You're 35mm Films and Slides are Dying Pt.V

If you value your images you should have them scanned to digital where they’ll be saved reliably for your lifetime and future generations.


Next month I explain the trials and tribulations of trying to yield good results yourself with cheap flatbed consumer based scanners. The results are lackluster.


Professional slide and negative scanning is now a service I provide to save your precious memories. So if you don’t know what I.C.E., ROC or DEE is then perhaps you should bring your film to me for professional conversion to digital. I can restore film and images too.
See my ad to the right... The clock is ticking...

You're 35mm Films and Slides are Dying Pt.IV

Mold growth on slides and negs is a huge problem, as the fungi actually eats into the emulsion layer. Trying to remove the growth with liquid cleaners most of the time results in more damage than good. Also a dry mold can spread spores very easily to other slides. Needless to say damp conditions promote this damage. Once this damage starts it’s hard to stop and precious negs and slides can not be saved.


The bottom line is that slides and negs under normal storage conditions begin to degrade after about 20 years. Some will degrade earlier and some later, based on other factors.

You're 35mm Films and Slides are Dying Pt.III

After doing some extensive research on the subject I’ve found that many people are experiencing a red color shift of their slides and negs. Although some cases are more severe than others it seems the storage conditions are a factor, but maybe not the reason. Negs and slides stored in high humidity and heat have resulted in accelerated color shift and often promoted even worse problems such as mold and fungi growth. More on that in a moment. It seems to be a feeling that poor initial developing is the reason for accelerated degeneration of film, specifically; contaminated or poorly executed rinsing at the time of developing.

You're 35mm Films and Slides are Dying Pt.II

Today’s digital cameras have done away with the film era, as film is getting harder and harder to find and film developing labs are even harder to find.

Unlike digital data, film has a life. A recent article I read said that film shot before 1962 is especially susceptible to degradation due to the early chemistry used, called E1. Shortly after 1962 a process called E6 was introduced which promoted film longevity, among other things.

You're 35mm Films and Slides are Dying

Most of us are old enough to remember film and slides. Slides were my main staple as a kid since aside from developing the negatives, they didn’t require the additional cost of making the prints. In many cases the prints seemed to stray away from the developed negative strips which really didn’t look like anything when held up to the light. Slides were developed and returned in tiny little boxes, often then arranged and loaded into a slide projector. And the bulb would blow when everyone was ready for showtime...


Today’s digital cameras have done away with the film era, as film is getting harder and harder to find and film developing labs are even harder to find.

The PDF, Acrobat and Preview

Want to quickly read a PDF file but don't have (Adobe) Acrobat Reader? Wonder why Apple no longer includes Acrobat Reader with the new Macs for a long time now...?
That's because Preview will read PDF files. Just drag your PDF file on top of Preview and Viola!
Preview also opens most JPGs (Pics) too... Preview is to PDF and JPG files as TextEdit is to text.

Mac Users and .exe Files

I'm amazed how many macs I work on have ".exe" files floating around on the computers.
Mac users, don't download any files from the internet that end ".exe". These are PC Windows files and can not do anything with them. Often times a website will assume you're using a PC and a not a mac, so you'll see a "download now" button.
When you download you'll see a "Downloads" window appear on your desktop. If you see the downloading file ends with ".exe".  Click the stop downloading button next to the file, you'll see an "X". Stop the download, you're wasting your time.
Steve "Dr. mac" Woron

Still Don't Know What a Widget is?

Q: What is a widget? I hear this term frequently. So what is a “Widget” and why should I care?

You'd be amazed how many mac users still don't know what a Widget is or how many have never used one. Widgets are mini-applications that you download and install into Dashboard to add new functionality. Dashboard is only available in Tiger (OS 10.4). Systems before Tiger do not offer this software.

To access Widgets press F12 at anytime and the Widgets installed by default zoom to the front of your screen. Default Widgets include a forecast, calculator, measurements conversion table and even a language translator.

To have the forecast give your zip codes 6 day forecast, click the little “i” in the lower right hand corner. The Widget flips around. Input your zip code and click done. The Widget flips back now with your zip code specific highs and lows with the six day out look. To make all the widgets go away, either click anywhere that’s not on a widget or hit F12 again. The Widgets zoom off screen.

One particular Widget I find useful is the GAS Widget. When your zip code is entered, it finds the best gas price per gallon near you and even gives you the option of finding other close gas stations and their best prices. To find that widget and others go to : http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/ They are free to download and use.

What Does the Apple System Profiler Do?

Q: How do I find my Apple System Profiler (ASP) and what does it do?

A: In OS 9 –Go to the Apple menu and choose Apple System Profiler. In OSX –Go to your hard drive\applications\utilities and choose the Apple System Profiler.

The Apple System Profiler provides information about your computer's software and installed hardware devices. It includes information about the version of system software you're using, how many and what kind of devices are connected to your computer, and what applications are installed on your computer.

The information that the Apple System Profiler provides can be invaluable when trying to reproduce a particular problem. You should always include an Apple System Profiler report when submitting a bug report. Many times, software and hardware problems are specific to an exact configuration. The Apple System Profiler is the best way to get detailed information about the configuration you are using.

Slow internet on your mac? What's the cause?

From Neighbors Paper Issue 88, Nov 09

Q: I often will be online and either the spinning wheel appears for a long time or Safari will crash all together. Surfing the internet seems painfully slow and I have broadband DSL. What am I doing wrong?


A: You are probably doing nothing wrong. People are quick to blame their computers first because that’s the technology staring them in the face when the trouble happens. The truth is, many smaller non-pro websites are built wrong, have compatibility issues and sometimes just poorly coded. This causes browser problems with some applications whether it’s Safari, Firefox or even on Windows using Explorer.


If using Safari, the first thing is to quit it, (if you haven’t been forced to already) and relaunch it. Under the Safari menu select “Empty Cache”. Now go to a site that’s known to be reliable such as eBay. Click on any auction and see if it comes up. Or click on a news story link on Yahoo.com. If the browser is very sluggish, it’s your broadband service.


At this point, power off your DSL or cable modem for 1 minute. Also power off your router if using one. Now power everything back on and check eBay or Yahoo. 


As a note, sites can get overcrowded with visitors so try another site before blaming your computer or service. Another good tip is to reboot your modem at least every two weeks. Your IPS provider probably does small upgrades to services and fixes which can’t be realized by your connected computers until the modem is rebooted on your end. If you have continued slow downs call your provider for a line test.

Snow Leopard (OS 10.6 ) is HERE! My findings...

From Neighbors Paper Issue 87, Oct 09

Usually when a major update is released I’m not willing to jump on board right away as I don’t need to tell you there are usually lots of compatibility issues. But Snow leopard was not considered a major update so for some reason I decided to take the plunge and install it.

Everything seemed ok, at least at the beginning. But as I began to use 10.6 I noticed several of my apps didn’t work. Apple says:

Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard is designed to protect your Mac from certain incompatible software that can quit unexpectedly or cause other issues in Mac OS X v10.6.

When you install Snow Leopard or migrate to Snow Leopard, known-incompatible software is moved to a folder named Incompatible Software on your hard drive.

Snow Leopard also prevents known-incompatible software from opening. If you see an "Incompatible software" message, contact the software's vendor or visit their website for a later, compatible version.

Snow Leopard moves known-incompatible software such as; Parallels Desktop, VirusScan, Norton AntiVirus, Internet Cleanup 5, Application Enhancer, AT&T Laptop Connect Card, launch2net, iWOW plug-in for iTunes, Missing Sync for Palm Sony CLIE Driver, TonePort UX8 Driver, ioHD Driver, and Silicon Image SiI3132 Drivers to a folder named Incompatible Software at the root level of the hard drive.

You will need to check the vendor’s website to see if there’s an update.

The biggest problem I’m hearing about Snow Leopard is printer compatibility. My Epson Photo R280 did not work properly after the upgrade. A quick visit to Epson’s website and I found an update to fix the problem. I downloaded and installed the update but the problem remained. At this point I tried the old tried and true “fix” which was to uninstall the old drivers and reinstall the new download from Epson. It worked. However Epson failed to mention this little trick to all it’s adoring users.

How do you uninstall a printer driver you ask? In the blue Apple icon menu open your System Preferences, then click on the Print and Fax icon. It will open a new window called Print and Fax so from here on the left side of the pane you should see a list of printers that your mac can access. Click on the printer you’d like to uninstall, then click the “-” minus (subtract) button just below. You just removed the old driver and printer connection.

Although it’s usually not required, I like to restart the mac and this point with the printer off. Once it’s up and running fine, turn on the printer making sure it’s connected via USB (or ethernet). (Sometimes I noticed HP printers like to be on before the mac boots, especially older HP printers connected to older Macs.)

Now go ahead and install the latest printer driver software from the vendor’s website. Follow the prompts if there are any. Now let’s go back to add the printer if it’s not there.

Again, in the blue Apple icon menu open your System Preferences, then click on the Print and Fax icon. It will open a new window called Print and Fax so from here on the left side of the pane you should see a list of printers. If your printer is there, you are done. Try printing something.

If not, click on “+” plus (add) button just below. Be patient as you’ll see some messages about searching for driver... Keep in mind most printers are bundled with some kind of print interface or multi-purpose software that scans , prints and performs all sorts of output options like printing 3 up on a sheet of paper or making greeting cards. Be sure this software is updated and compatible with the system you are using.

While I’m at it there’s a special considerations for you when buy a new printer. Never install the CD software that comes with the printer. You should first go to the company's website and check to what the latest software is for your printer. The CD in the box is probably ancient.

To see what printers are compatible with OS 10.6 see:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669

Snow Leopard (OS 10.6 ) is HERE!

From Neighbors Paper Issue 86, Sept 09

Surprise! OS 10.6 Snow Leopard has been released early—today, August 28! I am very excited about Snow Leopard, even though Apple is not heavily promoting its launch with pre-press, etc.

Snow Leopard is designed to make day-to-day tasks on your Mac easier, faster and more accessible. It delivers a wide range of enhancements, next-generation technologies, out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange Server, and new accessibility features. Snow Leopard is the most powerful and refined version of Mac OS X ever.

Our Favorite Features

Some of the most exciting new features and overall system enhancements in OS 10.6 Snow Leopard include:

64-bit support, the next big step for the Mac. All key system applications are now 64-bit so they can take advantage of all the memory in your Mac. Translation: Your applications will run faster...

Out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange. Mac OS X Snow Leopard delivers built-in support for the latest version of Microsoft Exchange Server, something even Windows PCs don’t have.

Smaller footprint. Snow Leopard takes up less than half the disk space of the previous version, freeing about 7GB for you—enough for about 1,750 more songs or a few thousand more photos.

The Finder has been completely rewritten using Cocoa to take advantage of the new technologies in Snow Leopard, including 64-bit support and Grand Central Dispatch. It’s more responsive from top to bottom, with snappier performance throughout the Finder.

Quicker Time Machine backup. Snow Leopard makes Time Machine up to 80 percent faster and reduces the time it takes to complete your initial backup to Time Capsule. (Time Capsule is Apple’s backup hard drive.)

Faster to wake up and shut down. Your Mac wakes from sleep up to twice as quickly when you have screen locking enabled. And shutting down is up to 80 percent faster.

QuickTime X: As the next generation of media players, it’s built on new core technologies and advances modern media and Internet standards.

More efficient file sharing.

Multi-Touch gestures in older Mac models. All Mac notebooks with Multi-Touch trackpads now support three- and four-finger gestures.

A new technology called Grand Central Dispatch takes full advantage of multicore systems by making all of Mac OS X multicore aware and optimizing it for allocating tasks across multiple cores and processors.

Universal Access: Every Mac comes with built-in technologies designed to help people with disabilities experience it. Innovations in Snow Leopard advance accessibility even further..

How to Purchase and Upgrade to OS 10.6 Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard is an upgrade for Leopard users and requires a Mac computer (duh) with an Intel processor, 1GB of memory (though at least 2GB is highly recommended), 5GB of available disk space, and a DVD drive for installation.

If you’ve purchased a qualifying Mac or Xserve on or after June 8, 2009 that didn’t include Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you can upgrade to Snow Leopard for $9.95 exclusively from Apple via the Mac OS X Up-to-Date Program.

If you have OS 10.5 Leopard installed on a Mac purchased before June 8, 2009, you can upgrade to the Snow Leopard Single User Edition, on sale for $29.99.

If you have multiple Macs running OS 10.5 Leopard, you can upgrade to Snow Leopard with the Snow Leopard Family Pack. This can be installed on up to five Macs and is on sale for $49.99.

If you have Mac OS 10.4 Tiger or earlier, the only way to upgrade to Snow Leopard is with the Snow Leopard Mac Box Set. This includes OS 10.6 Snow Leopard, along with iWork ’09 and iLife ’09. Purchasing those separately would cost $289! See the Snow Leopard Mac Box Set on sale for $169.99.

Amazon.com has some great deals on Snow Leopard (last I saw it was $29 shipped) and also Best Buy had the upgrade for $25 with in store pickup. They were sold out so they shipped it for free...

Be sure to tune in next month about how I lost 3,000 pictures from my iPhoto library using the critically hailed “fail safe” back up utility called Time Machine. Yes even backing up isn’t fool proof. I’ll tell you how it happened and how you can prevent it.
Learn from my emotionally costly mistakes next month...

PC or Mac: For Busy People. The LAST Calendar You’ll Ever Need.

Are you like me and get blamed for scheduled events you were told about weeks or even months ago? “I told you about Tyler’s triangle practice and Catlin’s underwater basket-weaving class 3 weeks ago. Don’t you LISTEN to me?”

I’m thinking , “Not till I have to..”

I could argue that she never told me, but in 20 years, I’ve never won that battle. So. I have a new weapon in my arsenal; Google Calendar. Sanity saved. Have you ever wanted to share a schedule with your wife, girlfriend, co-worker or ex? Well, now you can. This is not a Mac product but I thought it relevant enough to write about.

Google has been the heavy weight of web search engines and they seem to get everything right when they do it and Google Calendar is no exception.

Google writes, “Simplify. Organize. (And relax.) Organizing your schedule shouldn't be a burden. That's why we've created Google Calendar – our free online shareable calendar service. With Google Calendar, it's easy to keep track of all your life's important events – birthdays, reunions, little league games, doctor's appointments – all in one place.

Using Google Calendar, you can add events and invitations effortlessly, share with friends and family (or keep things to yourself), and search across the web for events you might enjoy. It's organizing made easy.

Features

Calendar Sharing: Set up a calendar for your company softball team, and share it with the whole roster. (Your shortstop will never forget about practice again.) Or share with friends and family so you can view each other's schedules side by side.

Invitations: Create event invitations, send them to friends, and keep track of people's responses and comments, all in one place. Your friends can receive your invitation and post responses even if they don't use Google Calendar themselves.

Quick Add: Click anywhere on your calendar where an event belongs (or use the Quick Add link), and start typing. Google Calendar understands whole phrases like "Brunch with mom at Java Cafe 11am on Saturday," and will pop new events right into your agenda.

Gmail Integration: Add your friend's Super Bowl party to your calendar without ever leaving your Gmail inbox. Gmail now recognizes events mentioned in emails.

Search: Find the date of the Baxter family BBQ (you knew it was sometime this summer). Or, search public calendars to discover new events you're interested in and add them to your own calendar.

Mobile Access: Receive event reminders and notifications on your mobile phone.

Event Publishing: Share your organization's events with the world. Learn more with our Event Publisher Guide.

Cost: Free.”

This suite is a great way to share your schedule with family, friends, girlfriends and especially your spouse. No more excuses about “not knowing”. You can make your calendar as public or as private as you want, allow others to only view and/or edit it.

Someone has brought to my attention Google documents which work on the same principal as the Calendar. Sharing documents isn’t usually a big concern for most people, however being able to access it anywhere and always seeing the correct version can be very handy. There’s also the issue of losing the document which can’t happen if it exists online. Hmm something to consider.

MacBook Pro Just Shutsdown

Steve, 
I am enjoying my new screen very much. But the computer has been having a problem since I had it done and it is increasing in frequency. It just shuts itself off randomly. When I turn it back on it sometimes does it again. I can't find any similarity of when it happens. not too hot or near end of battery. Any ideas on what is going on? kate

Hi Kate,
I had this issue with mine also, then the fan started making a loud (!!!) noise on startup. It was so loud, I could not hear the TV.! I called Apple and they replaced the entire logic board for free (out of warranty). If you haven’t had yours replaced, call Apple before they stop the “voluntary recall”. Tell them the fan is making a loud sound and wont stop and you’re having this shutdown problem. (it has nothing to do with the LCD replacement.)

Also see:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2006/07/4689.ars

http://www.fixya.com/support/t710869-macbook_pro_just_shuts_down

iPhoto Crashing Issues and Problems

Q: I’m having problems with iPhoto crashing and freezing. What can be done?

A: iPhoto includes a feature that allows you to rebuild the currently selected iPhoto library. Sometimes rebuilding the library resolves issues such as the library appearing to be unreadable, missing photos, or other issues related to reading the iPhoto library structure.

Note: This article is for iPhoto versions 5 and earlier. For iPhoto 6 and later read on...

Important: You should back up your existing iPhoto Library folder before using the rebuild feature. A backup allows you to restore the iPhoto Library should anything unexpected happen during the rebuild (such as an unexpected shutdown) that prevents the library from rebuilding correctly.

Before performing a rebuild, you should install any iPhoto updates you find by using Software Update. If a software update resolves your issue, then you don't need to rebuild. It's also a good idea to search apple.com/support for your specific iPhoto symptom before performing a rebuild, just in case there is a more specific or relevant solution.

To rebuild iPhoto 5 and earlier you will need at least enough free disk space equal to your current iPhoto library.

Follow these steps to rebuild the iPhoto library:

Quit iPhoto if it is open.

For iPhoto 2, hold down the Shift and Option keys on the keyboard.

For iPhoto 4 and iPhoto 5, hold down the Command and Option keys on the keyboard.

Open iPhoto.

Keep the keys held down until you are prompted to rebuild the library.

Name and save the library.

iPhoto will begin to rebuild the iPhoto library. This can take several minutes, depending on its size.



Note: iPhoto 5.0.2 and later include an additional dialog that appears when you start to rebuild the library.

Use these guidelines for these dialog options:

Select the option(s) for thumbnails if only the thumbnails are appearing in unexpected ways (grey or blank).

Select the "Rebuild the iPhoto Library database" option if iPhoto unexpectedly quits when launched or does not get past loading photos.

Select the option to recover orphaned photos if photos appear to be missing from the iPhoto library.

If there was an issue with album data or with the iPhoto library file itself, then some of the albums may appear blank after rebuilding the library. Look in the main library in the source list of the iPhoto -- the photos are likely still there. If so, drag the photos to their corresponding albums to add them back to the library.

iPhoto 6 and later: Rebuilding the iPhoto library

Important: You should back up your existing iPhoto Library folder before using the rebuild feature. A backup allows you to restore the iPhoto Library if anything unexpected happens during the rebuild (such as a power failure) that prevents the library from rebuilding correctly.

To rebuild the iPhoto library:

Quit iPhoto if it is open.

Hold down the Command and Option keys on the keyboard.

Open iPhoto.

Keep the keys held down until you are prompted to rebuild the library.

A dialog will appear with rebuild options. Select the options you want to use.

Click Rebuild to begin the rebuild process. This may take a few minutes to

complete.

MacBook Pro Just Shutsdown

Steve,

I am enjoying my new screen very much. But the MacBook pro has been having a problem since I had it done and it is increasing in frequency. It just shuts itself off randomly. When I turn it back on it sometimes does it again. I can't find any similarity of when it happens. not too hot or near end of battery. Any ideas on what is going on? kate

 

Hi Kate,

I had this issue with mine also, then the fan started making a loud (!!!) noise on startup. It was so loud, I could not hear the TV.! I called Apple and they replaced the entire logic board for free (out of warranty). If you haven't had yours replaced, call Apple before they stop the "voluntary recall". Tell them the fan is making a loud sound and wont stop and you're having this shutdown problem. (it has nothing to do with the LCD replacement.)

Also see: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2006/07/4689.ars

http://www.fixya.com/support/t710869-macbook_pro_just_shuts_down

Do I have Apple Care? Did I Buy it? When is it Up?

I work on a lot of people's macs and the first thing I ask is if they still have Apple Care? AppleCare is an extesion of the 1 year warranty provided with the mac product, usually an additional 3 years. Here's how to check to see if the Mac you're using is covered. It's connected to the serial number of the mac.

To see the serial number of your mac without standing on your head just go to the blue apple menu, then select About this Mac. You'll see the Version number here. Double click it and our mac's serial number will appear. This is NOT the serial number of the software, but the Mac itself.

Now goto this website https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do

In the field put in your SN. You can't copy and paste it from the the other window. Then fill in the country and click Continue. Your status should show up giving a date the warranty expires.

How to Trash Photos

Q: I keep emptying my trash can in iPhoto yet the can keeps showing the number of pictures I trashed. They never go away. I can’t seem to trash the pics.

A: It’s rare but this application has it’s own trash can. Go under the File menu in iPhoto and empty the trash from there. You are emptying the system’s trash can. Your pics aren’t there.

The Insomniac Mac: I Can't Sleep

Q: My mac has trouble sleeping automatically or on command. It’s very frustrating. What’s going on?



A:Nothing is more frustrating than a mac  that won’t sleep, or even worse a mac that won’t wake from sleep and needs to be rebooted losing precious time and waiting for a reboot. 

The answer isn’t always simple as there could be a couple reasons. First open the System Preferences and click on the Energy Saver control panel. Now make sure the sliders are on anything but “Never”. If set to “never” the machine will never sleep no matter what.

If you don’t use your mac to receive faxes, click on the Print and Fax tab to check and make sure your mac isn’t awake to watch for incoming faxes. That will also prevent sleep.

While in System Preferences click on the Sharing control panel. Now click on the “Internet” tab. Make sure your mac isn’t sharing an internet connection. If so, click it off by shutting it of with the “Stop” command.

Another reason for insomnia is a damaged preference file most likely a Blue tooth or Power Management preference file. These files are best left to a mac tech like me to dispose of and replace.

One of the most likely culprits is an incompatible card recently added such as a USB card. These cards are usually problems in desktops, not so much portable. Be sure to go to the card’s manufacturer website and make sure you have the latest drivers or software upgrades. Many times people buy “no name” cards and have to info to act on such as technical support for the company. In that case you are stuck with a non functioning card as far as the sleep command goes.

On ibooks and Powerbooks the power manger could also be the reason for a non-sleeping laptop. Each mac portable requires a different way to reset the power manager so it’s best to take it to a mac tech. In the meantime, if your mac does go to sleep but won’t wake there’s a not-so-green temporary answer. That would be to visit the System Preferences as mentioned earlier and click on the Energy Saver control Panel. In this case set the sliders to “Never”. This will prevent the mac from going into a sleep it doesn’t wake from. This should only be a temporary solution until you can get the mac fixed. Sleep is good, saves energy and wear and tear on your computer.

Remember to always reboot your mac at least once a day or better yet just shut it down when down it for more than 8 hours. restarting a mac clears out a lot internal logic clutter and ensures a leaner running mac. Putting a mac to sleep and never rebooting it is a bad habit and can tax the systems RAM supply. Everybody likes a fresh start once a day, so shutdown.

The Problem with Mac OS X 10.5.7 Update

[caption id="attachment_47" align="alignleft" width="164" caption="Danger Danger! "]

[/caption]

Running Leopard I was notified to run the 10.5.7 update. I did so while I decided to leave and have lunch. After restarting my beautiful HP w2207 monitor wouldn't sync to the correct resolution. I never had problems this an update before...

I'm using a mac mini and the monitor is connected via HDMI> DVI.

I was now annoyed because now a nice warning box was displayed in the middle of my screen and wouldn't go away. To make matters worse the display would go to sleep every 15 seconds. It asked me to set the resolution to 1680 x 1050 60 hz. great except that option was now gone in the display panel.

I tried everything. Nothing worked. After two hours I finally called Apple. They gave me a couple ideas that didn't work. The only thing left was using Time Machine. I had never used it and was a little reluctant to wipe out my Hard drive with a backup system that was untested.

Well I took a leap of faith and went back to the last version TM saved of 10.5.6. I had to boot form my Leopard install disk and do a TM Restore. This took almost 4 hours!

So don't upgrade to 10.5.7 if you connect to a monitor/TV via HDMI cable. Apple is now aware of the problem and a fix is on the way.

For more on this issue and alternate solutions besides Time Machine (See the value of backing up???) goto this site.

My mac won’t start and only makes beeping noises.

Q: My mac won’t start and only makes beeping noises. What are they and what do they mean?

A: Here’s what Apple says:

Products introduced after October, 1999 use a revised set of power on self-test beeps during startup. This article describes each one.

 

Products Affected

Portable Computers, Desktop Computers

The power on self-test resides in the ROM of the computer. This test runs whenever the computer is turned on after being fully shut down (the power-on self-test does not run if the computer is only restarted).

 

If a fault is detected during the test, you will not hear a normal startup chime. Instead, the system will beep as explained below. If you experience one of these beeps, you may call your Apple Authorized Service Provider for additional troubleshooting assistance.

 

1 beep = no RAM installed

2 beeps = incompatible RAM types

3 beeps = no good banks

4 beeps = no good boot images in the boot ROM (and/or bad sys config block)

5 beeps = processor is not usable

 

In addition to the beeps, on some computers the power LED will flash a corresponding number of times plus one. The LED will repeat the sequence after approximately a 5-second pause. The tones are only played once.

 

To sum up; it’s usually a RAM (memory) problem or the actual sockets the RAM modules are in. Sometimes reseating the RAM can make the problem go away.

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 7 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #1!

 

[caption id="attachment_39" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Lotsa system junk needs to go..."][/caption]

Have your mac tuned up. Your mac is on hours on end and lots of things happen. Bad things. Caches and files grow in sizes that are unmanageable by the operating system. Preference files become corrupt. Fonts can become corrupt. Drivers that are unneeded are added from things you’ve bought and attached. Plug-in’s, undeleted temp files, bloatware are added constantly and your mac has to wade through all this.

 

Also your mac is loaded with about 40-something different languages, so if you only use English all that extra code is siting there taking up processor speed and hard drive space.

I can do a proper maintenance and tuneup. I would be a good idea to have a checkup done on your mac if it hasn’t been done in over 18 months. Macs are like cars, they require care and maintenance. Making your hard drive work unnecessarily is a prescription for a shorter life. Call me for a full tuneup, it’s cheap and will extend your mac’s life...

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 6 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #2

 

[caption id="attachment_32" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="RAM is cheap. Don't skimp on upgrading to the max!"][/caption]

Add RAM. The biggest problem (other than the above maintenance issue) is the lack of memory that is sold with your mac. Apple is famous for selling macs with bare bones minimum memory in their macs. Why? It keeps the selling price down. 

 

RAM is so cheap now especially for macs made in the last four years it would be insane to not install the maximum amount your model takes. This can make the difference from watching the beach ball turn and watching your finger nails grow to instant response time on most tasks.

RAM hungry applications are anything by Adobe (Photoshop is the ultimate winner!) and anything Microsoft. They install a lot what's called bloatware--junk you don’t need.

In the old days 128Mb RAM was a nice amount to run system 9. Today that won’t even boot OS X. If you’re running less than 1Gb of RAM you’re just torturing yourself and putting undo stress on your mac.

Upgrade that RAM. I can help with this too.

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 5 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #3

Restart /Shutting Down your mac. Putting your mac to sleep constantly is a bad habit. Always shutdown your mac at the end of the day or when you leave work. It not only lengthens the life of the internal components, it’s also a fresh start for the operating system when a lot of garbage and temporary files are flushed out. A micro tuneup is performed every time the mac starts up.

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 4 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #4

 

[caption id="attachment_34" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="Hell on Earth: Dial-up"][/caption]

Upgrade your Web Access. New macs don’t even come with modems. You have to special order them or find them on eBay (good luck with that!). This is clearly an indicator to the speed progress the web has made a necessity. Try downloading an update to Tiger OS 10.4 on dialup and you can actually watch your teeth fall out. Let’s hope you never want to watch Youtube.com vids or need to download any software. Many of the tasks we perform today are directly related to an internet connection.

 

DSL is very cheap, in fact a few years ago it was cheaper than Dial-up. Some of my clients were paying $19.99 for dial-up and others were paying $12.95 for DSL. So some were actually more to go slower (50X slower!) and tie up their phone line!

I’m no fan of the cable company so I always say go with DSL from the phone company, no matter what deal you think you’re getting on the “bundle illusion”. After taxes and fees has anyone made out on any “bundle”?

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 3 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac #5

Clean Up your Browser. We usually spend a lot of time online and guess what...? Your browser keeps track of all of it. That can be a big list of junk for Safari or Firefox to remember. How often do you go to your history anyway. With “tabs” enabled, very recent history is almost redundant, so let’s purge it. Under History in Safari, go to the bottom and click Clear History.

Still poky? Look under Safari and click Empty Cache. Don't click Reset Safari or you'll lose everything you've saved. use that only as a last resort...

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 2 of 7

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac: #6

Get a Larger Hard Drive. When your hard drive reaches 90% capacity you’ll notice a slow down in performance on all levels. The operating system uses hard drive space for a good number of temp files. Many applications require hard drive space to do their thing. If you don’t want to upgrade the internal drive at least consider an external hard drive. Once attached, you can off-load files you don’t use often, especially images like your digital camera pics.

Many older macs, especially the iBooks, Powerbooks and even the MacBook Pros came with really skimpy hard drives for capacity! Installing a new hard drive in one of these requires professional skills, so contact me before you make a choice. I can do the switch.

Speeding Up Any Mac Using Only Common Sense Part 1 of 7

With the economy in a downturn people are holding on to their macs longer and squeezing some more life out of them, avoiding a payout of over $1200 for a new machine. Apple macbooks even go for more. So how can you squeeze a longer life span out of an aging mac?
Obviously the concern is speed. Most people, unless forced to replace their mac due to hardware failure, feel their currant machine is too slow. So let’s cover some simple and/or cheap tricks to pep of that machine till it’s time to fork over the big bucks for a new one.

Top Tricks to Speed Up Your Mac: #7

Clear the Clutter off your desktop. Does your desktop look like the picture above? This is like coming home from the grocery store and leaving all your groceries on the floor. Leaving files on your desktop is a great way to bog down your operating system.
File your documents away. Neatness pays off and so does a clean desktop...