Ask Jacob

The short answer is “no,” you have to have a G4 867 GHz processor or higher Mac to install Leopard. However, I don’t like the “short answers,” so I’ve been playing the Mac OS Limbo: “How low can you go?”The result of my Caribbean Mac dance was that anything with a G3 chip in it fell flat on its back; you will have to have a G4 chip. I have tested it on most generations of G4 PowerBooks and Power Macs. In nearly all the attempts, a Leopard drive will boot up G4 Macs, 400MHz or higher.So you may be asking why the short answer was “no.” Just because the Leopard OS works on all G4s, it does not mean that it will work well on all G4 Macs. Apple didn’t want to give anyone the possibility of having a bad Leopard experience. So Apple blocked the install DVD from running the installer on a computer under the 867 MHz cut-off. The solution is to run the installer from a PowerPC G4 that does meet the basic requirements of the Leopard installer, but set the destination to be the hard drive of your unsupported Mac. Boot your destination (sub 867MHz) Mac in Target disk mode by holding down the “T” key on startup. Now connect the destination computer to your installer Mac (PowerPC G4 867MHZ or higher) with a FireWire cable. Now boot up your installer Mac off the Leopard DVD and start moving through the install screens. When you get to the point of selecting a place to install onto, select the destination Mac’s hard drive. It will look like a FireWire hard drive.After the install is done, you can power down everything and remove the FireWire cable. Turn both computers on again and you should have a sub-867MHz G4 Leopard computer. This process only works if you have access to a second PowerPC Mac that Leopard will install onto. Intel Macs will not work for this kind of install. Also your performance will not be great. The best low-end install of Leopard I had was on 533MHz and higher G4 Macs. Be prepared to reinstall Tiger if you hate the performance of Leopard on your sub-867MHz G4 Mac.

It’s wonderful that you might get a MacBook for Christmas. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray/HD-DVD playback on computers is still in turmoil. The problem is that most movie studios believe that putting their movies on a computer-readable format will open the door for massive piracy. So although there are HD-DVD and Blu-ray drives for computers, those are restricted to data discs only. You can’t get store-bought High Definition movies to play on your Mac.

Apple has yet to include a Blu-ray or HD-DVD drive in any of their standard Macs. These drives are obtainable however. PowerMax can install them in the Mac Pro and some drive makers sell Blu-ray upgrades for Macs. Apple may have skipped the High Definition disc issue because computer companies are only allowed to support the data formats of these new discs. If it becomes possible for movie studios to be comfortable with Mac playback of HD movies, then perhaps Apple will start to include those drives.

Yes Apple is going to be a little hard to pin down on an answer to this one. A modified sine wave inverter will work in most short-term uses. UPS units that have just enough battery power to let you save your work and shut down, these are modified sine wave. The chance of a modified sine wave inverter causing damage to your computers is slight, but the longer you run off of it, the greater your chance of causing minor damage to your computers.

For longer run times off of battery power, or generator power, sine wave inverters are recommended. This is definitely a recommendation and not a requirement. The modified sine wave inverter will do the job well, and the damage you could suffer will be minor. It is more likely to take months of the life of the computer as opposed to killing it outright.

The cause of the problem may be hard to pin down but here is something to try. You can take the identifier number that is reported by FSCK and track down the affected files. When you run fsck, it should report both the inode number of the file, and its name. If the inode number is nnnnn, follow these steps to get the pathname to the file:

Open Terminal, located in /Applications/Utilities.

Type:

sudo -s

Press Return and you will be prompted for your administrative password, the one you chose when you installed Mac OS X.

Type:

find / -inum nnnnn -print

Replacing “nnnnn” with the inode number and if the reported inode number has a letter at the end, only use the numbers.

This should give you the path to the affected files. If all the files are associated with the same function of your Mac (i.e. all Safari Cache files), then you can assume that it is related to a bug in that application. If you find that they are all random files, then I would have you completely erase your drive.

If you have an external drive that will fit the full contents of your drive, I would recommend using Carbon Copy Cloner to backup your entire drive.

After you have an exact copy of your drive, insert the grey restore DVD that came with your Mac. Restart your computer and hold down the “C” key to boot up from that disc. Once booted from the Disc, go to the Utilities menu and select Disk Utility. Now select your internal hard drive and go to the Erase tab. Click on the Security Options button and then select the option to write zeros over the drive. One pass will do, because you are just trying to make sure that the drive is in good condition. This could take many hours so don’t be in a rush when you start this process.

After it is done writing zeros you should do one more step. Click on the Partition tab. You must have the internal hard drive, and not the volume, selected in the left column for the Partition tab to be visible. Change the Volume Scheme popup menu from “Current” to “1 Partition.” Next click on the Partition button. With all this drive formatting work done you can quit Disk Utility and install a clean copy of OS X 10.4 on your Mac. Once the installation is done, start moving through the setup screens. When you are asked if you want to move files over from another Mac, answer yes and connect the external drive you cloned your old System onto. It will treat that like an old Mac and move over all your important files and applications.

That should fix your drive problems if it was a formatting error. If you still have problems after doing all of the above, then it may be a hardware problem. An Apple Authorized service center can help you if it is hardware related.

Unlike all the other components of a laptop, batteries perform with uncertain results. Whether because they are a chemical-based system, or because of the variance in manufacturing, batteries’ performance is difficult to predict. Two batteries bought at the same time from the same company could age differently. This is this nature of the battery and its nature makes me suspicious of claimed better performance. I think third party batteries are fine to use and I have no personal horror stories. For older laptops I would recommend a third party battery because the battery cells often are of a newer design, but for Macs only a few years old it is not likely to make that much of a difference. If the price is better for you on the Oncore battery then it would be a fine choice, but do not expect it to be noticeably superior to the Apple replacement battery.

Versions of Microsoft Office for OS X will work well on a new MacBook, but you may have a problem installing it. If the upgrade CD you have requires the OS 9 version of MS Word or MS Office to be installed before it lets you upgrade it, then you are going to have a problem. Older OS 9 programs will not install onto an Intel Mac like the MacBook. However, you have a easy way of moving over your OS X applications and files. Included on all 10.4 and higher Macs is a utility that will import your data from your old Mac. This will work as long as you have a 6-Pin to 6-Pin Firewire cable, and a Mac with a factory original FireWire port (except the B&W G3 tower). When you start up your new Mac it will walk you through connecting both computers and it will move all your files to the proper place. This same process can also bring over applications, if you instruct it to. It is called the Migration Assistant, and although it runs the first time you start the computer, it can also be used at any time; it’s found in your new Mac’s Utilities folder.

Also of note is that Microsoft still makes Word and the other Office suite of programs for the Mac. Microsoft Word 2008 is due to come out in a few months but if you buy a current version now, you can update for just $10 when the 2008 version is available with the Microsoft Office 2008 Guarantee form.

The Mac world has changed considerably over the years, but the switch to Intel processors has probably had the most impact. Intel-based Macs can run Windows, Linux, and OS X in a variety of ways.

Boot Camp lets you decide what OS you want to run when you start up your computer. When you choose to run Windows via Boot Camp, your Mac is just like any other PC. You also have most of the problems of Windows, but it lets you run heavy-duty Windows applications at incredible speeds. You can then restart the computer into the Mac OS to do everything else, in a safe and productive environment. This solution works well for people who do only a few tasks in Windows for a set amount of time.

For the people who have to use a Windows application many times a day, restarting the computer is going to be a time waster. For that reason the best way of running Windows on an Intel Mac is with a program like Parallels. Parallels lets you run the Windows OS and the Mac OS at the same time, side-by-side. You can even set it up so that the few Windows programs you use will appear to be part of your Mac OS. Both Booth Camp and Parallels require you to by a copy of Windows to install on your Mac. If you have a copy of Windows XP SP 2 already, you can reuse that on your Mac.

With regards to hardware, you are locked into Intel-based Macs if you want to run Windows in the above ways. PowerPC Macs will not work, meaning that any Mac with a G3, G4, or G5 processor is not going to do what you want. You will have to buy a MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, Intel Mac mini or Intel iMac. The good news is that all the Intel Macs will also run the new Mac OS, Leopard, perfectly.

I hope this helps and as a side note: I’m an Evergreen graduate and drank many a night in your Fish Tail Brew Pub. I do miss the seasonal cider. Keep up your good work!

Any video card with a built-in ADC port will work to power the Apple 17″ ADC CRT display. However, DVI to ADC adapters will not provide enough power for the CRT display. Those adapters only work with LCD-based ADC displays. Your bigger problem is finding an Apple original video card with an ADC port. There are some private sales that sell those cards but increasingly it is difficult to 2XAGP cards with an ADC port. Most video upgrade cards we sell for older G4 towers are the PCI version, like the ATI 9200 card.

www.powermax.com/parts/show/h79812

This card only has a DVI and VGA display connector and would not work with your CRT display. The 9200 card is a great choice for running a newer Apple LCD display, if you want to upgrade your display as well.

Most external hard drives will come formatted as a FAT32 drive. They do this because it is a drive format that will be readable by Macs, Windows PCs, and Linux PCs. If you share the drive between any two of those operating systems, I would suggest that you keep it formatted as a FAT32 drive. However, if you are only using that drive with a Mac OS computer, then reformatting it as a HFS+ Journaled (AKA Mac OS Extended Journaled) is the best thing to do. FAT32 is an old drive format with size limits and other issues that will make it less usable in OS X. HFS+ Journaled drives support large sizes and more efficient use of storage space. Also it has features that protect against data loss due to accidental drive removal, or any write failure. That feature alone makes it a useful format for a removable drive.

I think a reformat is a good idea, I hope that helps.

In most cases I have had great success running my older applications in Classic. Classic is an OS 9 emulator that runs in OS X. Unfortunately, Classic only works on PowerPC Macs with an OS of 10.4.x or lower. The new Leopard OS will not support Classic and Intel Macs will not support it in any OS. An iMac G4 or iMac G5 would be a great computer to run both new programs and older programs.

If you had your heart set on a new Intel Mac, then there are ways to get older applications to run on the latest Apple hardware, but they take a little effort to get running. I like Mini vMac.

minivmac.sourceforge.net

There are always a few concerns with putting a larger hard drive in an older portable Mac. Laptops are designed with only their original configuration in mind and newer drives have the potential of drawing excessive power or generating more heat than the PowerBook was designed to dissipate. All that being said, I know many people who have happily upgraded their Mac Laptop’s hard drive, without any problem. I personally have cracked open my fair share of personal Mac Laptops to get a little more storage space.

Most drives that are 120GB or smaller are a safe bet when upgrading older Macs, of any flavor. I think though that an 80GB 2.5″ drive is the best value for gigabytes vs. dollars. Look at this MCE drive upgrade kit, it has the drive and all the tools needed to swap out that 10 GB drive.

www.powermax.com/parts/show/a-mce-ms80gx

The difference between those three versions of printer has much more to do with software than hardware. The Portrait series of printers from Epson includes ExpressDigital’s Darkroom Core Edition, but that software is only compatible with Windows XP Pro. Mac users should not consider the Portrait models from Epson. Now the Professional version will be a good option for Mac-based pro print houses that need RIP (raster image processing) software. The Standard version is compatible with most RIP software, but you have to bring your own or use a program that does not need third party RIP software.The price difference is mostly based on additional software licensing and not hardware acceleration.

Microsoft discontinued Internet Explorer (IE) for the Mac several years ago. Although the Mac version was similar to the Windows version, it did not possess the capabilities that most sites want when they ask for IE. Microsoft integrated some portions of its Windows Operating system into its Windows version of the IE web browser, in order to make websites more capable. The technology was called ActiveX. Because the browser and OS work together, web programmers could include more application-like behavior on their web pages. Also, malicious web programmers could take control of your system and cause all sorts of unwanted behaviors. The result was a security nightmare that plagued IE users for many years. Eventually Microsoft found a way to secure ActiveX use in IE. Often, banks or other financial institutions still use the ActiveX for added account-managing features. Most sites are opting to rewrite their sites for a common cross platform browser, like FireFox. FireFox can run similarly on many different kinds of computers.If you have to use the Windows version of IE for that one website, then you will want to use an Intel-based Mac running a virtual copy of Windows XP via Parallels.http://www.powermax.com/parts/show/s-50245Parallels will let you run any number of Windows applications right next to your Mac applications. Unfortunately, this will only work on Intel-based Macs. Hope that helped.

Folder level security is a frequently requested feature. Although there are third party utilities that help you do this, OS X will provide you with free tools that will work for you. If you are looking for a low security way to drop files into a lockbox folder, you can do that with Folder Permissions. Create a folder and click on it once to highlight it. Then Hold down the Command key and “I” key to get the “Info” window. Go to the Permissions section and change all the popup menus to “Write only (Drop-Box).” You may have to unlock the permissions popup menus by clicking on the little padlock icon and entering the Admin password. The folder method is flawed. First, to open the folder you have to change the permissions to Read-Write before you can use it and then change it back when you are done. Second, anyone with the Admin password for your Mac can unlock the folder. So the security is light, and the use is kludgy (can you tell I do not like it?).The best way of securing files on your hard drive is not with a folder, but an encrypted disk image. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder, it’s found inside the Applications folder. In Disk Utility, go to the File menu and down to the “New” submenu. There select “New Blank Image.” Give it a name and select the place to save it. Now you will need to set a volume size. This will take some thought because you can’t change the size later. Additionally, the image will use the same amount of hard drive space whether empty or full; so don’t make it too large. The last change to make here is to set the Encryption popup menu to “128-bit AES” encryption. Click the create button and you will soon be prompted to enter a Password. Make it a good password but know there is no way to open it without the password, so you can’t forget it. The last thing to do is uncheck the “Remember Password in Keychain” checkbox. It could take a long time to create the image, depending on how large you made it.When using this disk image, make sure that the password is never remembered in the Keychain. There will often be a checkbox when entering your password, just don’t mark the checkbox. Otherwise, everyone will be able to mount the disk image without the password. Now all you have to do to work with the secret files is double-click on the disk image and enter your password. When you are done, just eject the mounted disk. It is a simple and rock-solid security solution.