Rogue Wolves

Apple just released a firmware update for all us MacBook owners that adjusts the fan behavior. This firmware update may be a direct result of all the complaints of heat and strange fan noises (a.k.a. Mooing). I installed it and the firmware update scared the crap out of me. It turns your fan on full blast for some reason during the update. I had no idea the MacBook fan could be so loud.

I'm wondering how this update will affect heat, battery life and fan noise. Also, will the dreaded Moo sound become a footnote in history? Personally I never heard the "Moo" very often and when I did it was fairly quiet.

Now that I've updated I hear a low fan noise that I don't recall before. It sounds like the fan remains on low spin continuously. If it keeps heat down that's fine with me.

Odd, I'm starting to feel a bit sentimental and I'm already missing my MooBook.

After too much time and money spent trying to keep my iBook G3 cranking out bits to meet my high demands I sadly realized my usage is beyond it's capabilities.

This iBook was my first Apple computer (I "switched" back in 2004) and I've grown pretty fond of it but it was time to retire it. I tried hard to keep it limping along but issue after issue has plagued it in the last year. I've upgraded the RAM, replaced the logic board and replaced the hard drive. Now I suspect the logic board may be going again. I won't sink anymore money in it. Especially since it's dog slow and I'm pushing it past it's capabilities. It served me well as an experiment of the Apple world.

To replace my iBook I decided to buy a new MacBook. I need portability and in my opinion there was no sense buying anything other than a new Intel based Mac since eventually Apple will stop supporting the PowerPC architecture. Plus the Intel based Macs are blazingly fast and fairly well priced.

I've had my MacBook for about a month now - sorry no gratuitous shots of me opening the MacBook packaging - search Flickr if you want that - and it's easily the best computer I've ever owned. It does have it's issues but it's fast, light, has a great form factor and is loaded with features:

• Intel Duo Core
• Blue Tooth 2.0
• USB 2.0
• Firewire 400
• mini-DVI output
• optical digital/audio in/out
• gigibit ethernet
• built-in 802.11g (54mbps wifi)
• DVD-RW/CD-RW
• magsafe power adapter
• built-in iSight webcam
• glossy wide screen (1280 x 800 native resolution).

As I said there are some issues with it and there has been much talk on the internet about the problems that plague it. I'll address them below...

Okay I'll let the cat out of the bag: I bought a MacBook. I've had it for a month and it's awesome. I'll leave the review of it for another day (I've been working on a post but can never find the time to finish it).

When I first got the MacBook my plan was to install Boot Camp on it so I could boot into Windows XP every now and then for some Windows Mobile development I've been working on. Boot Camp worked really well but has a major problem: You own a mac to run OS X and all your OS X applications. I have all my productivity applications and data setup in OS X. I don't want to have to install windows equivalents and set them up so I can have access to my mail, IM, word processor, etc. I'd rather use those applications in OS X and be able to work in Windows....enter Parallels.

Parallels is a virtual machine that runs on OS X that will let you virtualize your x86 hardware. This allows you to run other operating systems at the same time as your main operating system at near native speed (provided you have LOTS of RAM). This type of technology is amazing for software testers and application developers who work in one environment but test/develop for another. No rebooting madness or computer switching. Plus if your buggy software pulls down the operating system...just kill the virtual machine and restart it all while still being able to work on your machine (great time to check your email).

Note: To date I believe Parallels is the only virtualization software that takes advantage of Intel Virtualization technology

So back on point. I started with Boot Camp and it worked well but rebooting all the time was annoying and not having access to my data and applications was even more annoying. Parallels was the way BUT I spent a bit of time installing Boot Camp and getting it all configured for my work. I didn't want to waste lots of time starting from scratch and rebuilding yet another work environment. Wouldn't it be cool if you could take your Boot Camp install and transform it into a Parallels install?

That's exactly what I did, but I can't take credit for this amazing feat. I give big props to Colddiver (whoever he is) for posting this set of instructions to migrate Boot Camp to Parallels. Well done.

How did it work out? Really well. The speed of Parallels is really great. I'm running Windows XP in a virtual machine and then running an Pocket PC emulator inside that and it's not slowed to a crawl. I do have 2 gig of RAM though which helps greatly. The only major snag I found was that the switch over invalidated my Windows XP install and I had to call Microsoft to get a new activation key. No biggie. It takes all of 5 minutes to get a new one.

If you are in a similar situation my advice would be to start from scratch and install Windows fresh in the virtual machine if it's reasonable to do so but if you don't have the time these instructions work pretty well. Also note you will need a good amount of hard drive space to perform these steps. I had an external firewire drive that did the trick.

Good Luck!

Oh and if you use Parallels go and use it along with Virtue Desktop. I'll let this video speak for itself. Heck use Virtue Desktop even if you don't use Parallels. It's wicked cool. Amaze your friends.

I've had a string of bad luck with my aging iBook lately. First the screen went dead with the infamous Logic Board problem. Fortunately Apple replaced the logic board free of charge with what I would describe as one of the best support experiences I have ever had. However, shortly after getting my iBook back from support the hard drive started making creaking noises and the machine would grind to a halt - a sure sign of a dying hard drive. My iBook is no longer on warranty so it would cost me $250 to have Apple replace the hard drive and they would only replace the factory default drive which was 30 gig. Considering I can find deals on the Internet for an 80 gig drive for close to $100 - no thanks. Not to mention the drive that came with my iBook was a 4200 RPM drive (slow). So after a bit of research, some advice from friends, I decided to attempt to install a new Toshiba 80 gig 5400 RPM drive.

If you have ever searched around to see how to replace a hard drive in an Apple iBook you will understand when I say it's a "tad bit tricky". These things are built like Fort Knox. When I first saw what was required I ran away with my tail between my legs..but after a bit more encouragement and research I decided it wasn't so bad as long as you are diligent. The worst part is all the little screws you need to keep track of. If you have a screw chart it's a piece of cake™.

I found this excellent Mac laptop repair guide that gave detailed instructions on how to replace a 12" iBook G3 hard drive. The guides list equipment needed to perform the repair, provides a screw chart, pictures of each step, etc. I highly recommend it. The instructions were pretty accurate and fairly easy to follow.