Splash of Style...Macs, Photography, Design, and other Passions

Beware of Fake USB Flash Drives on eBay

March 7, 2006 by debbie T | Computers • Internet

Been hearing news of unscrupulous Ebay dealers selling fake USB flash drives. In the US, the drives are already pretty cheap. I just picked up a 512mb for $15 and a 1 gb for under $35.

Take a look at the Digg story for more details and also another story on the Australian Ebay reviews site for some tips on how to spot a counterfeit drive.

Beware of Fake USB Flash Drives on eBay

Update on OWC Mini Stack External Drive

February 25, 2006 by debbie T | Computers • Mac Corner

Well, the saga of my external drive appears to be over. Now, 2+ weeks later, I finally have a working external drive and I think I am happy.

If you remember, I previously wrote about the problem I was having trouble mounting the my OWC Mini Stack external hard drive I bought back in August.

I called for an RMA but felt strange about sending my drive with all my personal information, so decided to try one more time to mount the drive; it worked, and I grabbed my data and reformatted the drive.

It was over a week from the time I shipped to when I received the repaired drive.

Before I plugged the Mini Stack into my PowerBook, I followed the instructions found on the OWC tech page for drive mounting problems.

I quote:

Once you get the drive spinning and the blue LED is lit, then you can plug it into the computer. The drive should then show on the desktop.

I assumed this instruction applied to the Mini Stack. I plugged the drive into two different outlets, and the blue light flashed for one instance, then nothing. The drive didn’t spin.

Very disappointed, I phoned OWC again, and explained my problem to a tech. He agreed that the power supply must have blown again and he emailed a 2nd day air label. We shipped the drive back the next day.

Monday, Feb 20, I receive an email stating that they received a package from me without the appropriate RMA and what exactly was I returning and why. At this point, I was livid, so I replied with a “disappointed but angry customer” tone and explained the situation again. (Why the tech didn’t give me an RMA or include one on the shipping label I don’t know!)

At this point, I basically lost all confidence in OWC and was ready to write a scathing new article about how I never would recommend them again. Thankfully, they redeemed themselves.

I phoned OWC in the morning, and spoke to another tech. He informed me that they did figure out the details of my return, and my drive was in service. Two minutes after I hung up, I received a call from another tech telling me that the drive worked perfectly.

Long story short, he informed me that the Mini Stack must be plugged into the computer (via firewire or USB 2) for it to power up and begin spinning; it was a safety feature. Now why didn’t any other techs know that? And why did their FAQ state to plug the drive into an outlet first? I told him that they really should fix the articles to exclude the Mini Stack from this procedure, since it didn’t pertain to that drive.

Bottom line, I regained my confidence in OWC, and to top it off, they sent my drive back Next Day Air, so it was back on Wednesday.

My Mini Stack drive is now partitioned with a bootable copy of Mac OS X and I am a happy camper.

Travel Tips

February 23, 2006 by debbie T | Computers

While searching for another related topic, I found this web page with tons of tips for traveling with laptops and other electronic devices.

http://www.marketingcounsel.com/traveltipsforroadwarriors.htm

Our Loving Relationship With Macintosh

February 5, 2006 by debbie T | Computers • Mac Corner

How cool is this article: http://www.tuaw.com/2006/02/03/rig-of-the-day-worlds-thinnest-desktop/

Maybe I was looking in the wrong places, (or maybe I just never cared until recently) but I never saw stories like this about Windows PCs. On the flip side, I have read tons of stories concerning older Macs that are still going strong. Macs don’t die, and when they get sick, we keep finding new ways to give them new life.

Since the release of the MacTels, the thought has crossed my mind to sell my PowerBook g4 on Ebay, and jump onto the Intel bandwagon. But I guess I am a big ole softy, because like so many other Mac owners, I feel a connection with my Mac. How can I sell my first?

It sounds strange, and I don’t think PC owners can understand it, but the relationship between Mac owners and their systems is special and undefinable. So, when I do jump on the MacTel bandwagon, I will also be lugging along my trusty PowerBook. I am looking forward to being one of the old-time Mac owners that brag about how their system is still going strong after all these years.

OWC Mini Stack Firewire Hard Drive Problem

February 5, 2006 by debbie T | Computers • Mac Corner

I have been using my OWC Mini Stack Firewire hard drive since August this year. It has worked very well. It is a little noisy, but stays fairly cool and has done a great job for my backup files.

On Thursday night, after watching a little TV, I came back to my PowerBook to find a message that a drive was not unmounted properly. HUH? I realized the message was due to some sort of failure of the Mini Stack.

After unsuccessfully trying to re-mount the drive, I searched the Internet for clues as to what the problem could be.

I found a helpful article at OWC (Mac Sales) http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/FAQ/index.cfm?answer=903

When connected to both USB2 and Firewire, the drive spins and the blue power light is on, but once the cables are removed, the drive has no power. I tried two different outlets, and no luck.

After a call to OWC on Friday morning, I received a RMA # from the very helpful tech, but since there was sensitive data on the drive, I was uncomfortable sending it to them. I was hoping I could just return the enclosure and keep the hard drive, but because I purchased the Mini Stack with the drive, I had to ship back the whole unit for repair.

So, I planned on purchasing a new external enclosure to temporarily install the hard drive so I could safely retrieve my data and format the drive before shipping it to OWC.

Luckily, Saturday morning, I tried one last time to mount the drive in Disk Utility, and lo and behold it worked! I grabbed all my archived files, dragged them to the PowerBook, and formatted the drive using the “Erase 7 times” in Disk Utility.

So, the good news is OWC has great customer service, but the bad news is, this is the second product (out of three total purchases) that had a problem. First bad Ram, now a bad power supply. I don’t know if this is par for the course, but I do still like their products, and will not hesitate to purchase through them again.

One more bit of good news is that I learned to never trust any backups, always have backups of the backups! I think I might purchase a second external drive. Possibly one of the smaller 2.5 ones.

UPDATE: http://splashofstyle.com/archives/2006/02/25/mini-stack-external-drive/

Linksys WRT54GS Router

February 1, 2006 by debbie T | Computers • Internet • Mac Software • Wireless

I received our new Linksys router (WRT54GS v2) today from Staples. The reviews online seemed positive, more positive than the WRT54G (without SpeedBooster.) I didn’t actually have a chance to read the details on the box until it was delivered, but I noticed it stated that the SpeedBooster is only available for Win 2000 and XP, so it really wasn’t going to do much for my PowerBook. But, I did get it at a good price after rebates and discounts, so it really didn’t matter.

I didn’t install any software on the CD; I did open the manual in the Doc folder.

I hooked up the router to my Powerbook using a wired Ethernet connection. I pointed my browser to the admin page http://192.168.1.1/ and signed in as username (leave blank) with “admin” for password - this is information is in the instruction pdf document on the CD.

First, in Admin>Management, I changed the password to the router, and while I was on that page, I disabled Universal Plug n Play (UPnP)

On Setup>Basic Setup, I chose “Automatic Configuration DHCP) and selected my time zone. Save Settings. This automatically set the IP Addresses, etc.

On the Wireless tab, I carefully read through each of the sections and made my setting choices. I set it for WPA, and created my secure password.

If you need to learn more about specific settings, there is a “more” link found under the brief text explanation on the far right of the page. I was impressed with the Setup Help.

I browsed though each of the settings pages. Most areas I left at default.

I downloade and upgraded the firmware, and like the D-Link firmware upgrade, as it updated, a popup box stating the script stopped, and asked if I wanted to continue or stop. I think this must be a Mac OS X problem or something. Anyway, I tried clicking Continue a few times, and it just kept popping back up again. Then I reluctantly chose Stop, and it was the right choice, because the update finished.

After the upgrade, I lost the Internet connection, but I checked the troubleshooting section of the pdf manual, and figured out how to release and renew the IP Address. That worked and my connection was back.

Since I kept the same SSID and password, I connected easily with wifi on the Powerbook. Then I connected with our Toshiba laptop using an older Netgear MA521 card, and it seems to work just fine. I didn’t surf very long, but I test it by removing the wifi card and after I reinserted, it connected again. In the past, we would sometimes have to reboot Windows.

Compared to the D-Link, I like this Linksys router much better. I found the help explanations easy to understand, and the menus are organized very well. All in all, I am happy with my purchase.

NOTE on return of D-Link router: For security, I reset the D-Link router to default settings. I really don’t think it would have mattered, since they would probably have to reset the router anyway to sign into admin, but it made me feel better. I had actually set up the new Linksys and packed away the D-Link before I realized I didn’t reset. But I just grabbed our laptop, and connected directly to the D-Link Ethernet port. No need to connect to the Cable modem, since all I needed to do was access the admin area.

New D-Link Router (DI-524)

January 29, 2006 by debbie T | Computers • Internet • Wireless

UPDATE: 01/30/06 - I usually post my updates at the bottom of my articles, but this one is going to the top. My husband had major problems accessing the Internet on his Windows laptop, and I found some web sites were loading painfully slow, while others were fine.

I called D-Link’s customer support. It was disappointing to hear what the tech support guy told me. They don’t recommend WPA security on this router, they only “really” support WEP. EEEK! WPA support was my whole reason for purchasing a new router, and why would it state on the box that WPA was a router feature if they weren’t intending to support it!?!

I asked about other routers, and he said that any of them from the DI-624 upward, would fully support WPA.

Anyway, it really makes me very mad now that I am thinking about it. I guess they just take old crappy routers and slap in a firmware update so they can call it “WiFi Certified” - blah.

So, bottom line is I will be taking my router back to Office Max. The LinkSys routers are on sale, and since that is the brand I really wanted, I will spend a little extra for one of their better models.

End of update!

I picked up a new wireless router the other day. I found the D-Link DI-524 at OfficeMax for a really good price (around $20) so I grabbed it.

Reviews online were mixed, but I figured I would give it a shot.

Set up using the wizard was easy, but the wizard does not cover a lot of settings, including enabling WPA, so it is best to work through each page manually. Thankfully I have prior experience with routers, but for those that don’t, it can be a very daunting assignment.

On the Home>Wireless page, I enabled wireless connectivity, named SSID, chose a channel, left the default for Mixed mode & enabled SSID broadcast. I enabled WPA as PSK and created a very strong, impossible to memorize passkey.

Then I took a look at the Advanced tab. I was initially confused with the Firewall Rules configuration. I wasn’t sure if this needed to be enabled, or did NAT take care of my firewall needs. After running the Shields Up tests over at GRC.com, I realized I was in fairly good shape, and my NAT protection was working.

Shields Up brought a few security details to my attention. By default, my router left Port 113 closed, but not hidden. I found a tutorial on D-link’s support pages to stealth Port 113 and it worked! I don’t know if I will have connection problems in the future, but it is easy to reverse if needed.

Shields Up also let me know that my system was responding to pings. I found a setting on the Tools>Misc page to block WAN Pings. Also, on the Tools>Misc page, I disabled Universal PlugNPlay (UPNP). My security settings now passed the Shields Up tests!

On the Firmware page, I tried to update to the December, 2005 firmware, but a message kept popping up that there was a problem with the script. I have a feeling that it is because I am on a Mac. There was a warning to NOT use a wireless connection to download and update the firmware, so I had to connect by Ethernet. I will have to connect our Windows laptop and maybe that will work.

Extra Notes: I found a helpful web site called PortForward.com that offers Port Forwarding instructions for tons of different routers.

Dual Boot on New Mactels

January 14, 2006 by debbie T | Computers • Mac Corner

Everyone is talking about it, but no one has an answer yet. Will the new Mac Intel boxes be able to dual boot into a Windows partition? Or even a Linux partition?

I admit, a few weeks ago, I was one of the hopeful. Oh wouldn’t it be thrilling to use one computer and be able to run both Mac OS X and Windows?

But the longer I use Mac OS X, and the longer I am away from my old Windows world, I have reconsidered my position. Why would I want to muddy up my lovely Mac system with insecure, cluttered Windows? I don’t feel the need to take that risk anymore.

What I would rather have happen is more developers and programmers port their Windows programs into Mac OS X. Now that would make me happier, and I would have no reason to boot into my headless Dell except to check designs in IE 6.

Now a dual boot into a Linux distro could be fun, or better yet, I am interested in learning about Linux on USB drives. Hopefully, Mac OS X will also be able to boot from a USB drive soon. Since Apple seems to be phasing out firewire, (and that is the only way to boot into Mac OS X on an external drive,) I am hoping they are developing something soon.

I am very excited about 2006. I think great things will be coming our way from Apple. I can’t wait to play!

Had It With Windows

January 7, 2006 by debbie T | Computers

I have had it with Windows. Presently we have two Windows systems in our house: my husband’s Toshiba 1135-S155 laptop and my headless Dell.

I use the Dell (with Remote Desktop) for checking web site designs and for my financial records. My husband uses the laptop basically for browsing and email.

After this new disasterous metafile vulnerability (patched ahead of schedule), I decided it is too risky to run Windows on my husband’s laptop. I am sick of updates, sick of malware threats, and sick of the extra work to maintain a safe Windows environment. I hate the install and uninstall process. I hate the interface. It has become exhausting.

So, I have decided to hopefully try to find a way to install Linux as a dual-boot.

I tried the Ubuntu live CD, but it looks like it doesn’t work so well with NTFS file system. I am not contemplating if I should just bite the bullet and set up a second bootable partition on the laptop, and install Ubuntu. I really was hoping the live CD would work so I could check on hardware issues, like sound, video and our wifi card.

I found what looks like a tutorial describing the process for dual-booting Ubuntu with Windows. I guess it is worth a try. Worse case scenario is I will be forced to reinstall the Toshiba recovery CD and try again.

Additional resources: * Installing Ubuntu 5.10 on Toshiba P15-S479 * Breezy Badger on Toshiba Tecra 8000 * Ubuntu Forums

Epson Stylus CX5400 Printing Problems

December 2, 2005 by debbie T | Printers

The other night I was having a major problem with my Epson Stylus CX5400 Printer. The print was very faint (almost invisible) and smudgy, even after several attempts to clean the nozzles.

After searching on Google.com, I learned this was a fairly common problem with certain Epson printers. It appears the ink purge tube becomes disconnected from the cap assembly.

Here are the web sites that I found helpful:

Notes:

UPDATE (01-28-06): I kept forgetting to update the printer situation. Unfortunately, my alignment is off, and no matter how many times I run the tests to fix the alignment, it is still off. It appears to be just the black print that is off; scanned copies print fine, and color seems to be alright as well.

I am very disappointed, because I really like this printer, and I don’t want to be forced to purchase a new one.