kingswood

/Private/etc/sudoers Enjoy!

£50? I know what you paid for it LOL! Good luck with the sale Shane. Paul

Actually if you edit the /private/etc/smb.conf file directly and add the option: browseable=no to your shares, people won't be able to browse (see) the shares when looking at their network in Windows. Same as it is in Linux really. HTH Paul

That's definitely by design. I actually prefer the Leopard way of doing it! Enjoy.

If the Mac is powering on and you get both the power on lights, chime, and initial screen then it's possible that what you are seeing are file system errors rather than a hardware issue. A dark grey question mark that flashes on a grey folder background means that the firmware cannot locate a valid system volume or boot file. You can *almost* be safe and assume that the Mac's main processor and components are OK in this case and that it is *probably* a software issue. Try holding down the *option key* at startup and see if you can locate system volumes. If the system volume appears try selecting it and see if you can boot from there, and if you can open System Preferences when you get in and Startup Disk Preferences, resetting the volume as the startup disk (you can also use the installation CD/DVD for this). If the volume shows up but you can't boot to it, you will probably have to re-install OS X on the volume. If the volume doesn't appear then it *is* probably your storage device. Boot up from your CD/DVD and choose Disk Utility from the utilities menu. Select the volume you want to repair and then click "first aid" (button along the top). If the text that flies by in the lower window is green then you are OK. If the text shows up red...well...that should be obvious! You could rescue any files you need by using Firewire Target Disk mode- do this by holding down the "T" key when you boot up until you get a nice firewire icon on your screen; then connect a firewire cable to your Mac and a second Mac so that you can access the drive from there. You might be able to drag and drop folders and files (all being well) to your working Mac desktop/storage device. You can also try and repair the Mac's errant volume from there in your working Finder! Hope that helps? Good luck! Paul

Bridging works right now from Linux, Solaris and Windows. But it isn't yet implemented in the OS X version (though they do have it on the "to do" list of features they would like to add). virtualbox.org :: View topic - Any news on when bridged networking will make it to the Mac? Take care, Paul

Sorry to hear about all your issues with integration mate! We bound 30 Intel iMacs running 10.5 with both AD and a 10.4-based OD server around April time this year and had no problems at all, but we didn't use a cloned image to install from. We have another 90 or so to do over the summer which will be using an image, so I will let you know how that goes. There is reference to this issue with cloned Macs in the new 10.5 deployment guide. When a post-imaged Mac boots it should write a new Kerberos KDC configuration, making it unique on the network. The KDC information is retained (as you found out) and has to be reset post-installation. You can reset the KDC by using the following two commands: sudo rm -fr /var/db/krb5kdc sudo /usr/libexec/configureLocalKDC Apple KB TS1245 covers this too. Hope that helps- even a little? Paul

Hi Shane, Actually I like Virtualbox a lot. It's fast, has some cool features but lacks one essential one (for me at least): bridging. If you are going to use your virtual machines to form a "learning network" with domain controllers etc., then you need Parallels or VMWare Fusion (the 2.x beta is best because you can have multiple snapshots etc). If you are simply going to run an XP VM for the sake of using applications you have for XP that have no equivalent on the Mac, then Virtualbox is more than fine (and free). Hope that helps a little, Paul

Sure will

Welcome to the Mac community A good rule of thumb for a major Apple purchase (like a laptop or desktop) that you think may be updated soon is "if you need it now, buy it now" and if you can wait, then simply wait. We still have a G4 series laptop and it runs Leopard great and still moves nicely for the tasks it is there for- internet, basic photo editing, small movies, and email etc. If it fits the purpose, no need to purchase a new one. I recently got a 2.4GHz MacBook (Black Edition) and it's great. I can't imagine needing all the new power that could (theoretically) be released with the next edition, so for me the rule of thumb said "buy now". Good luck with your investment. I don't think you will be sad that you moved so easily to Apple hardware and software Paul

The XServe isn't a cheap option- if by cheap you mean grabbing one for less than £1500 from KRCS. If you start adding things to the system- SAS drives, more memory, extra PSU (good idea anyway) and so on it will become more expensive than your desktop PC at home (by far) because it is a server and by definition has redundancy and management solutions built-in to support that function. Any vendor's server hardware can add up if you are careful to include important pieces of hardware that servers generally should have. An XServe also comes with a full copy of Mac OS X Server (Leopard) and unlimited client access licenses, with a lot of things in there you would pay extra for in Windows Server. Apple systems, like the XServe, come with a standard 1 year warranty. I would suggest you take a look at this: Apple - Support - Products - AppleCare Premium Service and Support Plan I have the Premium pack for both my XServe and XServe RAID and it is great. Apple's support at this level is fantastic as far as I am concerned. And yes, there is an on-site element to it! Try: http://www.krcs.co.uk Hope that helps, Paul

It is going to be an interesting year. The government shake up its own data protection systems and schools suffer I like this part of the MS Schools' Blog: "If you’re purchasing laptops or desktop computers that are for staff use, then opt for Windows Vista Enterprise licences, because that has full-drive encryption built-in through BitLocker." Buy Vista. And then: "If you’ve got existing computers with Windows on them, then you’ll either need to plan to upgrade them to Windows Vista Enterprise (or Ultimate), or buy an alternative encryption package (there’s some listed on this page, referenced by Becta) " Buy Vista. I can understand that Bitlocker allows for full drive encryption- (of course you only get *full* drive encryption with SP1) because it uses AES to encrypt (128 bit) and decryption requires the FVEK (Full Volume Encryption Key) which in turn requires the Full Volume Master Key (256 bit). TPM and USB flash drive can be used to store this. But for Bitlocker to *work* you need: 1. TPM or 2. TPM plus USB Flash Drive or 3. TPM plus PIN You can also use flash drive startup key only (your laptops may not have a TPM module- ours don't). This options isn't as secure as the others but still lets you have a certain level of security. Without TPM though, anyone can take your HDD and as long as they have the flash based key, access the drive's information. Oh- and you can also use the "clear key" method. A bit like leaving the keys in your front door You need Vista Enterprise or Ultimate; TPM Version 1.2 (and enabled); BIOS support for USB class 2; at least two volumes. There are alternative encryption software applications (including open source versions) equally as good if not better than Bitlocker. And of course Mac OS X comes with its own security methodology (keychain and Filevault to name two) which are pretty robust in their own right. Linux has SELinux to support those who need a broader set of security tools. Whilst I agree with the premise of the blog, and understand that it is a *Microsoft* schools' blog, it is of course biased. What is good is that BECTA are translating all this into technician's language for us and the advice (I think) needs to be heeded as much as possible. The advice here is common sense-based and something I will assess as soon as possible: Becta Schools - Leadership and Management - Security - Information security guidance for schools Thanks for the link Tony- good information to have! Paul

A great idea for anyone. I have been running 2008 since the early betas in a VM, and Server 2008 has come a long way. It's great to be able to learn the OS in a safe environment before rolling it out some time in the future. The good thing is Microsoft release great documentation early for their operating systems and this means it is easier to start the learning process than it otherwise would be. But yeah- get that VM running and it will do a world of good for you. Paul

You might consider RHEL 5 if power consumption is important to you: Red Hat Linux trumps Microsoft Windows in power test But I agree- increased security, HyperV and TS are just three great reasons to run Server 2008. However, the investment our school has made in Windows XP and Server 2003 as well as Apple technologies means that Server 2008 isn't that much of a deal right now. Perhaps when Windows 7 appears....

Why? Front row on a PPC Mac Mini 1.5ghz? - Mac Forums Apple (United Kingdom) - Mac OS X Leopard Buy Leopard. Get Front Row Paul

Glyn is a great guy, and KRCS are our preferred Apple suppliers. An excellent team there Shane if you use them (especially for your school Apple network). Paul

Did you purchase a new Mac Pro and configure it with the 8800GT, or did you buy an older Mac Pro with the NVIDIA card in it? I ask because had you trawled the store and forums first you would have noticed that the converter only works with ATI cards. Here's something that might help though: Computer to TV video adapter converter As for your other question- I don't know. Perhaps someone else will. Making an IR receiever?? Not sure about that one- and I'm not sure that Front Row is worth all that pain. Why not get Apple TV and stream from your Mac Pro to the TV? Paul

Sounds like you are going to have lots of fun! It might be worth investigating an Apple Distinguished Educator to help with staff training days etc. They are fantastic at introducing Apple technology- and usually in a fun and educationally attractive way Paul

Yah. Can you explain why you lump creationism and BSF/Academies together in one thread? Thanks.

I have been using that book lately as part of my HND studies- it's a good one!

I thought the WWDC announcements were great. The new iPhone 3G is a winner for me- and the price (£159 with £35 a month charge from 02) a lot better than the deal I currently have with T-Mobile. Of course you could get the new iPhone from 02 PAYG!! The Snow Leopard updates are *more* interesting for me- OpenCL, 64-bit support, Exchange support out-of-the-box and ZFS (read and write) on the server edition. Yep- a much better WWDC than the last one and some promising signs coming out of Cupertino Paul

Congratulations Tony- I think this is a great move for you! All the best in your new post mate... Paul

Well, it's not the *only* option because as I pointed out there are workarounds for those who find this is impacting teaching and learning in a big way. But it is certainly an idea if you don't have the option of saving locally at all and so need the thing to work as it did (even though Adobe's official line is that it isn't supported- whatever that means). During the 10.5.3 seeding cycle why didn't the Adobe engineers catch this one and nail it before it got out in the wild? Unless Adobe engineers don't test their applications in common environments (like networks). As I said- BOTH companies need to pull their fingers out of their pies on this one and get a fix to customers. And for the doubters- Photoshop crashes when you open files from or save files to a network volume (CS and CS2 on Mac OS X v10.4.6) Paul

Agreed- all I was doing was passing along some hints as to how you can work around the issue rather than waiting for Adobe and Apple to pull their collective fingers out of their individual pies. Version Cue isn't easy to set up, but from what I have heard is a good product. Saving locally most certainly may be the *only* option until and unless a fix is carried out, and in fact I know lots of design studios that *only* save this kind of stuff locally because of the history with Adobe and network shares! It's a bit like saving movie project files across the network before they are finalised: you can of course do it, and it works, but it isn't the best thing in the world to do. Anyway- take it or leave it

It is. Officially Adobe have never really supported saving files across a network, so saving .psd files across to your Xserve or Apple Server will end in corrupt files that either cannot be opened again or if you can open them will only save again once. The header file of the .psd file is missing critical data during the save across the network, and this could be a case of Photoshop files being large and SMB/AFP connections timing out etc before the file has fully saved- hence some of the saves have an error inside the header file to the effect that the save didn't complete properly. What's the solution then? Save locally and then copy via the Finder when you have time. Simple. Works every time for me. From the Adobe forums on saving to network drives: Adobe Forums - 10.5.3, Photoshop CS3 Saving Server Files Solution? Version Cue. Hope this helps some, Paul