Tag Archives: OSX

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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fixed : OSX 10.8.4 update doesn’t install repeatedly

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Question :

Each time I try to update my Mac’s OSX 10.8.3 to OSX 10.8.4 using the Mac App Store, I can see the updater is already downloaded, but when I get a message to restart my Mac to complete the install, and I click on it… my Mac restarts and finally turns out to still be at OSX 10.8.3…

Is there a solution for this ?

Answer :

Yes.

It’s simple, but not obvious : do a manual install of the OSX 10.8.4 Combo Update which you can download here :

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1659?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

That’s it.

😉

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fixed : setup LogiLink WL0083 as WiFi-to-ethernet-bridge

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Question :

I have a Philips BluRay player which has the option to connect to the internet (for things like YouTube and Picasa), which I think would be interesting to every once in a while.  The BluRay player has two options to connect to the internet, either using an ethernet network cable or using the special Philips WiFi-to-USB-dongle that is very expensive.

Problem is the BluRay player is next to my TV (and my AppleTV), but I do not have an ethernet cable connection there, only WiFi… (and my AppleTV cannot share it’s WiFi connection through it’s ethernet port…)

My first thought was to use an Apple AirPort Express and connect it to the BluRay player’s ethernet-port to use it as a WiFi/AirPort-client… but since I do not have an AirPort Express (yet), buying one would even be a more expensive option than buying the official Philips WiFi-to-USB-dongle…

On the other hand… I do happen to have a mini/portable WiFi-router (a LogiLink WL0083) lying around, which should be able to act as a WiFi-to-ethernet-bridge also…

But… even after several tries, I did not succeed in setting the WL0083 up properly…

Any idea how that should be done ?

Answer :

Yes !

Actually it’s rather simple, you just have to setup the LogiLink WL0083 as “Client+AP” and use the setup-wizard of the web-interface, but there are 3 things to know :

-1- the default IP-address of the LogiLink WL0083 is 192.168.2.1 so you need to be sure that the network you want it to connect to does not use the 192.168.2.0 to 192.168.2.255 range of IP-adresses (so you might have to reconfigure your ‘entire’ network to use the 192.168.3.1 to 192.168.3.255 range…)

-2- to make it a “Client only” instead of a “Client+AP”, you should set SSID broadcast to “Hidden” and leave the additional (extender) SSID in default “Logilink” and “Disabled”

-3- and… when finishing up, do not forget to change the IP-address of your Mac’s WiFi and ethernet connection back to “DHCP”

in a step-by-step guide, that would be :

– make sure your WiFi network is not using the 192.168.2.0 to 192.168.2.255 range of IP-adresses (if it does, reconfigure your network router to use another range of IP addresses, and reconfigure all clients in your network that use Static IP addresses)

– then unplug your ethernet cable from your regular network

– disconnect from your regular WiFi/AirPort-network

– connect the LogiLink WL0083 to your Mac using an ethernet cable, and connect it’s USB-cable to a powered USB-port (e.g. on your Mac)

– then press the small “WPS/Reset”-button on the WL0083 for about 5 seconds (to reset it)

– then, on your Mac, go to Apple Menu (Apple icon top-left on the screen) –> System Preferences –> Network –> Ethernet and change it to “Using DHCP with manual address” and type the IP-address 192.168.2.100 in the input field

– then open Safari and type 192.168.2.1 into the URL-field ; for User Name and Password type “admin” (both the same)

– now the LogiLink web interface should open

– click on the “Client+AP” tab, then “Setup Wizard” on the left, followed by “Next” on the left

– on the next screen, start by clicking on the “Scan”-button, and wait for the list of SSIDs of local WiFi/AirPort-networks to appear

– then select your WiFi/AirPort-network from the list

– everything will then be automatically filled out, apart from “Pass Phrase:”, there you should type your WiFi/AirPort-password

– then click “Next”

– in the “Wireless Basic Settings”-screen that opens, set “Network Mode” to “11b/g/n mixed mode”, leave “SSID” as it is (probably “Logilink”), set “Broadcast SSID” to “Disable” and leave the rest as it is automatically set

– then click “Next”

– in the “Wireless Security Settings”-screen that opens, set “Security Mode” to “Disable”, and leave the rest as it is

– then click “Next”

– in the next screen click “Apply” and the WL0083 will reboot

– then, on your Mac, make sure that you are NOT connected to a WiFi/AirPort-network

– then go to Apple Menu –> System Preferences –> Network –> Ethernet and change it to “Using DHCP”

– then, in Safari, manually type the URL of any existing website that you do not often visit (e.g. the website of the city you live in) and see if it loads, to check if the WL0083 is properly configured as a WiFi-client on your network

– then disconnect the LogiLink WL0083’s ethernet and USB cable from your Mac

– so, go over to your BluRay player, and connect the LogiLink WL0083’s ethernet cable to it and connect the USB cable to a powered USB-port (or USB-poweradapter)

– now try and see if your BluRay player can use it’s internet services

– if your BluRay player needs any additional configuration, just set it to “ethernet” and “DHCP”

Enjoy !

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Note #1 : the LogiLink WL0083 supports WiFi-N only at 150Mbps speed, even though the normal maximum speed of WiFi-N is 300Mbps (just like Apple’s implementation of WiFi-N in AirPort), most of the time you will probably not notice any decline in quality, but you might if you’re a heavy user…

Note #2 : if you want to adjust something small on your LogiLink WL0083 after you’ve configured it, you just need to temporarily switch your ethernet-connection from “Using DHCP” to “Using DHCP with manual address” and 192.168.2.100 as the actual IP-address ; then you can login to the LogiLink web-interface at the 192.168.2.1 URL (and do not forget to change back to “Using DHCP” afterwards)

fixed : what’s the location of Apple’s official Mac icons in OSX ?

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Question :

I want to change the icon of my hard drive into an icon-sized picture of my Mac.

How do I do that ?

Answer :

For (nearly) every model of Mac, iPhone, iPad & iPod, the ‘official’ icon is already included inside OSX. If you want to use it, e.g. as an icon for a hard drive or folder, or as a profile pic on a website (a.k.a. an Avatar), you just have to did a little inside OSX…

– in the Finder, select “Go” in the top Menu-bar, and select “Go to folder” from the pulldown-list

– in the screen that opens, paste the following line :

/System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources

– now the folder that holds all Apple’s hardware icons and system icons will open

Note : be sure not to mess things up in this folder ! do not delete anything ! deleting or messing up could mean you will have to reinstall OSX !

– in this folder the hardware icon of (nearly) any Mac can be found, the names start with “com.apple.”

– find the Mac-icon you’re looking for, some examples :

aluminium iMac 27″ = com.apple.imac-unibody-27

black MacBook 13″ = com.apple.macbook-black

MacBook Air 11″ (2010 and newer) = com.apple.macbookair-11-unibody

MacBook Pro 13″ (with DVD-burner) = com.apple.macbookpro-13-unibody

– then right-click (CTRL-click) on it and select “Copy” from the popup-menu

– then close the folder (to avoid messing things up, keep this folder open no longer than strictly needed)

– then return to your Desktop (in the Finder) and right-click (CTRL-click) anywhere there

– then choose “Paste” from the popup-menu, and on your Desktop a .ICNS-file with the selected Mac as it’s icon will appear

– then, on the Desktop, right-click (CTRL-click) the icon of your hard drive (normally a generic hard drive icon named “Macintosh HD”) and select “Get Info” from the popup-menu

– then in the “Get Info”-window that opens, select the icon so it will get a blue (selection) glow around it

– then drag&drop the .ICNS-file from your Desktop onto the icon in the “Get Info”-window

that’s it !

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Note #1 :

if you would also like to give your generically named Macintosh HD a different name, go to the chapter “Name & Extension:” in the “Get Info”-window ; if the small triangle icon in front of it is pointing to the right, click on it to let it point down and the chapter will expand to reveal an entry box where you can type the name you want to give to your hard drive

Note #2 :

if you do not see your hard drive on your Desktop, go to “Finder” in the top Menu-bar and select “Preferences…” from the pulldown-menu ; in the “Finder Preferences”-window that opens, click on the “General”-tab/icon and put a checkmark at “Hard disks”

fixed : setting up WiFi-printing for the Samsung CLP-365W

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Question :

I just bought a Samsung CLP-365W color laser printer and I am very happy with it. Setting it up for use over USB and Ethernet was easy. But since it is a wireless network-printer, I would like to use is as such. Even with the enclosed “Wireless Network Quick Guide” I have still no success in setting it up after several tries…

Do you have any idea how to set the CLP-365W up for wireless networking from my Mac ?

Answer :

Yes !

…and you are completely right : all instructions provided by Samsung are incomplete…

…and the setup-process is not always smooth and hassle-free…

So… here’s how to do it :

1- download the Wireless Setting app for OSX from the Samsung website :

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/CLP-365W/XAC#

on that page, go to “Manuals & Downloads”, then to “Software” and click on the “ZIP”-button of the Easy Wireless Setup (Software) for Mac OS

2- install the Wireless Setting app on your Mac (it’s a drag&drop-installation)

Note : since the app’s name is just very generically “Wireless Setting” and doesn’t include any reference to Samsung, I suggest you put it in a folder labelled “Samsung” (you might already have one, if so put it there) inside the Applications folder

3- now, first make sure there is no connection from your Mac to the CLP-365W, so pull out the ethernet-cable to disconnect from your network, choose “Turn Wi-Fi Off” from the AirPort-menu in the top Menu-bar of your Desktop (the pie-shaped radiation icon) and pull out the USB-cable that might connect your CLP-365W to your Mac

4- open the Wireless Setting app

5- click “Next >” in the window that opens

6- turn the printer on, and when the printer is ready, click “Next >”

7- select “Using a USB cable”, and click “Next >”

Note : even though there is an option named “Using a direct wireless connection”, that will NOT work… too bad… neither manually connecting to the “Portthru” WiFi-network, nor pressing the “WPS” button on the CLP-365W will help…

8- connect the CLP-365W to your Mac using a USB-printer cable

9- now turn on AirPort/WiFi on your Mac, and make sure your Mac is connected to the AirPort/WiFi-network that you want the CLP-365W to connect to also (to do so go to the pie-shaped icon in the top-Menu bar of your desktop)

10- then click “Next >” and you will first see a screen indicating the search for a connection between the Mac and the CLP-365W, and after that a new screen called “Wireless Network Search”

Note : if this doesn’t work, disconnect all cables from the CLP-365W, and also take out the power cable for at least 30 seconds, then put the power cable back in and redo from step 3

11- the name of your wireless AirPort/WiFi-network will now appear in the list of SSIDs, select it and click “Next >” (if it is not listed, try clicking “Refresh”, if that doesn’t help, redo from step 3)

12- in the next screen type your AiPort/WiFi-password and click “Next >” (if you get an error, just retry)

13- in the next screen you can enable Wi-Fi Direct, which enables your iPhones, iPads and Android-devices to easily connect to your CLP-365W

the iOS app needed can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store :

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/samsung-mobile-print/id429611283?mt=8

14- in the next screen click “Add printer” and the “Print & Scan” System Preferences panel will open ; in the “Add” window, select the one with the “Bonjour” indication (so NOT the “USB” one), adjust the “Name:” if you like and click “Add”

15- click “OK” in the pulldown window regarding additional settings, and your CLP-365W will now appear in your list of printers

Note : if you get an error that your System does not have the drivers needed installed, first do a “Repair Disk Permissions” of your OSX-partition in the “Disk Utilities”-app and make sure you have all updates of OSX installed and just try again… only if that doesn’t work you’ll need to reinstall the printer-driver

16- do not forget to close the Wireless Settings app by clicking “Finish” and disconnect your

…and that’s it !

you can now use your CLP-365W from your Mac wirelessly

Enjoy !

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tip : FREE bundle of 9 MacOSX apps

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There’s a new, completely FREE bundle of 9 MacOSX apps available from MacUpdate :

https://deals.macupdate.com/freebundle

Note : this is a time limited offer.

These apps are included :

Backblaze : online backup service

Grappler : download nearly every music, audio or video file from the  internet

ColorStrokes : color adjustment and manipulation

LightFrame : add photoframes to your photos

PhotoBatch : adjust, resize and crop groups of photos

Video Rotate : rotate videos (e.g. the ones filmed in portrait on your photo camera)

DataGuardian : top-secure 448-bit data encryption

MacCleanse : delete and erase your digital trails to protect your privacy

SnapNDrag : simple, one-click screen capturing

 

…and if you promote this freebie bundle on Twitter, you will also get :

Processes : view & manage running all processes on your Mac

https://deals.macupdate.com/bundle/freeapp