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 • hardware

• What's really in those containers full of boxes?
  Since the iPhone 3G launch is now confirmed for July 11, is it really iPhones, what is those 188 mysterious ocean containers? The following observations could also point to new a 16:9 17.3" MacBook Pro.

  
  
• External Harddrives File Transfer Speeds Compared: USB 2 vs. Firewire 400
  After reviewing the Acomdata Samba USB Enclosure, which houses a Seagate SATA 3.5" 7200 RPM drive with 8MByte buffer, and also the LaCie 160 GB Portable Firewire-400 2.5" 5400 RPM drive a couple weeks ago, I finally took the time to run some simple file transfer speed tests on both drives.
  
  

  External Harddrives : File Copy Speeds Compared
  USB 2: SATA 3.5" 7200 RPM vs. FireWire-400: 2.5" 5400 RPM

  Single file [200 MB]

  Source \ Target	Internal Drive	External USB Drive	External FW400 Drive
  Internal Drive	-	11.104s	7.167s
  External USB Drive	5.533s	-	-
  External FW400 Drive	5.187s	-	-

  
  

  
  
• Sh!t We Like - Mini Disk Adapters
  Even before writable mini disks, the 8-centimeter in diameter small CDs and DVDs (a.k.a Pocket-CD), became available/affordable, I really liked that small form-factor. Today you find mini disks included with some computer accessories, used as a cheap way to include drivers and other software. Some video cameras use writable mini DVDs for content recording. However, I don't think those small silver optical disk became very popular ever and the rise of the slot loading drives surely didn't help.
  
  It used to be that only on Apple computers one would predominately find slot loading optical drives (CD and DVD drives) while on PCs the less expansive but often faster tray loading drives were used. Generally, slot loading drives seem to be more convenient and offer a very clean look but are also more prone to jamming; most importantly however, slot loading drives don't accept 3" mini DVDs or Pocket CDs and Apple warns about using those.

  Warning: The optical drive in your Mac mini supports standard circular 12 cm discs. Irregularly shaped discs or discs smaller than 12 cm are not supported. Noncircular or small discs may become lodged in the drive.

  
  
• Sh!t We Like - External Harddrives Pt2
  Putting the spare 3.5" SATA hard drive we had laying around, into a nice external enclosure, was easy and economically the right thing to do. In External Harddrives Pt1, we pointed out the importance of looking at the drive's power requirements and comparing that with the enclosure's power supply parameters. One week back in service again, the now nicely enclosed Seagate ST3250823AS SATA drive has been working great so far and is used by Mac OS X Leopard's new integrated backup program a.k.a Time Machine.
  
  I really like the looks of the black Acomdata Samba USB Enclosure but it's kind of big, considering that sits right next to a Mac Mini. Also, the required 12V AC wall-adapter makes this a pretty much stationary device, not suited for moving around a lot.
  
  LaCie Portable Hard Drive
  Instead, a really cool and portable external hard drive is the LaCie 160 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive. The compact (3 x .65 x 5 in / 76 x 17 x 129 mm ) and very lightweight (6.35 oz / 180 g ) device houses a 2.5" 5400 rpm hard drive. This is arguably the best looking external drive but what's even better is that there is also a FireWire 400 (up to 35-40MB/s) version available.
  

  
  
• Sh!t We Like - External Harddrives Pt1
  Replacing the PowerMac G5 with a Mac Mini (Core-2-Duo) has worked out great so far; I really do enjoy this small, fast, and quiet computer. However, to put Mac OS X Leopard's new integrated backup program a.k.a Time Machine to work, requires a 2nd harddrive. Luckily, I had removed the secondary harddrive, which we had added just a couple months ago, from the PowerMac, before selling it and finding a nice external enclosure for the 3.5" SATA drive shouldn't be all that hard.
  
  Acomdata Samba USB Enclosure Kit Black
  
  

  
  
• Mac Mini the 3rd.
  A couple weeks ago we had bid fare well to the Power Mac G5 and while I was considering replacing it with a MacBook Pro, I eventually went with a Mac Mini, making it the 3rd one in the house (there were already Tom's G4 based mini, and the Media Center Core Solo based mini).
  The newest addition is a 2 GHz Core-2-Duo based mini, upgraded to 2 GB RAM; and having all the other minis around, makes it easy to compare things like speed, runtime temperature, etc. and since I did the memory upgrade myself, we also looked inside, comparing the internals.
  
  
  

  
  
• A fond farewell to my good old G5
  It wasn't really an emotional goodbye but with some sadness, I sold my almost to the day four year old PowerMac G5. It was one of the first ones built, a 1.8 GHz single processor machine. The beautiful enclosure with slowly and quietly running fans inside still looked like new but the heavy weight limited the selling options.
  
  There are a couple place on the Web (MacOfAllTrades being one of those) that buy or trade used Macs. The purchasing prices they offer are not great but I wouldn't call them completely unfair either. However, the seller is responsible for paying the shipping fees to their location, which, considering the dimensions and weight of a G5, can be a significant.
  MacOfAllTrades is certainly one option to sell a Mac and also a good way to find out what the absolutely lowest offering price is, one might have to accept. However, like many other Mac buyers and sellers, I prefer Craigslist .
  
  Asking for a fair price will definitely get some Mac fans interested and in my case, it took only two days and the G5 was gone. No shipping fees - the new owner of my good old friend came by and picked it up.
  
  Farewell PowerMac G5, farewell ...
  

  
  
• Brain Surgery Pt.6 - The different Twins
  DDR and especially DDR2 SODIMM memory became recently somewhat affordable, allowing for another episode of the Brain-Surgery series.
  This time it was the different twins that were due for a significant RAM increase. The different twins are our two Mac minis; there is Tom's 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 based Mac mini and 1.5GHz Intel Core Solo based Mac mini that's mostly used as a TV-Internet Connector, which setup and purpose I had described back in October 2006 in Subscription TV.
  
  Usually, I get memory upgrades for Macs from either Crucial or Ramjet directly. However, this time I got a way better deal at Mwave.com for the same Crucial Memory.
  
  
  

  Upgrading the Intel-based Mac Mini to 2GB RAM

  • Upgrading here means replacing 200 PIN SODIMMs:
    Two Micron 256MB DDR2 667 CL5 (PC2-5300S-555-12-C0) modules were replaced by two Micron 1GB DDR2 667 CL5 modules: CT12864AC667
  • There are a couple really useful sites that explain in much detail how to open the Mini, OWC even posted a video, showing how to disassemble the Intel-based Mac mini.
    However, I had some trouble removing the WIFI-antenna, which didn't work as explained elsewhere. The antenna is spring-loaded and kept in place by two black plastic posts. Squeezing the posts towards each other only slightly, releases the antenna-board immediately.
    The whole procedure took about 15 minutes, which already included using about half a can compressed air to clean the device. Upgrading the memory certainly is the easiest upgrade one can perform and I imaging that replacing harddrive or CPU may be a little more challenging.

  
  
  

  Upgrading Tom's PowerPC G4 based Mac mini to 1GB

  • Here again, upgrading means replacing - this time a single 184 PIN DDR SDRAM:
    A single 512MB PC3200 CL3 module was replaced by a Micron 1GB DDR PC3200 CL=3 UNBUFFERED NON-ECC module: CT12864Z40B
  • Opening the older Mini seemed a little harder but once the case was opened, replacing the memory module was very easy, no other components needed to be removed or disconnected.
    Again, with cleaning, the whole procedure took less than 15 minutes.

  
  

  Here are the previous episodes of this never ending brain surgery series ...

  1. G5's memory upgrade
  2. iBook 1.2GHz memory upgrade
  3. 1.67 GHz 15" PowerBook 1GB DDR-2 memory upgrade
  4. 2nd Harddrive for the G5 • Seagate Barracuda 250 GB SATA drive
  5. Final voluntary "brain surgery" performed on the aging Power Mac G5
  6. Brain Surgery Pt.6 - The different Twins a.k.a. Mac minis

  
  
• Formatting a USB Flash-Drive for OS X
  Since a while back, I'm using a tool to store all my passwords, website logins, program serial numbers etc. all RC4-encrypted and password-protected. Currently, the password tool (Pastor) and the data file are located on my Power Mac G5, which of course is a problem when I need to lookup a password when away from the G5, like at work for instance. Putting everything on a USB Flash Drives may be a good solution but I'm just exploring the possibility while I'm writing this, so let's see how it goes. When formatting a USB Flash Drive (or any drive for that matter) OS X offers the following 7 choices:

  • UNIX File System
  • MS-DOS File System
  • MAC OS Standard
  • MAC OS Extended (Case-sensitive)
  • MAC OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
  • MAC OS Extended
  • MAC OS Extended (Journaled)

  and the best format to chose really depends on the intended use of the drive. If the flash drive needs to be used on a Windows PC as well, then MS-DOS FAT32 File System is the one and only option available. The same is true for UNIX, which makes UNIX-FS the obvious, best choice.
  
  

  But how do all these formats compare and which one should be used, if Macs running OS X are the only computers the Flash-Drive will ever be used with?

  Mac OS Extended a.k.a. HFS Plus a.k.a. HFS+ seems to have a lot of advantages over MAC OS Standard a.k.a HFS.
  

  • Mac OS Extended format is a hard disk format that increases the number of allocation blocks on the disk and also allows more than 65,000 files on the hard disk. However, Mac OS Extended format optimizes the storage capacity of large hard disks by decreasing the minimum size of a single file.
  • MAC OS Standard a.k.a HFS on the other hand does not support file names > 31 chars, it does not support additional meta-information used by Mac OS X, has as limit of 65k allocation blocks, and is more error-prone than HFS+.
  • Since the storage efficiency of Mac OS Extended format typically applies to 1 GB or larger volumes, Flash Drives with a capacity below 1 GB may still benefit from the MAC OS Standard format.

  
  

  What about Journaling?

  If journaling is turned on for a disk, Mac OS X maintains a continuous record of changes to files on the disk. If your computer stops because of a power failure or some other issue, Mac OS X uses the journal to recover the hard disk to the last acceptable state before it stopped. However, flash memory has a limit when it comes to how often a memory location can be changed and therefore, Journaling doesn't seem to be the first choice when it comes to Flash-Drives.
  
  

  Storage Efficiency and Write Speed.

  We used a Kingston 1 GB Data-Traveler Flash Drive and performed the following tests with every available format:
  

  • Check available storage capacity after formating
  • Copy 5 large files (total 580.4 MB) and 203 small files (total 812 KB) to the flash drive
  • Measure transfer speed while coping the large files
  • Check used storage after all files were transfered

  
  
• Brain Surgery Pt.5
  Just like the first four parts of this never ending brain surgery series, this is about another memory upgrade.

  1. G5's memory upgrade
  2. iBook 1.2GHz memory upgrade
  3. 1.67 GHz 15" PowerBook 1GB DDR-2 memory upgrade
  4. 2nd Harddrive for the G5 • Seagate Barracuda 250 GB SATA drive

  However, this was most likely the final voluntary "brain surgery" performed on the good old Power Mac G5 that I had bought in November 2003. It's a M9031LL/A, a 1.8GHz single Processor Mac with a 900MHz bus and 4 memory banks (each with 2 slots), which take PC3200 DDR SDRAM DIMM memory. The G5 came originally with 512 MByte RAM and was upgraded with 2 additional 512 MB Ram modules to 1.5 GB in February 2005.
  

  
  
• Data Transfer Speeds Compared
  When it comes to file transfer over your local area network, Wifi and Bluetooth win hands down, when only "coolness" is considered. Obviously, the laptops at my house share files using their built-in Airport Extreme cards, but all other computers are connected through a "legacy" 100 Mbit Ethernet Switch (DLink DSS5+) and that is also the case for Tom's Mac Mini.
  It would take some serious work to convince him that a plain old CAT5 Ethernet cable really has its advantages, even if it meant not being one of the 802.11 cool kids.
  
  We started looking into all the different ways in which we can share (or at least transfer) files between computers.

  • Ethernet
  • Firewire
  • Wifi
  • Bluetooth

  All these networking options have different advantages and their preferred applications. However, we were only looking as one thing: transfer speed, how fast files could be moved between computers.
  
  
  
  

  
  
• Cable Modem Signal Levels
  If you have a router to connect multiple computers to your high-speed Broadband Internet connection, your certainly have configured the router's DHCP and NAT settings, using a networked computer's Web Browser. On a LinkSys router for instance, this is done by browsing to http://192.168.1.1. You can also use your Web browser to find out how good your cable connection is. The magic address for most cable modems is http://192.168.100.1, some models may require http://root:root@192.168.100.1.
  
  Now, you may immediately have recognize that this address as a non-routeable IP address, which means that we either have to connect a computer directly to the cable modem or hack the NAT-router's routing table. Never, ever, should you connect a Windows box directly to the Internet. Personally, I don't even want to do it with my Macs or Linux systems.
  
  

  
  
• Brain Surgery Pt.4
  The first three parts of the brain surgery series dealt with memory upgrades. This time however, the aging G5 is getting an additional hard drive, the Seagate Barracuda 250 GB SATA drive: ST3250823AS.

  1. G5's memory upgrade
  2. iBook 1.2GHz memory upgrade
  3. 1.67 GHz 15" PowerBook 1GB DDR-2 memory upgrade

  Picking the right drive is not really that easy and most SATA drives you find at Fry's or your local PC Club probably won't work in a PowerMac G5. Fortunately, there are sites like Accelerate Your Mac, with a helpful Drive Compatibility Database.
  
  I was looking for an inexpensive 250GB hard drive that I wanted to use as a secondary drive in the PowerMac G5 (late 2003 model, single processor 1.8 GHz) and ended up buying the ST3250823AS Seagate Barracuda at NewEgg. NewEgg is located in Whittier, CA, which means I had to pay sales tax but even with the cheapest shipping options, the drive arrived the next day.

  
  
• Brain Surgery Pt.3
  After the G5's memory upgrade and the iBook 1.2GHz memory upgrade, this time, the all new 1.67 GHz 15" PowerBook received an additional 1GB DDR-2 memory upgrade.
  
  Like shown in Apple's Memory Card Replacement Instructions, adding an additional memory module to the PowerBook is neither difficult nor scary. Even the latest incarnation of the now faster PowerBook comes with only 512 MB Ram. However, this is the first time Apple uses the faster and also cheaper DDR-2 Ram, to be precise, 512MB PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM (running at 333MHz).
  
  All new PowerBook G4 models come standard with 512MB of memory running at 333MHz. The 12-inch PowerBook G4 uses PC2700 DDR SDRAM, while the 15-inch and 17-inch models use PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM. For a considerable performance improvement when working with large files, the memory in the 12-inch model can be expanded to 1.25GB, and the 15-inch and 17-inch models can accommodate up to 2GB. Both the 15-inch and 17-inch models come with 512MB of memory in a single SO-DIMM, leaving a slot open for future memory upgrades.

  
  
• A quieter drive
  So he did it again - I don't know how but Tom destroyed yet another CD-ROM drive. He currently is the one and only Windows user at my house, using a PC (Intel Celeron 2Ghz, MSI board, and what used to be an LiteON 56x CDROM) that I had built about two years ago.
  

  
  
• IOGEAR's Bluetooth to USB Adapter for Macintosh
  My G5 doesn't have BlueTooth built-in, which really didn't bother me all that much for the last one-and-a-half years or so. However, things have changed and now I needed it badly. Apple's Web-Site doesn't make a secret about which USB Adapter you are suppose to get, http://www.apple.com/bluetooth/ heavily promotes the D-Link DBT-120 USB Bluetooth Adapter, to be had for $39.95 from the Apple Store or DLink's Web site.
  I was looking around for a while and when including shipping and tax, I counldn't find it for less then about $40.
  

  
  
• Wetsuit for the Gs
  Current weather conditions here in Southern California made me buy a wetsuit for the PowerBook.
  We had more than enough of rain during the last couple of weeks and carrying an unprotected PowerBook outside, even for just the short distance between the office building and the car, was sometimes not an option.
  Finding a suitable bag for the huge 17" model is not that easy but once I saw the Tucano Second Skin folder; there was no way back. I got a black one for the PowerBook and a red one for the iBook.
  

  
  
• Brain Surgery Pt.2
  After the G5's memory upgrade went well, the 12" iBook 1.2GHz was next on the list to receive an 256MB memory upgrade, which would bump its total RAM to 512MB.
  Just like expected, the iBook's memory upgrade was a bit more challenging but thanks to Apple's helpful document: Memory Card Replacement Instructions not really scary.
  
  Before:
  
  
  Inside:
  Unlocking the keyboard and flipping it over towards the palm rest exposes the iBook's Airport Extreme Card
  
  
  
  
  The Airport Extreme Card can be easily pulled out of the slot and the antenna cable doesn't need to be disconnected during the memory upgrade procedure. Putting the Airport card temporarily into a piece of the anti-static bag the memory chip shipped in, seemed to be a good idea.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Installation:
  Inserting the DIMM is not difficult after the Ram shield (four screws) has ben removed. Again, I needed to push the DIMM down into the slot a little harder than I had expected, to allow the ejectors to snap into place.
  
  
  
  After:
  After re-inserting the metal RAM shield and the Airport card, closing the case, and putting the battery back, the iBook booted and the "About This Mac" dialog showed 512 MB DDR SDRAM.
  
  
  
  

  
  
• Brain Surgery Pt.1
  Two days after ordering the memory upgrade for the Apple Computers UPS delivered and tonight the single processor 1.8 GHz G5 got his memory bumped up form the original 512MG to 1.5 GB.
  Now, I assume bumping the iBook's memory is going to be a little more challenging - so let's start with the easy stuff.
  
  
  
  Before:
  
  
  Inside:
  Having done my Apple G5 housekeeping a couple times now, opening the G5 is not all that exciting anymore and following Apple's Memory (DIMMs) Replacement Instructions make the whole memory installation an easy to perform task.
  
  
  
  
  Installation:
  Inserting the two DIMMs is not difficult and after removing the fan there is enough room to do this. The origional modules are a little taller than the new crucial ones and I needed to push the DIMMs down a lot harder than I had expected, to allow the ejectors to snap into place.
  
  
  
  After:
  After re-inserting the fan, closing the case, and connecting all cables, the Power-Mac booted and "About This Mac" dialog showed 1.5 GB DDR SDRAM.
  
  
  
  

  
  
• Housecleaning - Apple Mac G5
  Every once in a while it is time to clean that beautiful Apple PowerMac G5. For me this means two things, cleaning the Computer's inside as well as Mac OS X cashes etc.
  So here a short list describing the housecleaning I just performed on my Mac:
  
  Cleaning a G5's inside

  • Removed plastic shield.
  • Pull front CPU fan assembly, this one has no wires.
  • Remove the screw from the video card and pull it out.
  • Partially remove rear CPU fan assembly
  • Partially slide out front speaker/fan assembly.
  • Clean the interior including the CPU heat-sink and everything reachable by blowing one to two cans of compressed air through the whole thing.
  • Use Windex on a paper towels on the plastic shield.
  • Reassembled.

  Cleaning Mac OS X

  • Clean Disk Cashes (Library/Cashes and User/Library Cashes)
  • Remove preferences from deleted programs (Library/Preferences)
  • Repair Disk Permissions (First Aid in Disk Utilities)
  • Zap the PRAM (Restart the Mac and hold Command-Option-P-R keys down until hearing the 3rd chime)

  
  
  
  

  
  
• Mac OS X is riding the Buffalo
  Some USB printers actually ship with Mac OS X drivers. However, most of those drivers only work with the printer being connected directly to one of the Mac's USB ports. Once you made the USB printer available on your local network, through an USB print server for instance, a Mac is not capable of using that printer anymore.
  
  Since I still have two Windows PCs at my house, which I wanted to be able to print from without the need to have the Mac running all the time, I added the small but sufficient Buffalo Print Server (Buffalo LPV2-USB-TX1) into my LAN.
  
  Setting up the Windows PC to use the printer, a Samsung ML-1750, was a snap but Samsung's print driver for the Mac would work with neither Rendezvous nor IP-Printing.

  
  
• Gone Printing...
  I am not in the publishing biz nor do I write books and have no need for a really good printer. However, my old laser's (HP LaserJet 2P) DRAM would fail ever so often and now it was running out of toner. The decisions to either buy a new printer or a new cartridge for the old one wasn't that hard.
  
  A couple of year's ago I had a bad feeling about Samsung products but that all changed when I got my cool Yepp MP-3 player two years ago and ever since I follow the company and their product releases more closely. Now last month Fry's had this really good deal on a Samsung Laser Printer ML-1750, which had about the configuration, I was looking for:
  

  • Parallel Port to connect it to my Router/PrintServer
  • USB Port to connect it to my PowerBook G4
  • Printing speed is up to 17ppm
  • Resolution: 1200x600 dpi
  • Processor: 166 MHz RISC
  • Memory: 8MB
  • Compatibility: Windows 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/XP, Linux, Mac OS
  • …and it is really small: 13.9"x14.6"x7.7" (WxDxH)

  So far it has been a great experience using this printer. It's fast, the printed documents look sharp, and I can finally print 2 pages on a letter size page.