In Firefox, I do exactly what you’re trying with Tab Mix Plus using the “lock all tabs” feature, but from what I could determine from sifting through the tab-oriented Safari utilities at MacUpdate, such a feature doesn’t exist… yet.

I’ve noticed that sometimes there are multiple entries in the Keychain for the same network, maybe one in your Login keychain and one in the System keychain (where it belongs), or some other inconsistency which causes the problem. Usually this fixes things right up. Click Apply or OK on everything and close all your preferences and Keychain Access (be sure to keep a copy of your network passwords) and then add your networks back from the “clean slate”.

For your second issue, there are several things that could be going on, not least of which could be that it’s related to the first issue. Other ideas off the top of my head:

• Parallels is using host-only networking instead of shared or bridge mode;
• The process that handles Parallels networking for Parallels, pvsnatd, is not being started or is dying or is otherwise under the weather;
• The network settings in your Parallels network preferences are messed up. Make sure that both checkboxes are checked and that the numbers appear sane. If you need assistance, let me know.

I’ve had one minor issue with networking XP through Parallels, so here’s something you might try based on my experience: With the virtual machine turned off, select Edit > Virtual Machine from the menu bar. Add a new network interface in Shared mode. Start your XP virtual machine where you’ll now find in the Control Panel network connections a new network connection. Disable the first one, and make sure the new one looks good (getting the right IP address, etc.). Try connecting to The Apple Blog from the Parallels/XP side, and see what happens.

Your Parallels issue could be very simple or more complex; if these ideas don’t help, then I’d suggest heading over to the Parallels online support site.

First, I have airports at home and at work. My Mac signs on to the one at work automatically. At home, however, I have to select the airport from the drop down list each time, despite the fact that the password is stored and that airport is first on the list for it to join automatically … in other words, something is preventing it from actually choosing that airport automatically but, once I choose it, it has the password to join. I’ve checked the settings in the obvious places - perhaps you have a suggestion about what I can change to access this airport automatically?

My second question has to do with accessing the internet through Parallels. Parallels often balks a little at recognizing the internet connection active on the Mac. However, I’ve always been able to get online through Parallels after rebooting Parallels. This week, for the first time, Parallels refuses to recognize any internet connection at all - whether hardwired, through my airport at work or through my airport at home. The error message says ‘a network cable is unplugged’. Rebooting Parallels no longer restores the connection, and reinstalling Parallels and Parallels Tools didn’t do the trick either. What happened and what should I try next?

Thanks for your help -

Cheers

Any other suggestions welcome!

There are other options like VNC (which you mentioned) and other RDS clients like CoRD. I don’t know about others, but I know that CoRD, at least, will let you play audio remotely but not bring it to your Mac.

Enjoy your new MBP!

I will get my grubby paws on a shiny new Macbook Pro in two days, having been a PC user my whole life.

One of the things I would love to be able to do with my Macbook is use it as an overthetop remote control for music from a PC server. I do not want the music to be output from the Macbook itself, but rather from the PC soundcard in the server machine. The only way I can think to do this is to run something like VNC (link: http://www.realvnc.com/what.html). It isn’t a perfect solution, but does the job.

I would love to be able to do this by using iTunes (or some other audio application) on the Macbook, hitting play, and having the audio output from the PC.

So… how do I do it???

If your issue is not specific to Safari, then it’s likely not the JavaScriptCore framework, and like Shawn’s case, I’d have to take it offline and see your logfiles to get an accurate picture of what’s going on.

Just to make sure that the problem isn’t something that Apple hasn’t fixed, I’d suggest making sure that you have installed all the updates available in Software Update. Also, make certain that Audio Update 2007-001 is installed; some users have noted that it doesn’t show up for them in Software Update. (You can see which updates have already been installed by selecting the Software Update preference pane in System Preferences, then the Installed Updates tab inside that.)

GarageBand should, yes, detect that your audio source has switched, but only if you have it running when you plug or unplug your line-in jack. I’m not sure what to suggest about the buzzing, other than Audio Update 2007-001, mentioned above. To remove it from GarageBand, in postprocessing, though, should be easy enough. If it’s a consistent pitch, then you simply have to find the frequency of that buzz and apply the Graphic Equalizer in that range to bring the volume down. I’d suggest the filter called “AUGraphicEQ” because it gives you a 31-band equalizer: much greater refinement over a 10-band option, so you can squelch the cough without muffling the rest of the audio too much.

I hope this helps you!

I am running a MacBook Pro 1.83 with 1.5GB RAM. I have windows XP SP2 running (via Bootcamp) and play numerous games. The hardware holds up pretty well (the machine does tend to run a tad hot) when playing games natively in Windows. Battlefield 2, GTA, AOE, etc etc. Not maxed out on detail but perfectly playable. Effectively when using Windows XP (installed via Bootcamp) on a Mac your just using a windows machine!

I’m having the same problems as Shawn, although I’m not sure it’s exclusive to Safari. I’ve been getting apparently random freezes for a few weeks now, and I have to force shutdown and restart. Any answers you find for Shawn would be of great help to me so if poss, post them here or email me.

Thanks.

btw, I have a G5 2ghz imac with 1.5gb ram

lee

i have a macbook 2.0 core2duo. thanks for the link to soundsource. that will cut down on the time it takes to switch the input (as long as i remember to do it).

i’m not using a usb mic when i record. it’s just a 1/8th jack coming from the sound board into the line in jack of the macbook. and i haven’t found a way for sound to revert to the built in mic when i unplug it.

the coughing sounds only occur when i forget to switch it from “built in” to “line in”. thus the sound guy there in the booth is picked up much more than the speaker at the front of the auditorium.

i haven’t tried audio hijack (the non-pro version is free but if not registered (paid for) then it adds noise to the sound after 10 min). but you’d think there was a way to change the sound settings your suggesting from within garageband. i’m just not ’sound savvy’ enough to know what settings to change. if you know, i’d love to learn. oh and also sometimes there’s a buzz in our recordings even during the silence. i know the buzz is in there because of our sound system, but is there a way to take the buzz out in garageband after it’s recorded??

once again thanks for your help!

I run BootCamp with Windows VIsta on my Macbook 2.16 GHz; 2 GB RAM and it works beautifully other than the few problems I have with Windows on it’s own. Just holding option when starting up lets me choose whether I want Mac or Windows and if I’m in Mac already I have a script that lets me restart in Windows.

As for gaming, I haven’t tried much yet. Mostly because I’m on a laptop and rarely sitting at a desk with a mouse. My experience with BootCamp tells me that there would be no problem though.

I can’t swear by Parallels. Those have been a bit excessive for me but my dad uses them (with the same kind of Mac only a little slower [2.0 GHz]) and he loves them.

Edit: In general, the biggest issue with Windows-based games on Mac is with DirectX 9. Since you’re asking primarily about older games, this probably isn’t an issue, but as I said, I’m not a gamer.

If anyone reading this thread is interested in helping Stuart, though, please feel free to respond.

It’s a permenant freeze, and I have to kill it with Force Quit. Now that I think to mention it, Camino will do the same thing!

Thank you so much!

For a 2GHz proc on 10.4.10, 1 GB isn’t a ginormous amount of memory. On my MBP, I’ve got 2 GB of memory and 836 MB of it is currently free, but my virtual memory size is still sitting at a hefty 16 GB. Even the smallest of the small processes — ipfwloggerd, for example, has 92 KB in real memory, but 26.61 MB in virtual memory. Wow!

The solution, at least for the second case, is to make sure that your system has a large enough swapfile to begin with so it doesn’t have to keep adding to it all the time, and when it does add to it, to make sure that it adds a big chunk instead of a tiny one.

Because tweaking the swapfile is something that should be left alone unless you actually need to do it, I’m going to pause at this point and ask you, which type of “freeze” is it — temporary or permanent?

But as I tell people, when I can get a Mac to do exactly everything a Windows based machine can do and do it just as well, as well as being up to date with technology, I will more than happily “make the switch” so I can have the best of both worlds.

So here is my first concern or question. Boot camp. I do not know anyone who uses it, but I’m curious just how well it works. Specifically, video games.

I’m not sure what you have on hand, but I’d be more than willing to lend a copy of Starcraft, Baldur’s Gate, Dungeon Siege 2, and…oh, Half -Life 2, to see if they run just as well on a Mac.

I’d probably buy a Macbook or Macbook Pro, so graphic heavy games don’t really matter much to me, but it’s those older titles that I’m concerned about.

So…how well would they run?

I have an iMac 20″, 2Ghz, 1 GB memory, 10.4.10. For the longest time, Safari has been freezing randomly. I’ve done everything I can think of to stop this, but nothing has worked! (Repairing permissions, cleaning logs, trashing preferences, removing plug-ins). Just in the last week, I’ve noticed some general slow-down in the overall system. What’s the best solution to this very odd crisis?

Also, Rogue Amoeba makes some good software for simplifying audio tasks. SoundSource is one of their apps for managing your input and output devices, and it’s free. It takes the work out of the Sound preference pane and put it into a menu item that you can select very easily.

Another, one that I use and find quite helpful, is Audio Hijack. With it, you can capture your sound on a per application basis, so you can grab the sound from QTPro, Garage Band, or whatever you use for your podcasts, and record input from only that one application. [Note that I linked to Audio Hijack Pro, but Audio Hijack (no information page) accomplishes this task without the extra bells and whistles that Audio Hijack Pro provides.] The older version of Audio Hijack Pro is available for free download, but it’s no longer supported by Rogue Amoeba; look for the link on the right of that page under “Legacy.”

A tip on issues with recording quality, too: If you run your input through the built-in Audio Unit graphic equalizer (available in any app that supports AUs), you should be able to enhance the speaker in the back and suppress the coughing up close. Other AUs (limiters, high passes, etc.) may also help with that.

Some applications (AppleWorks may be one) allow you to “paste and match style.” Instead of a simple ⌘V, try using ⇧⌥⌘V (Shift-Option-Command-V) instead. I’ve confirmed that this works in Mail.

tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane id "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
reveal "keyboardTab_ModifierKeys"
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell application process "System Preferences"
tell tab group 1 of window "Keyboard & Mouse"
click button 2
end tell
keystroke tab & tab
-- Set Option to Command
key code {125, 125}
keystroke return & tab
-- Set Command to Option
key code {126, 126}
click button "OK" of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard & Mouse"
end tell
end tell

Is there an option/plugin/something for Script Editor to record mouse movements/clicks? I know there’s the Keyboard and Mouse Recorder program which would possibly work, but I was hoping for something more integrated. For some reason the System Preferences panel doesn’t seem to be “recordable” with Script Editor.

Thanks, Jon