Tag Archives: Intel-Mac

fixed : Power Pete / Mighty Mike game for current macOS

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Question :
My kids asked me which computer games I liked to play when I was their age. I said I was most fond of an arcade game of a cartoonish Rambo-guy in camo clothes who fought dinosaurs trying to rescue little bunnies, using various cartoon-guns like a whipped cream shooter… I think it was called Peter Power or something… I would love to show the game to my kids (and play it myself once again)… but if I remember correctly it was no longer playable when OSX abandoned the Calssic mode…

Is there any way to let my kids play it themselves ?

Answer :
Yes, there is.
The game is called Power Pete (released by MacPlay) and was Best Arcade Game of 1995.
The origanal developer Pangea Software re-released the game in 2001 as Mighty Mike.
And recently, Pangea has granted a developer known as Illiyas Jorio the honours of releasing a FREE version of the game that works on all recent computers running current-day versions of macOS, Windows and Linux.
The current version of Mighty Mike can be found on GitHub. The download link is provided on the Pangea website :

Mighty Mike by Pangea Software

Even though Pangea Software’s website states that Jorio’s version of the game will work on “Mac OS X and 11” (probably refering to all Mac OSX 10.x versions up to macOS 11 Big_Sur from 2020) the latest release on GitHub (Mighty Mike 3.0.2) is even playable on the current version of macOS (macOS 15 Sequoia) and not only on Intel-based Macs, but also on the current Silicon-based M1/M2/M3/M4 Macs.

Just keep in mind that the graphics haven’t been updated, so you will get that pixelated retro-feel also… and you can still adjust the settings to play it with a joypad or game controller instead of your keyboard.

Enjoy 😉

fixed : Legacy System Extension warning for MATTINGALLS extension

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Question :

Ever since I upgraded to macOS 13 Ventura, after each reboot, I get a warning saying “Legacy System Extension – Existing software on your system loaded a system extension signed by “MATT INGALLS”, which will be incompatible with a future version of macOS. Contact the developer for support.”

What is this about ? And what can or should I do about it ?


Answer :

The reason you get this warning is because you have installed the SoundFlower extension on your Mac. SoundFlower is a FREE system extension that lets you route sound from one application to another. That can be useful to record audio from your Mac, among others…

But… development on SoundFlower seems to have stalled… the latest developer who took over the SoundFlower-project from RogueAmoeba was Matt Ingalls (so that’s where te warning comes from…) but he hasn’t released any new versions recently…

The last version that was released only runs on Intel-Macs (so not on M1 and M2-Macs) and will not be compatible with macOS 14 Sonoma and beyond…

Note : clicking ont the “More info” button in the warning window will lead you to this info on Apple’s website, but it will not give any useful info on SoundFlower

If you want to follow up on Apple’s advice to ‘contact the developer’, you can contact Matt Ingalls here to request a new release of SoundFlower or if you are looking for the latest info on the SoundFlower-project, look here : https://github.com/mattingalls/Soundflower/releases

If you want to remove the Soundflower-extension that is causing this warning, do this :
[ a big thanks you to celticparrotj for posing this question ]
– click somewhere on the Desktop to open the Finder
– make sure that “Finder” is visible next to the Apple-icon in the far left of the top menu bar
– select “Go” from the top menu bar
– in the pulldown menu that appears, click on “Go to Folder…”
– in the search field of popup window that appears, type the following text :
/Library/Extensions/
– then hit the [Enter]-key on your keyboard
– in the window that opens, the “Extensions” folder will be highlighted and its content will be visible
– select the “Soundflower.kext” file and drag it to the Trash
– in the popup window that appears, type the password that unlocks your Mac and click “OK”
– then empty the Trash
– and close all Finder windows

If you are looking for an ALTERNATIVE to replace the SoundFlower extension, give BlackHole a try : https://github.com/ExistentialAudio/BlackHole

fixed : install OSX 10.11 El_Capitan on unsupported Macs

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Question :

I read somewhere that it is possible to install the latest version of OSX 10.10 Yosemite on my Mac, even though the official installer refuses to install.

Can you give me any directions ?

 

Answer :

Installing newer versions of OSX on slightly older Macs that do not meet the official system requirements can be done using MacPostFactor (MCPF).

MacPostFactor also supports installing OSX versions up to OSX 10.10 Yosemite on older Macs. And a new version that supports installing OSX 10.11 El_Capitan is in the works.

For more info (and downloads), go to the info page on MacRumors.com :

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/os-x-yosemite-on-unsupported-macs-guide.1761432/

or see the (less readable) official page of the MacPostFactor team :

http://osxhackers.net/MCPF/

…in short :

!!! THIS IS FOR (RATHER) EXPERIENCED MAC-USERS ONLY, AND SHOULD NOT BE DONE ON YOUR ‘ONE AND ONLY’ MAC !!!

!! REMEMBER : DO FOLLOW THE COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS THAT CAN BE FOUND HERE : MacPost Factor info page on MacRumors.com

…that should be it !

enjoy !

😉

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fixed : install OSX 10.10 Yosemite on unsupported Macs

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Question :

I read somewhere that it is possible to install the latest version of OSX 10.10 Yosemite on my Mac, even though the official installer refuses to install.

Can you give me any directions ?

 

Answer :

Installing newer versions of OSX on slightly older Macs that do not meet the official system requirements can be done using MacPostFactor (MCPF).

MacPostFactor (MCPF) also supports installing OSX versions up to OSX 10.10 Yosemite on older Macs. And a new version that supports installing OSX 10.11 El_Capitan is in the works.

For more info (and downloads), go to the info page on MacRumors.com :

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/os-x-yosemite-on-unsupported-macs-guide.1761432/

or see the (less readable) official page of the MacPostFactor team :

http://osxhackers.net/MCPF/

…in short :

!!! THIS IS FOR (RATHER) EXPERIENCED MAC-USERS ONLY, AND SHOULD NOT BE DONE ON YOUR ‘ONE AND ONLY’ MAC !!!

!! REMEMBER : DO FOLLOW THE COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS THAT CAN BE FOUND HERE : MacPost Factor info page on MacRumors.com

…that should be it !

enjoy !

😉

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fixed : use internal SATA hard drive in LaCie “Mac mini”-form factor housing

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Question :

I have an old, square-ish Mac mini (2005 through June 2010), which back-ups to a LaCie FireWire 400 harddrive with the same square-ish form-factor. This morning however, the harddrive inside the LaCie mini has died…

I could just get a completely new external hard drive (with a different design) for my backups now, but I really like the square-ish housing of the LaCie mini together with the Mac mini, so I’ve decided to replace the internal hard disk.

However, it turns out that the internal hard disk of the LaCie mini is an IDE (ATA) hard disk, which are increasingly harder to get than the current Serial-ATA (SATA) hard disks, and generally even more expensive.

Is there a way to use an internal SATA hard disk inside the LaCie mini housing ?

Answer :

Yes, there is.

What you need is this :

– a high-capacity internal 2.5″ laptop SATA harddisk (it is possible using a 3.5″ desktop SATA harddisk, but that is not recommended as explained at the bottom of this post), like a Hitachi TravelStar 1TB SATA harddisk

– a 2.5″ to 3.5″ bay converter-frame, or preferably just the Digitus 2.5″ to 3.5″ bay converter-brackets or alike

– a Wintech SAK-65 bi-directional SATA-to-IDE converter (because of the limited space inside the LaCie mini housing, most other IDE-to-SATA converters will be too bulky too fit in one direction or another)

Note : the Wintech SAK-65 comes with all cables to connect a SATA hard disk to the LaCie mini IDE/ATA-internal

When you have all these parts, the build-in is rather straight forward, especially if you use the manual provided with the Wintech Converter. In short :

1- unplug the LaCie mini form the power and FireWire cables, then remove the white plastic triangular feet from the LaCie mini housing (the are sticker-type feet, so temporarily stick them to a clean smooth surface to store) and unscrew the  screws you find beneath them

2- gently open the housing, unscrew the broken iDE/ATA-hard drive, and take it out

3- gently disconnect the ATA-to-ATA cable, and take it out also

4- then put the new SATA-hard drive in and screw it into place

5- then connect the Wintech converter as outlined in the instruction manual (so, set it’s switch to “Device” and do not forget to connect it to the power using the provided Molex extension cable that includes an extra power connector for the Wintech connector)

6- then connect both Wentronic cables to the hard disk on one end and on the other end to the Molex cable and the Wintech connector

7- then make sure the Wintech connector is slightly twisted in such a way that it is a flat on the hard drive as possible and gently close up the housing (don’t forget the plastic feet)

8- reconnect the power and FireWire cables, and then the LaCie mini will be recognized as and ‘unreadable’ drive by your Mac mini

9- use OSX’s Disk Utility-app to format the drive to “Mac Journaled” format, and it will appear as a healthy drive on your Mac (ready for use, for Time Machine backups or alike)

That’s it

😉

—————————

If you really want to build a 3.5″ SATA harddisk into this LaCie mini housing, it can be done, but it will fit so extremely tight that it comes with some extra things you need to address :

1- you will NOT need the 2.5″ to 3.5″ converter brackets

2- the provided cables will not fit in such a way that the housing can be properly rebuilt, so you will also need :

– a Wentronic 4p-Molex-to-angled-15p-SATA power cable (none of the cables with a regular straight SATA-connector will fit, and even most of the angled SATA-connectors will be too bulky too fit, and even this one leaves less than a mm of room for the housing) to extend the “Molex-with-an-extra-power-wire-for-the-converter”-cable

– a Wentronic SATA-to-angled-SATA data cable (most of the other angled-SATA connectors will be too bulky, but the Belkin SATA-to-angled-SATA data cable will fit as well), but you will even have to strip a little extra off the angled connector to enable the cable to make a ‘near-360’-corner

3- the Wintech SAK-65 bi-directional SATA-to-IDE converter needs to be used stripped of it’s plastic housing as it’s too bulky, and you will need to extend the IDE Master/Slave-cable (the wide and flat cable that looks like a lot of tiny wires next to each other) by opening the connection on the converter and putting the original one from the LaCie mini housing in it’s place (after having taken off the connector of that one also)

4- make sure you don’t adjust the 3.5″ SATA harddrive using the screws, just put it ‘on the floor plate'(to make a little extra space)

5- …and then you will have to puzzle quite a bit to fit all of that into the housing

As mentioned before : using a 2.5″ SATA harddrive is far more convenient and straight forward !

Whichever solution you choose :

Enjoy !

😉

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fixed : install OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion on unsupported Macs

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Question :

I read somewhere that it is possible to install the latest version of OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion on my Mac, even though the official installer refuses to install.

Can you give me any directions ?

Answer :

Updated answer :

MLPostFactor has been succeeded/replaced by MacPostFactor, and is now being updated by a new crew of programmers. MacPostFactor also supports installing OSX versions up to OSX 10.10 Yosemite on older Macs. And a new version that supports installing OSX 10.11 El_Capitan is in the works.

For more info (and downloads), go to the info page on MacRumors.com :

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/os-x-yosemite-on-unsupported-macs-guide.1761432/

 

Original answer :

Yes, thanks to the guys from MLPostFactor, it’s now possible to install OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion (even 10.8.4) on these older Intel-Macs :

Early 2006 (and newer) versions of the iMac and Mac mini

Late 2006 (and newer) versions of the Macbook, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro and Xserve

Early 2008 (and newer) versions or the Macbook Air

…and I must say : “(in my case) it runs smoother than MacOSX 10.7”, but there are a few downsides, especially these ones :

– regular OSX updates are disabled, you can only use a special OSX-update routine

– some (but very little) software is not compatible due to various reasons ; e.g. PhotoBooth, Little Snitch

– the SMB client is not working properly (the SMB server is), so file transfer is crippled

– it’s provided “as-is”, so no support from anyone (neither the developer nor me), and no guarantee it will fully or even partially work in your case (especially not if you do not strictly follow all of the directions !!)

…in short :

!!! THIS IS FOR (RATHER) EXPERIENCED MAC-USERS ONLY, AND SHOULD NOT BE DONE ON YOUR ‘ONE AND ONLY’ MAC !!!

What you need :

– one of the Intel-Macs mentioned above (running MacOSX 10.7 Lion and at least 2GB of RAM)

– an official version of the OSX 10.8 installer, (re)downloaded from the Mac App Store inside your Applications Folder (sorry, pirated versions don’t work…)

– the 32-bit MLPostFactor v3.0 installer-patcher (should be put inside your Applications folder also) you can download from here :

http://www.osxhackers.com/Download.html

or alternatively :

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/System-Utilities/MLPostFactor.shtml

– a full backup of your current harddrive running OSX 10.7 Lion and all your personal files (simply put : “a Time Machine backup of your Mac”)

– a partition of 8GB to create the patched OSX 10.8 installer on ; according to the official directions this should be a partition on your main harddisk called “Install”, but it turns out that ‘if you dare’ you can also use an 8GB USB-stick or an 8GB partition on an external USB- or FireWire-harddisk for this [simply put, MLPostFactor does what Lion DiskMaker does AND includes a patch that’s needed for older Intel-Macs]

– a partition of at least 10GB called “ML” to install the new (patched) OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion onto ; this is will to be your final, ‘new’ harddrive for your ‘old’ Mac… it turns out that ‘if you dare’ you can assign this to your current MacOSX 10.7 Lion harddrive [provided you have a good (TimeMachine) backup]

Exact directions on how to install can be found here :

http://www.osxhackers.com/Installation.html

…or the video that HackerWayne (one of the MLPostFactor developers) has issued :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqMgrPKfrqM

You should follow the step-by-step instructions above, but just to give a quick impression of the routine :

– make a Time Machine backup and make sure both the OSX 10.8 installer and MLPostFactor are in you Applications folder

– run MLPostFactor to create the patched installer (8GB) for OSX 10.8.4 (or an other version if you prefer that one for some reason…)

– reboot from the patched installer and install the patched OSX 10.8 onto (the desired partition of) the internal harddrive

– this will either end in an error or a white screen (seemingly ‘hung’)

– reboot from the patched installer and run MLPostFactor from there onto the partition you have just installed OSX 10.8 on (= your internal harddrive)

– then reboot from the fresh OSX 10.8 partition (= your internal harddrive)

– if you get a “WiFi: No Hardware Installed”-error, get the KextUtility for OSX 10.8 and install the Edited Atheros Kext for Lion*3

!! REMEMBER : DO FOLLOW THE COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS THAT CAN BE FOUND HERE :

http://www.osxhackers.com/Installation.html

or the ‘official’ video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqMgrPKfrqM

…that should be it !

enjoy !

😉

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tip : Plants vs. Zombies Mac-game for free (Halloween treat)

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As a special treat sponsored by the ADA (American Dental Association), PopCap is giving away licences to their popular Mac&PC-game Plants vs. Zombies for free.

But it’s only until november 11th ! …so be quick !

go here to download :

http://www.stopzombiemouth.com

…and go here to get your promotional code :

http://static-www.ec.popcap.com/misc/zombiemouth/downloads/stop_zombie_mouth_coupons.pdf

Note : officially it’s a “US residents only” promotion…

**********

If you are reading this after November 11th 2012, you won’t be able to get the full game for free, but you can still get some Plants vs Zombies (online) play for free here :

http://chrome.plantsvszombies.com