Mac OS X
Free TV Channels
Mar 6th
The danish public service channels from “Danmarks Radio” can be streamed and viewed directly from QuickTime, iTunes, VLC player etc. on both Mac and Windows by downloading a few channel files (.mov). This of course also opens the option to stream and view the channels in Frontrow on Mac:
All you have to do is to download the files and add them to your library:
Download TV Channels (danish channels)
A friend of mine is monitoring the channel streams at his website, here you can see how reliable each stream are >> Stream Status
Sources:
Reduce MacBook Noise by Cleaning Fan
Feb 28th
For some time my 3 year old black MacBook has been having an increasing whizzing sound from the build-in cooling fan, and furthermore the temperature seemed to be increasing more over time than normal. I was quite sure that the noisy fan and the heat sink was filled up with dust, which would be the reason for the fan to run more than usual. A couple of days ago I finally pulled myself together, and disassembled my MacBook to find out whether I was right.
UPDATE: This is a complete guide on how to remove the MacBook fan: MacBook Core 2 Duo Fan Removal. From this point you can jump to my conclusion in the bottom.
I found the following guide on how to open the MacBook, and followed it precisely until step number 12:
http://www.ifixit.com/pdf/guide_287_en.pdf
From step 12, it was all about figuring out how clean the fan and heat sink. In order to do so, the fan had to be removed from its location.
How to remove cooling fan
The above image shows how to do it. The two screws (marked with circles) must be removed, and the tape (marked with rectangles) must be loosened. Finally the fan can be snapped out of its connector. Removing the fan revealed quite an amount of dust beween the fan and the heat sink, and the fan itself was also covered with dust. To clean the fan and heat sink I use cotton buds and a vacuum cleaner (be carefull using the vacuum cleaner on the motherboard). I believe the blowing compressed air on the part will be a more safe method to remove dust than the vacuum cleaner.
Conclusion:
After assembling my MacBook again, I found that the fan is run less that before my little operation, and also not as loud as before. It is not as soundless as when the MacBook was all new, but anyway I can recommend doing the effort of cleaning the fan and heat sink.
Boot Camp: Windows 7 on iMac – Fix Black Screen
Jan 4th
Recently I was making a Boot Camp installation of Windows 7 on my iMac, however, it did not go as smoothly as expected. During the installation process the screen went infinitely black, and it was not possible to continue the installation process.
Software versions:
- Boot Camp 3.0 (Mac OS X Snow Leopard)
- Windows 7
Doing a little search, I found the following solution on how to fix the problem.
Update: Apple has made a support article on the issue: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3173
Solution (step by step from the beginning):
- Run Boot Camp Assistant from Mac OS X Snow Leopard (Applications -> Utilities)
- Create a partition for the Windows installation using Boot Camp Assistant
- Plugin your install disc and install Windows 7
- The system will reboot a couple of times during the installation
- The problem: The second time the system reboots, you the see the Windows red-green-blue-yellow animated logo, and then the screen goes black and hangs infinitely.
- Press and hold the power button on your iMac until it shuts down.
- Start the iMac again holding “alt” key, so you can select and load Max OS X Snow Leopard again.
- Run any application that let you work with NTFS partitions (e.g. Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X or MacFuse)
- Find the file “C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ATIKMDAG.SYS” on your BOOTCAMP partition, and simply delete it.
- Restart you iMac, and boot up Windows 7
- Now Windows 7 should boot normally
- Run update windows utility and install Boot Camp drivers from the Mac OS X install disc
Boot Camp: Create Partition Error – Files cannot be moved
Jan 3rd
Recently I was about to install a Windows 7 beta using Boot Camp on my iMac, but it did not succeed due to an error. I was setting the Windows partition to 80 GB with plenty of free space available.
Then I got this error, namely “The disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved”:
But I did not like the idea of formatting my hard drive due to fix the issue, and make Boot Camp work. However, I found an other solution to the problem, namely installing tool to defragment the hard drive. Defragmentation is not something you usually do on a Mac, but here it came in handy. I found these two tool to do the trick:
- iDefrag (I used this)
What the tools basically do, is that they are able to moved the files, which for some reason is blocking the Boot Camp Partitioning.
Watch Digital HD TV on your Mac
Dec 26th
If you like me would like to have the opportunity to watch digital HD TV on your Mac, here is my recommendations. Recently I bought a product from Elgato, namely the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid, which I am actually quite satisfied with.
Elgato EyeTV Hybrid
EyeTV Hybrid is an all-in-one TV USB stick for your Mac, including DVB-T, DVB-C, Analog TV & FM-Radio tuner. Even though it is quite small, it contains a full-size and built-in coaxial plug and does not require an adapter to connect cable or an aerial. The EyeTV Hybrid also comes with a composite (RCA) and S-Video break-out cable to connect a variety of devices to your Mac, such as a set top box for premium channels and satellite, a VCR, or a Camcorder.
EyeTV Hybrid can record digital TV in the full quality digital content as encoded by the broadcaster. The included EyeTV 3 software lets you watch and timeshift live television on your Mac. Record, subscribe to TV series, and create Smart Playlists. Edit unwanted content and send your favorites to iTunes to sync automatically. Recordings can be share over a local network with other Macs and accessing them on an iPod or iPhone via Wi-Fi.
Feature summary:
- Watch, rewind, fast forward, and pause live TV and FM radio on your Mac
- Record hours of television and FM radio and edit out unwanted content
- Create TV series subscriptions with Smart Guides
- Organize recordings in Smart Playlists
- Export recordings automatically to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV
- Access recordings via Wi-Fi and share with other Macs on a local network
- Watch live tv on iPhone over Wi-Fi or 3G
- Includes an EyeTV Remote, which I by the way will comment on later on.
Product site: Elgato EyeTV Hybrid
Additionally I can recommend a couple of application to make the experience of the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid even better.
Remote Buddy
A powerful remote control solution for the Mac, that lets you control the EyeTV, any many other applications with Apple Remote, iPhone, or iPod Touch. With this application you can put the EyeTV Remote in the drawer, and only use the Apple Remote or iPhone as remote.
Product site: Remote Buddy
Aurora
Aurora lets you wake up your Mac in the morning or any other time, and fortunately it has support for EyeTV. Aurora can play both EyeTV TV and radio channels, this is quite nice if you like to wake up to some morning news or like as I do.
Product site: Aurora
XBMC / Plex
XBMC or Plex (build on XBMC) is only related to the EyeTV in sense of making your Mac a better media center. They both have a visually appealing user interface that provides instant access to your media. They can play a wide range of video, audio and photo formats as well as online streaming audio and video. The real power of these applications are found in its library features, I especially like that it can automatically retrieve movie metadata from IMDb; imagery, description, rating etc. Whether to select XBMC or Plex might be a subjective matter.
Mac Themes for Windows 7
Nov 1st
Running Windows 7 on Boot Camp on your Mac, you might like some Apple or Mac OS X like themes for your Windows 7 installation. Here is a couple try out. I am also look for more and better Mac or Black themes for Windows 7, so please post if you found some nice ones…
All of these themes are installed without extra patching of you operation system, download the themes below.
Download the themes:
