dayzd

We have our iMacs create mobile accounts for our pupils that sync documents in the background. Provided they log in to the same machine, they don't have stupid login times while tons of video data gets lobbed around, and we get to back everything up on our XServe. It's about as good as it's gonna get with iMovie.

Not that I'm aware of. iMovie works best when it downloads the content from the camera itself (so it can convert it to a suitable format on the way). That said, I've never heavily used iMovie6 (only 08/09), so I could be wrong - it might be entirely possible to drag'n'drop files into it, in which case, you'll likely need to find a convertor tool for OSX that supports .MOD files. MPEG Stream Clip, ffmpegX and HandBrake might be good places to start.

They don't always manage that, though. There's an episode of Firefly (a recommended watch if you've not seen it) where there's batantly a W2k machine with the 'install new hardware' dialogue on screen on a futuristic dumpster...!

Think it's separate Adobe - Audition 3 I was a bit disappointed by this, too. Oh well.

There is no Mac-native SIMS client. You'll need to use Bootcamp or a virtual windows machine (with VMWare or Parallels) to get SIMS on the MacBooks. Also, joining your Macs to your AD won't get you the same AD security... Securing Mac clients is a very different deal to Windows machines. If you're buying a server, you'll want to look at Workgroup Manager to set certain rules, restrictions and policies, but be aware they are nowhere near as granular as Windows group policies. As for authentication and using the same logins, you'll struggle to do exactly what you want. You won't be able to get access to the rest of your Windows network 'via the server' (as in, the server forwards requests)... They'll need to be on the same network and be bound to your domain, as will your server. Using your Apple server, you'll be able to supplement your AD login details with the missing bits that make Apple logins work, which should allow pupils to have the AD My Documents as their Apple Home Folders. Unless you've got network and storage capacity on your Windows network, you'll want to set up a shared area on your mac for the pupils to store large files to. So in short, you need to join an apple server to your windows domain, and use that to supplement AD data with OpenDirectory data (Apple's equivalent) to allow your accounts to log in to macs. Sorry for the hasty (and probably confusing) reply... Hope it points you in the right direction at least a little bit!

Well, I had trouble getting any definitive answers yesterday... Myself and my boss (who knows very little about Macs, but is a smart man) went through that afp548 netboot page and found it difficult to identify which scenario applied to us: some things were true for each one, and some things weren't! We tried all sorts and sadly got nowhere... I read a few new links last night, some suggesting that the OSX Server firewall ought to be off, others that said it should be on (with appropriate ports open) and one rather discouraging post stated that the only fix for the (very similar sounding) problem they were having was to re-install OSX Server (which, for time reasons, isn't really an option)! My next step is to do more firewall fiddling and to try and rule out the switch (we've turned off spanning tree on the end points to help with connection speed). Failing that, I've got a G4 box with 10.4 server on at home, which I'm tempted to bring in and test, just to rule out cabling/network issues! Oh, I hate this problem!

Just had a quick scan of that link. Looks like it could well be helpful! Would've checked there sooner, but we've had problems with our internet connection since the summer and the LEA had been very restrictive with their filters... Must be sorted now, though! Will check it out tomorrow and let you know (can't access the room for the rest of the day). Thanks for all your help.

I'm using 10.6.4 on the server and for the admin tools.

While I do have newer iMacs than I had last year, as I stated above, I have remade my nbi on my newest hardware and it does not boot either model. (I ran an older iMac with the the old nbi as a test, which also failed.) I've not forced-quit any netboot processes, as so far, none of my clients have started from it. The server has also been restarted a couple of times while I've been trying to sort this out, so I can't see it being that (although I'll try again!). Model filtering is not switched on. Interestingly, on last years (9,1) nbi, if I do turn it on, there are model identifiers available in the list, but for the new nbi (from the 10,1 iMac) there are not...

Hoping someone can help shed some light on a netboot problem I'm having. I'm in the process of setting up my 10.6.4 server and cannot get any clients to boot from my netboot image (made using DeployStudio). The bootimage was made on my newest hardware (iMac10,1, OSX 10.6.4) and I've since tried a bootimage made on my server and my previous generation iMac (9,1), none of which successfully boot. (I know the image from my 9,1 iMacs works as I used it last year before the current redeployment process was started.) I've seen the '10.6 If your netboot clients won't start' (Server Admin 10.6 Help: If NetBoot Client Computers Won?t Start) document, and this has offered no insight into this issue. I've also seen the more in depth 10.3/4 document about netboot clients not starting (Mac OS X Server: NetBoot clients cannot start up from server (NetBoot troubleshooting)). Is the process still similar in 10.6? I can see all the events listed, except the tftp START entry in my logs. Below are the NetBoot logs when I try to start a client with the 'N' key at boot: Sep 20 09:43:28 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: BSDP DISCOVER [bond0] 1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba NetBoot003 arch=i386 sysid=iMac9,1 Sep 20 09:43:28 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba Sep 20 09:43:28 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: replying to 192.168.15.102 Sep 20 09:43:28 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: OFFER sent clw-wk-imac-002 192.168.15.102 pktsize 300 Sep 20 09:43:30 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: NetBoot: [1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba] BSDP ACK[list] sent 192.168.15.102 pktsize 310 Sep 20 09:43:30 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: DHCP INFORM [bond0]: 1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba Sep 20 09:43:30 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: reply ciaddr 192.168.15.102 Sep 20 09:43:30 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: ACK sent clw-wk-imac-002 192.168.15.102 pktsize 300 Sep 20 09:43:31 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: BSDP INFORM [bond0] 1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba NetBoot003 arch=i386 sysid=iMac9,1 Sep 20 09:43:31 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: NetBoot: [1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba] BSDP ACK[list] sent 192.168.15.102 pktsize 310 Sep 20 09:43:31 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: DHCP INFORM [bond0]: 1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba Sep 20 09:43:31 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: reply ciaddr 192.168.15.102 Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: BSDP INFORM [bond0] 1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba NetBoot003 arch=i386 sysid=iMac9,1 Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: replyfile /private/tftpboot/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/NetBoot-DS-Runtime-01Sept10.nbi/i386/booter Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: NetBoot: [1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba] BSDP ACK[sELECT] sent 192.168.15.102 pktsize 416 Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: DHCP INFORM [bond0]: 1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: reply ciaddr 192.168.15.102 Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: ACK sent clw-wk-imac-002 192.168.15.102 pktsize 300 Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: replying using broadcast IP address Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: replying to 255.255.255.255 Sep 20 09:43:37 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: OFFER sent clw-wk-imac-002 192.168.15.102 pktsize 308 Sep 20 09:43:45 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: DHCP DISCOVER [bond0]: 1,0:25:4b:b0:11:ba Sep 20 09:43:45 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: replying using broadcast IP address Sep 20 09:43:45 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: replying to 255.255.255.255 Sep 20 09:43:45 clw-sr-xserve1 bootpd[208]: OFFER sent clw-wk-imac-002 192.168.15.102 pktsize 308 Can anyone identify what might be going wrong? The XServe has a bonded uplink to the switch, each client has a gigabit connection. All are Intel machines. (Question also asked on the Apple Discussion forums: Apple - Support - Discussions - NetBoot service not starting clients ...)

Uhrm... You might get a LaunchAgent to do that, but I've never used one. Some Launchd Recipes | mac geekery might get you started.

A LoginHook will do that (You'll want to use the 'Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4, or later' method. Trust me, it's easier!). It will run the script you specify as the very first action as a user logs in, allowing you to set up the computer before anything user-related is configured. Apparently you can set login scripts using Workgroup Manager, but I've had no success with it, and I believe it is very hard to get it working. Bombich.com also has some content on LoginHooks I found useful.

I bought this pack: Silicone Soft Skin Case HTC Desire + 2 Screen Protector on eBay (end time 02-Aug-10 16:41:38 BST) Works for me. I'm fine with the rubbery case, as it covers the phone really well. Also had some luck with the screen protector too, as I bought it before the phone arrived and applied it to the screen the moment it was out of the box. I.E. I never touched it between taking the manufacturers protective film off it. Just got one minor bubble near the bottom, that is covered by the case The one problem now is that it won't fit in any bespoke dashboard mounts while it is in the case...Oh well...!

I know somebody who has the Pro version of one of these - the Pro version has a slideout qwerty keyboard, if you don't like touchscreens. I had a play with it before I got my HTC Desire and have to say it is a very capable little phone. Not so small that it is difficult to use and has a fantastic camera. And as mentioned, runs Android and runs it well, from what I saw

I'll admit it's the first time I've actually used all those services during the race. The first 10-15 laps had quite a bit of information overload going on, as I wasn't used to it - I didn't know where to look!

So, here's my setup for the afternoon. I'm such a geek!

Nothing sneaky about how me and the boss are watching. We have two iMacs in the office at the minute. One playing the tv feed, the other one showing the timings!

I see... Not sure how you'd do that all at once. We're about to buy Passenger to help manage our users from September. Couldn't tell you if it'd play nice with augmented accounts (although I would think theoretically it can). The other oprion you have is to script something using the DSCL (Directory Services Command Line) tool. The DS_ tools are covered well in the book I mentioned and are command line tools for reading and manipulating data. 'man dscl' in terminal to find out a bit more about it.

Augmented accounts should do this for you, yes. As a rough guide...: You Augment user accounts when you bind your XServe to your AD network and bind your client to both the Open Directory (master) and AD (standard practice is to have the clients search the LDAPv3 search path, then the AD path). In WGM you need to set up at least one user group, then import users into it from your AD connection (make sure your XServe has '/Active Directory/All Domains' included in it's search path). From here, you can add your policies and controls to the group. When your Mac clients log in, they'll find the AD user record, then they'll find the Open Directory record and augment the account with all the Mac-specific stuff that the AD does not provide. I recently did the Apple Directory Services course. If you've the money (and reading time) for a new book, it might be worth getting the accompanying text book, which should give you a better understanding of how augmented accounts work. Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Directory Services v10.6: A Guide to Configuring Directory Services on Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server: Amazon.co.uk: Arek Dreyer, Ben Greisler: Books HTH.

Makita all the way! -Makita UK- One of our site staff guys swears by them and I use one in my occasional weekend job at a local theatre for putting sets together and stuff and have never had a problem with them

Love a good bit of tilt-shift. It's so cool!

Just seconding what Synack said. On a non-Mac host, it's not possible. You can't even do it (legally. I believe you can bodge certain versions of VMWare, but I've never seen it done) on a normal client OS X machine. It has to be OS X Server or nothing.

Dammit. Why do I have to live so far away...!

@p858snake. That's what we want to do for next year (2011-12). Given other projects that are going on this summer, we decided it wouldn't be smart to do that now, so want to operate SW on just the Macs to begin with, then put the PCs onto it next year as and when we're ready. @pete. That sounds like roughly the kind of thing I was thinking. We currently have a major issue with something SC does not do well at the moment (that RM haven't been able to fix) that will be going to the top of said list: it doesn't block the iPlayer for all student, regardless of what rules we put into it!

Do you mean virtualisation? SmartCache is an appliance and cannot be virtualised Plus, we've already got one. We were hoping to get rid of it until we realised how much SW would cost us to cover our site...!