start Internet Sharing.

OSX - too many menu bar icons and items - SlimBatteryMonitor

2009-03-17T01:49:00.003Z

If like me you have too many menu bar icons and items, you can save some space by using a 3rd party battery monitor. I like SlimMatteryMonitor, which is exactly that, a small battery monitor. Get it from http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/14083/slimbatterymonitor, and go from to

Howto enable disk mode on iPod Touch 2G and iPhone

2009-03-03T22:24:00.006Z

Howto enable disk mode on iPod Touch 2G.

Short answer: as of iPod Touch software 2.2.1 there is no built in way to do it. I guess this is because the OS on the Touch is a cut down version of OSX, while on regular iPods its not.

I've found two third party methods of having disk mode on your Touch (and iPhone as well): Phoneview $19.95

screenshot from www.ecamm.com

and Touchcopy at $24.99

screenshot from www.wideanglesoftware.com

OSX Airport Connection Speed

2009-02-23T14:20:00.000Z

Howto to check your OSX Airport Connection Speed. If you've gone out and upgraded your wireless base station to 802.11n capability, like I did when I bought an 'n' capable Airport Express, and my Macbook Pro should have 'n' capability, then its nice to check that you're getting what you've paid for.

Well there are two ways to get extra information.

1 - You can hold down the 'alt' key as you click on the airport fan (properly called the airport menu extra)

The first hexadecimal number is the mac address of the base station you're connected to.
Channel, well that fairly obvious
RSSI is the signal strength
Transmit rate is the realtime transmit rate. So do a big upload / file move across your network and that should shoot right up.

2 - Open the Network Utility application from /applications/utilities, and look under "info", select "network interface en1" (which is usually airport in a real mac). If you have a USB wireless adapter it'll be en2 or maybe en3.

Link Speed tells you the story.

You can use iStumbler to survey your local wireless networks. Sample from their web site:

iPod screenshots

2009-02-21T20:49:00.003Z

iPod Touch screenshots can be captured on your iPhone 2.0, iPhone 3G and iPod Touch with firmware software v 2.0 and above very easily.

Just press the Home button (the one near the USB lead connector) and Sleep/Wake (On/Off) (the button at the top) at the same time.

You get the usual Apple click sound, and next time you connect to iTunes, iPhoto will load and you can collect the screenshot.