Bad fan design is the bane of the iMac G5

iMac G5

A Mac user reverse engineers the iMac G5 fans. He identifies yet another flaw: lateral play in the bearings.

Bottom line, for many Mac users a major appeal of the G5 iMac is quiet operation. It doesn't deliver. In fact, it often generates more irritating noise than a typical desktop machine. (During the winter my homebuilt XP, with several thermally controlled fans, is almost silent.)

I'm already holding off on my iMac purchases because of the problems with iPhoto 5. If Apple doesn't fix the iMac I'll be looking at either a Mac Mini or a refurbished PowerMac.

iPhoto 5 is a turkey

Apple - Discussions - iPhoto 5

I've been following the Apple discussions for a while. Even with the 5.01 patch this iPhto release smells like week old fish. This is particularly disappointing since iPhoto 4 was clearly a performance and bug fix update, we thought iPhoto 5 would be a big improvement.

iPhoto 5 is so bad I'm holding off on buying a new Mac -- because that machine would ship with iPhoto 5 and it hard to switch back to iPhoto 4.

Things to do if your Mac doesn't boot

Apple - Discussions - List of things to do if your Mac doesn't boot

Modified from a post to Apple Discussions

Safe mode:
hold Shift while power on
use Disk utility to repair permission and Onyx to delete caches

Single user mode:
hold Command + S while power on
at the Unix command type fsck -fy
type again to make sure there is no error
type reboot and press Enter to get out of Single user mode

PRAM:
hold Command + Option + P + R while power on

OpenFirmware: hold Command + Option + O + F while power on
While in open firmware you can reset your video and pram settings with these commands
0 > reset-nvram
Press Return
0 > reset-all
Press Return

Installation disk one:
Put in Installation disk one
hold C while power on
Use Disk Utility to repair permission and repair disk

Target Disk mode:
user a Firewire cable to connect to another Mac that's on
hold T while power on, this will make the unbootable Mac act as an external hard drive
Back up files from there
Use Installation disk one to re-install OSX

Re-install OSX if you don't have access to another Mac:
Put in Installation disk one
hold C while power on
While selection target drive, go to Options and select Archive and install
The installation will keep all your files and settings
After installation is complete delete the Previous System on the hard drive.

Mac OS X Update troubleshooting

Macintouch Mac OS X 10.3.8

A set of useful troubleshooting tips. None of these should be needed of course.

Andreas Junghans In response to David Whitehead's network problems after the 10.3.8 update:

I've had network problems in the past after some OS X and security updates. Apple's Mail and Safari would not be able to connect to servers while Mozilla would continue to work just fine. What solved the problem every time was rebooting the machine (a second time after the mandatory reboot when the install is finished).

Regarding Tim Wojtyniak's question about the applications in the 'Open with ...' menu:

Each OS X application contains information about the file types it can work with. Whenever an application is launched or simply clicked on in the Finder, OS X updates the so-called 'LaunchServices database' with the new information. Among other things, this database is used for providing the 'Open With ...' entries (similar to the Windows registry, but only used for file associations).

As detailed here, you can completely rebuild the LaunchServices database using the following command in a Terminal:

/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/
LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local
-domain system -domain user

This command first flushes all entries and then rescans the usual folders that contain applications. For each application found, the corresponding file associations are added to the database. After this procedure, deleted apps should no longer appear in the 'Open With ...' menu. In case you have some applications stored in custom locations (e.g. '/Productivity Apps'), you have to launch them once to restore their file associations.

Panther Cache Cleaner Update

MacInTouch Home Page: "Panther Cache Cleaner 2.4.7 provides easy access to numerous Mac OS X maintenance and utility options through a graphical interface. This release has been updated for Mac OS X 10.3.8 and adds a screenshot helper and an option to remove unneeded language localizations. Panther Cache Cleaner is $8.95 for Mac OS X 10.1 and up."

I've avoided PCC since I removed it and seemed to resolve some serious stability issues. It used to install something deep in the OS.

Pogue tests KVM switches: mini-Mac and PC integration

The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > Pogue > Basics: Mac Meets PC and Both Learn to Share

See also an earlier post on the Belkin OmniView KVM switch. I'd wondered if Belkin launched that analog VGA switch in anticipation of the Mac Mini, but its switching doesn't respond to Mac keystrokes. Switches that work with a digital LCD display may be harder to find.

What you need, besides the two machines, is a K.V.M. switch, a device that permits you to use a single keyboard, monitor and mouse with two or more machines. K.V.M. stands for "keyboard, video and mouse," but some K.V.M. switches also let you control your speakers and microphone. Using a switch not only saves money and desk space but adds to the capabilities of both machines by creating a system whereby the Mac and PC work together. At the risk of offending some Apple enthusiasts, Windows users could think of the Mini as a PC peripheral...

... The hybrid system I tested used a Dell 8400 PC running Windows XP Home Edition and a basic $499 Mac Mini upgraded to 512 megabytes of memory from 256 (Apple charges $75 for this). I also connected the Mini to an I.B.M. ThinkPad laptop that runs Windows XP Professional Edition.

K.V.M. switches have different sets of cables, plugs and jacks. The keyboard, mouse and monitor plug into ports on the switch (usually labeled Console). Then two sets of cabled plugs (in a two-computer switch) hook up to the keyboard, mouse and video ports on the computers. The cables are often included with the switch, but with some models they are sold separately.

Computers can have different types of inputs, so you need to buy a switch that matches your configuration.

If your keyboard and mouse have universal serial bus plugs, for example, then the Console ports on the switch you buy must be U.S.B. If those two peripherals have the round PS/2 connectors, then the ports must be PS/2. As for the output cables to the two computers, since the Mac Mini has only U.S.B. ports for both its keyboard and mouse, the switch must have U.S.B. plugs, which will also work with the PC. (But the switch need have only one U.S.B. plug for each computer; it can handle both keyboard and mouse.)

You also need to check your monitor cable. Most use a standard 15-pin V.G.A. connector, but some use a digital video interface, or D.V.I., link. (Some monitors support both.) So you will need to make sure your K.V.M. switch has the appropriate jack.

I tested four inexpensive K.V.M. switches that work with V.G.A. monitors. Belkin's 2-Port K.V.M. Switch with Built-In Cabling, U.S.B. (about $50) works with the Mac Mini and any PC with a V.G.A. monitor and U.S.B. keyboard and mouse, as does Iogear's Miniview Micro U.S.B. Plus (about $60).

If you have a PS/2 mouse and keyboard, Hawking Technology's 2-Port K.V.M. Switch with Audio and Microphone will do the trick for about $40. Hawking's 2-Port U.S.B., PS/2, K.V.M. Switch with Audio and Microphone (about $80) gives you a choice between U.S.B. and PS/2.

As for the actual switching between machines, the Hawking units give you a choice of pressing a switch on the unit or using your keyboard. The Belkin has a switch (its keyboard controls don't work on Macs). Iogear's Miniview Micro doesn't have a switch; to shift between the PC and Mac, you press the scroll lock button twice. The advantage of being able to switch between machines from the keyboard is that you can place the K.V.M. units anywhere, but there is something reassuring about a physical switch.

When switching between machines, there can be a short delay as the machine recognizes the mouse and keyboard, but it's generally just a couple of seconds.

I used KVM switches eons ago with an OS 7 PowerBook and a 386 PC. Back then switching was hard on the monitors; they'd make audible popping noises when they switched sync input. It clearly shortened CRT monitor lifespan in the early 90s. I suspect this is not an issue with LCD displays.

iMac G5 fan noise: another cause

MacInTouch Home Page: "As a side note, when I opened up one of these computers, I found that the loud fan noise was being caused by the plastic tab (under the fan cover at the top, used to pull the midplane out of the rest of the computer) rubbing against the topmost fan blades. Simply tucking the tab up and out of the way when replacing the fan cover solved the fan noise problem. This may explain why the fan noise on other computers is inconsistent and not always. If you have a fan noise problem on your iMac G5, you may want to simply check to make sure the tab is not rubbing on the upper fan.
"