Jan's Blog

CUDA troubles with the 2.3 SDK

2009-08-12T11:36:00.012+01:00

Hello all!

I am posting a solution to a problem I had with the latest version of the CUDA SDK on my Mac. I was having an issue with the CUDA extension not loading at startup. This resulted in CUDA programs to not recognising my CUDA capable cards and running in emulation mode.

The solution to my particular issue was to run the following commands in a terminal window:

sudo chmod g-w /System/Library/StartupItems/CUDA/CUDA
sudo chmod g-w /System/Library/StartupItems/CUDA/StartupParameters.plist

I found this solution whilst examining the Console for StartupItem errors. I noticed the following errors from SystemStarter, the system startup mechanism for Mac OS X:

12/08/2009 11:02:10 SystemStarter[33] "/System/Library/StartupItems/CUDA" failed sanity check: path was created after boot up
12/08/2009 11:03:10 SystemStarter[32] "/System/Library/StartupItems/CUDA/CUDA" failed security check: group writable
12/08/2009 11:14:30 SystemStarter[32] "/System/Library/StartupItems/CUDA/StartupParameters.plist" failed security check: group writable

I hope this helps someone... it wasted one of my mornings anyway :( Let's hope that nvidia catch on to this and fix it in the next revision...

Cheers

Jan

Word of warning: CTO options from Apple...

2009-06-22T15:18:00.009+01:00

Hello all!

My sister is graduating soon and as a reward for completing her studies, my parents are giving her a brand new Macbook Pro 13". I wanted to share the mistake I seem to have made when ordering this machine, so that people do not to share the same experience I have had.

My order was for the upper spec'd 13" stock config machine, with a DVI adapter, AppleCare and the iPod Touch on back to school discount. However, I put the DVI adapter in the CTO options of the Macbook. This has caused the Macbook to ship from China as opposed to the UK, as it classes as a custom CTO product. Strangely enough, the AppleCare was also selected during CTO, but this option does not cause the machine to ship from China it seems.

The Macbook is the standard configuration in all respects, apart from the additional external adapter. If I would have added the adapter outside of the CTO options, then my ship time would have reduced drastically from 2 weeks to (likely) 2 days. The carbon footprint on this machine will be unnecessarily huge :/ I believe that this is a mistake on Apple's part as their delivery costs could have been so much cheaper on this order if they were even a little bit smart on the CTO options.

At the moment, the iPod Touch and the AppleCare box are both in the UK, whereas the laptop, presumably with the "CTO" DVI adapter, is currently winging their way to the UK from China. Once it reaches the UK, the two shipments will merge and I will be able to track it properly.

So there you have it. For anything custom when ordering a Mac machine that is not internal to the machine itself, do not choose it as a CTO option as it can throw a huge spanner in the works when it comes to shipping and the environment.

Cheers

Jan

Apple Sudden Motion Sensor (SMS) confusion...

2009-06-14T23:34:00.009+01:00

Hello all!

There seems to be a great deal of confusion when it comes to the Sudden Motion Sensor (SMS) in Mac laptops. SMS technology can be found in most modern Mac laptops. When sudden motion on any axis is detected, the laptop immediately parks the read/write heads of the hard disk drive. This is an attempt to safe guard the disk should the laptop be dropped or nudged sharply. However, it was not immediately clear to me whether the head parking technology in these machines would work with third party replacement drives, such as the blisteringly quick Seagate Momentus 7400.4 500GB.

I ordered one of the bad boys from OCUK above, expected the non-G version of the drive (the one without the built in motion sensor). I received my order from OCUK and discovered that they had actually sent out the G version, the one with a g-force sensor built in to the drive. I was a bit worried about whether the built in g-force sensor would conflict with the SMS in my unibody Macbook Pro after hearing some reports of Western Digital drives with motion sensors causing kernel panics.

Being my usual stupid self, I copied all my data over and whacked it straight into the machine without hesitation. So far, I have had no trouble with kernel panics or anything like that. Further more, the head parking technology in the Macbook Pro's still works, as a short jolt to the machine causes an increase in the load cycle count attribute in S.M.A.R.T. This attribute is associated with the head parking technology, as a head parking incident results in the load cycle count increasing by one.

So there you have it, the ST9500420ASG working flawlessly in my Macbook Pro late 2008 unibody, complete with head parking technology, and presumably the added 0G protection afforded by Seagate's own g-force sensor. I am getting really nice speeds out of the drive too, 100MB/sec in the theoretical tests. The OS feels a lot nippier, as expected when going from 5400 to 7200RPM.

The drive is almost as quiet as the stock drive, and the head parking noise is almost inaudible, requiring a very good ear to detect it. One word of caution tho, do not screw the hdd in too tight with the mounting bracket as this can lead to more vibration and hum in the chasis of the Macbook than is necessary. I recommend tightening the bracket so it is snug, but not mega tight.

Cheers

Jan

Vodafone TopUp and Go Mobile Broadband and my Mac

2009-02-13T14:05:00.006Z

Hello!

Despite what the sales staff at Vodafone stores would have you believe, the Vodafone TopUp and Go Mobile Broadband works absolutely fine with Mac OS X, with a little initial configuration.

The deal is a purely TopUp based mobile broadband, with no expiration on the data you buy other than a requirement to use the service once every 180 (EDIT: Not 90 days like I said previously) days. The bundle comes with 1GB of data free, and costs £15 for 1GB that never expires. The USB modem that comes with the deal is a Huawei K3565, and the SIM card is removeable.

To get this device working with my Mac on 10.5.6, I used the following instructions that can be found here:

Get the latest Mobile Connect software for Mac OS X available from here: LINK
Install the software available from the link on your Mac.
Plug in your modem.
Run the installed software and click the Activate button. This will install an interface in your currently selected network location profile. By location profile, I mean the currently selected profile in the locations feature on the Mac.
Go to System Preferences > Network, select the newly created network interface (Vodafone K3565 for me) and click advanced.
Set Vendor: Generic, Model: GSM/3G and set APN: pp.internet.
Click OK, and then hit connect!

If you want the new 3G interface to show up in another network location profile, you must repeat steps 3 through 7 with the desired network location profile selected.

So there you have it, Vodafone TopUp 3G connectivity working within the proper network configuration features of Mac OS X.

Cheers

The Draytek Vigor 110 and Be Broadband

2009-01-14T15:35:00.007Z

Hello all!

All of those with a Draytek Vigor 110 (and possibly the 100) modem with the Be* Broadband service will find this tip useful. I found that my Vigor 110 would sync at a lower speed than the Be Box. However, thanks to a tip from Broadbandbuyer support staff, higher speeds can be achieved.

To achieve a higher speed, contact the Be support staff and ask them to enable the "'Customer ISAM port' with the Service-Profile 20"". The Be support staff happily obliged me, and now I have an extra 3mbits on my connection for free!

This tip has also been confirmed by Be Staff here. They state that it may work for any router showing a lower sync speed than the standard Be Box.

Cheers

iMac waking from sleep at random intervals

2008-12-02T10:50:00.007Z

Hello all!

Just reporting on another issue I am having with my iMac of late. I have had issues with my iMac waking up from sleep at random intervals. The console logs showed no sign of why it was happening, and didn't give a reason for the waking from the machine.

I finally fixed this issue! It turns out that Bluetooth appears to be the cause of the problem, more specifically, the Apple Wireless Keyboard. I have noticed recently that the keyboard would disconnect at random intervals and reconnect after 5 seconds whilst in use. This issue became more frequent with 10.5.5. I am making the assumption that the keyboard troubles are waking my Mac, as the waking problems started occurring after I purchased the wireless keyboard, becoming more frequent between 10.5.1 and 10.5.5.

Anyway, the solution is to disable the "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer" option, founding System Preferences > Bluetooth > Advanced. The disadvantage of this is that you won't be able to wake your computer with the wireless keyboard. You can wake your Mac by pressing the power button.

Let's hope for a fix for this issue in 10.5.6!

Cheers all

Jan

*Update 1* This appears to be fixed in 10.5.6, no more disconnections or random waking!

*Update 2* This appeared to be fixed when I first installed 10.5.6, but has since regressed to the old behaviour of disconnecting every now and then and waking from sleep. Let's hope for a fix in 10.5.7!

Mac Product Icon locations

2008-11-17T12:54:00.007Z

Hello,

Here is an issue that bugs me from time to time with Mac computers. I often want to change the icon of my hard disk to look like the product I am using (my Macbook Pro or iMac), but can never find the location of the icons to use.

Thankfully, this thread has come to my rescue, and pointed to the following location:

/System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Library/MachineTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/

However, a little trickery is required to set the HDD icon to the images found in the relevant .icns file, as the standard copy and paste trick does not seem to work. Each volume has a .VolumeIcon.icns file that one needs to replace with the chosen .icns file from the above location. To use the icon found in the above location, open up a terminal and follow these instructions:

Copy the icon from the above location to your desktop, this can be done via finder or via command line.
Make a backup of .VolumeIcon.icns by using the following command: "cp /Volumes/VOLUME_NAME/.VolumeIcon.icns VolumeIcon.icns.backup" replacing VOLUME_NAME with the name of your volume.
Copy your shiny product icon over the volume icon using the following command: "cp Desktop/PATH_TO_SHINY_ICON /Volumes/VOLUME_NAME/.VolumeIcon.icns" making the obvious substitutions.
Reboot to make sure icon actually shows up in Finder, restarting finder may also have desired effect.

You can go ahead and delete any temporary files used if the method is successful.

Hope this helps someone!

Stinky sneezes?

2008-09-09T19:53:00.005+01:00

Every now and then when I sneeze, a putrid smell lingers in the air for about a minute afterwards. It doesn't happen all the time, and there is no obvious pattern as to when it does happen. Even with the mintiest of breath, the stinky sneeze can easily make me gag. The smell is a mash up of death and saliva on a hot iron.

I have done a little bit of Googling on the issue, and it seems that there are a few other people suffering from this (Links: here, here, here and here...). On the first link, a seasoned nurse has never heard of such an issue. Some speculate that it is a kind of chronic infection. I haven't been to my GP about it yet, but I will be sure to update with the happenings.

One thing I can say though is that when I saw that other people are afflicted with the death sneeze from someone's anus, I felt a lot better about it. So here is me, adding my name to the list of (hopefully) many who suffer from SSS (stinky sneeze syndrome).

powermonkey eXplorer

2008-08-30T14:11:00.010+01:00

Hello all!

I want to share my first experiences with the powermonkey eXplorer from Power Traveller. The powermonkey eXplorer (hereby known as the device or unit) is essentially a backup battery that is able to charge a variety of other devices, including phones, mp3 players, digital cameras and GPS units. The unit's battery can be charged from the mains, from a usb port (including any in car USB chargers), and from a solar panel that is included with the kit. I bought the kit for charging my iPhone in remote locations since the battery life is not quite stellar. I wanted to share my experiences with using this kit for this purpose, since finding any definitive accounts that it actually works is fairly difficult.

The unit comes with a charging tip (or monkey nut as they are known) specifically for iPods, that works with the iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod touch. The device charged my iPhone 3G from dead in the same time the iPhone charger does, using about half the device's battery (2200mAH). Since then, I have topped up a friends iPhone 3G twice from half charge, and recharged my sister's Samsung E900 before the device's battery died, requiring a recharge. The unit is, at the time of writing, sat on my window ledge sucking up power from the Sun at an amazingly slow rate on this typically lame British summer's day. The included solar panel can actually charge devices on its own, given a nice sunny day of course.

Overall, I am VERY impressed with this device that will no doubt come in handy at the random festivals I frequent. The unit charged my gadgets until it's last breath, before requiring a recharge. I can confirm that the unit is compatible with the iPhone 3G using the included iPod charging tip (not the USB tip, see problem here). The kit is fairly expensive, but you might find a slightly used one on eBay at a fraction of the price :).

Cheers

Jan

(p.s. You can use the iPod connector combined with the USB charge cable that comes with the powermonkey to turn any USB mains, in car, or wind up charger into an iPhone 3G charger.)