Mac OS X 10.3.3 (#9): Lexar releases updated drivers; PDF preview crashes and resource forks; more
Mac OS X 10.3.3 (#9): Lexar releases updated drivers; PDF preview crashes and resource forks; more
Lexar releases updated drivers We previously reported significant problems with various Lexar Media flash memory products when used with Mac OS X 10.3.3 - most notably an inability to mount.
The company has now posted a new driver intended to provide better compatibility for Mac OS X 10.3.3. A note on the Lexar support site reads "In order for Image Rescue 1.0/2.0 or SafeGuard 1.0 to work with Mac OS 10.3.3, you need to download Lexar's driver updater. Scroll down to either Image Rescue or SafeGuard, download the driver and follow the installation instructions."
- Installation Instructions are as follows:
- Download the driver updater, STUC.dmg from the drivers page under either Image Rescue or SafeGuard.
- Close all programs you have running before the installation.
- Double-click on the STUC.dmg file that you saved to the hard drive.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
The driver update, as well as further information are available at Lexar's site.
PDF preview crashes and resource forks We continue to cover a problem with the preview function in the Finder when attempting to render miniature versions of large PDF files - which can result in a Finder crash.
We previously noted that if a PDF file that causes the crash is copied out of its original directory via the GUI, the copied file will also cause the crash. However, if the PDF file is copied via the "cp" command in the Terminal, it appears that the copy will not cause the crash.
This indicates that there could be a problem in the resource fork of the PDF. "cp" from the terminal does not copy this part of the file, which is responsible for creator/type and other resources associated with the file.
MacFixIt reader Alen offers some suggestions for confirming whether or not a resource fork problem is involved on your particular system:
"To confirm this, try installing a copy of "xtar" and create an "xtar" archive and a "tar" archive of a problem .pdf using similar arguments
- xtar cvf xfilename.tar filename.pdf
- tar cvf tfilename.tar filename.pdf
Use xtar to extract the contents of the xtar archive to a fresh directory and test to see if this crashes the finder (it should).
- mkdir x; cd x; xtar xvf ../xfilename.tar; cd ..
Then use tar to extract the contents of the tar archive to a second fresh directory and test this (it should not crash).
- mkdir t; cd t; tar xvf ../tfilename.tar; cd ..
Then use tar to extract the contents of the file to the first directory and test again.
- cd x; tar xvf ../tfilename.tar; cd ..
The resource for should remain from the original xtar extraction and should once again crash the finder.
My guess is that even a "cp" into this first directory will crash since I do not believe a "cp" destroys resource forks it finds in the target directory.
- cp filename.pdf x
Zip drive mounting Continuing our coverage of Zip drive problems with Mac OS X 10.3.3, several readers note that manually ejecting then re-inserting a zip disk often allows it to properly mount where it otherwise would not.
Jim Eaton writes "I have a Pismo with an expansion bay zip drive (VST Zip 250). I've noticed that if I log out with a disk left in the drive and then log back in, the disk often fails to mount. If I manually extract it and then re-insert it, usually it will mount fine."
Monday waking problems apparently fixed We previously reported on a problem where some Macs refuse to automatically wake up on Mondays as specified in the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences. It appears that Mac OS X 10.3.3 resolves this issue. One reader writes:
"My G5 refused to auto wake on Mondays. (can you blame it?) After 10.3.3 it's rise and shine..."
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
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