TORONTO, ONTARIO - My computer problems may have been solved for less than $100. With an appointment made, I decided to take a trek out to the Apple Store at Sherway Gardens mall today to talk to the Genius Bar about my 2005-era iBook, which had the non-functional trackpad. After I presented the history, the Mac Genius had some ideas for workarounds, and after more than fifteen minutes of trying, he managed to get a mouse fully working by forcing the setting to disable the trackpad (which was very difficult to do without the trackpad itself or an external mouse working). That gave me a backup computer that I could use.
Then, he agreed with my assessment that my 2008-era MacBook probably did have a failing drive, and pointed out that any 2.5" serial ATA-drive could be installed. So, I went across the street to Tiger Direct and purchased a $10 mouse (for the iBook) and a new $65 hard drive which is twice the size of the drive that had been installed--that's almost a justifiable upgrade, never mind the need for repair.
First, I satisfied myself that the backup computer was working. It's rather funny how many settings just worked, even after two years of sitting in the closest. One of the first things I did was to tune in the KUOW internet stream, and the old RealPlayer software and old URL worked just fine and the audio started playing. I had forgotten how much I liked the feel of that iBook. Furthermore, as a G4 machine, it can still run in Classic mode, so I was able to launch Word 5.0 for the first time in two years. I now have the project of going through the process of printing all my old Word documents (which don't open properly in newer versions of Word or OpenOffice) to a Postscript file, and then opening them in Preview (which automatically converts them) and saving them as PDF files that I can open on more modern computers. It's a slick process on the old computer, essentially impossible on my newer machine.
Once that was in place, I changed hard drives in my MacBook and started the long process of installing the system software, performing updates, and re-installing all of my software, settings, and documents. The process went smoothly, and I am actually writing this blog entry on the new computer. There so far has been no sign of the issues I was having, so it appears that the problem was indeed the hard drive--and now I have one with a lot more space available.
I still don't think the logic board (or perhaps cable) in my iBook should have ever failed, and the hard drive in my Macbook shouldn't have failed. But, if I can fix all my problems for less than $100 (even including my transit fares yesterday) and Apple will provide in-person help with the issues at the Genius bar, that's better than any other computer manufacturer would do. Apple probably saved itself from a lost customer today.
Showing posts with label computers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computers. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Technology: Computer Issues
TORONTO, ONTARIO - Regular readers of the blog will have noticed that it has been behind in publication essentially since I returned to Toronto more than three weeks ago. There's a simple explanation--my computer suffered a major failure just before my flight back, and I've been fighting it ever since. This blog is my lowest priority (well, maybe captioning pictures is even lower in priority) of computer activities, so if I have to spend time maintaining the computer, then I don't spend time blogging.
To be frank, I'm not very happy with Apple Computer right now. I've had some great Macintosh computers in the past, and some great service experiences with Apple over the years. My first laptop, referred to yesterday, was a Powerbook 5300cs that I would ultimately take all the world. It never had a serious performance failure, and when the case cracked, I took it to the local service center for repairs and even though it was way past warranty, they fixed it with all new parts for no charge. In an era in which I was seriously thinking of switching to Linux or even Windows to save money, that action won me over as a continued Apple customer.
My next computer was another great one. The iBook that I purchased in 2000 lasted for five years with no serious issues--in a time when most people figured on getting no more than four years out of a desktop computer, I managed to get five years out of a laptop. In fact, I probably could have gotten more out of it, but at the time I was financially secure and decided I was pushing my luck with it and decided to get a new one.
Since then, my experiences have not been as good. The 2005 iBook G4 that I purchased had a quirk right from the start, not being able to see wireless networks as well as my older machine. That could be an issue when traveling, but otherwise that computer was fine until suddenly in summer 2008, a full year before I had any intention of searching for another machine, the trackpad slowly stopped working. First, the button started sticking, then it wouldn't work at all, and then it wouldn't move the control icon.
A Genius at the Apple store tried to work with the issue for quite some time, but it appeared that the problem was the logic board--a mouse plugged in to the computer suffered from the same issues, so there was no bypassing the problem. Already, that computer design was obsolete and four years old (even if my system was less than three years old), and Apple actually couldn't offer to get me a logic board, no matter what I was willing to pay. I would have to find a service dealer that could find one. I decided I didn't want to deal with that and just bought a new MacBook--that basically put me back on my original four-year cycle. I figured I'd get the old computer fixed when I had disposable income again.
Unfortunately, the 2008 MacBook has been a lemon. A portion of the casing chipped within months, before I had even done any traveling with the machine. That was a purely cosmetic problem, and I suspect Apple probably would have fixed that under warranty, but I didn't want to be without a computer during a job search, and never had that addressed. Then, starting about six months in (as I now realize), the hard drive started to fail. It would just randomly corrupt a set of files. Usually, they would just be data files, and I would have to go back to my backup and restore files. Sometimes the files would be new since my last backup, and I'd lose a few pictures or have to spend a couple hours recreating work.
However, starting last fall, occasionally system files would become corrupted. This was a much larger problem. I've had to completely re-install the system software four times since, as the computer would not boot after these events. After the process was done, I'd discover that all my data files on the computer would be intact, so I had mostly lost a lot of time through these incidents.
Since the failure before my latest return to Canada, though, things have been much worse. The system software apparently didn't install properly the first time, as I could not run System Update. About a week later, I pulled an all-nighter re-installing it again, and this time it at least updated with the latest security patches. However, last night, it completely lost my default profile. Fortunately, I had the foresight to see that coming and had backup profiles already available, and I write this piece after logging in to one of those alternate profiles. However, who knows who long it will be before this profile becomes corrupted.
Most of this time, I haven't been sure what was the actual root cause of the problem. I thought there might be a specific program or even a virus causing the file corruptions. However, the presence of "I/O Errors" in the system log concurrent with the events and their random nature even after I turned off suspect services like Spotlight seems fully consistent with a genuine hardware failure.
This means that I need to buy and install a new hard drive, and I don't like doing that without a backup computer to use. I have little choice now, so if this blog disappears for an extended period of time, it's pretty clear what's going on--my computer died and I'm trying to fix it.
To be frank, I'm not very happy with Apple Computer right now. I've had some great Macintosh computers in the past, and some great service experiences with Apple over the years. My first laptop, referred to yesterday, was a Powerbook 5300cs that I would ultimately take all the world. It never had a serious performance failure, and when the case cracked, I took it to the local service center for repairs and even though it was way past warranty, they fixed it with all new parts for no charge. In an era in which I was seriously thinking of switching to Linux or even Windows to save money, that action won me over as a continued Apple customer.
My next computer was another great one. The iBook that I purchased in 2000 lasted for five years with no serious issues--in a time when most people figured on getting no more than four years out of a desktop computer, I managed to get five years out of a laptop. In fact, I probably could have gotten more out of it, but at the time I was financially secure and decided I was pushing my luck with it and decided to get a new one.
Since then, my experiences have not been as good. The 2005 iBook G4 that I purchased had a quirk right from the start, not being able to see wireless networks as well as my older machine. That could be an issue when traveling, but otherwise that computer was fine until suddenly in summer 2008, a full year before I had any intention of searching for another machine, the trackpad slowly stopped working. First, the button started sticking, then it wouldn't work at all, and then it wouldn't move the control icon.
A Genius at the Apple store tried to work with the issue for quite some time, but it appeared that the problem was the logic board--a mouse plugged in to the computer suffered from the same issues, so there was no bypassing the problem. Already, that computer design was obsolete and four years old (even if my system was less than three years old), and Apple actually couldn't offer to get me a logic board, no matter what I was willing to pay. I would have to find a service dealer that could find one. I decided I didn't want to deal with that and just bought a new MacBook--that basically put me back on my original four-year cycle. I figured I'd get the old computer fixed when I had disposable income again.
Unfortunately, the 2008 MacBook has been a lemon. A portion of the casing chipped within months, before I had even done any traveling with the machine. That was a purely cosmetic problem, and I suspect Apple probably would have fixed that under warranty, but I didn't want to be without a computer during a job search, and never had that addressed. Then, starting about six months in (as I now realize), the hard drive started to fail. It would just randomly corrupt a set of files. Usually, they would just be data files, and I would have to go back to my backup and restore files. Sometimes the files would be new since my last backup, and I'd lose a few pictures or have to spend a couple hours recreating work.
However, starting last fall, occasionally system files would become corrupted. This was a much larger problem. I've had to completely re-install the system software four times since, as the computer would not boot after these events. After the process was done, I'd discover that all my data files on the computer would be intact, so I had mostly lost a lot of time through these incidents.
Since the failure before my latest return to Canada, though, things have been much worse. The system software apparently didn't install properly the first time, as I could not run System Update. About a week later, I pulled an all-nighter re-installing it again, and this time it at least updated with the latest security patches. However, last night, it completely lost my default profile. Fortunately, I had the foresight to see that coming and had backup profiles already available, and I write this piece after logging in to one of those alternate profiles. However, who knows who long it will be before this profile becomes corrupted.
Most of this time, I haven't been sure what was the actual root cause of the problem. I thought there might be a specific program or even a virus causing the file corruptions. However, the presence of "I/O Errors" in the system log concurrent with the events and their random nature even after I turned off suspect services like Spotlight seems fully consistent with a genuine hardware failure.
This means that I need to buy and install a new hard drive, and I don't like doing that without a backup computer to use. I have little choice now, so if this blog disappears for an extended period of time, it's pretty clear what's going on--my computer died and I'm trying to fix it.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Technology: Naming Hard Drives
TORONTO, ONTARIO - Thanks to my ongoing computer problems, I've been spending a lot of time looking at backup files from previous computers, and seeing the names of computers and hard drives that I haven't used in years. Different people in my life have different systems for naming their computer hard drives. While quite a few just use a default name or their own name, I have encountered some interesting ones. One friend names them after favorite novels. Another uses the name of Greek gods or other ancient figures appropriate for the computer's use. Then, of course, there are MIT Athena computers, which are famously named for hacks that took place on campus--I'll never forget logging in to "scrubbingbubbles" or "cathedral7".
The first time I ever had the opportunity to name a computer was when my parents purchased me my first Macintosh, an SE/30. I decided that an appropriate name for that computer might be "Seattle Terminal," after the Burlington Northern Seattle Terminal Dispatcher that controlled most of the mainline railroads within Seattle that I spent a lot of time listening in high school on a radio scanner. I thought it was a nice subtle pun, since "terminal" could refer to a computer.
When I went off to college, I purchased a Mac Centris 650, and since I didn't know the railroad dispatchers in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time, I didn't continue the tradition and simply named that hard drive "LCG Railroad". In retrospect, it probably should have been named "Centralia South" after the Burlington Northern dispatcher district in Washington state that was one of many on the Amtrak trip between Seattle and San Jose that I would take a number of times, and indicated my geography--I would be spending most of my time south of Centralia.
My next computer was a Macintosh Powerbook 5300cs purchased with my summer earnings. Well-ensconced in the Bay Area, I named it after the Amtrak-employed dispatcher on the line that ran past Stanford University--"San Jose Control". A number of railfans in the Central Coast Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society that noticed me with that computer were terribly amused by that name, and most other people just thought it was a little strange.
When I switched jobs in 2000, I rewarded myself with a new iBook. Living in Boston, I named that one after my favorite dispatcher in the area, who by that time worked for CSX (before 1999, it had been Conrail) but still was known as the "Boston Line" dispatcher. A few years later, "Boston Line" morphed into the shorter but much more obscure "NA", so my hard drive effectively became a tribute to fallen flag of Conrail and how it ran run its railroad.
At some point, I purchased a firewire backup drive, and still living in Boston, I named that one after the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad's dispatcher that controlled the line that passed where I worked, "Boston West". When I purchased a new iBook in 2005, I was expecting to be transferred to a position in Europe, so I named that hard drive "Boston East" after another Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad dispatching desk, with the geographic significance fully intended.
Of course, I ultimately moved to Toronto instead of Europe, so now Canadian "Rail Traffic Controller" (or RTC; there are no "dispatchers" here) names dominate my hard drives. A backup drive that I purchased became the "CN YB RTC" after the Canadian National RTC that controls their main freight line through Toronto, and when I had to buy my current MacBook in 2008, it was named "Cherry Street Tower" after my favorite of the Toronto Terminals Railway towers that control the Union Station Rail Corridor.
It looks like that hard drive is dying and will need to be replaced; its replacement will likely be called "Scott Street Tower" after the next tower to west in the Union Station Rail Corridor, and I suppose if it ever needs to be replaced, I'll move on to "John Street Tower". That still leaves a lot of local RTC names to use; I haven't even touched any of the Canadian Pacific desks, to say nothing of more CN desks. Likely, by the time I run out of those, GO Transit will start dispatching its owned territories, and there will be new names to use.
In any event, it looks like it's going to be a long time before I have to come up with a new system for naming my computer hard drives.
The first time I ever had the opportunity to name a computer was when my parents purchased me my first Macintosh, an SE/30. I decided that an appropriate name for that computer might be "Seattle Terminal," after the Burlington Northern Seattle Terminal Dispatcher that controlled most of the mainline railroads within Seattle that I spent a lot of time listening in high school on a radio scanner. I thought it was a nice subtle pun, since "terminal" could refer to a computer.
When I went off to college, I purchased a Mac Centris 650, and since I didn't know the railroad dispatchers in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time, I didn't continue the tradition and simply named that hard drive "LCG Railroad". In retrospect, it probably should have been named "Centralia South" after the Burlington Northern dispatcher district in Washington state that was one of many on the Amtrak trip between Seattle and San Jose that I would take a number of times, and indicated my geography--I would be spending most of my time south of Centralia.
My next computer was a Macintosh Powerbook 5300cs purchased with my summer earnings. Well-ensconced in the Bay Area, I named it after the Amtrak-employed dispatcher on the line that ran past Stanford University--"San Jose Control". A number of railfans in the Central Coast Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society that noticed me with that computer were terribly amused by that name, and most other people just thought it was a little strange.
When I switched jobs in 2000, I rewarded myself with a new iBook. Living in Boston, I named that one after my favorite dispatcher in the area, who by that time worked for CSX (before 1999, it had been Conrail) but still was known as the "Boston Line" dispatcher. A few years later, "Boston Line" morphed into the shorter but much more obscure "NA", so my hard drive effectively became a tribute to fallen flag of Conrail and how it ran run its railroad.
At some point, I purchased a firewire backup drive, and still living in Boston, I named that one after the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad's dispatcher that controlled the line that passed where I worked, "Boston West". When I purchased a new iBook in 2005, I was expecting to be transferred to a position in Europe, so I named that hard drive "Boston East" after another Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad dispatching desk, with the geographic significance fully intended.
Of course, I ultimately moved to Toronto instead of Europe, so now Canadian "Rail Traffic Controller" (or RTC; there are no "dispatchers" here) names dominate my hard drives. A backup drive that I purchased became the "CN YB RTC" after the Canadian National RTC that controls their main freight line through Toronto, and when I had to buy my current MacBook in 2008, it was named "Cherry Street Tower" after my favorite of the Toronto Terminals Railway towers that control the Union Station Rail Corridor.
It looks like that hard drive is dying and will need to be replaced; its replacement will likely be called "Scott Street Tower" after the next tower to west in the Union Station Rail Corridor, and I suppose if it ever needs to be replaced, I'll move on to "John Street Tower". That still leaves a lot of local RTC names to use; I haven't even touched any of the Canadian Pacific desks, to say nothing of more CN desks. Likely, by the time I run out of those, GO Transit will start dispatching its owned territories, and there will be new names to use.
In any event, it looks like it's going to be a long time before I have to come up with a new system for naming my computer hard drives.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Technology: Actually using UNIX on OS X
TORONTO, ONTARIO - Way back in the late 1990's, when Apple announced that its next operating system would be based on UNIX but maintain the easy-to-use graphical interface that had differentiated the Macintosh from other consumer computers, I was very excited. I would be able to have the power of a UNIX shell, which I had come to appreciate in the university environment and later on commercial shell accounts, and still be able to do the bulk of my tasks with the near-mindless interface of the Macintosh most of the time--there was no compelling technical reason to use a Microsoft operating system, about which I had few good things to say.
Indeed, I have stayed with the Macintosh line of computers through the launch of Mac OS X to present day. However, I have almost never actually used the UNIX shell underneath Mac OS X. Partly, I felt little reason to explore it because work was always forcing me to do more with the Windows operating system that I really wanted to deal with, and I maintained a commercial UNIX account to host my web site, so if I wanted to do something at a UNIX command line I'd often just SSH to that account and do it there.
Now, as I am being forced to migrate from the FreeBSD-based web hosting account that I have used since 2000 because of a degradation of service, that has finally changed. It turns out that almost nobody offers already-installed UNIX clients to read e-mail anymore. I've been using Pine, written by a team at the University of Washington, to read my e-mail since my very first e-mail accounts at Stanford University and Delphi, and pretty much everywhere I've had an active e-mail account since. I've come to appreciate the minimum number of keystrokes required to read through mail using Pine.
While I haven't always used it, Pine supports the IMAP protocol for retrieving mail from a server. It finally occurred to me that with a IMAP-supporting server, there was no reason I couldn't run Pine on Mac OS X, and then I wouldn't have to run it on a remote account. I soon discovered that Pine has been succeeded by Alpine, and with help from an on-line tutorial from Paul Heinline, I had Alpine up and running on my home computer in a minimal amount of time. The hardest part was figuring out the correct security settings to use with my new IMAP e-mail provider, as they are appropriately stringent and far from Alpine's defaults.
So, now I am finally using the UNIX underpinnings of Mac OS X, going into the Terminal to run Alpine and check e-mail from my new hosting service over IMAP. I always knew that the architecture of Mac OS X was going to be a very nice thing to use, but it took me a decade to finally find a good enough reason to use it.
Indeed, I have stayed with the Macintosh line of computers through the launch of Mac OS X to present day. However, I have almost never actually used the UNIX shell underneath Mac OS X. Partly, I felt little reason to explore it because work was always forcing me to do more with the Windows operating system that I really wanted to deal with, and I maintained a commercial UNIX account to host my web site, so if I wanted to do something at a UNIX command line I'd often just SSH to that account and do it there.
Now, as I am being forced to migrate from the FreeBSD-based web hosting account that I have used since 2000 because of a degradation of service, that has finally changed. It turns out that almost nobody offers already-installed UNIX clients to read e-mail anymore. I've been using Pine, written by a team at the University of Washington, to read my e-mail since my very first e-mail accounts at Stanford University and Delphi, and pretty much everywhere I've had an active e-mail account since. I've come to appreciate the minimum number of keystrokes required to read through mail using Pine.
While I haven't always used it, Pine supports the IMAP protocol for retrieving mail from a server. It finally occurred to me that with a IMAP-supporting server, there was no reason I couldn't run Pine on Mac OS X, and then I wouldn't have to run it on a remote account. I soon discovered that Pine has been succeeded by Alpine, and with help from an on-line tutorial from Paul Heinline, I had Alpine up and running on my home computer in a minimal amount of time. The hardest part was figuring out the correct security settings to use with my new IMAP e-mail provider, as they are appropriately stringent and far from Alpine's defaults.
So, now I am finally using the UNIX underpinnings of Mac OS X, going into the Terminal to run Alpine and check e-mail from my new hosting service over IMAP. I always knew that the architecture of Mac OS X was going to be a very nice thing to use, but it took me a decade to finally find a good enough reason to use it.
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