Power Tip #7: Troubleshooting Startup Problems

Although I've found macs to be notoriously reliable, every once in a while you're bound to run into trouble, and most of this trouble occurs at startup, or soon after.

Thankfully, Apple has provided a couple ways to deal with most problems.

If your computer can't get past startup, the first thing to do is reset the PRAM, or perimeter random access memory. This stores things like the current date and time, and the default boot disk. This can be done by holding down "Command" "Option" "P" and "R." You can also check which boot disk your computer is trying to startup from by holding "Option" as the computer turns on. I know I've had problems after booting from external drives, then trying to start up without the previous drive connected.

If your computer still won't get past the white startup screen, now would be the time to try booting from another source. If you have your install disks that came with your computer, you can put disk number one in and boot by holding "C" as the computer starts up. Assuming this works, you should be able to use disk utility to take a look at the condition of your computer's internal hard disk and fix it if need be. Another thing you can try booting from is another mac that doesn't appear to be broken. This can be done with a firewire cable, and target disk mode. Target Disk Mode turns your computer into a big external drive. With this method, you'll want to connect the two computers with a firewire cable (while both are off), then start up the working one while holding "T"; if you do it right, a big icon should start bouncing around the screen. Next, start up your 'dead' computer while holding "Option" and when you're given the choice, choose to start from the other computer you're connected to. If you manage to start up successfully, try running disk utility to fix up your broken hard drive.

But what if you don't have another boot disk? Well, you can start up from the firmware/EFI (or memory that has rules for controlling fan speeds, etc.). If you have an Intel mac, this can be accessed by starting up while holding "Command" and "S." And for all you PowerPC users out there, hold down "Command" "Option" "O" and "F." From the command line interface you should meet yourself at, type the following, very carefully:

/sbin/fsck -f

And after that, type exit. Running fsck should fix up your hard disk nice and good.

But if your computer won't even turn on, just try unplugging your it, and leaving it for 15 minutes to a half hour. Then try turning it on. This problem stems from not using a functional power surge protector; your mac's internal circuit breaker (as I understand it) was tripped to prevent the excess electricity from burning out your RAM, processor, etc.

I can vouch for the effectiveness of this technique myself, and I can also vouch for the importance of a good surge protector.

And if none of these tips work, then head on down to your local Apple Store. Unless a part is physically broken, the people behind the Genius Bar will usually be happy to repair your mac for free.

New Site for Blog!!!

Check it out at:

peterstory.zzl.org

In the future I'll be updating both blogs at roughly the same time, so feel free to bookmark the format you prefer. Eventually I'm hoping to get another URL, but that's a job for another day.

Personally, I feel the new site has more character, to be honest. Nevertheless, I'll admit it can be a bit more difficult to read. A high five to my sister for teaching me all the CSS I needed to know to make the layout as good as it is.

Power List #1: Top 5 Utilities

No, I haven't run out of ideas, don't worry :D

Today I'll just be introducing an idea I've actually been thinking about for quite a while.

Today's list will be of the top 5 most useful (and shiny) utilities I've managed to get my hands on (for free!).

1. TinkerTool, by Marcel Bresink Software: If you've heard of this one before, that's because it's good. Really good. TinkerTool does what it says; it enables hidden features normally accessible solely from the editing of preference list files (you'll find more out about those in number 3).
2. WakeUp, by Coriolis Technologies: For the few people who need this, it's tremendously useful. What it lets you do is wake your computers remotely. This can be helpful if you, like me, have a server in another room and don't feel like getting up to switch it on.
3. Property List Editor, by Apple: This one's part of Apple's developer tools suite (Xcode). Thankfully, your can create a free account at developer.apple.com and download it at your leisure. Just like TinkerTool, this is a way to unlock hidden features and tweak things to your liking. However, rather than giving you pre-set options to fool around with, Property List Editor lets you open any of the plist files on your computer. They can be found in ~/preferences (~/ stands for your home directory, or the folder with your username on it, much as / stands for the root directory).
4. CLIX, by Rixstep: I know I've mentioned it before, but CLIX is a great application, and I'd just feel bad not getting it on here. For those who missed that post, CLIX has lists of command line commands nicely organized for your convenience. You can even, lo and behold, edit certain preference lists with it.
5. ClamXav, by Somebody: Yeah, I honestly don't know who made this piece of software, but it's pretty good nonetheless. ClamXav is a virus scanner, and even though I don't use virus scanners all that much, it still doesn't hurt to keep one around just in case. Plus, you can use it to check your friend's infested PC, if you're feeling nice.

As usual, I'll give my loyal readers a link to a page that'll keep them going till my next post (whenever that may be).

freemacware.com

That's where I've found more than a few of my handiest applications, so the site's worth a look.

Power Tip #6: Applescript

Ah well, at least it hasn't been a full week.

Today I'll talk about Applescript, Apple's awesome programming language that can save you a lot of time. But thankfully, you don't have to know how to program to use it.

First off, you'll want to enable the Applescript menu bar icon. So navigate to Applications/AppleScript/"AppleScript Utility.app" and open it up. Now you'll want to check the boxes next to "Show Script menu in menu bar" and "Show Computer scripts." You should see a little curled piece of paper appear in the upper right-hand corner of your screen.

If you click on the icon you should get a drop down list; this will contain all the scripts that came with your computer. They're stored in /Library/Scripts if you're interested in editing them. If you want to add your own to the list, you can either put them in there, or go to /Users/PeterStory/Library/Scripts (replacing PeterStory with your name). If there is no scripts folder there, you can make your own (just so long as you name it "Scripts").

A few scripts you should look into are any of the Finder Scripts, which can help you rename a bunch of files at once, and one of my personal favorites, "Download Weather Map" in the URLs folder.

But if you are a person who does want to learn to program AppleScript, I recommend:

AppleScript: The Missing Manual