OSX Keyboard Media Keys Stopped Working in iTunes

For me the Chrome Google play extension had stolen the functions.

Chrome | Settings | Extensions & scroll to the bottom of the page | Keyboard Shortcuts

Alfa AWUS036H/RTL8187L on OSX 10.6

The drivers on the Alfa site only support up to OSX 10.5.  I found various blogs, which were all EXACT copies of each other and none of which worked.

Eventually stumbled this article which got me close.

This post will just extend that blog with the things I found.

1. Download the 10.5 driver from the Alfa download site
2. Install, ignore the corrupt warning & reboot
3. Open a terminal and type :
   

sudo kextutil /System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext

Notice: /System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext has debug properties set.
/System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext has problems:
Authentication Failures:
File owner/permissions are incorrect (must be root:wheel, nonwritable by group/other):
/System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext/Contents/Resources
/System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext/Contents/Resources/English.lproj
/System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InfoPlist87l.strings
4. You now need to :

sudo chmod go-w [The File]

eg : 

sudo chmod go-w /System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext/Contents/Resources
sudo chmod go-w /System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext/Contents/Resources/English.lproj
sudo chmod go-w /System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InfoPlist87l.strings

Now this is where it goes a little off piste.  Following the reference article you should now just run the Realtech util and off you go.  For me that didn't work and the app wouldn't even run.

I restarted again and ran :

sudo kextutil /System/Library/Extensions/RTL8187l.kext

It reported no file permission errors but at the same time I was both prompted with OSX's "found a new network interface" and the RealTech app launched and allowed me to configure the NIC.

UPDATE 12/11/2012 : These drivers are 32bit.  Apple has removed the ability to do anything in 32bit with the Mountain Lion release.  So far I can't find anyway to get the 8187L working on ML. <sad face>

MAC Keyboard with anything other than OSX

My friend @coringrieves recently posted a picture of his desktop. Which is a Windows PC (he is averse to anything other than Windows) and a wired MAC keyboard. After mocking him furiously I then went and did the same myself.

Still persevering with Ubuntu it has an English (UK, Macintosh)keyboard layout which works great.

Not so the VirtualBox Windows 7 VM I run nor the Win64 alternative OS I sometimes boot into (Never did find a decent/working H.232 Linux video client).

Trawling around it seems the options are mostly based on installing Apples bootcamp.  Which is huge, I'd rather have gone and bought a Mac looky likely kb than install that bloat-ware.

Stumbled across another suggestion of using Microsofts keyboard layout tool to create your own, or in this case someone else kindly did it.

http://www.logikdev.com/2010/02/18/apple-uk-keyboard-layout-for-windows/

Installed, VirtualBox VM and vanilla OS all work fine.

Updating Photoshop RAW Plugin - OSX

Recent purchase of a Canon 60D meant I needed to be on plugin version 6.4.1 in order to read the CR2 file format. Never previously having to upgrade from 6.1 I jumped straight in.
Downloaded the .dmg, ran, fail ... error : updates not available.

After lots of trial and error I found installing each update sequentially, 1-3 and then finally .4 solved the problem. 

MacBook Pro. Boot to black screen, no chime ..

Check the RAM ... remove and re-seat ..

MacBook Pro - Open heart surgery

In an attempt to re-build a Mac which wouldn't boot I came across:


http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Device/MacBook_Pro_17%22_Models_A1151_A1212_and_A1229

Invaluable site .. The hard disk walk through was a breeze to follow ..

Intel Mac Startup Keys

Keystroke	Description
Press C during startup	Start up from a bootable CD or DVD, such as the Mac OS X Install disc that came with the computer.
Press D during startup	Start up in Apple Hardware Test (AHT), if the Install DVD 1 is in the computer.
Press Option-Command-P-R until you hear two beeps.	Reset NVRAM
Press Option during startup	Starts into Startup Manager, where you can select a Mac OS X volume to start from. Note: Press N to make the the first bootable Network volume appear as well.
Press Eject, F12, or hold the mouse (/trackpad) button	Ejects any removable media, such as an optical disc.
Press N during startup	Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot).
Press T during startup	Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode.
Press Shift during startup	Start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items.
Press Command-V during startup	Start up in Verbose mode.
Press Command-S during startup	Start up in Single-User mode.
Press Option-N during startup	Start from a NetBoot server using the default boot image.