fixed : stop FaceTime over mobile network

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Question :

Today I got a call on my iPhone when I was in my car, but when I answered, it turned out to be a FaceTime-call. I do not want to answer video-calls in my car because I think it is too distracting and dangerous during driving and because my GSM/3G-provider will charge outrageous rates for mobile data.

Is there any way to prevent my iPhone from connecting through FaceTime when I am out of WiFi reach ?

Answer :

Yes.

…and it’s quite simple to configure :

– on your iPhone go to the Settings-app (sprocket/gear icon)

– select FaceTime (in the chapter that starts with iCloud, in between Messages and Maps)

– in the FaceTime settings page that opens, scroll down to the very bottom

– there, set Use Cellular Data to OFF

…that’s it

enjoy !

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fixed : get rid of “pad lock with circular arrow” icon in iOS

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Question :

Today, I noticed there was a “lock”-icon on the top menu bar of my iPhone. (It looks a little like the TimeMachine-icon in the OSX-menubar) More accurately described, it is a “padlock with a clock-wise rotating circular arrow” icon.

What does it mean ? And how do I get rid of it ?

Answer :

The “padlock with a circular arrow” icon means that you the Screen Rotation is locked on your iPhone or iPad, so your display will not automatically change between “portrait” and “landscape” view when you rotate your iOS device.

To get rid of this icon, you simply need to turn on Screen Rotation back on, like this :

When you have iOS 7, do this :

– ‘slide up’ with your finger from (just outside) the bottom of the screen upward, to reveal the ‘underwater view’

– in the ‘underwater view’, just click on the “padlock with a circular arrow”-icon jou see top right

…that’s it !

When you have iOS 5 or iOS 6, do this :

– double click on the menu button (the only real, round button on the front of your iPhone/iPad, just below the screen ; a.k.a. the “main button”)

– then in ‘underwater view’, you can see all apps that are running ‘in the background’ on your iPhone/iPad (a.k.a. “are invisibly consuming power because you did not really shut them down”)

– then swipe (a.k.a. “slide”) the ‘underwater bar’ to the right, so it will reveal the Music Player buttons …and another “padlock with a circular arrow” icon ; click that and your Screen Rotation will be back on and the icon will be removed from the top menu bar also

…that’s it !

NOTE : Only on iPads (so not on iPhones) there is a physical switch on the top right side that can be used as a screen rotation lock (or unlock) switch. But… this physical switch can also be ‘programmed’ as an audio mute-switch. The function you want to give the physical switch can be set like this :

– click on the Settings-icon on your iPad

– in the window that opens, click General

– in the window that opens, go to “Use Side Switch to:” and select either “Lock Rotation” or “Mute” (the choice you make will be indicated with a check mark)

…that’s it !

enjoy !

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fixed : mysterious March 2013 crash in iPad Calendar

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Question :

Whenever I am using the iOS Calendar-app on my iPad, and I try to progress from February 2013 to March 2013 in Month-view, the Calendar-app crashes.

It’s always the same, and it’s in Month-view only…

What can I do ?

Answer :

This is a bug in the Calendar-app (for iPad) in iOS 6.0.1 (and probably in iOS 6.0 also).

Luckily, the solution is extremely simple : just update to iOS 6.1

To do so, do this :

– put the power plug into your iPad, to make sure it is constantly being powered during the update
– go to the Settings-app (gears icon)
– choose General (also a gears icon) from the menu list
– choose Software Update (the top second one listed) in the window
– …and follow the on-screen instructions
– if the update is installed, restart your iPad (if you have a WiFi+3G iPad, you will have to type in your SIM-card’s PIN-code, so make sure you have it readily available)

…then, during set-up, you will have to re-connect to iCloud (= re-enter your AppleID (= iTunes-login name) and password), so make sure you have that at hand also

😉

Enjoy !

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fixed : broken-off audio plug stuck in iPad 2

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Question :

Today, my son was using our iPad 2 with his headphones on, and when he tried to pull out the plug, it broke…

Now half of the broken 3.5mm audio plug is stuck inside the audio-port of the iPad. It’s so deep inside, I can’t see a way to grasp it with a pair of tweezers and get it out…

What can I do ?

Answer :

Normally, I would say : “take your iPad to an Apple Store and have them get it out”. That’s the way Apple would want you to handle this…

…but if you make sure you’ll be very gentle not to scratch the iPad, you might give it a try yourself ( AT YOUR OWN RISK !! ) :

– first make sure that what you see stuck inside the 3.5mm audio port looks ‘ringed’ ; meaning a (copper-colored) round core, with a (black) plastic tube around it and a very thin (chrome-colored) shell around that

– then get a thick needle (a really thick one, or a safety pin ; it’s important that it will not bend or break and has a very thin and pointy end)

– put the point of the needle on the (black) plastic tube of the broken-off audio plug and very gently push it outwards, onto the (chrome-colored) shell

– if you do so in al directions very gently, the (chrome-colored) shell will come loose and will fall out if you turn the iPad upside down

– after you’ve accomplished that, get a very tiny flat-headed screwdriver (of less than 3mm width), and push it down very gently in-between the side of the audio-jack and what is left of the audio plug

– then very gently scoop out the remainder of the audio plug by using the edge of the audio-jack for leverage

– when you feel a very tiny click, the remainder of the audio-plug has come loose, and will fall out if you turn the iPad upside down

– pfff… relax… congrats… done !

😉

NOTE : do this only AT YOUR OWN RISK ! do this only if you are very gentle, very patient, and very confident, and can control yourself to stop if you encounter any additional problems !

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info : I can’t get write-permission to external harddisk from Windows-user

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Question :

A Windows-user asked me to put some file on his external harddisk, but when I try to do so, I get a message that I only have ‘read-only’ permissions to the harddisk.

How can I copy the files over ?

Answer :

If you get this problem, it usually caused by the fact that MacOSX does not support NTFS-formatted disks ‘out of the box’. [ NTFS = Windows NT File System ; a format that, mainly for server, has replaced the old DOS-originating formats FAT16 and FAT32, which are fully supported by MacOSX, but are less suited for use on large volume harddisks ]

There are 2 main solutions to this :

– 1 –

If you are going to frequently swap this external harddisk between your Mac and a Windows-PC, you’ll be best off reformatting it to FAT32 :

– connect the external harddisk to your Mac

– copy the entire contents over to your Mac (or to another external harddisk or to a diskimage on your Mac)

– check and make sure you have copied everything over

– then reformat the external harddisk to DOS-format (= FAT32) using OSX’s Disk Utility app

– when finished, copy all content that originally was on the external harddisk back on to it

– that’s it !

– 2 –

If it’s only a one-off for you to use this NTFS-formatted harddrive, you’re probably better off installing a special NTFS-driver/utility for OSX.

– download Tuxera NTFS (to use in demo-mode) :

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/33122/tuxera-ntfs

– install Tuxera NTFS, and open it (NOTE : it’s not a regular application, so it can’t be found in your Applications folder, but it’s a Control Panel in the System Preferences)

– now the external NTFS-disk should appear on your Mac in read&write-mode, and you can start copying files onto it

If you run into problems using Tuxera NTFS, read the FAQ :

http://www.tuxera.com/products/tuxera-ntfs-for-mac/faq/#startup-disk

And if you do exceed the 15 day free Demo-mode of Tuxera NTFS and are not willing to upgrade to the full payed version, you can start using the FREE open source program that is at the origin of Tuxera NTFS ; it’s called  NTFS-3G and can be downloaded here :

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/24481/ntfs-3g

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fixed : printer auto-install in Windows Vista won’t work

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Question :

My HP DeskJet 930c prints colors if I print out the test page from the printer, but if I print from my Windows Vista PC, it only prints in grey-tones…

From the info on the HP website it has become clear to me that I have to reinstall the printer (and specifically the printer drivers) on Windows Vista.

But… according to HP the only way to reinstall the printer in Windows Vista using USB is to delete it from the Configuration Panel and then restart the PC and just plug in the printer and wait for Windows Vista to do the ‘magical’ auto-install…

The official HP instruction video can be found here :

http://bcove.me/4xavsoow

…and nothing happens when I do that.

And HP does not offer any other option… what can I do ?

 

Answer :

— DISCLAIMER —

This is purely a Windows problem, and this weblog is for Apple solutions only. I do have a solution that will probably work for you, and I’ve not found that solution posted online anywhere, so I will provide it to you here ‘as is’ (meaning NO guarantee, NO additional help and NO service) ! Try at your own risk ! If it doesn’t work for you : I’m sorry… please ask a Windows-specialist.

————————-

The solution is simple (and it’s unexplainable why HP doesn’t mention this anywhere) :

Just reinstall the printer the way you would have done it in Windows XP :

– delete any previous installs of the printer from the Configuration Panel

– install all (essential) available Windows Vista updates using Vista’s built-in Security Panel

– restart your PC

– connect the printer to your PC using a USB printer cable

– go to START-menu

– then to Configuration Panel

– then to Printers

– then choose Add Printer

– choose Virtual USB Port 1 (or 2) as the connection to be used

– choose your Printer

– choose the dedicated driver [*]

– and wait for the installing to finish

– test your printer using any (color) document you have available, if you don’t have any useable color document available, use this printer test-page :

https://macmanus.nl/2010/07/28/looking-for-a-good-test-page-to-test-your-pinter

– that should be it : enjoy !

[*] if no driver is available, download it from the following website, then install and start over with this procedure from the beginning :

http://www.driverguide.com

— DISCLAIMER —

This is purely a Windows problem, and this weblog is for Apple solutions only. I do have a solution that will probably work for you, and I’ve not found that solution posted online anywhere, so I will provide it to you here ‘as is’ (meaning NO guarantee, NO additional help and NO service) ! Try at your own risk ! If it doesn’t work for you : I’m sorry… please ask a Windows-specialist.

————————-