3 Reasons to Use a Mac, and Pismo Troubleshooting

• 3 Reasons I Use a Mac
• Pismo AirPort Stopped Working
• Pismo Kernel Panics

3 Reasons I Use a Mac

From Chris in response to What's So Great About a Mac? Plenty!:

Oh, hello, it's me.

(Well I couldn't resist that one.)

I'm sure you don't really remember me, but I was the one who wrote a while back about USB booting and problems with disc 1 of Tiger. I'm back to confirm that USB booting is possible on both G3 and G4 systems. I managed to boot of a Tiger install disc on a USB drive while holding option and choosing the CD drive as a boot disk. Worked just fine, and Tiger installed slowly, but fine.

Still, that's not the reason why I am writing, but rather in response to the article by Alex Gallegos. I still use Windows for various reasons (mostly games). But there are three reasons why I use a Macintosh.

The first one is choice.

I like to have a choice in operating system, not what the manufacturer decides is right for me.

And Mac OS X is the biggest commercially viable alternative to Windows out there right now.

Let's have a look at the other alternatives: Amiga OS? Whatever the Amiga aficionados might want you to believe, Amiga OS is soundly dead. Cold as Haagen-dazs. It's a cool system to fiddle with but not exactly up for prime time.

BeOS? Very much dead.

OS/2? IBM pulled the plug on that one.

Mac OS 9? Dead, dead, dead. Even deader with the Intel machines - they won't even boot in OS 9.

Linux: Ah, now here is a bone of contention. Linux is making strides into mainstream with Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Linux Mint, Gentoo, Puppy, and Xandros. Asus even sells their Eee laptops and boxes with Linux. Which is great - they are the first manufacturers to actually offer Linux in a mainstream machine. However Linux is still not ready for prime time; unlike Windows or Mac OS, you still can't buy the apps in a store - you have to download them, and let's not talk about games. (Don't dismiss games; it's a multibillion dollar industry that thrives. Playing games these days is just as important as running office suites used to be.) Linux is just not ready yet.

Unix and Unix like? Too difficult and oblique.

So what does that leave us with then? Mac OS X its the easiest and only really viable competition to Windows right now. That's the first reason I use Mac OS X.

Second reason: I am rather sick of Microsoft' s anti-piracy crap. I know they are trying to protect their operating system against piracy, and they have that right. But they are going to draconian measures. I have several original legal versions of Windows XP, and I'll be damned if I will let them call home to Microsoft and ask for permission to be activated.

Those are my computers, and it's none of Microsoft's business how many times I decide to reinstall XP or not. Another reason I prefer Windows 2000 over XP - it at least still has a normal serial.

Apple doesn't use such ridiculous draconian measures, so that's another very good reason.

And the third reason has actually been discussed in your article. Malware. I'm wary of going online with Windows. With Mac OS X I know I don't really need to worry.

Of course I'm still careful and scan my downloads and files, because I still have Windows machines, but still I don't need to worry about a link that will bring my whole system down.

Those are my reasons - now lets add some commentary to Mr. Gallegos' arguments about why Windows is better.

Mac OS X looks like a Fisher Price toy.

If Mac OS X looks like a Fisher Price toy, then Mr. Gallegos hasn't been paying attention or looking at Windows in the past two years. Vista is even more gaudy and brightly colored than Mac OS X is. Even the stark ugliness of Leopard can't trump Vista in this regard. And that trope really is antiquated. XP looks rather candy cane like as well with the Luna theme, and one could argue that all GUI's look inherently childish and toy-like. Even the Spartan and utilitarian by comparison Windows 95 and Mac OS 7.

It's all about software stupid.

On this one I have to disagree with you, if only for personal preferences. Mac OS X doesn't really give me a better or more satisfying working experience, only a different one. It's a simple fact for me, that a Macintosh doesn't make me inherently more or less creative any more or less than a PC does. They are both tools and let me get on with my work. I only prefer to do my writing on MS Word 2000 on a PC, because I prefer to do it like that. If only because I have been using MS Word since 1997 and some habits are hard to shake. If the software is better or not, is up to the individual user.

Malware doesn't matter.

At this point I'm starting to wonder on what planet Mr. Gallegos really is living.

Malware does matter; it's one of the biggest reasons people move away from Windows, because they are sick of worrying about every little click, every new link, and every new email with an attachment. There are hundreds of thousands of viri out there waiting to strike on any unsuspecting Windows users.

Mac users by comparison have it easy.

With the transition to Intel and the ability to run Windows, now is the best time ever to jump to Apple. All the security of Mac OS X without having to give up certain apps for Windows. (Games, mostly, but also certain applications you can't be without. ACDSee and MS Word 2000 in my case.)

Macs are for lazy folk.

By this point Mr. Gallegos utterly destroys any credibility he has left. "Macs are for people who don't really understand computers and want it as easy as possible."

Right, I wonder where that leaves me, a user of computers for the past 12 years. I have been pulling them apart and putting them back together for the past 10 years (and usually they work too). And a Mac user of 5 years. I wonder how I fit in that little trope. Mr. Gallegos doesn't seem to realise that it's the ease of use that makes the Macintosh so appealing.

Instead of having to jump through hoops or deal with vague conflicts, a user can just install the software and get on with what he or she needs to do with it, confident that every other Macintosh application will behave in the same way, using the same short cuts. Yes, Windows does follow that set of rules globally, but Windows, especially Vista, tends to get in the way with warnings and overhead and asking for permission. (Then again Tiger is sluggish on my eMac 700.)

The OS should only come to the foreground when it's absolutely imperative - when it needs you the user to do something, authorise something, or when something has gone wrong. Otherwise it should get out of the way and let the user do what they want. Microsoft seems to be struggling with the concept that the OS doesn't matter any more. The desktop metaphor is long gone, and it's about content and connectability these days. Asus already demonstrates that new way of thinking with the Eee and Xandros. There is no desktop any more, there are only tabs with different actions and applications. The OS is safely tucked away in the background.

Mac OS X isn't there yet but might get there, after all Finder is not the OS, it's just the application that lets us interact with the OS.

Still there is every hope that Mr. Garregos will grow up and stop these rather ridiculous fanboy rants.

Windows isn't perfect, but then neither is Mac OS X. And I find that they are suitable to different purposes. Mac OS X for my online purposes, Windows for offline. I'm sure other people have other purposes.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the report about booting and installing Tiger on a USB drive. Good to know that it can be done, especially with FireWire 400 support eroding. Scuttlebutt has it that the new MacBook Pro will have a FireWire 800 port but no FireWire 400 port. I hope that rumor is incorrect.

Thanks also for the commentary. We mostly agree. I cut my computing teeth on Microsoft Word 4 and 5.1 for the Mac, but long since switched to Tex-Edit Plus for most things, and if there's an app I simply couldn't abide being without, it's TE+ (and it's Mac only).

Charles

Hello.

It can be done with Tiger and maybe with Panther. Something I might be apt to finding out soon.

I only tried it with an an eMac G4 and a iBook G3, but there is no reason to assume it can't be done with other models. FireWire is pretty much on its last legs, seeing that USB 2.0 offers the same speeds, it becomes less and less needed to keep it going.

Personally I would not miss FireWire, because in the Netherlands it's pretty much a non-issue. The only FireWire hardware I ever had was an second gen iPod; it's USB here all the way. Still it could be worse, Apple could remove FireWire all together from the MacBook.

I would not put that past them; Apple tends to go where other companies fear to tread.

ACDSee 2.4 is nothing more then a JPEG viewer and organiser, but it is able to move copy and duplicate files and folders, and all that with a keyboard. I tend to use ACDSee as a replacement for the interface of Windows it self, so when I use Windows I am pretty much dependent on ACDSee.

It has become less and less these days, but when I am using Windows, ACDSee is always open.

Good to know that we mostly agree.

As far as virtualisation software goes, VMware Fusion stands head and shoulders above the competition. Its hardware features and integration are just so much better. I already liked it as version 1.3, version 2.0 just made an already good product even better. I also managed to score a 'new' iBook G3 500 to replace my aging one. A 500 MHz with 64 MB RAM, 10 gig hard drive, and a Combo drive and the adapter all for 66 Euro (about $70). A very nice catch, especially because I love the iBook G3s, the 500 and 600 models in particular.

My old one is falling apart at the seams, yet still holding on and tenaciously clinging on to life and running Tiger just fine. I have been inside that machine so often I can open it up and disassemble it in 10 minutes.

Its Combo drive is dead, the backlight of its screen goes on and off and needs persuading to stay on. And it's held together by maybe 12 screws, yet it keeps going. Now that is quality. And I'm glad I have been able to secure a second one.

And perhaps that's another reason what's so good about the Macintosh, the enduring hardware quality. They just keep going and going and going and going.

Regards
Chris

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the further comments and observations. Again, we mostly agree. I'm a FireWire fan, and I do have several FireWire peripherals (scanners and an external hard drive), but it does seem like Apple is phasing out FireWire support, alas.

My 700 MHz G3 iBook served me faithfully as my production workhorse for more than three years and is still going strong as my wife's computer. It's never given any significant trouble. Great deal you got on that 500 MHz unit.

Charles

Pismo AirPort Stopped Working

From Bill:

Charles,

I just finished reading your online article about the PowerBook Pismo, great article about a great machine.

I'm a proud original owner of a Pismo that about 6 months ago quit starting up. The Pismo serves as a second computer to our iBook G4, and after some fiddling and reading online I discovered that with the PRAM battery disconnected the machine would start up and run great (OS 9). Problem is now it does not recognize the AirPort card. I did try removing and reinstalling the card, but I was wondering will the AirPort card work without a PRAM battery? I intend to order a new PRAM battery, I just haven't gotten around to it.

It seems weird that everything else would work great but not the AirPort card. The Li-Ion battery has been dead for years, and we only use the computer from A/C power, but AirPort was working great before the PRAM died. Thx for any experience you can share.

Regards,
Bill

Hi Bill,

This is a new one for me. I suppose it's conceivable that the AirPort card might want a functional PRAM battery, but I don't know one way or the other. It would be interesting to try a WiFi PC Card to see if the machine would recognize it, but that's not likely practical for you. Getting a new PRAM battery will also be a useful diagnostic.

However, that the Pismo will evidently not boot with the PRAM battery connected may indicate other problems afoot.

Perhaps someone in Low End Mac readerland will be able to shed some light on this.

Charles

Pismo Kernel Panics

From John:

Hi, Charles,

If I've asked you this before, bear with me. I looked back thru old email exchanges we've had and didn't see anything on this question.

Every so often when I boot up the Pismo, I get the apple, followed by the spinning gear, but then a black box comes up with white lettering. It says in four languages, "You need to restart your computer," followed by some instructions that only a robot would need. Have you ever seen this? Sometimes it will take three or four reboots to get past it. There's no discernible frequency either. I've run Disk Utility, Cocktail, and Onyx to repair permissions.

Maybe I need to leave this computer running overnight for awhile. I think your column that introduced me to Onyx talked about the late-night maintenance scripts that run on Macs. Mine's probably not getting any of that. What do you think?

Thanks.

John

Hi John,

What you're experiencing is what is known as "Kernel Panics." They were fairly common with older versions of OS X, but I have had very few with Tiger and I don't think any with Leopard.

According to Apple, "A kernel panic is a type of event that occurs when the core (kernel) of an operating system receives an instruction in an unexpected format or that it fails to handle properly. "

The kernel panics I used to get with my old G3 iBook seemed to often be associates with USB peripherals, and at least in the 0S 10.2/10.3 era, are almost always related to a hardware issue of some sort, with USB hubs frequently mentioned along with several other possible culprits.

In Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, David Pogue also says that kernel panics are "almost always the result of a hardware glitch."

This web page - http://www.macmaps.com/kernelpanic.html - suggests that there are three main potential causes of kernel panics, In summary:

1. A directory failure or user accidentally moving .kext files that should be left alone. The directory may fail due to an accident caused by Norton Utilities or Systemworks, which may at random corrupt a directory even when trying to repair it. Norton Anti-Virus will not do this, but Disk Doctor and Speed Disk have a history of doing this.
2. Peripherals that aren't Mac OS X native may cause a kernel panic, Mac OS X 10.2.5 has been known to kernel panic at certain USB hubs, and it is recommended you upgrade to 10.2.6 to avoid this issue.
3. RAM and motherboards are the least likely suspect in kernel panics, but if you just have a new system, and/or just installed new memory and you get a kernel panic, that's the most likely place to start looking.

Hope this information is helpful.

Charles

Thanks, Charles. The only thing I've added recently to this Pismo is a Wegener G4 processor, which was several months ago. Sounds like it would be worthwhile to reseat the processor board and the RAM for good measure. Interestingly, I left this machine running overnight last week so it could do its late-night repairs. It's been running smoothly since then.

I've read about kernel panics in the past, but didn't know what it meant or what the symptoms would be. I'm running 10.3.9, BTW.

I appreciate your help.

John

Go to the Miscellaneous Ramblings Mailbag index.