Tag: Snow_Leopard

Reading Around on September 11th through September 14th

swanksalot0 comment

A few interesting links collected September 11th through September 14th:

  • Sprouting 101: How do you sprout seeds, nuts and grains? – Sprouting seeds, nuts and grains is a way of greatly increasing their nutritional value and makes them easier to digest. For example, most sprouts double their protein content and have highly increased levels of vitamins! Sprouting seeds is simple and you don't need a lot of fancy equipment. Here's how:
  • Mac OS X Automation: Services Downloads – These services and Automator actions are provided as examples of the design and use of Mac OS X automation technologies. All service workflows are fully editable and can be customized as need requires.
  • Daily Photo Archive – Photo taken by Seth Anderson

    Featured as our daily photo on 9/11/2009.

Snow Leopard doesn’t include AppleTalk

Seth Anderson2 Comments


“Mac OS X Snow Leopard Family Pack (5-User)” (Apple)

I successfully installed Snow Leopard on all the Macs in our office1 with no real problems to report. Well, one minor issue with an older HP LaserJet printer.

Snow Leopard has dropped support for the networking protocols collectively called AppleTalk. Since I am not a developer, I had not heard of AppleTalk being left behind. I don’t blame Apple, AppleTalk was first introduced in 1984, and it probably wasn’t a trivial task to include it in new OS releases. I wish the news had been more publicly discussed – I was a bit blind-sided by it.

However, although we have three networked printers in our office,23 the one I use the most is the HP Laserjet 4000, probably because it is closest to me. That, and it is an awesome workhorse, having printed hundreds of thousands of pages over the 12 years or so we’ve had it, with barely a peep of trouble.

I hate disposing of working machinery; since the printer worked this morning, I wanted it to work this afternoon too. Turned out, there is a printing protocol called HP Jetdirect – Socket, and it was supposed to work with this printer. I printed the Configuration Page – input the IP address listed as the JetSend address in the appropriate spot, but the computer still could not connect successfully. Looking a little deeper, I figured out that4 the printer was on a different subnet mask than the rest of our network. I’ve used and supported computers for a long time, but to be honest, I don’t know that much about networking, yet I know enough that devices that you want to communicate have to be on the same subnet mask.

From there, and a bit of trial and error, I figured out how to change the assigned IP address of the HP Laserjet via a semi-hidden menu option.

Apple Forums user Strolls5 provided the key bit of information:

The LaserJet’s network section is hidden as the “EIO Menu”, which is covered in appendix page B-21 of the manual (page 221 in your PDF reading software). Changing “CFG Network=Yes”, then saving the option (the “select” button?), enables the sub-menu for editing the options to show up when you press the “next” button (the “item” button?). Same with “CFG TCP/IP”, but first disable Ethertalk & IPX/SPX because you’re not going to use them.

…

Try navigating the LaserJet’s menus as discussed previously to the “EIO Menu” (on mine it says “EIO 2 Jetdirect Menu”, then press “item” so that it says “CFG Network=No” and then the “value” button so it now says “CFG Network=Yes”, then “select” so a little star appears next to the “yes” (the star means the value has been saved”. Now when you press “item” again (immediately) you get to the next level of menus. Now you want “CFG TCP/IP=Yes*” and set DHCP (might also be called BOOTP – that’s the same thing) to yes. Make sure you set the little star before pressing item.

[From Apple – Support – Discussions – HP LaserJet and Snow Leopard …]

except in my case, I set the printer’s IP address manually, with the very primitive three button interface that might have been state of the art in 1997, but now seems worse than texting on a non-smart phone.

Yayy, I can print to the LaserJet again! Snow Leopard even had the correct printer drivers, once it could connect.

Can other printers use this new print protocol? Not sure. Anyone know?

The only other items to report, at least so far:

Helvetica - Screen shot 2009-08-31 at 6.30.34 PM

I got a message that three fonts were duplicates: Helvetica, Geneva, and Monaco – the Snow Leopard installer asked if I wanted to delete the old fonts, or live with conflict. I opted to remove the old fonts.

Install Rosetta - Screen shot 2009-08-31 at 6.30.25 PM

I also knew I had to add Rosetta: the binary translation software that translates code compiled for PowerPC chips so that the code can run on Intel chips. Since we still limp along running Eudora on some of our machines, I knew I would need this optional install. A simple process though, and Eudora6 seems to run fine.

Oh and this:

System Extension Cannot be used

no idea what this even is, or from what application, if any, but I removed the extension anyway.

The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/CDSDAudioCaptureSupport.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.

—

Update: if you need some help figuring out all the details that I glossed over, check out Dave Greenbaum’s post How-To: Resurrect Your AppleTalk Printer in Snow Leopard

Footnotes:
  1. well, all the ones that I’m going to install it on: have three other PowerPC Macs that won’t get upgraded [↩]
  2. a wonderful Xerox Phaser 8560DN and a Samsung SCX-4500 that is ok [↩]
  3. update: the Samsung SCX-4500 didn’t work either, but Samsung has a 10.6 driver listed at their website [↩]
  4. for some reason, I didn’t do this, I don’t think [↩]
  5. aka Joe Stroller [↩]
  6. and whatever else [↩]

Reading Around on August 27th through August 28th

swanksalot0 comment

A few interesting links collected August 27th through August 28th:

  • Solipsism « Earthpages.ca – Think Free – This is the philosophical position that only the subject exists and all impressions of others and the outside world are illusory.

    While many dismiss solipsism as an extreme or strange view, others say it is logically impossible to prove or disprove

  • d r i f t g l a s s: Da Mare Would Like To Apologize – "If you've never been to a public meeting where Da Mare or one of his goofs are having their political pipes rodded, let me tell you right off the bat, you should go. Over the years I’ve been to several, and it really is about as purely little-“d”-democratic an exercise as any big city could hope for: In front of Da Mare and the assembled heads of his every office and department, any citizen can step up to the microphone and “Cry Harold”"

    Awesome description: I have to go to one of these sometimes

  • Review: Snow Leopard Review | Mac OS X – Page 1 | Macworld – if you later try to launch a PowerPC app, Snow Leopard will pop up a window to explain that you need Rosetta and offer to install it for you (via Apple’s Software Update utility). I can only assume that making Rosetta optional is an attempt by Apple to goad users to upgrade their apps and to shame developers who still haven’t recompiled their apps to run on Intel chips. But given that most everyday users have no idea which of their apps are Intel-native and which are PowerPC, this seems unnecessarily harsh.

Reading Around on August 25th through August 27th

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A few interesting links collected August 25th through August 27th:

  • Mac OS X Automation: Services Downloads – Download free services. Service collections are grouped by color. Some services will install required Automator actions and may require an adminstrator password to do so.”
  • One_Billion_Dollar_Daley_Chicago_Reader.jpg
  • Chicago vice – chicagotribune.com – Chicago Police Sgt. John F. Mangin displays a bushel of marijuana leaves and a jar of ground marijuana found Sept. 27, 1945, in a flat at 601 W. Madison St.. Six men were arrested in the narcotics bust, including a 60-year-old man that Mangin said was the first person he arrested when he joined the narcotics detail in 1931.

Snow Leopard available for Pre-order

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Apple’s new OS, Snow Leopard, is now available for pre-order.


“Mac OS X Snow Leopard Family Pack (5-User)” (Apple)

I always get the family pack, the cost is only slightly more, and realistically, I am going to install this on multiple machines.


“Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard” (Apple)
the single user version


“Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual” (David Pogue)

David Pogue’s Missing Manual is also available for pre-order. I don’t always buy these, but usually every second OS release, I do pick one up. Good resource to have around, usually find some good tips contained therein.