troubleshooting

Convenient sharing services for troubleshooting OS X

When managing problems in OS X we sometimes limit ourselves to using the input methods we see in front of us: the monitor, the keyboard, and the mouse. If a problem happens on the system such as a hanging program, we will try to force-quit the program using the Option-Command-Esc hotkey, or even use Activity Monitor or the Terminal to do the same thing.

This approach to fixing problems assumes that your keyboard, mouse, and monitor inputs are working properly; what do you do if they aren't? A common solution is to force the system to restart by holding … Read more

Troubleshooting system sleep in OS X

Generally it only takes a few seconds for a Mac to wake from or go to sleep, but there may be times when it either takes an exceptionally long time or when it will not wake or sleep at all.

If the system takes a long time to wake from sleep, it may be that it is just waking from a deep sleep mode. The computer's RAM cannot store data without power, so in standard sleep modes, RAM is kept active while the majority of the rest of the system is powered off. This allows for quick sleep and … Read more

General troubleshooting steps for OS X

When problems happen on any computer there are some basic troubleshooting steps that you can take. Unfortunately, many times people have no idea where to start, and problems may seem to be vastly different. For instance, sometimes specific functions, features, or settings of the system may not work properly, or applications may crash, or the computer may just be running slowly and lag all the time.

When these problems happen, there some basic steps you can take to start troubleshooting the problem. Even if you cannot isolate and fix the issue, performing these steps and relaying what you see to … Read more

A fix for Logic crashing in Snow Leopard

Apple's audio-creativity software suites Logic Pro and Logic Express apparently have a bug in certain setups running Snow Leopard, which sometimes leads the programs to crash at launch or when attempting to perform some manipulations to projects. The crashes will happen even if the user has carried out general maintenance routines such as clearing caches and preference files, and even after reinstalling the Logic programs and updating to the latest versions again.

MacFixIt reader Kevin wrote in describing his issue with these programs:

Ever since I upgraded from Leopard (10.5.8) to Snow Leopard (10.6.8), Apple'… Read more

Apple releases iOS 4.3.5 to fix security issues

Apple has released the latest update to iOS, now version 4.3.5, to address security flaws. This update comes quickly after the 4.3.4 update which addressed a similar security flaw used to jailbreak iDevices. Users should download the update via iTunes when their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is plugged into their computer.

From the Apple knowledge base article about the update:

"Available for: iOS 3.0 through 4.3.4 for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 (GSM), iOS 3.1 through 4.3.4 for iPod touch (3rd generation) and later, iOS 3.2 through … Read more

The 404 866: Where we refrain from physical activity (podcast)

Today marks the beginning of a weekend spent indoors to escape the heat and the smell coming from a sewage plant in Harlem that's been spewing millions of gallons of untreated New York sewage into the Hudson River since last Wednesday. On today's episode, we're chatting about a mysterious similarity between the trailers for the new Spider-Man movie and Mirror's Edge, a pocket urinal solving a wee problem, and more tips on how to help Jeff's dad load songs onto his iPod.

The 404 Digest for Episode 866

Workers struggle to repair damaged sewage plant. John Mayer gives his dad iTunes help. New Spider-Man trailer may be ripping off Mirror's Edge. Go-Guy pocket urinal solves a wee problem. A video voice mail from Kokesh, creator of The 404 Show Title Generator!

Episode 866 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Users of Facebook iPhone app irate over buggy update

Many Facebook users who rely on the site's iPhone app are in an uproar over problems with the latest update to the application.

Released June 29, the 3.4.3 update to Facebook's iPhone app was supposed to fix various bugs. But it seems to have done the opposite.

Since its debut, the latest version has picked up almost 19,000 one-star reviews in Apple's App Store, with users complaining of crashes, freezes, slowness, a chat mode that doesn't work, and a host of other issues.

In response to the glitches, Facebook had promised to release … Read more

Apple delivers iOS 4.3.4 to patch PDF security hole

Apple rolled out a minor security update to iOS this morning that fixes a vulnerability with the software's PDF-reading capabilities.

iOS 4.3.4 (and 4.2.9 for those on Verizon) is available as a free update to iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad users. A description of the update says it "fixes (a) security vulnerability associated with viewing malicious PDF files." That's the same one used by JailbreakMe.com, a site that re-launched earlier this month to allow users to jailbreak their phones without using a computer or any special software, giving the owners a … Read more

Apple to close jailbreak hole, over 1 million used jailbreakme.com

Less than 24 hours after jailbreakme.com went live with an online jailbreak solution for iPad 2 and iPhone 4 users, more than 1 million iOS devices had been jailbroken. Apple, however, has stated that it will close the exploit with its next iOS update.

While the news of surpassing the 1 million downloads mark in less than a day is big for the jailbreak community, the excitement comes with a bit of impending doom. The cat and mouse game between jailbreakers and Apple is heating up, and everyone knows it.

According to @chpwn, when announcing the jailbreakme.com numbers … Read more

Jailbreak your iPad 2, iPhone 4 simply by visiting a Web site

Hacker group Dev-Team (specifically noted jailbreaker @comex) has released the latest version of its popular iOS device jailbreaking tool, available entirely online.

This comes as a great comfort to users who may have been considering jailbreaking their iPhone or iPad but were not feeling confident in their device-hacking skill set.

The site works pretty simply. Log on with the iOS device you wish to jailbreak and follow the onsite instructions to forgo Apple's iOS and install Cydia. Supported devices for jailbreakme.com:

iPad 1: 4.3 through 4.3.3 iPad 2: 4.3.3 iPhone 3GS: 4.3 … Read more