NVMUG eNews 2/18/2006
Last updated 2/22/2006
Carbon Copy Cloning, Podcasts and More
The meeting started with Geof Gonter demonstrating cloning with Carbon Copy Cloner. Daniel Hollister showed the Video iPod and some interesting podcasts. And there was more.
1. Geof Gonter Cloning
Geof Gonter demonstrated using Carbon Copy Cloner to clone Richard Lubot's hard drive in anÊattempt to repair a problem. In Richard's words:
Before I installed Tiger, I was having a problem with my PowerBook. Sometimes, after I had put the computer to sleep, when I tried to use it, it would not awake and would just remain comatose. Just before we installed 10.4, Apple released an upgrade for 10.3, which Stephen thought would fix the problem and, at the time, it seemed to do so. Later, after I had installed Tiger, the problem made its presence known again. Also, when I move my sleeping computer from one airport to another airport, the PowerBook does not recognize the new airport.
Geof's plan was to get the cloning part started, and during the half hour or so that it would take to create the clone, other people could continue with other parts of the program. Then when the cloning was done, Geof could show how to restore the system using Net Restore, but it did not quite work quite like that as you will learn a little later.
People sometimes use cloning to partition a hard drive, whichÊerases it, and then reinstall the programs and files, including the System 10.4 onto a partition in the old drive, or install a new larger drive with or without a partition, and reinstall the clone onto it.
Geof said there are a number of reasons why you might want to do a clone and reinstall to keep your old data in addition to partitioning a hard drive. One is to avoid problems with upgrades. Geof said maybe as many as 10% have had problems in upgrading from OS X 10.3 to OS X 10.4. Another reason for cloning is to make backups.
Geof Gonter
In maintaining school computers, Geof makes two clones once a week, and takes one with him when he leaves to keep it off-site. He also makesÊdifferential backups every night which have only the changes made during that day, so he can rebuild the files if, or when, necessary. He alsos use Carbon Copy Cloner to make a disk image to create an Apple System Restore disk, ASR, for use in making changes on many different school computers.
It is a good idea to repair permissions before cloning.
To make a clone of your hard drive you need a blank partition or a hard drive that is at least the size of the data including the operating systemÊthat you want to copy. You can select the device you want to copy from by clicking on it, and then use the File menu Get Info
to determine how large it is, and how much memory is unused on it. You need at least as much available space as the size of the drive or partition you are copying minus the unused space that it has.
If the file you are copying from has the same name as the file you are copying to, Carbon Copy Cloner will add 1
to the file name that you are copying to.
Be sure to select the Make Bootable
option to be able to boot from the copy over a Firewire or USB 2 cable. Click the lock icon to unlock it so that you can enter the Administrator's password for permission to make the clone.
Geof said that this copy would probably take about a half an hour. Carbon Copy Cloner tells you what it is copying and tells you how long the copying took when it is done.
You can use your computer while making backups.
For more information about Carbon Copy Cloner or to download it, go to:
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
After you have made the bootable copy, you can use the Disk Utility Restore to restore the copy to a new partition, or do the Clean install of Mac OS 10.4 and it will ask you if you want to migrate from another computer, meaning to copy your Firewire hard drive.Ê
Geof planned to show this restore when the copying was done.Ê
Geof was ready, at this point, to change to another part of the program, but the members were interested in continued discussions. NVMUG meetings often take on a life of their own.
Geof stressed the importance of backups. Which lead to discussions of backup programs Hollister has a .mac account and uses Apples free Backup program to back up his files on .mac at 11 p.m. every night.
Hollister said that it is a good idea to create a dummy account and not use it until something goes wrong. When it does, you can boot into the dummy account, and if the problems are gone, you know the problem is within your account, your programs and files, and not the system.
Geof said Apple has never said that their software could not be subject to any attack, just that it is safer from attack. There is a lot of excitement now because some malicious software, malware, has managed to get into Macintosh computers, but only if you are using iChat and you open an enclosure, when you do not know what is.Ê If you do open the enclosure, it could damage some of your applications , but your system and everyoneÊelse's accounts are protected so they will not be harmed.
Do not download anything unsolicited from iChat. Practice safe computing by not opening attachments that were not expected. There is a very good article on MacWorld's site that explains this Trojan Horse and how to clean it from your system. It is at:
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Geof said this would not be news on a Microsoft Windows system because it happens all the time. The most dangerous kind of virus, so far only on Windows machines, monitors and reports what you do on your keyboard which could include sensitive information like your credit card numbers.
There has still never been a reported virus that infects a Macintosh System.
When you send in secured data, your computer sends a small packet to the web page. The Web page sends a package back saying go ahead and that is when it secures whatever you send. Do not worry if your computer does indicates that your data is not secure before that point.
There have been some problems with iTunes 6.02 in OS X 10.3.9 that does not occur in OS X 10.4 ÊIf this problem occurs, the problem is in the Library. If this happens to you, delete every iTunes .pkg file in the iTunes area except the iTunes X.pkg, package. For some reason iTunes hangs onto all the old ones which are not needed and in this case causes problems, keep the lates X.pkg and drag the older to the trash.
In some machines the music has disappeared when you update to Tiger. It is still there, but Tiger puts it someplace else. If you know the name of the file you can use GOTO in the Finder to find it. Upgrading may also appear to delete OS 9, the Classic System.
Geof cannot stress how important backups are.
http://www.pogueman.com
has a funny interview with the president of DriveSavers
Hard drives are now available at very low prices. Geof mentioned a bargain $79 USB and Firewire hard drive at Tiger-Direct. Any FireWire or USB drive works on a Mac.. Be sure that it includes the container, and is not just an internal drive. Some kits come with the container and the drive separately, but Richard Lubot said they are not difficult to put together.
RAID stands for redundent array of Interconnected Disks. A RAID may be used to be faster by saving and reading from multiple disks simultaneously, or for added security of the files.
When you create a partition, say in Disk Utlity, you see and can use each partition like separate drives. Set your backup program to use the partition you want.
Maxtor is a brand of hard drive which has a button you can push for it to do the backup for you.
AÊrewrite-able CD only rewrites about 100 times, and unless you do an incremental write, you have to erase the whole CD, not just parts, to use it over.
Geof burned three DVDs on Imation DVDs for a school, and burned one Sony DVD for himself.Ê The Imations did not work, but the Sony did. He usually uses TDK CDs for himself, and never those on sale. Gold Color Maxell Pro CDs are more scratchÊresistantÊ
I interrupted to say that that Daniel Hollister wanted to announce the training he would be giving in Worcester and might have something to demonstrate. Daniel made the announcement reported in the opening part of this eNewsletter.
2. Daniel Hollister iPod and Podcasts
Daniel Hollister had brought a new Video iPod which he passed around for all to see. The 30 gig iPod can hold 75 hours of video. The battery life is only about 2 hours between charging, enough for one movie. Of course you can get an optionalÊbattery pack for longer airplane flights, and lots of other stuff.
Video iPod at NVMUG
Daniel said he has been using iWeb more and rather likes it.
He started a podcast with GarageBand and it works fairly well. You can have a tune playing in the background, and when you start talking GarageBand lowers the volume of the music so you hear the narration.
You select a page format when you start iWeb. There is no blank format. It is a lot easier than DreamWeaver.
Daniel put an iWeb page format on his screen. All you have to do is to drag in your picture, and add your words. It is a lot easier if you use .mac to put it on the Internet, but you can upload it on your web site.
A new iLife feature that Daniel really likes Ñ now you can bring movies into GarageBand. You can compose for them with GarageBand using the keyboard, aÊguitar or or music loops to fit the movie track. Then import it back into iMovie.
Daniel showed a little bit of what his after school video club is doing this year at Doty School. He showed a brief video of them learning to use a blue screen. The kids were actually lying on a table, but appeared to be floating in thin air. A fan blew their hair so it looked like they were moving.
If you are going to use iMovie or GarageBand, get a lot of RAM, at least gig.
You can get podcasts by going to iTunes. You search for podcasts much like you search for music. You will also find the 100 top podcasts in iTunes. You can download individual podcasts by episode or subscribe to automatic download weekly podcasts.
Daniel showed a MacBreak podcast by Leo Laporte that he subscribes to, and another featuring aÊpanel of 5 Macintosh experts called TWIT.ÊThere is a podcast series he likes on military history, and and he played another one Ñ a short humorousÊimitation of a presidential address.
Daniel downloaded video for some of these, but said that he normally only downloads audio. He does not listen to music on his iPod much anymore. He is too busy catching up on podcasts
Daniel said that Leo Laporte is an author who makes most of his money by selling books, but Daniel expects that by the end of the year some podcasts will probably cost something like 99 cents a day.
Richard Smith suggested that maybe we should have a podcast at the end of every meeting.
The group was so interested in Daniel Hollister's presentation, that we did not get back to Geof and the reinstallation of Richard's software. I wrote to Richard, to learn what the problem was. After describing the problem, Richard wrote:
Just FYI, while the operation was a success, the patient is no better. Even after the clean install, my PBook still has the same problems. I will have to look elsewhere to find my the cause of the problems.
3.The Rest of the Meeting
We discussed next months meeting date, and when to hold future meetings. It was pretty much agreed that it would have to be on weekends because it is too long a drive for a weeknight for many of our members.
Barry Hayes had brought along some of his new photographic prints, and a new program, Pod+Rescue by TastyBytes Software, which he recommended and demonstrated to interested members at the end of the meeting. TastyBytes calls it The Premier iPod back up and recover application.
You can use it to reinstall music on your Mac if you some of your tunes are damaged or lost.
Barry Hayes showing program to Daniel Hollister
Barry bought Pod+Rescue from CompUSA for $29.99.
For more information contact:
http://http://www.tastybytesssoftware.com
Warren Walker has ordered a new 6" x 11" Wacom graphics tablet and iListen dictation software for his Macintosh, and hopes to use them both with Photoshop. He wants to see if he can control Photoshop by voice while using the drawing tablet and pen. This might make a very interesting demonstration after Warren has had time to experiment with it.
